Goshawk afraid of the wind??!

[Keith Robert Talbot]

Just wondered if anyone has ever had a goshawk that is apparently afraid of the wind! Iam flying an imprint tiercel gos (intermewed) and despite doing everything right during the imprint (worked with others) he is a bit of a dick at times. In the field on his day he is a great performer on his day and has had 70 odd head since the middle of September. However falconry with him is not enjoyable as he can go from yarak to misbehaving in minutes usually associated with a wind. Last week was a perfect example, i had been walking in some woods and he was in condition looking really good on the fist flew a woodcock hard and come down from the tree fine. I then had a flight on a cock pheasant which took him out of the woods. i tracked him down as he'd missed the bird and was perched in a row of beech trees away from the woods. as such he was exposed to the wind which was reasonable but certainly not severe. this marked the change in him and when he came back down to the fist he spent the next 45mins chipping on the fist and then bating to the extent i had to stop for the day. after the drive home he was fine again. This happens day in day out, that he will be flying brilliantly on super land, then a small breeze develops and he will refuse quarry and mess around, i have tried ajusting his weight but the strange spells happen whatever. Has anyone experienced similar or does anyone have any tips, as i'd prefer to be able to enjoy flying my bird!!

ATB

Keith

[OutFlying]

Seen this happen with over weight imprint gosses.

[Keith Robert Talbot]

i'd really like to think weight could cure it, however he's already flying on the low side of where i would like and pushing him much lower would be dangerous i think. A very experienced falconer saw him and simply said 'wouldn't bother with him'. To a large degree i think this is right, there are unfortunately so many parts of his character which are difficult, and it was there from day 10 when i got him - he decided to keep jumping out of the nest provided despite it being perfect for him! However the improvement this season has been brilliant and i cant fault him in terms of bringing game to the bag on his day its just that whenever there is a wind (living in scotland this is alot of the time!) he has his panics.

Cheers

Keith

[Alf]

Keith you know your own hawk mate.
Some hawks have tendencies to take on some strange traits for no apparent reason.
My advice is to keep plugging away hopefully with time he might settle when the penny drops and realises he has nothing to fear from the wind.
Any idea how this bad habit could have manifested? Did he have a bad time once getting blown around one day out hunting? Alf.

[FireAsh123]

mine was very similiar. would only come down wind and was a a git if got buffated about. it only got worse and i found out i was flying him at a false weight
was flying him at 1.8 witch was quite high considering he came out at 1.11 but am now flying him at 1.5 1/4 to 1.5 3/4, my bird isnt an imprint and i have had problems through training. but maybe it may help to know

may i ask whats he flying at and what he came out at? just interested really

all the best ash

[Keith Robert Talbot]

Hi fireash

Thanks for the post he is flying at 675g which i think is around 1-6 ish (he is very sharp at this) but came out of the moult this year at around 1/12 - 1/13. he is imprinted but is less steady than most parent reared birds i've had and seen which is really strange given the full on social imprinting he had - went everywhere saw everything and wasn't bothered then as soon as he was flying his vices began. Its wind mainly and cars, which again is odd as i even used to walk around with him near a road whilst imprinting specifically to avoid this problem

Keith

[Keith Robert Talbot]

Keith you know your own hawk mate.
Some hawks have tendencies to take on some strange traits for no apparent reason.
My advice is to keep plugging away hopefully with time he might settle when the penny drops and realises he has nothing to fear from the wind.
Any idea how this bad habit could have manifested? Did he have a bad time once getting blown around one day out hunting? Alf.

Yes thats interesting i thought along the same lines myself what could have triggered it and i really don't know i can't remember any incident in the wind. You're right though i'll plug away i'm trying to brave it on windier days now and get a kill in a sheltered area and feed him up with a tiring on the fist whilst walking along in the wind. The unfortunate thing is that there's no sign of improvement as yet but i'll keep going.

Keith

[FireAsh123]

cool mate im in no way clued up to give advice but maybe some one has had similar problems, or and idea that may help.

all the best ash