2009 Falconry Championship - Dubai

[Little Joe]

A few pics from the anual event held outside Dubai during the past week. The purpose of these pics are purely for the enjoyment of members who didnt have the chance to attend.

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[Little Joe]

And another few.

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[Pearl]

great pics mate thanks for sharing :supz:

[Rocky]

VERY NICE MATE :supz::supz:

[GameHawker]

What is the purpose of the championships and are there different events?

Carl

[Kennelre]

Lovely pictures...thankyou.:D
Could you maybe expand a bit more on the event itself? Not many of us are actually in a position to nip off and see what's happening in Dubai.:lol:


...Rene.

[FalconMistress]

Very good pics thanks for putting them up! Could you put a bit more information up about the event :-)
ATB
Sophie

[Little Joe]

Its an annual thing under tha patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Ruler of Dubai's son. I guess you could compare it with the sky trials held at Western style falconry meets. But since Arab style hunting is out of the hood, not from pitch, the flights are in a straight line from point A to B.

It changes every year, but there are different days for different birds. Tiercels one day, Gyr x peregrine females one day, Gyr x Sakers one day, etc. As far as I know there is an expensive 4x4 up for grabs for the winner of each event.

The bird is released by the falconer, while his assistant stands at the other end swinging the lure - I think its a 400m stretch. There are two sensors set up at each end to register the time the bird takes and thus calculate the speed. I didnt partake this year, but if I remember correctly the fastest birds do the distance in approximately 16 seconds.

[Hhaawwkkeerr]

I like the Astroturf on the young lad's gauntlet (or whatever they are called in Dubai)

[Anders]

Great pictures and thanks for sharing.

Anders

[Dean]

Wierd!Really wierd!

[Tezz]

Wierd!Really wierd!

Dean,
Why is it wierd????

Tezz

[Tezz]

Dean,
Why is it wierd????

Tezz

I would say strange:lol:

Tezz

[Dean]

I would say strange:lol:

Tezz
Ok,Strangely Wierd???I know they love their horse racing and coursing,but.........?

[Tezz]

Ok,Strangely Wierd???I know they love their horse racing and coursing,but.........?


Agree:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Little Joe]

Wierd!Really wierd!

Its quite exciting to see which bird is the fastest in a straight sprint. I still think a Blackspar would kick all their butts and possibly eat some of the falcons for fun while she's at it, but I guess we'll never know... :D

[Aman]

Thanks, very intresting, when we going to enter a B spar musket:box:

[Siberia]

Any information about the fastest falcons ? Or any photos of the winners ?

[Little Joe]

Any information about the fastest falcons ? Or any photos of the winners ?

Sorry Stefan, I dont know. Wasnt there on the final day, but I imagine it was pretty much dominated by Gyr hybrids of some sort.

[Little Joe]

Thanks, very intresting, when we going to enter a B spar musket:box:

Haha, I can just see the boys' eyes pop when you march up there with a Blackspar! :D

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

Any information about the fastest falcons ? Or any photos of the winners ?

Winner of pure gyr and gyr/saker crosses (goes as one class as its impossible to tell the difference sometimes) was a Gyrfalcon from Gary Wall scotland, not sure if male or female but I think it was a male, a range rover to the owner which I think was one of the Mujerin brothers in Dubai.

Winner of male gyr/peregrine was ''our'' falcon (Mark Robb and sara) a range rover sport to the owner, Rashid Mujerin, Dubai,
Second place a bird breed by Kuntzman, Germany.

Thats all I know unfortenatly

[Moritz]

Great pictures, I was there on all the qualification days, unfortunatly i missed the finale.

out of all the birds in each category only 10 go into the final. and belive me there are many birds entered.

First price in each category was a rang rover sport, 2nd a toyota FJ and third a pickup. the other 7 birds get 10000 uae diram each.

first category was peregrine falcons,
2nd saker falcons,
3rd gyrfalcons and gyr/sakers
4th female g/p
5th male g/p

the best time that i saw was by a bird in the gyr category with 17.045 seconds. but the g/p are not far behin that maybe around 17.4 for the best, the sakers are around 19 to 20 seconds and the peregrines around 18 or 19 for the top 10 birds.

the results all really depend on the wind conditions. and these change quickly during the day so your starting time can influence the birds performance a lot.

Registration is free btw and open to anyone. as long as your bird fits into one of the categories.

I will try and put up some more pictures.

Moritz

[Moritz]

Winner of pure gyr and gyr/saker crosses (goes as one class as its impossible to tell the difference sometimes) was a Gyrfalcon from Gary Wall scotland, not sure if male or female but I think it was a male, a range rover to the owner which I think was one of the Mujerin brothers in Dubai.

Winner of male gyr/peregrine was ''our'' falcon (Mark Robb and sara) a range rover sport to the owner, Rashid Mujerin, Dubai,
Second place a bird breed by Kuntzman, Germany.

Thats all I know unfortenatly

The Gary wall gyr is male, from this year.

the 6th palce in the male g/p category was another one of sara's birds, 7th as well. out of 10 birds in the male g/p category at least 7 were wild hacked birds, either kunzman from germany, gary wall scotland or blue falcon mark robb england.

[Moritz]

I like the Astroturf on the young lad's gauntlet (or whatever they are called in Dubai)

It is called a mangala(spelling?) amd the astro turf is just stiched on the top. it works really well, many birds actualy prever it and it is very good for the feet. But the mangala is not that good for feeding on the fist. The UAE falconers use gloves for that. Each bird has got its own mangala which makes transport very quick and easy. Also the handeling of many birds at the same time gets easier. I have started using it in the last couple of days and find it very handy.

Moritz

[Moritz]

some pics

[Moritz]

and more

[Moritz]

and the rest

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

A few recognised faces there, the falconry world really is small!!!!
Nice pics Mo keep em coming

[Moritz]

the last picture is the winner in the male g/p category Rashid and with this years winning male g/p., Ajun (spelling?)

[TiercelR]

- Great pictures, thank you for to share !

[Moritz]

some more pictures from my trip. the box the g/p is standing on is used by many UAE falconers and it is really a great tool. I am going to build one myself. It keeps the bird of the floor and prevents broken feathers. Also food and equipment can be stored inside the box. In the beginning the bird needs to be put with the lure or kill ontop of the box. after a short while the falcon will actualy fly with the lure on top of the box. I have a video of it on my mobile and will try to put it up later on.

[Hawkmaster]

Thanks for sharing eveyone!:supz:

[Moritz]

And yes I know Silly me held the phone the wrong way around. Can anyone tell me how to put the video the right way up?

YouTube - MOV00119

This Video shows how the falcon just lands on the box without the lure and just waits for it reward.

[Moritz]

and anohter one, this time the falcon flys with the lure to the box.

YouTube - Arabic falconry in Dubai 2009

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

Moritz, the guy who took the biggest short cut in the UAE......:lol:;)
Did you find your clothes in the end.....PMSL

[Eagle-Eyrie]

Great pics and must be a real experience to witness thanks guys for sharing- jannes still think the red neck would kick ass. We'll have to see when i can get one.:-) thanks again for the info and pics.

good hawking

dylan

[Moritz]

Great pics and must be a real experience to witness thanks guys for sharing- jannes still think the red neck would kick ass. We'll have to see when i can get one.:-) thanks again for the info and pics.

good hawking

dylan

what do you mean by red neck? red naped shaheen?

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

what do you mean by red neck? red naped shaheen?
or an American???

[Little Joe]

what do you mean by red neck? red naped shaheen?

I'm not too sure either what he means... :lol:

But I can tell you firsthand what my humble opinion is. The Rednape is nice, but in a sprint the Redneck kicks butt!!! :twisted:

Moritz, I'm a firm believer there is no faster falcon over the first, lets say, 100 metres in level flight than a Rednecked Falcon (Falco chiquera), or Redheaded Merlin as you would call it.

Thanks for the nice pics BTW, and for the info on the winners.

All the best,
Jannes

[Moritz]

Well that should be easy to find out, I believe that one of my friends over there has a strong interest in flying one since he saw wild ones on a hunting trip. I will ask him to let me know its time on the 400 meters once he gets one.

Mo

[Aman]

I'm not too sure either what he means... :lol:

But I can tell you firsthand what my humble opinion is. The Rednape is nice, but in a sprint the Redneck kicks butt!!! :twisted:

Moritz, I'm a firm believer there is no faster falcon over the first, lets say, 100 metres in level flight than a Rednecked Falcon (Falco chiquera), or Redheaded Merlin as you would call it.

Thanks for the nice pics BTW, and for the info on the winners.

All the best,
Jannes

Redneck against a b spar musket what you reckon will happen.??

[BladeRunner]

Redneck against a b spar musket what you reckon will happen.??


Think red neck will take the first 80-100m then spar from there on!

[Little Joe]

Redneck against a b spar musket what you reckon will happen.??

I have seen these little rednecks chase finches and sparrows around waterholes in the Kalahari mate, and really, they accellerate from perched to full speed in no time at all. They are blisteringly fast from the mark! I cant say what will happen when a spar or gyr or something gets up to speed, but from take off I cant see many birds beating a redneck.

But then again, I dont have much experience with things like Ovambo's or Redbreasted spars.... who knows?

On another thread some guy swears his snowy owl flies down pigeons in level flight - I guess that makes the snowy the fastest bird alive, because I've seen pigeons pull away from tiercels and gyr hybrids in a straight line.... :roll:

[Eagle-Eyrie]

I'm not too sure either what he means... :lol:

But I can tell you firsthand what my humble opinion is. The Rednape is nice, but in a sprint the Redneck kicks butt!!! :twisted:

Moritz, I'm a firm believer there is no faster falcon over the first, lets say, 100 metres in level flight than a Rednecked Falcon (Falco chiquera), or Redheaded Merlin as you would call it.

Thanks for the nice pics BTW, and for the info on the winners.

All the best,
Jannes

hi guys i refer to the red-necked falcon (falco chiquera) and have seen them flying like rockets over about 250m after doves and they can move mowing down the quarry as if it was standing still. As for the black spars they do have incredible stamina and can go for miles, just make sure there is no falcons out otherwise the flight wouldnt be to the finish, rather to some gyr on the fist. In harare the bs are notorious for taking falcons on the weathering and on occasion in the field. I know in the first 100m an ovambo or redbreasted spar can move but think they would tire out after 200m or so. The only real way to see is to get the different species into the races in dubai or at least set up a similar test and compare times. I have a lot of interest in flying the red necked falcons off the fist and hope to obtain a pr for breeding in the near future. If i an lucky and get hold of a pr would imprint a female and maybe we could have a more statistical result. But for now we must be content with the peregrines, gyrs and hybrids. Again thanks for the pics, thread and info on the use of the box.

good hawking

dylan

[Pavel Yakimov]

Its quite exciting to see which bird is the fastest in a straight sprint. I still think a Blackspar would kick all their butts and possibly eat some of the falcons for fun while she's at it, but I guess we'll never know... :D



:)))) ..you are crazy...!!! :)))))

[PrinceOfTheWesternDesert]

thankyou so much for posting this thread,,when i joined th i.f.f. This is what i was hoping to see,great insight,love the competitive part

[HunterPaul]

top thread... shame it gets little comment in comparison to some of the 45 page **** that gets put up....love the pics... would love to go.... Paul

[SakerJack]

top thread... shame it gets little comment in comparison to some of the 45 page **** that gets put up....love the pics... would love to go.... Paul

Agreed!,

[Millet]

Id like to know what washing powder they use..:roll:..them white gown's are immaculate..:D..
Millet

[ReluctantTwitcher]

Good thread! Liked the videos, even if I had to tilt my head a bit. :lol:
Thanks for sharing the idea re the feeding box/platform. Looks like it
could be a good addition furniturewise.

Regarding the Red-necked falcon, hasn't some hybrids with these and
Gyrs been made? I'm sure I've seen pictures of one somewhere on the
forum (bred in the Gulf by a breeder with a German sounding name?).
Would be interesting to see if this breeding could combine the quick
acceleration with an increased top speed.

[Little Joe]

Good thread! Liked the videos, even if I had to tilt my head a bit. :lol:
Thanks for sharing the idea re the feeding box/platform. Looks like it
could be a good addition furniturewise.

Regarding the Red-necked falcon, hasn't some hybrids with these and
Gyrs been made? I'm sure I've seen pictures of one somewhere on the
forum (bred in the Gulf by a breeder with a German sounding name?).
Would be interesting to see if this breeding could combine the quick
acceleration with an increased top speed.

Here's a male flown by a friend of mine - they can be a handful - very clever I understand, but I havent trained one personally.

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[SolidLeo]

Great picsssssss :supz:

[ReluctantTwitcher]

Here's a male flown by a friend of mine - they can be a handful - very clever I understand, but I havent trained one personally.

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Cheers. Please do post more pics if you've got any. Pics of one in adult plumage would be mint too! :wink:

[PrinceOfTheWesternDesert]

interesting that you praise the red headed merlin so highly,,,they havent been available here for about 30 years,,until last season,,,nobody i heard of flew one,,i saw one once when i was a kid,, and all the falconers around said it was worthless,,,now,,, one of the premier microfalconers of the u.s. Is flying one,,, so i am anxious to see what it flys like

[Little Joe]

interesting that you praise the red headed merlin so highly,,,they havent been available here for about 30 years,,until last season,,,nobody i heard of flew one,,i saw one once when i was a kid,, and all the falconers around said it was worthless,,,now,,, one of the premier microfalconers of the u.s. Is flying one,,, so i am anxious to see what it flys like

Check out posts and threads by Salman Ali - Turumti on here. I reckon he is probably one of the top practical authorities in the world on this species.

Atb, Jannes