Training a Goldie

[CooperMan]

I know that 'K' has been posting about hawking with goldies and i don't want to step on his toes, but I have started training a 7 month male 9-2lb fat and thought I might post a training diary every now and again if any one is interested. Having read some of the other threads i'm leaving myself wide open for abuse teehee but what the heck.

[Biarmicus]

Hello Cooperman,

I would find a training diary of a 7 month male Golden Eagle very interesting to read.

Good Luck,

Britt

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!:grin:

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

You carry on mate people will be able too compare the training systems.

[Finnish]

And don't forget to include pic's in the diary:supz:

[MickeyDredd]

Go for it Cooperman, I'm sure it will be of interest to many on here.

[Pitbull]

its nice too read about something different

[ColdZero]

yeah go for it i think everyone has an interest in eagles, but like finnish said pics are a necessity ;)

[CooperMan]

Morpheus arrived on 16th November 2005 to great excitment and worry, one of the lads that works for us picked him up from the breeder and drove him up to cumbria from kent. needless to say i was bricking it (what if he crashes and the bird gets out, (whats the boxlike i hadn't seen the bird or the box and trusted to Kev to check the bird and the box) all the usual stuff we falconer worry about. Just as a side line have you ever noticed the wife always take to many bags on holiday and yet there is never enough room for all the birds gear on a weekend hunting trip 10 miles down the road.

Into the garage the box came, weighing room is a bit small, wife armed with camera, scales perch enlarged and newly made overlay fitted. We needed to fit a swivel and leash so the box was opened a crack and the jesses retrieved. He had been tethered with a carabina so the eyelets were cut off the jesses slits added along with swivel etc. (I was taught not to use clips and didn't want to start.) I half expected to pull a thrashing monster from the box but was pleasantly suprised to remove a calm composed if slightly wary adonis. Needless to say the wife who had retreated to a safe distance (pressed against the garage wall) instantly started cooing.

Next job weighing him. I use electronic scales these had been checked to ensure they would take his weight if not i have a big balance set but they are not as easy to use. Sure enough back he stepped onto the scales like a HH of several seasons. It turns out the breeder had done a little work with him just to stop him crashing around in the mews. To silence the wife she was allowed to pick him up from the scales and pose for a few photo's. He was then put into the mews for the night these are 12x12x8 with a block and rock in there for perches. There are shutters on the front to a. keep the weather out & b.keep birds calm if needed.I didn't want to start flight training straight away so he has been put out to weather everyday to see what is going on and to reduce the chance of him becoming territorial. Food was put into the mews before putting him away and he was allowed to eat his fill on Rabbit rat quail and doc for the next 6 weeks with almost daily carrying to man him down. He is still inclined to bate a little when out for walks but that is slowly getting better. He does hate cars with a vengence though. I may need to work on this. The manning has gone smoothly the dogs have been introduced and he has taken to them well. The only hiccup we have had is that he seems to becoming a bit territorial over his perch when in the mews or blocked out. This manifests itself by him jumping to the glove and squeezing not for all he is worth but hard enough for me to know. He had a day in public yesterday at a display and coped very well. there wasn't any sign of worry and he looked like he had been at it for years. The only problem I had was removing him from his box. I put the falcons and hawks away with a normal glove on and forgot to put the overlay on when I opened his box, he came out nicely and stepped up onto the glove very well, then I can only assume he sensed weakness and sqeezed thank god for the glove I had. he then took a side step up my arm to get comfy and discovered the lovely brown furry fleece I had on. oops. nobody was about to help. I have never felt anything like it the power was awesome and the worrying thing is there was lots more spare capacity. I wondered about going towards his perch to see if he would bate towards it. no bad idea he might try to take may synthetic rabbit arm as his well earn tea. standing in the middle of the yard sweating and starting to feel the panic rise a car went past on the road. there is a god after all I walked up to the road taking the overlay with me. a car went past scared him I let him bate to the ground slipped to overlay on and scooped him up none the worse off.

His weight has come down over the last week he is now weighing 8-10&1/4 so I thought it was time to make a start jumping to the glove today so off we went down the field to an A board I use poped on to the creance and called off it was nothing spectacular but we did manage three jumps over about 2yds. then he switched off. He had 2 doc for his efforts. already broken into bits. there is no way I am getting into the habbit of trying to sneak food away from him when he is not looking the way we can with smaller birds. If I get it wrong in any way I will just be storing up big problems for later on in his career.

That is things up to date for now, I shall now go and try to steal a larger from the fridge without the good lady spotting. they are supposed to be for christmas. I could have sworn she said that about the tin of roses she has just eaten.

Have a good xmas and really p***ed new yr

[CooperMan]

opps pics are a bit big will try and make them smaller next time sorry

[Afshimo]

who made the overlay? I got 2 martin jones overlays for £30 off ebay. dead chuffed lol.

He looks a nice bird, more pics please!!!

[CooperMan]

made it myself hannah using and old martin jones glove as a pattern and enlarged it. you can see it on the 1st pic just. like a muppet i sewed the thumb suede side in so it looks a bit crumby but it does the job.

[PeregrinesUK]

Sounds like everything is going well so far mate, with a bit of luck the initial squeezing of the glove will stop over the next couple of weeks when training is in full swing. I tell you what I found worked really well when training eagles is flying fist to fist, I start off as you are on an A frame to the first when she is coming 20m or so I switch to fist to fist flying this will give you a lot more control and increase his response times dramatically. I know Karl mentioned it in his post but id also never try to rob the bird on the fist they are just as happy flying for a chick legs or I would often use pinkies especially when doing glove to glove if you try to remove the food you will get hurt as you said. One last thing when manning the bird try not to allow the bird to bait to the floor I realise you did it to change gloves but this will quickly develop into a pattern which is a pig to get out of. Hope this helps a little bit mate sorry if I’m teaching my granny to suck eggs but maybe someone else will find it useful.
michael

[Goldie]

Cooperman,
This looks like the making of a good thread.
What is your ojective with him, hunt or displays ?
He looks a nice dark one, was he bred in the Uk or imported ?
A decent size also, although i expect close to another 1 and 1/2 lbs to come off.

[Tim Laycock]

sorry to digress but who is the "pin up" holding the eagle :D

[BFC 007]

sorry to digress but who is the "pin up" holding the eagle :D


you luv your women BB mate dont you lol :supz:

[Ben C]

Good thread mate............very interesting for us mere mortals:supz: :supz: One day.....one day.

[HawkEagle]

That's a big female, I wonder if it's a female russian golden eagle? So, what do you think will be the most suitable glove for eagle the strength of golden eagle and upward. Would a normal tripple layer buckskin glove do the job? Also with the overlay don't you have touble exposing your fingers in a thinner glove. I found thick glove is quite a burden, it's hard to hold anything in.

[Ben C]

No need to flex those brain muscles Hawkeagle.......I know nothing, I was just a witness......russian golden eagles are not what they were. They were taken from the wild about 10 to 12 years ago from the Czech Republic. From what I remember they were very short gloves only going up 2/3 rds of the forearm and were VERY thick.

[HawkEagle]

Sorry Ben C, I thought she was your bird. Still don't you want one m8. They must be really hard to keep fit enough to hunt.:lol:

[Ben C]

GOD NO!!!!! I fly a little Harris Hawk mate :) But in my limited experience, they take more time and dedication than I could possibly muster both physically and mentally...Good Luck to those who try....and succeed!!!. A majestic and complex beast if ever there was one.

[Afshimo]

I got 2 overlays, both martin jones and brilliant. I think the falcon crest eagle glove is popular as it's thick but still manouverable. The stanislav's are good, but hard to move and too easy to let the bird go by accident. The full on, 6 layer Martin jones is just way OTT (lol) but the kevlar eagle glove, as I've been told is fantastic and worth the money.

I'll work upto an eagle lol. Definatly a goldie lol, prob will move to russia or something like that, but I hate the cold weather, so maybe africa and have a good time over there with a crowned lol. One day...

[HawkEagle]

Well put indeed. Still if there is ever a chance, I will not give it a miss.:supz: I have flown a female Steppe eagle (8years ago), I used to fly her everday and still could not get her mere fit. Don't even think about hunting it just wont happen. I dont blame on the bird though.

[HawkEagle]

Kevlar glove!!!! where can I get one? I have Ben Long eagle glove, they are a bit hard to move your fingers. I still rate Ben Long stuffs to the very highest though. Is kevlar glove the best? I am preparing for my new arrival (crowned eagle). I know they are powerful but I dont really know by how much. I just dont want to go over the top.

[Afshimo]

lol, go to the falconry fair, they sell them there at the OBR stand for £75 or so. Not too bad when u think about it. They also do a double layered, like falcon crest gloves. Very nice and easy to move.
You could use the kevlar glove with a overlay over the top, as the kevlar isnt a full length glove and for something like a crowned, you'd need to make sure they dont climb up ure arm lol. But yeah, the kevlar gloves are pretty good.

Han

[HawkEagle]

I cant go to falconry fair as I am not in Britain. I'd like to know the place where I can order one?

[Afshimo]

I dont know the guy, but it's called an excalibur glove. Hopefully someone else will post about it, because I dont know telephone or e-mail etc. I'll do a search an see what I come up with.

Han

[Afshimo]

http://www.sussexfalconrycentre.co.uk/products.htm

click on the sword. I might think about buying the glove also, if you cant get in contact with them I could ring them tomorrow and see about shipping etc. I want to ask a few Q's too lol.

All the best, merry x mass!

[CooperMan]

Sounds like everything is going well so far mate, with a bit of luck the initial squeezing of the glove will stop over the next couple of weeks when training is in full swing. I tell you what I found worked really well when training eagles is flying fist to fist, I start off as you are on an A frame to the first when she is coming 20m or so I switch to fist to fist flying this will give you a lot more control and increase his response times dramatically. I know Karl mentioned it in his post but id also never try to rob the bird on the fist they are just as happy flying for a chick legs or I would often use pinkies especially when doing glove to glove if you try to remove the food you will get hurt as you said. One last thing when manning the bird try not to allow the bird to bait to the floor I realise you did it to change gloves but this will quickly develop into a pattern which is a pig to get out of. Hope this helps a little bit mate sorry if I’m teaching my granny to suck eggs but maybe someone else will find it useful.
michael
Thanks PU I like the sound of flying glove to glove we do that with the harris' that we train up for displays, it would also give us a little more flexibility on the fitness work, enabling us to flyhim up and down hill rather than just across a field or up an incline and then walk him back down to the perch, whilst still on the creance. As far as sucking eggs is concerned I have trained Tawnys before and handled a Goldie but never actually trained one.
G. I hope to hunt him and certainly some of his training will be done at displays (Ifind the public love to see a bird being trained) but I will just have to see how he goes. I haven't heard of any body flying one in displays for quite a while.

As far as breeding he is captive bred, and parent reared by an imprint female from what I was told.
Hanah what do you do with all these gloves are you planning on putting equipment suppliers out of business or are you sad like me and just like having a new glove that you don't want to get dirty.

[HawkEagle]

Have you ever tried variable rewards? I have just watched Dr Nick Fox vdo on fitness training and there was bit about variable rewards, I tried it with my changeable hawkeagle and it really works. My bird respond improves abit while mile per gallon improves alot. Mind you birds here bop eat only about a third of birds in cold climate. I dont know if it will work with Golden eagle, I dont know what the respond of the bird will be arriving at an empty glove. Will it go nasty at the handler? I'd really like to know the result.:)

[Afshimo]

i just wanted the one overlay, the incase i was ever allowed or ppl cud borrow it etc, but the lady sent be both of them, she used em for a red tail but couldnt feel the bird lol. wonder why!

also, I'd love to start making my own gloves, I only got the 2 overlays. But I ask ppl about their gloves. Hopefully, I order some elk and have a go lol. Also, i like me gloves lol.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Thanks PU I like the sound of flying glove to glove we do that with the harris' that we train up for displays, it would also give us a little more flexibility on the fitness work, enabling us to flyhim up and down hill rather than just across a field or up an incline and then walk him back down to the perch, whilst still on the creance. As far as sucking eggs is concerned I have trained Tawnys before and handled a Goldie but never actually trained one.
G. I hope to hunt him and certainly some of his training will be done at displays (Ifind the public love to see a bird being trained) but I will just have to see how he goes. I haven't heard of any body flying one in displays for quite a while.

As far as breeding he is captive bred, and parent reared by an imprint female from what I was told.
Hanah what do you do with all these gloves are you planning on putting equipment suppliers out of business or are you sad like me and just like having a new glove that you don't want to get dirty. I fly my male in demonstrations during the summer months. So if you do want someone too throw ideas around with.

[CooperMan]

Happy New year to you all, hopefully you had far to much to drink:partyman: and lots of chance to go hawking.
The eagle training is moving on nicely now his carriage has improved alot over the holidays and he is usually much more settled, or that was the case until today. The wind is blowing quite a bit up here this morning and it was like having a giant buzzard out in the wind, with primaries going in my eyes and up my nose and generally spending the entire time walking him with his wings out. When the wind was blowing up his tail he was determined to face into it or bate, I tried putting my arm over his back which settled him for a while and held his wings in slightly but he then decided the was a definite draft blowing round his tail and straight up his (yes well enough said) I ended up walking backwards to his perch for flying. the locals already think I'm weird thank good none of the saw me.
His weight is starting to fall off now and in the last 4 days he has gone from 8-8 to 8-4 I have started feeding alternate days usually 1 rat or 4 mice and today saw a big improvement in his response. we did 6 calls for 1/2 mice and 1 for a full one to finish. starting at 4 yds he came instantly the final one was 10 yds. the only slight hic-up was on the 3rd when he hit the glove bound to it and tried to keep on going still to high me thinks. but i went slightly closer for the next flight and it didn't occur again. I must say its not easy grabing the jesses from under neath and securing them when he's landed on them there is just no way to open those feet but we are managing and he is very well mannered so far (touch wood)
He is blocked out on the lawn now watching the world go by and wondering why there is a robin sat on the block next to him. I suspect it has delussions of granduer I'm off to see if I can get a picture of them both.
Oh by the way K. really interested in how you fly your eagle in displays do you have him soaring or is it just fist and perch work, and do you keep his weight up from his hunting weight. Personally I'm a bit worried by this fashion of furry hoods and jackets at the moment.
Good hawking
Cooperman

[CooperMan]

Had the big boy out yesterday jumping him with the family watching he is coming about 6 yds almost instantly but any further and he hits the glove but keeps on going usually with one foot still attatched to the glove. I don't want this to turn into a bad habit so as his weight comes down I will look for speed of response over about 6yds and only gradually increase the distance as his manning improves and his weight falls (i'm sure the skimming is relating to how keen he is. I took him out for a good walk after flying him. I have dispenced with the arm brace as it can make my arm unsteady and him uncomfortable it isn't to bad now dealing with the weight so we went for a mile or so. we put up one hare which he totally ignored but theres still a long way to go.

Today I took him a walk down the fields beside the road to see how he would cope with cars, he did have a huge problem with them when we started but today he watched them but didn't bate at all. Its nice to see these little triumphs. Half way on the walk I put him on a fallen tree and called him for a couple of DOCs only a short distance and I had to wait about 30secs each time his weight was 8-2&1/2 brought him back after about an hour and blocked him out on the lawn.
At about 5.00pm an hour later Kev came running in the house shouting the eagle is loose. he had been leaving after coming up to fly his harris and have a crack when he heard the owls making a fuss. looked across and saw the outline of an eagle sitting on a dead apple tree just next to his perch. I grabbed the glove and a chick on the way out of the door and got him to step up. In the half light no jesses were visible so I had to rely on the chick occupying him whilst I paniced my way into the garage and thrust him into the nearst large travelling box. Kev brought the leash across with swivel mews jesses and aylmeri still attatched. both his anklets had failed one in the middle and one next to the eyelet. I have had one fail before but never both at the same time. They were already on him when he came and had been grease about once a week whilst we had him and there had been no apparent problems today when checked. So I have been bloody lucky there is a wood to the right of where he was sat but the apple tree is the only tree on the skyline for about 10 miles in a straight line. Needless to say I have had a shower and changed my trousers.

We have fitted new equipment on him now which was far easier than I expected. I threw a towel over him and cuddled him with both arms kev popped the hood on and he switched off imediatley, we swapped places and rather than working in front of him as I would with most birds I worked at the side so as to avoid any strike that he may through out. there was only one and the whole thing went without a hitch.
The wife was out so we didn't get any photo's unfortunatley.

[Moses]

cooperman i didnt know how i missed this thread, a brilliant read and a very nice bird mate

[CooperMan]

cooperman i didnt know how i missed this thread, a brilliant read and a very nice bird mate
Cheers moses I'm really enjoying the trainning the most amazing thing is the sheer power in his feet its a bit scary and exciting at the same time.

[Moses]

Cheers moses I'm really enjoying the trainning the most amazing thing is the sheer power in his feet its a bit scary and exciting at the same time.


i know bud very impressive mate, massive talons he has


i wouldnt have the bottle to do what u r doing haha



all the best bud

[ChakChek]

this is a great thread! have you got any more pics of the bird you can put up CM?

close call with the eagle's anklets!

[CooperMan]

My favorite

[CooperMan]

Ok so today was rather nerve racking I felt like I'd just got my first bird and blocked it out for the first time. every time I heard his bell I had to check that he hadn't broken free again.
I took him out for a bit of a wander this morning with no food involved which I am hoping will teach him that he doesn't always get food from me. We had visitors this afternoon which always throws things so it was a bit latter when I picked him up to weigh him. 8-2.7/8 which is a little up on yesterday. so I wasn't going to do any flying but the wife was in for a change. She hadn't gone shopping today (must be running a temp) so I thought I would rope her in for some pics of him jumping. Called him 4 times to 1/4 pieces of weener in the strong wind we had he did very well and landed with a lot more control.
When we had finished we sat for half an hour. I found that he was a bit footy as I oiled his jesses. The oil from last night had soaked in and needed topped up. Normally we manage this exercise with no problem so I can only assume that casting him last night has set him back a little bit. It wasn't to much of a problem I just kept a good hold of his jesses.

The pics are a little dark but it wasn't that dark honest.
Don't know who the scruffy ****** carrying bird is

[CooperMan]

Its thursday the 12th Jan today and Morpheus has had 2 days of carriage and no feeding his weight has come down to 7-15.1/2 I was visiting a lovely little school called Forest in Teesdale over the fells from us today. They have 12 kids in the school so it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the "big guy" to a bit of school work. I popped him into the van with his luch box after he got a kiss from his mum and off we went for his first day at school.
His behavior was impeccable he wasn't phased at all by the kids some of which he was nearly as big as. I always think of that line in the hobbit when the eagles rescue bilbo and he worries about being eaten.
At the end of the day the children all came out to watch some of the birds fly so I took the opportunity to do a bit more flight training with him. The wind was very strong as it always is up there. He took one look at the A board and jumped straight to it which is great, I train all the birds to fly from it as I feel it gives them something to focus on in away displays. It is the only perch he is allowed to jump to from the glove so as to avoid bad habits in the field.
Any way with his weight being down a bit more and the wind being up I called him about 7 yds for a quarter weener, the response wasn't instant but I didn't need to wait more than 15 secs into the wind he came and landed with perfect control. I carried him back to the perch and was about to show it to him when the kids shouted rabbit and Morpheus bated, I looked up to see a cracking hare storming up the field. I cannot say for sure but Wishful thinking says he was bating at the hare. reason says he was bating at the Aboard.
The second flight was about 10 yds much to the kids delight when they heard thats the furthest he has ever flown to me. and the 3rd was 11yds for 1/2 a weener and we called it a day at that.
We go to the school every year and always get a wonderful welcome and a fantastic dinner so thanks to everyone there and thanks to the kids for being so good around all the birds and helping Morpheus' training. :-D

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Its thursday the 12th Jan today and Morpheus has had 2 days of carriage and no feeding his weight has come down to 7-15.1/2 I was visiting a lovely little school called Forest in Teesdale over the fells from us today. They have 12 kids in the school so it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the "big guy" to a bit of school work. I popped him into the van with his luch box after he got a kiss from his mum and off we went for his first day at school.
His behavior was impeccable he wasn't phased at all by the kids some of which he was nearly as big as. I always think of that line in the hobbit when the eagles rescue bilbo and he worries about being eaten.
At the end of the day the children all came out to watch some of the birds fly so I took the opportunity to do a bit more flight training with him. The wind was very strong as it always is up there. He took one look at the A board and jumped straight to it which is great, I train all the birds to fly from it as I feel it gives them something to focus on in away displays. It is the only perch he is allowed to jump to from the glove so as to avoid bad habits in the field.
Any way with his weight being down a bit more and the wind being up I called him about 7 yds for a quarter weener, the response wasn't instant but I didn't need to wait more than 15 secs into the wind he came and landed with perfect control. I carried him back to the perch and was about to show it to him when the kids shouted rabbit and Morpheus bated, I looked up to see a cracking hare storming up the field. I cannot say for sure but Wishful thinking says he was bating at the hare. reason says he was bating at the Aboard.
The second flight was about 10 yds much to the kids delight when they heard thats the furthest he has ever flown to me. and the 3rd was 11yds for 1/2 a weener and we called it a day at that.
We go to the school every year and always get a wonderful welcome and a fantastic dinner so thanks to everyone there and thanks to the kids for being so good around all the birds and helping Morpheus' training. :-D
Be very careful at this stage as Goldens suffer with stress without showing it! As do Gyrs, Snowys, and Imature Red Tails. I know of people who have coursed asper by pushing them too far too soon. When you absolutely KNOW it will do it without a hesitation, and without being sharp set / on the way down. Thats the time to intro this, not that Im saying the idea is wrong, just I through experience would have done this later. Hope the advice helps, after all thats what were all here for.

[CooperMan]

cheers K i will slow things down slightly and work on his response and maning with me to get him bomb proof with me first.

[CooperMan]

Things appear to be moving along well although we may have hit a slight stumbling block this eveining.
The 13th JAn was a day off from flight training so his lordship was carried for about 1 hour and then blocked out for the day.

14th of Jan weight 7-14.1/2 Carried as usual and called off 8x from a post down the field just to avoid supperstition of an area. he was responding as soon as called and coming about 20yds well into a strong wind. ate 4 weeners

15th Jan weight 7-14.1/2 carried for about 1/2 hr at dinner time then we gave him a go flying between 2 people in the field. the wind was strong again and we started of at 10 yds with good results, landings were very gentle and he ended up coming 20yds with only a 10sec hesitation.4 weeners to eat.

16th Jan Day off from training he was handled in the evening for about 1/2 hr

17th Jan carried for 1 hour taken down to the farm to meet the cows from a distance these were no problem from a distance. His weight has come down 1 oz to 7-13.1/2 He was very footy today locking his feet in place on the glove it took me 5 minutes of waiting just to get him on the scales then he kept footing the glove. He was flown from the A board today which he flew to when he saw it. I'm very pleased with that response. When called 20 yds from the A board he hit the glove and carried on going to land on the floor a couple of yards behind me. I got him to jump up to the glove for the food rather than picking him up with out food I don't want him to think I have robbed it. I just hope it is the right way of doing it. Carried back to the perch and called off again. (The speed he flies towards me at is amazing. it appears to be faster than a harris over that short distance but that may just be his size decieving me). The same thing happened. I suspect the wind over the past couple of days has allowed him to have more control landing from that speed. The distance I called him over was reduced to 15 yds and the landings were very hard but at least he was stopping rather than trying to take the food and my arm. Any ideas guys? I have had this problem with Harris' out of trees and dropped their weight slightly which had the desired result the put the weight back up after a couple of days. But morpheus' response was so good today speedwise I feel that he is keen enough for the moment.

[Goldie]

A simple excercise that can help when a young eagle is hitting the glove too hard is to call it whilst you are down on one knee. when it gets 6 to 8 ft from you stand up quickly to your normal position. As the bird has come in low it is forced to climb and you will find it lands a lot softer. I have always found this to work

[CooperMan]

Thanks Goldie I'll give that a go and see how it goes watch this space.

[SakerYZF]

what an excelent thread!
Are you hoping to hunt with him?!

[CooperMan]

The plan is to hunt rabbits and hares if there are any left by then. I declared the farm a hare conservation area to the lads so what did Kev do the very next day? The little ****** went and caught his first hare with Daisy the FHH he has trained. He swears he didn't shout her. HMMMMMMM! he was pleased as punch. I was sick as a dog it was a bloody donkey sized hare. a big fit male

[Sambo]

A simple excercise that can help when a young eagle is hitting the glove too hard is to call it whilst you are down on one knee. when it gets 6 to 8 ft from you stand up quickly to your normal position. As the bird has come in low it is forced to climb and you will find it lands a lot softer. I have always found this to work

yes i seen them do this in a centre in france (rocamadour) but they also waited till the eagles and vultures were about a foot away then droped there arm and this seemed to slow the birds down any way keep up the good work

cheers
sam

[CooperMan]

We are really making progress now. Yesterday was ******ed because I got back later than expected. So Morpheus was picked up and manned for a while in the garage. I'm trying to get into the kitchen but if he bates the kids get blown off their feet and the wife plays hell. His weight was 7-13.3/4 so I got my little lad to put a rat on his perch and then took the bird back in to allow him his rations.

Today the 19th Jan the wind was up a bit he was out to weather all day and took the chance of a bath. I picked him up at 3.30 weighed him 3-14.1/4 so the rat has put his weight up a touch. We took him down the field and started calling him between us changing position each time so he was flying up hill and into the wind. He started at 20 yds with an instant response. He knew what kev was doing as soon as he twisted to put the food in the glove out of sight. Out went his arm and off he went. By the time we had done 8 flights he was coming 40 yds he was a little slow to respond on the last flight but when he got to me he was panting hard. I think I am going to have to look at introducing a dead rabbit over the coming week.

[CooperMan]

Weight Today was 7-13.1/4 I fed him 5 doc today the extra distance yesterday has obviously caused him to use more energy hence the weight drop.
The good lady decided to join me today, it took a while for her to get her wellies on with her flarey fashion trousers inside them, but at least she put wellies on instead of high heels, she is such a townie. Off we went new creance wound onto a stick ( the old one was a bit short.) the new one is 50metres of paracord.
We did a short jump to start with just to introduce eagle and wife properly. Then onto the proper stuff we ended up with 8 flights up hill the longest being 45 metres. He gave excellent responses each time and I gave Goldie's suggestion ago of kneeling to call him and standing up when he was 8 foot away, I did wonder if it would phase him first time but he took to it straight away with excellent results. I may try it with the smaller hawks which display the same tendency.
All in all a very good training session.
We sat down in the garage for a cuppa and a smoke and I set to undoing the creance whilst talking to our eldest. Not concentrating properly and holding the jesses a bit long I ended up with the left foot of a male golden eagle wrapped around my hand. Keeping still (it hurt to much to think about moving my hand) I got my daughter to drop a piece of food on the floor after a couple of minutes as he was trying to eat my sleeve. He bated towards the food but wanted to take my hand with him. greedy swine. His talons moved slightly which meant I could twist my hand out in the mean time the whole family came out for a laugh, the first question, does it hurt!!!! so this has been written with a nice hole in my thumb a bruised hand and the feeling I may concentrate a bit more next time. I still wouldn't swap him for the world.
Do any of you guys carry your eagles with a tiring or not if so what do you use? he can destroy rabbit legs in minutes and I think food may settle him a bit more in the wind. But I don't want to get into the possesiveness over food routine, and no the wife won't surrender an arm.

[Fawkes]

Great thread, Cooperman!
you say you're feeding weeners? - maybe just different brit jargon, but you don't mean hot-dogs??

[OutFlying]

weeners = young rats

[Fawkes]

oh.. okay. Thanks OF. I didnt really think any responsible falconer would feed his bird hotdogs. Interesting how you can still get language barriers when we're all speaking english. :P

[CooperMan]

We went for a wander through a local wood today for a change, I think I may have a rather heavy squirrel hawk on my hands lol. The big guy decided to have a major bating session. I lifted him back onto the glove and he did the same again but he wasn't going out he was going up after a red squirrel about 15 foot up a pine tree which I hadn't seen. He also bated at a couple of Rabbits that went scurrying away at our approach so tomorrow its time for the dead rabbit.
Weight 7-13. 3/4 he was fed a 5oz rat chopped up as rewards On 8 recalls today he finished by coming 75 metres up a steady incline, the calling from one knee is working a treat. his response is now imediate but his brakes are rubbish and without doing this he just powers in to the glove at an amazing speed, What speed can they get up to in level flight? Have any of you guys exercising them behind vehicles had a sneaky look at the speedo? I will have a go when we progress that far.
I have to say that I am very please with how well his training is going to date I did have a bit of apprehension about his trainning but I have not had any reason to worry so far. He is obviously very bright which has made my job very easy and the only real problems we have had with him are related to his power and my underestimation of that, ie anklets braking, wearing the wrong glove to pick him up, just generally being lulled into a false sense of security.

[Tim Laycock]

Anymore pics?

[Goldie]

When fit, i have seen them doing 30+ mph behind the jeep but i am quite sure there is a bit more in them. They seem to put more into it when chasing quarry.

[CooperMan]

Looks like the limiter is coming off the quad if they do 30+ mph possibly a new big bore exhast slick tyres and a turbo to speed things up a little.
Caption for the first pic please.
"Grr I'm an eagle I eat rocks"
"Are you I'm and owl and I'm not that daft"

[Tim Laycock]

caption for the first pic.......

Eagle says....Aww No! F**kin dog **** m8!
Owl says....Pmsl :lol:

[Tarqers]

caption;.f-cking grass is hot.

[Kevin Massey]

owl singing...."lets do the time warp yea"

[Wilfred]

caption..do not come too close little terrier

[Kevin Massey]

goldie "i wanna be in goal"

[Tarqers]

oh yea the terrier,,,:confused:

[CooperMan]

caption for the first pic.......

Eagle says....Aww No! F**kin dog **** m8!
Owl says....Pmsl :lol:
How have you seen my lawn Blackbird?
Eagle says.. and the hare was this big
Owl... Oh your so brave:heart: :heart: :heart:

[Kevin Massey]

owl says "wanna go halves on a hybrid"...eagle says "come to mama"

[Stanley]

hi i am looking for a male golden eagle any knows where to find one,

[Kevin Massey]

hi i am looking for a male golden eagle any knows where to find one,


is that from the owl or the eagle? :-)

[CooperMan]

Eagle... oops I didn't mean to land on him that hard

[Stanley]

i have got a 15 year old female bonellis eagle, looking for a male

[CooperMan]

i have got a 15 year old female bonellis eagle, looking for a male
Can't help you sorry stanley but there are a few people on here who have them so they may be able to help. Do you fly the Bonellis if so what at and where

[Stanley]

i am from gibraltar

[CooperMan]

Well the day dawned this morning, time to introduce the dead bunny into the equation. His weight 7-13.3/4 Morpheus was blocked out this morning and given his bath as usual a allowed see the ferrets playing in their hutch for the morning. He had a couple of bates at them and then stopped. I will do more of this each day now to get him used to them in case we need to us them for a nice slip when we enter him. The dogs have also been out and about and he more or less ignores them now. With all of this going on I didn't carry him for long before flying him about 20 mins was all he got today. I put him back down and went out to hide the dead rabbit in the hedge row. Came back picked him up and walked him out to a corner fence post (they are the only ones big enough to accomodate his feet) I called him once from about 75 m and carried him back excellent response he is very focused on this now.
I would normally drop a rabbit infront of a bird on the perch already opened up so they can see the meat to encorage a response, but after the way he has reacted to the squirrel and rabbits he saw yesterday I wasn't worried about this. So the rabbit was hidden about 20 yds away. I pulled the line at walking speed to start with allowing me to guage his reaction, no need. He set off instantly so I set off at a run he caught the rabbit with in 40 yds and hit it very hard.
Then the strangest thing happened. He has never made a sound all the time we have had him but as soon as he realised he had caught the rabbit he started calling. The only way to describe it was a mew with a chup on the end. I don't know if I can post sound attatchments but I will try to record it. Can the mods help with that one?
He made a big deal about it mantling and displaying check out the photo below. and eventually he started to eat.
I had made no attempt to get any closer than about 12 feet whilst he was displaying once he started eating I made in expecting an attack to be honest none came so I sat down next to him and allowed him to eat. The next bit I wanted to get just right. I hate birds who won't step up cleanly from a kill. So once his crop started to show a put the chest and front legs of a rat into my glove (i didn't want to take a leg from the rabbit cause I'm a coward and I didn't want him seeing it as a robbing session.) I offered it to him over the top of the rabbit and he pulled at it then put one foot on the glove to9 steady it as he pulled again I lifted slightly and got it wrong he still had his other foot locked onto the rabbit. I let him stand on the rabbit again with the glove out of the way. I always like the bird to be completely relaxed before I pick them up there is no point rushing it because you just ruin things in the long run. He had a couple more minutes eating and watching me and the world in general. We tried again and bingo the perfect pick up I didn't bother messing about with putting the rabbit away we just left it there and walked back up the field with him infront of me so as not to see the rabbit. I nipped into the kitchen to boast and then put him back into the mews. On the walk back he was very alert and when he went back into the mews he decided to have a major bating session which lasted about 15 minutes on and off. me thinks Morpheus wants to kill some proper fluffies. I have to admit I was worried about this bit of the training but it was text book stuff I couldn't be happier with how it went. Now Ive just got to keep those manners.

[CooperMan]

Yesterday was more or less as expected with eating just over 6oz of rabbit and the front quarter of a rat his weight was rather high at 7-15. 3/4 so all we did was a flight from a rather large post I have in the field (12' high) to try him from a high perch and gauge his reaction I only called him about 20 yds but his response was instant he was fed 1 doc on the glove and we called it a day with a wander in the field.

Today his weight was 7-13.3/4 he was slightly easier to pick up this morning not being as quick to foot the glove the way he normally does and not gripping quite so hard, this seemed to follow through out the day. I was going to fly him free on sunday (we are going to fit a tail mount for telemetry on Saturday) but his responses have been so good I felt that to delay it could only cause harm there was certainly nothing to be gained by using the creance longer. With the wife out (what so doesn't know she can't nag about) we set off down the field. Now I have trainned lots of birds and been in this position so many times that there is usually no apprehension about it you just know the bird is ready.
As I walked down the field this afternoon I was bricking it. I knew he was ready to go but I realy did feel like it was the first bird I had ever flown free.
Swivel and mews jesses removed he was left with flying jesses. As we approached the corner fence post he went to go I let him and he landed fair and square on top. phew!!! I walked backwards away from him watching constantly at 50 metres or so I called him for a weener.
Perfect recall. I took him back to the post and put him on it. I then walked in the other direction away from him at which point he took off to follow I didn't have the food ready so he flew past my arm and into the top of a half grown sycamore, which wasn't designed for eagles to land in he half fell and half jumped out and went to the top of a Scots Pine tree fully grown managed to flop down into it. I gave him a couple of minutes to sort him self and called him again no response. I went a little closer about 50 metres and tried again this time he managed to turn and launch himself. God he's fast I knelt down to stand at the last minute he droppped right down to the growned and swung up to land he was going so fast he made no attempt to land just hit the glove and then landed about 15m away I called him up from there to have him land fairly gently on the glove.
I had hidden the rabbit lure in the bottom of the hedge row a bit further up so popped him on a gate post and ran up to the lure before he got chance to set off. he was 100m away and responded instantly. He caught it and sat showing off again but this time I made in to quickley causing him to try and carry ther lure. Thankfully he didn't manage this and I backed off to let him settle. As he started to eat the weener I made in again and put his jesses back in and his swivel on. No problems with that the pick up was a little harder as he nearly stole the pick up piece. I must make sure it is a tough piece rather than a Doc in future. but again he was very easy to pick up. I do however need a new rabbit lure. I think I may have to make a flat leather on with a hare tail on just to save me some work making new ones every day.
So that is it he has flown free now I really need to work on his fitness and try to find him some dopey rabbit to start his hunting career.

[Berkut]

hi i am looking for a male golden eagle any knows where to find one,
Andrew Knowles-Brown has 2 untouched 2005 males.

[CooperMan]

Well I think I am going to enjoy this eagle flying lark. I took Morpheus out onto a part of the farm which has nice big open fields to work on his distance recall it was windy and gave me chance to call him up hill and get him chasing the lure uphill and into the wind.
He was doing very well on calls to the glove and flying about 200m back to the fence again as we walked a bit further up the field a Hare jumped up and off he went going down wind fast and closing the gap quickley. he was about 2m away when the hare turned back into the wind and ran back up the field, the big guy just flared his wings and turned in almost the same distance as the hare. but his speed had bled off alot and he found it hard to get going again he went another 50m after it then gave up and landed on a fence post.
I wasn't expecting to see a Hare on this part of the farm and it was probably a bit unfair slipping him at it as he is nowhere near fit. But you know what it is like. And for a minute I realy thought he was going to catch it until it turned. His speed was truley awesome for such a big bird.

[CooperMan]

I did some follow on training with morpheus yesterday, Canon fodder and his daughter had come up to go out with the harris' so I took them out to watch the big guy do his stuff after an afternoon hunting. He coped very well the the big ash trees along the edge of the field the smaller branches weren't safe though all he did was snap them going for the bigger branches. On the wqay back he decided to land on the branch of a half grown scots pine and like you birds do failed to get the hieght he needed to make the desirable branch. so he flew straight into the trunk I swear I heard the tree groan. If he keeps that up I won't be short of fire wood.
Today his weight had dropped a little 7-12.1/2 and it was time to indroduce the quad for some rabbit work. He was blocked out this morning and I spent 15 minutes getting him used to the quad (ridding past at a distance and getting closer ok. its my sons but its a good excuse to play) he didn't bat an eyelid so the afternoons fun was planned.
We had a wander with the harris' and got 5 rabbits so the warmest one was used as the lure and off we went. The field we were in has a fairly long but gentle slope so kev was deposited at the bottom with the eagle and I was half way up with the rabbit hidden in the hedge bottom. As I pulled the rabbit out Kev would give a shout and the chase was on. We did a fairly easy one to start with the rabbit was 100m from the bird and he caught it with relative ease after about 50m. he was allowed a reward and picked up with a piece of front rabbit leg after getting his breath back he was flown back to kev and the prosess repeated this time he chases from 125m and caught after about 75m and was nicely out of breath when he caught the rabbit. same process again. the third was from 125m again but this time I nearly over did it he was about to land on the ground I slowed dramatically and he seem to realise this and managed to soumon that bit extra to catch a much slower rabbit. he was cream krackered so we left it at that for lure work as I was carrying him back it suddenly dawned on me that he could fly (yes I am a bit dim) so he was cast into a tree and allowed to follow back. He was called down and fed a rabbit front leg to finish. in total he had 10.1/2oz of rabbit so we shall see what his weight does over night.

[Yorkie]

hi i am looking for a male golden eagle any knows where to find one,A friend of mine has 2no last years goldies (2005} for sale.these birds are Berkuts ie A.C.Daphanea.1 male.1 female.both parent reared.will be at a sensable price.

[CooperMan]

His weight was a bit up today at 7-14.7/8 I would have given him a bit of a whizz in the field but it was exceptionally misty so I took the opportunity to put his tail mount on, It was glued and tied onto the tail as described in N. Fox's book. I have found this to work well on the falcons but an eagles tail will no doubt put it to the test. Took some pic's as well so so what you think of my rather ropey handy work.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

I have often found with a few spaecies of eagle that this set up dosent last very well. The way that works for me is bell on anklet, telemetry tube straight onto feather then bound down with dental floss onto araldite. Even Balds have left this set up alone far better than the traditional plec arrangement.

[Berkut]

Cooperman,
Marshalls do a good tailmount for telemetry as well as the tool to fit it. They do up to eagle size and it works very well. It only takes seconds to fit and you can,t do it too tight and damage the tail feather.

[OutFlying]

I've found this tool to be hit and miss with different hawks - would definately use an adhesive with the tailmount if crimping.

Jim.

[Berkut]

I use glue and generally when you close it, it leaves a blob of glue at the bottom which acts as a wedge.I usually put one on each deck feather , one higher than the other so the 2 transmitters do not physically interfere with each other.

[CooperMan]

Cheers guys I will see how this lasts and try something else if it comes off.
I did use the metal mounts with araldite ontot the tails of our male harris' this year one fell off and the other lost his deck feather. I had never had a problem with this on the falcons or the hawks so thought i would give it a blast on the big guy. I know there would be less likley hood of him loosing a deck feather I felt I should stick with what I know. I will check out the marshalls website for mounts Berkut and see what I can find.
I have got a bell on his anklet already but thought i might as well put one on his tail as well. K I take it from your post Balds tend to be hard on their gear?
Does anybody fancy a sweep stake on how long it is before Morpheus' mount falls off? From what youve said I' ll go with lying in his aviary in the morning lol.

[AndyYounger]

CM i hope this interests you.
here are a few pics of my mates male goldie. this one is called Taggart. he is a parent reared 05 bird. and an absalute treasure! he is very calm with anyone and flies a treat. works well with dogs and is a real credit to his handler.

[AndyYounger]

some more!

[Fawkes]

Great pics AY! (you're giving Tasha and Greg a run for their money :wink: )
He's very dark for an '05 bird - hardly any white under his wings - great looking bird though!

[AndyYounger]

he is stunning! my friend also has a couple of other goldies. one of which he has called bently. this is by far the best goldie i have ever had the pleasure to watch fly. and his manner is just perfect. from the way he acts on the block to his manner on a kill. just perfect! this is the kind of bird that makes you think"i want a male goldie" but as i have seen they are not all this way. its down to the dedication an knowlage of the falconer

[CooperMan]

Nice bird mate, are those mews jesses I spy there tut tut, how long has he been flying free, has he taken much with him yet. I will update Morpheus' trainging tomorrow if I get chance.

[Dave G]

well spotted cooperman flying free with mews jesses tut tut lazyyyy

[CooperMan]

I have a set of permanent flying jesses attached to the big guys anklets now it makes it much easier to remove mews jesses and a bit safer (no loose feet) they are made from a thinner leather and tied on the eyelet like traditional jesses round the leg. I use them on all my birds now I was worried about them getting in the way when tethered but they are no probs

[Berkut]

Nice bird mate, are those mews jesses I spy there tut tut, how long has he been flying free, has he taken much with him yet. I will update Morpheus' trainging tomorrow if I get chance.
I fit flying jesses depending on the circumstances.On this particular occassion it had rained all day and had stopped about an hour before darkness fell. The bird was given some excercise, as due to the weather, he had spent most of the day in the box as we waited for the rain to stop. At that point photographs were taken. We were in the middle of nowhere without a fence or tree in sight.
He has been flying loose since mid November and to date has 20 hares and 1 rabbit to his credit.Hopefully more by the time I visit the forum tonight as I am off out with him shortly.
All the best.

[AndyYounger]

Cooperman. i dont believe that flying a goldie or any other large eagle on a grouse moore with no trees in sight is a threat at all with mews jesses.
especially when the bird is as reliable as taggart is. lazyness isnt an issue when it comes to a goldie.

[CooperMan]

Each to their own guys your the person there to make the decsion about how safe it is to fly, but from my own point of view I always remove mews jesses before flying that way even if something untoward happens there is no risk of tangling. We all know how much distance our birds can cover when lost.
Nice going on the hunting Berkut. Morpheus is getting closer but no kill yet.

[CooperMan]

Well we are moving along quite nicely now, we are onto some serious fitness work I have been giving him 4 or 5 lure flights a day usually hard up hill flights with him starting 200 or 300 metres away I have to be careful not to over do it and have him land on the ground from that distance but he tries really hard. These have been done with the quad for speed/distance and on foot (me running) for manoverability/my exercise.
We usually start with some follow on trainning through a nice row of trees or along a wall, if anybody needs tree surgery I've got just the fellow here. The smaller birds can be comical when they land in trees to start with but Morpheus is just destructive, smaller branches don't stand a chance, but this is improving alot now.
I have been doing about 10 flights to the glove uphill along side the lure training and increasing the distance very slowly, I didn't realise just how hard it would be to get him really fit.
His food consumtion has gone up by a huge amount. He was coming on the creance and maintaining his weight on about 6 docs or 1 large rat that has now gone up to 2 large rats, I haven't fed chicks for a while as his weight was going down on them rather than up.
He has had a few good flights at Hares with 2 of them being very close affairs. Jinxs at the last minute saved them both.
Yesterday I took Kev with me and the ferrets we had a ratch for some hares but drew a blank so used the ferrets as plan b and drew another blank although he did spend the afternoon trying to eat ferret. I ended up using a dead rabbit the harris's had caught earlier.
He responds imediately when he sees fur and as he was about to strike I gave it a good jerk leaving him a couple of yds behind instead of landing as he would if a jinx had been thrown he just hit the power and caught the rabbit before I'd gone another 3 yds.
Hopefully this weekend will see success. Unfortunately I haven't had chance to do any soaring work as there has been no wind at all. Sods bloody law.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

How long are you going too keep the hunting work up this season? Just wondered what your plan was.

[CooperMan]

How long are you going too keep the hunting work up this season? Just wondered what your plan was.
It would be nice to actually get him hunting first, hopefully I will carry on hunting regularly until the end of march beginning of April, then see how he is at static displays and introduce him to some flying displays hopefully later on in the season. I never really stop hunting completely most years. We are often out bunny bashing through out the summer with the harris' and I'm sure it will be the case with Morpheus aswell. We will try to avoid the hares during the summer though.
Just as a side line have any of the eagle guys on the forum approached the Great Altcar estate where they used to run the waterloo cup about hunting hares. I know they shot 300 after last year but surely there will still be a lot there, I just wondered it may make a nice yearly meet.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Id take it easy on the rabbits during the summer as it may switch him to easy prey. Also you may find that long flights become less and loss frequent as Goldens do suffer with heat quickly. Id be tempted to use large lures as far as he'll go and work on fist responses from greater and greater differences. Also bare in mind that if you dont up his weight and trigure his moult he could be on some of those feathers for the next three years!

[CooperMan]

I figured that he would be less able to cope with the heat. I assumed that I would be able to fly him fairly well through the moult with out to much trouble but you've just cast a huge doubt over that idea.
I like the large lure idea, I'll post a picture of mine tomorrow its made from bits of a sheep skin jacket, he trashed anything else that he got near, and I didn't have a fox or deer pelt available but the sheep skin is holding up well.

[ChakChek]

I figured that he would be less able to cope with the heat. I assumed that I would be able to fly him fairly well through the moult with out to much trouble but you've just cast a huge doubt over that idea.
I like the large lure idea, I'll post a picture of mine tomorrow its made from bits of a sheep skin jacket, he trashed anything else that he got near, and I didn't have a fox or deer pelt available but the sheep skin is holding up well.

lets hope he doesnt take a shine to catching sheep;-)

[Berkut]

The only thing about flying an eagle through the moult is it can put subsequent moults out of line. They tend to take a few seasons to get in to the swing of moulting and on average moult 50% of their feathers per year. I suppose it depends on how far through the summer you want to fly him and at what stage you want to do serious hunting with him next season.
All the best whatever you decide.

[CooperMan]

Well I thought it was time for an update about the winged wonder. There isn't much to report really. We have been flat out with work and flying so his fitness is coming on nicely now after a flight uphill after a lure across a 30 acre field he isn't winded, his responses are immediate at weights upto 7-13 above that he thinks about things first.
We haven't had any kills yet unfortunately, not for want of trying, the other day we put up 6 hares in one field he flew the first 2 then landed on a fence we flush some towards him which he totally ignored even with our shouts. which got us a bollocking from a neighboring farmer for scaring his sheep (two fields away and in lamb apparently) grumpy!
Probably the best effort I have seen him put in so far was at a hare which got up about 200 yds away he flew it hard gainning all the way just as he started dropping to strike the cheating ****** stopped dead and he over flew it and landed on a fence post turned round and set off after it again but had lost to much ground and gave up after another 100 yds.
We had a nice flight at a ferreted rabbit a while back the rabbits at this particular set in a wall either run left from us or down hill away from us and by standing at the top end of the wall the bird can see and cover both sides.
Kev was working the ferret down the hill infront of us. the rabbit bolted and took off down hill Morpheus took off instantly and went down the wrong side of the wall missing Kevs head by about 1/2 inch, he dropped down behind the wall at which point I started cursing thinking he was mucking about after about 100yds over he popped and stepped up a gear after the rabbit the rabbit jinxed into the wall and he over shot into a tree the rabbit the came out of the wall and ran right underneath him whilst he made a point of ignoring it. Its just the law of averages now eventually we will find a blind deaf dumb 3 legged rabbit or hare that stops to introduce itself to him before it runs away. I live in hope.
The only problem I have had is that he is getting a bit free with his feet often after weighing him when I am taking his mews jesses out he will try to throw out a foot so far he has missed doing this or I have had a good hold of his jesses. On tuesday I went to hold his jesses as he landed and out went his foot. I was half a mile from home on my own and he had got me with style. His back talon was buried up to his toe in the back of my hand. Just to really set the picture for you any body on the road walking past must have thought I had Turrets. :lol: :lol: I didn't realise how bad it was until he let go with the front talons and I tried to move my hand away and couldn't I ended up having to twist my hand upside down and a bit more to remove it. Luckily it was a puncture wound going across the back of my hand rather than through my hand so no harm done. well not much.
This is the bit I'm not sure on He has never had food taken off him (not while he was with us anyway) and I'm very careful picking him up off the lure so he has never been "robbed" I'm hoping that he is just starting to become frustrated and it will subside once we get some kills watch this space.
Just as a little end note we where out this afternoon in the snow. Their insulation is amazing when we got back the driving snow had actually frozen to the feathers on his chest and nape feathers and showed no sign of melting from his body heat. Needless to say he was left in the garage to thaw out and dry off.

[CooperMan]

Just a quick up date while I'm on. Now the light nights are here there is even more work being done on fitness. I had a couple of friends over on monday and he did me proud. He flew 3 hares in fine style with the last one being the most spectacular escape. He went onto the wall about 30 yds in front of us and as soon as he touched down was off again. He went vertical to about 100 feet in the wind and then set off in a dive we ran up to the wall just in time to see him throw himself into the long grass 150yds up the field. All we saw was a hare leap 2 foot straight into the air and make like a formula 1 car across the field. with the wind behind him the big guy struggled to get going and ended up landing after 50 yds realising he had been denied. I have decided to keep going until the end of April with him or until the first kill before that and then feed him up for the moult. It is a real same he hasn't had a kill yet as he is working so hard to secure one and is just unlucky as well as a bit young and daft. Here's hoping for the next couple of weeks.

[HoumaFalconer]

I Love The Photos, Please Keep Them And The Stories Comming

[Zam]

Thanks for your updates!! It's great to read. He looks stunning in the pics. Really hopes he gets a kill in before the moult - but either way, you seem to be having a fantastic time with him.

Looking forward to the next installment and pics:grin:

[The_Eagle]

Let the goldie grow to around 12-months and then steadily over a month drop the weight to 6lb 9oz - 7lb...... will become very responsive.

kind regards,

Muhammad J

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

You cant be that specific with a bird you dont know mate.

[CooperMan]

Its been a while since I have posted now and I'm over joyed to report that we have started the season the way we mean to go on. Morpheus has had his first kill. A very obliging rabbit which ran straight down the hill for about 200 yds. When K said it is like useing a sledge hammer to crack a nut he wasn't kidding. The Rabbit actually burst on impact.
I left him until september to finish his moult and spent the summer with handling and hood training. I got a great hood of MJ a real work of art. which fits like a dream. He will sit well to be hooded but if carried for a while starts to pull at the feathers on his chest a little. I am hoping this will improve now we are flying him out of the hood at the lure and to hunt. He moulted out 3 pairs of primaries and 2 pairs of tail feathers. Unfortunately he has damage a couple of old primaries on each wing bating at my wifes terrier pup (she wouldn't listen) I have moved him off the pea gravel into mews with a sand base and there hasn't been a problem since. That may be because he has settled down with the renewed flying but I'm sure the sand has played its part.
Hopefully now the long nights are here and I've got caught up on jobs I can start posting a bit more again.

[Berkut]

Good to see you on here again Richard.Glad the hooding worked out for you.
Has it been advantageous.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Strange you should mention the plucking thing. Im going through it with one of my males at the moment. Thought youd disappeared mate LOL. K

[Saker-Mad]

hi just found this theard :roll: great theard and well done to you and the bird, and good luck with catching more bunnies:supz: :supz: .
s-m

[LittleJoe]

i love goldies hope u do really well with him and try and get some nice pics of it in flight cya little joe good luck :supz:

[PitBullOne]

hi sorry the gear is not coming your way i too am training/hunting a male goldie ,the very first free flight he killed a rabbit ,which was so lucky,i had not seen it , the bird glided along ahedge ,and shot out into the field, isaw the underside of the bird andit was done ,in all honesty i did not know it had a rabbit till i was up with the bird ,it may have been your deaf blind one, sorry he ate it all, ihave been draging dead water deer for mine , iam also having a real job finding some hares to fly him on.iam using a griff hood , my bird is a knowles brown pr he is presently 7lb .oos good luck ,interesting stuff