Irrelevant
Well-known member
hell yes! That's awesome
Hope dies last.
- Thread starter BirdManMike
- Start date
and his eating habits are soooo much better! No blood all over his chest. Just a wee bit around his beak---might want to tuck a wet wipe in his pocket next time.
Do you ever get a video of him? I just cannot imagine a bird at 400-500+ feet catching huns. That boggles my mind. His stoop must be blistering fast (do you have an estimate of hi speed?).
Oh, another question. Does he always get to eat the game bird? Or do you ever get it?
Do you ever get a video of him? I just cannot imagine a bird at 400-500+ feet catching huns. That boggles my mind. His stoop must be blistering fast (do you have an estimate of hi speed?).
Oh, another question. Does he always get to eat the game bird? Or do you ever get it?
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Peregrine falcons can hit 220 mph, faster than free fall. I’m not a ‘scientist’ with a grasp on ‘physics’ - if those are even real things - so I can’t explain how exactly they do it. It involves ‘aerodynamics’ - again, if that is even a real thing (I’ve never seen it in person so I couldn’t say for certain). What I do know is that it takes a lot of strength and conditioning to get those speeds, to bend their bodies that certain way, and the high ends are usually the forte of the females who are bigger and stronger. He is certainly hitting speeds faster than free fall in the stoop, probably 140-150. There is an audible sound to the stoop when it gets this fast, like the sizzle of bacon.and his eating habits are soooo much better! No blood all over his chest. Just a wee bit around his beak---might want to tuck a wet wipe in his pocket next time.
Do you ever get a video of him? I just cannot imagine a bird at 400-500+ feet catching huns. That boggles my mind. His stoop must be blistering fast (do you have an estimate of hi speed?).
Oh, another question. Does he always get to eat the game bird? Or do you ever get it?
He eats everything. Whether it’s right on the kill or whether I trade him off for other meat and butcher it at home for later food, this isn’t a way to put food on my own table.
No to video. I rarely get pitchers. There is too much I’m keeping track of to mess around with something else.
i suppose free fall velocity is calculated without the best aerodynamics. I bet even humans can beat free fall by assuming the best aerodynamic position.
I love the sound of wood ducks when they dive into a pond. Nowhere near the speeds you are talking about, but still cool nonetheless.
So they are super fast, but are they nimble flyers? I would think a wood duck could outmaneuver a bird of prey by acrobatics. Unless they don't attempt the acrobatics. A hun should be able to dance around super quick like (at least they do when I try and shoot them!). Do they not see the peregrine coming?
A good example would be a mourning dove that dips and dances all the time. I would think that would make it hard to catch.
I love the sound of wood ducks when they dive into a pond. Nowhere near the speeds you are talking about, but still cool nonetheless.
So they are super fast, but are they nimble flyers? I would think a wood duck could outmaneuver a bird of prey by acrobatics. Unless they don't attempt the acrobatics. A hun should be able to dance around super quick like (at least they do when I try and shoot them!). Do they not see the peregrine coming?
A good example would be a mourning dove that dips and dances all the time. I would think that would make it hard to catch.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
They are nimble enough.
Ducks are easy flights for falcons. The easiest of any of the usual quarry.
Gamebirds are a little more nimble, but they don’t really have the moves to dodge and usually take a decent hit if they can’t beat the bird to cover.
Pigeons can dodge well. They time it well, too, most of the time avoiding a direct hit if taking a hit at all. Doves are even more shifty - the smaller tiercels can learn to score but it’s harder for the big females. Merlins are great at catching doves, they are far more agile than the bigger falcons.
Ducks are easy flights for falcons. The easiest of any of the usual quarry.
Gamebirds are a little more nimble, but they don’t really have the moves to dodge and usually take a decent hit if they can’t beat the bird to cover.
Pigeons can dodge well. They time it well, too, most of the time avoiding a direct hit if taking a hit at all. Doves are even more shifty - the smaller tiercels can learn to score but it’s harder for the big females. Merlins are great at catching doves, they are far more agile than the bigger falcons.
rjthehunter
Well-known member
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing, I'm looking forward to more pictures and write ups like this!!!
BirdManMike
Well-known member
This bird is the best bird Ive ever flown. Both the best and the biggest PITA.
I havent taken any pitchers - due to just enjoying the moment, mostly - but he is kicking ___ (fill in the blank). It is so exciting. Every flight.
"I dont have enough people words to make it understand you the way it understands me".
-Ricky
This is the best thing in my life. Aside from my family, truly. I dont have the words to describe it. I dont know that there are any. These highs are SO high, as high as it goes. The lows - as I alluded to at the start - are as low as it gets. I hope the highs continue. Tomorrow - ____ing (fill in the blank) tomorrow - is a whole new day. I cant hardly wait.
I havent taken any pitchers - due to just enjoying the moment, mostly - but he is kicking ___ (fill in the blank). It is so exciting. Every flight.
"I dont have enough people words to make it understand you the way it understands me".
-Ricky
This is the best thing in my life. Aside from my family, truly. I dont have the words to describe it. I dont know that there are any. These highs are SO high, as high as it goes. The lows - as I alluded to at the start - are as low as it gets. I hope the highs continue. Tomorrow - ____ing (fill in the blank) tomorrow - is a whole new day. I cant hardly wait.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Looks like my prediction was accurate. Or maybe less of a prediction and more of a foretelling - a willing, even. Maybe, just maybe, I have become as the legend that is my avatar and spirit animal, Don Lope de Aguirre, and have knowingly or unknowingly willed this upon myself.
I am the great traitor. There must be no other. Anyone who even thinks about deserting this mission will be cut up into 198 pieces. Those pieces will be stamped on until what is left can be used only to paint walls. Whoever takes one grain of corn or one drop of water... more than his ration, will be locked up for 155 years. If I, Aguirre, want the birds to drop dead from the trees... then the birds will drop dead from the trees. I am the wrath of God. The earth I pass will see me and tremble. But whoever follows me and the river, will win untold riches. But whoever deserts...
-Aguirre
This must be it.
Its been over a week since I have had a good flight on game. It might have been the day of my last post in this topic. The snow has stayed, accumulating a little more, and has become solid. The wind has been unusually sparse, also, and has been either the 'wrong' wind and/or hasnt last long enough to clear hilltops to hold huns. With the 5 more inches of snow the night before last now covering the crust - snow that already has a slight crunch after yesterday and will have even more after today - I am cutting back on the number of days I go out flying to every other day or even every third day. The birds are still there - a lot of birds, its been a really good year - and I could be out there shooting them easy enough, but finding them in flyable spots out in the open is going to be tough. One of the ranchers that lets me hunt sent me a text w/ picture the other day with 30 or so huns sitting under one of the trees in front of his house and said there more on the other side or the house, but those arent birds I can fly since cover in the form of fences, bushes, trees, buildings, and the creek bottom are close and abundant -- the birds are all in spots like this, along field edges close to cover, along the creeks, along the lanes or around barns, etc. They can be killed in these situations, but it is counterproductive to everything I have been teaching Roach these past months, pulling his pitch way, way down, encouraging landing to get darting flights from a perch, and all sorts of other things better suited to flying accipiters. We call this flying style 'rat hawking' when done with falcons and while I dont judge anyone that just wants to put some game in the bag, this isnt for me.
Roach is really flying great, tho. He is now what I would call a 'made bird', meaning he knows what game is, wants it, and can kill it. Next season, especially in the early season when the birds are still young (MT's upland season really starts early - a lot of these young September birds can barely fly), he is going to put a bird down every time I put some under him, just getting better and better.
Roach has killed 4 homers now. These are strong birds, really challenging, and I am impressed that he has killed this many this early in the season. The last 2, tho, have been flown down further away than Id like after taking an initial hit. One he caught in some stacked round bails 3/4 mile away from the hit. The eagles are showing up now so catching a pigeon out of sight is risky - an eagle would like little better than to kill a little chamber-raised dummy on the ground while he is happily eating a pigeon, a twofer for the eagle. One of my fields is now done, the field he caught that first hun a few weeks back -- the last time I went there to fly, less than a week ago, there were 2 eagles in the lone tree near the edge of the field and 6 eagles soaring over the field. I nope-d right out of there and went somewhere else. I am not letting him remount any longer, pulling the lure after his initial stoop as he is coursing the pigeons so he breaks off - not worth the risk.
The falconry season goes thru to the end of March. I rarely fly birds that late into the year as it is, usually ending the season when I find the first huns paired up. Not only is it time to let them do their thing, these arent ever good flights - the male birds goes first, bailing quickly to suck the flacon down, then the female goes the other way also bailing quickly should the falcon still be in the air. While I have some hope of getting a few more flights on huns and hopefully sharptail, hopefully even putting a couple more in the bag, I am not overly optimistic. Things are just going to get more difficult as the snow continues to pile up and in all likelihood I may only make it to late January.
Its been a great year. I am really happy with how things have turned out. I am really hopeful for the future.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Still no more flights on gamebirds. I am really hoping this warmup gets some birds out in fields again.
I am ordering a GPS tracker for Roach. I have had one on him a few times recently just to get some real numbers on his flying. Ive been flying a little with a friend - the longtime falconer I mentioned at some point in this topic - and putting his GPS transmitter on Roach before the flights.
A couple Sundays ago, the day the recent cold snap begun, I put him up right on a road in the middle of nowhere- snow-covered fields as far as the eye could see with 3 degree temps. We had a pheasant in a launcher right on the side of the road to launch when he got to a good pitch. He left the fist, flying straight out into the distance, never turning back, then began circling up over something a mile or more away, reaching over 1000'. My friend grabbed some binos and noticed there was a guy out there in orange.
I hopped in my vehicle and drove towards where Roach had gone then jumped out and started swinging the lure. Nothing. My friend came up a couple minutes later and could see on the GPS that Roach had kept going. He was now another couple miles away at over 1200'.
Turns out there was some guy out there with snowshoes and a dog, trying to blast huns at one of the unreachable-by-vehicle stacks of round bails they have been using as shelter. When I let Roach off the fist, I had no dog with me and wasnt wearing the orange vest I always wear so I am pretty certain he saw this fellow and decided thats where he needed to be.
The two of us hopped in his truck and went chasing Roach. We caught up to him another 10 miles later as he was chasing a bunch of feral pigeons around a farm. As soon as he saw me - now wearing my orange vest - he came flying over. He was in the air about 40 minutes at over 1200' for most of the flight until he found some pigeons to harass. The GPS really helped with the recovery. I am confident in my tracking with traditional telemetry having to chase down a few birds before, including him once a couple weeks back, but its never as quick as that.
Yesterday, we had the same plan - pheasant off the road in the middle of nowhere. This time things went as planned. GPS on, Roach mounted as he normally does, and I launched the pheasant as he was nearing 900'. He probably had more height in him, but he had taken a really nice position over me so I let the pheasant fly instead of pushing. Down he came, clocking the pheasant hard out of the air, clocking it on the ground a couple more times, then binding. We did the same with his falcon afterwards.
Roach is really an incredible flier. He mounts in half the time, or less, as his falcon, never stopping pumping his wings. My friend suggested that I think about entering him in this years sky trials in Utah, said he is a really good bird for it. I dont really know how these work, but basically the falcon goes up, a pigeon is released, down they come and then there is some sort of judging or points system based on height, speed to height, speed down, and other stuff I guess. Its a competition - field trialing for falcons, I guess.
I am sitting here this morning thinking about what to do. I could get Roach's height even higher over the next month or so before the thing starts using pigeons from launchers way out in fields and by doing some other things, but that means we are done actual hunting for the season. Doing this may also be detrimental to my hun hawking with him - the natural 1000' +/- pitch he takes now is already too high for many of our hun slips just based on the fields I am flying and the coveys proximity to cover. If I had more good sharptail fields it would be a no brainer, but the huns are my main quarry locally. Dunno, mulling it over - Im taking the next couple days off from flying and will see how a couple of my fields look in terms of snow depths later this week.
I am patting myself on the back a little with how well this falcon is flying. Some birds just have it, and he is one of those birds. The back patting is less about how well Ive done developing Roach, and more so about how well Ive done in not effing up his own development. Mistakes are easy in falconry, and most of the time its the falconer that holds back the development of a young bird, teaching undesirable behavior - due to fear, a need for control, inexperience, or whatever else - rather than letting the falcon learn desired behavior. Similar to training a young pup, I guess.
Hope is far from death at the moment.
I am ordering a GPS tracker for Roach. I have had one on him a few times recently just to get some real numbers on his flying. Ive been flying a little with a friend - the longtime falconer I mentioned at some point in this topic - and putting his GPS transmitter on Roach before the flights.
A couple Sundays ago, the day the recent cold snap begun, I put him up right on a road in the middle of nowhere- snow-covered fields as far as the eye could see with 3 degree temps. We had a pheasant in a launcher right on the side of the road to launch when he got to a good pitch. He left the fist, flying straight out into the distance, never turning back, then began circling up over something a mile or more away, reaching over 1000'. My friend grabbed some binos and noticed there was a guy out there in orange.
I hopped in my vehicle and drove towards where Roach had gone then jumped out and started swinging the lure. Nothing. My friend came up a couple minutes later and could see on the GPS that Roach had kept going. He was now another couple miles away at over 1200'.
Turns out there was some guy out there with snowshoes and a dog, trying to blast huns at one of the unreachable-by-vehicle stacks of round bails they have been using as shelter. When I let Roach off the fist, I had no dog with me and wasnt wearing the orange vest I always wear so I am pretty certain he saw this fellow and decided thats where he needed to be.
The two of us hopped in his truck and went chasing Roach. We caught up to him another 10 miles later as he was chasing a bunch of feral pigeons around a farm. As soon as he saw me - now wearing my orange vest - he came flying over. He was in the air about 40 minutes at over 1200' for most of the flight until he found some pigeons to harass. The GPS really helped with the recovery. I am confident in my tracking with traditional telemetry having to chase down a few birds before, including him once a couple weeks back, but its never as quick as that.
Yesterday, we had the same plan - pheasant off the road in the middle of nowhere. This time things went as planned. GPS on, Roach mounted as he normally does, and I launched the pheasant as he was nearing 900'. He probably had more height in him, but he had taken a really nice position over me so I let the pheasant fly instead of pushing. Down he came, clocking the pheasant hard out of the air, clocking it on the ground a couple more times, then binding. We did the same with his falcon afterwards.
Roach is really an incredible flier. He mounts in half the time, or less, as his falcon, never stopping pumping his wings. My friend suggested that I think about entering him in this years sky trials in Utah, said he is a really good bird for it. I dont really know how these work, but basically the falcon goes up, a pigeon is released, down they come and then there is some sort of judging or points system based on height, speed to height, speed down, and other stuff I guess. Its a competition - field trialing for falcons, I guess.
I am sitting here this morning thinking about what to do. I could get Roach's height even higher over the next month or so before the thing starts using pigeons from launchers way out in fields and by doing some other things, but that means we are done actual hunting for the season. Doing this may also be detrimental to my hun hawking with him - the natural 1000' +/- pitch he takes now is already too high for many of our hun slips just based on the fields I am flying and the coveys proximity to cover. If I had more good sharptail fields it would be a no brainer, but the huns are my main quarry locally. Dunno, mulling it over - Im taking the next couple days off from flying and will see how a couple of my fields look in terms of snow depths later this week.
I am patting myself on the back a little with how well this falcon is flying. Some birds just have it, and he is one of those birds. The back patting is less about how well Ive done developing Roach, and more so about how well Ive done in not effing up his own development. Mistakes are easy in falconry, and most of the time its the falconer that holds back the development of a young bird, teaching undesirable behavior - due to fear, a need for control, inexperience, or whatever else - rather than letting the falcon learn desired behavior. Similar to training a young pup, I guess.
Hope is far from death at the moment.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
A flight on huns! Finally!
Roach took a 500-600' pitch in the 20 mph sustained wind today with gusts higher. Stuck with me, pumping up wind of me, the entire time. He is all business now - really great, he knows what works. It takes a lot of physical condition to work in the wind like that and it takes a lot of mental condition for them to want to do it.
The covey(s) werent in either of the two spots I thought theyd be so I put him to fly pigeons. Then I thought maybe try one more spot in the field. Sent Greta Grouse that way and began walking. Roach stuck with me the entire time, not letting me get upwind of him.
Greta Grouse locked up. Roach was upwind and wide between the covey and their safety which was 1/4 mile away or so. Felt pretty sure thered be a dead a hun.
Released the Grouse to flush, covey of 12+ went for it, Roach stooped, pitched up, then came down fast in pursuit. Couldnt see over a slight rise to know whether he hit or whether it bailed or what. Felt pretty confident he had one. Then he was back up and pumping back.
Thatd normally be a kill, but its OK. Whatever moves the one he picked put on him, Im sure he learned from it.
There is plenty of open ground in between snow, but its SLICK. Every slight depression is solid ice. I nearly wiped out a couple times, and Greta Grouse did wipe out a couple times running which makes me nervous of injury.
Happy with the day.
Roach took a 500-600' pitch in the 20 mph sustained wind today with gusts higher. Stuck with me, pumping up wind of me, the entire time. He is all business now - really great, he knows what works. It takes a lot of physical condition to work in the wind like that and it takes a lot of mental condition for them to want to do it.
The covey(s) werent in either of the two spots I thought theyd be so I put him to fly pigeons. Then I thought maybe try one more spot in the field. Sent Greta Grouse that way and began walking. Roach stuck with me the entire time, not letting me get upwind of him.
Greta Grouse locked up. Roach was upwind and wide between the covey and their safety which was 1/4 mile away or so. Felt pretty sure thered be a dead a hun.
Released the Grouse to flush, covey of 12+ went for it, Roach stooped, pitched up, then came down fast in pursuit. Couldnt see over a slight rise to know whether he hit or whether it bailed or what. Felt pretty confident he had one. Then he was back up and pumping back.
Thatd normally be a kill, but its OK. Whatever moves the one he picked put on him, Im sure he learned from it.
There is plenty of open ground in between snow, but its SLICK. Every slight depression is solid ice. I nearly wiped out a couple times, and Greta Grouse did wipe out a couple times running which makes me nervous of injury.
Happy with the day.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Homer #6. They aren’t supposed to kill this many…
All I can say about the flight is, ‘holy crap’. GPS arrives tomorrow, should be able to figure out to put up a flight recording or two.
Greta Grouse had a nice point on a small covey of huns and group of sharptail on the walk back(same point, groups 20 yards apart). They would have been a good flight in the sense he’d have had a nice shot, but the flight would have ended up over the wrong property line where I don’t have permission so no real loss there. Maybe next time they’ll be in a different spot I can fly.
All I can say about the flight is, ‘holy crap’. GPS arrives tomorrow, should be able to figure out to put up a flight recording or two.
Greta Grouse had a nice point on a small covey of huns and group of sharptail on the walk back(same point, groups 20 yards apart). They would have been a good flight in the sense he’d have had a nice shot, but the flight would have ended up over the wrong property line where I don’t have permission so no real loss there. Maybe next time they’ll be in a different spot I can fly.
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Went out with other falconer this morning, same I’ve mentioned a few times. His dog just had surgery and is laid up. He is also ending his season with his peregrine. She is going back to the breeder - she was just a loaner bird from 2020 and this was always the plan. This was his last flight with her.
Greta Grouse had a nice point 5 minutes out of the truck. His peregrine, a female, was heavy and unmotivated, as the females can often be. She mounted about 300’, we flushed, she bounced a hun but not hard enough to hurt it, chased it off then came back and started looking for a handout.
She remounted, finally, but only to maybe 200’. Greta Grouse found some more birds and we put 10 or so sharptail under her. She halfassed the flight.
Oh well, he has had a couple really nice seasons with her. Showed her game on her last flight. Beautiful day. Not a waste at all.
Went to a different field. Greta Grouse found a couple coveys of huns but they were all but too close to the creek bottom and not worth flying.
Put Roach up to fly pigeons with the GPS on him. He went up 1175 ft and hit 100mph in the stoop. This GPS is really helpful.
Ignore yesterdays numbers - first time with the thing and didn’t do it right. The number in the second two screen captures are at the time of a screenshot not overall for flight.
Yesterday, I got a nice flight on huns. He either bounced one or had it dump into Sage. As I walking over I saw a female prairie come down on him. Started running towards them and shouting. He got up then flew right too me, landing at my feet for safety. The little ahole has some awareness, at least!
Getting nerve racking. This is the time of year little falcons get killed. There are eagles everywhere now and I’m sure that every flight there are a dozen or more pairs of eyes on him watching between the eagles, hawks, and prairie falcons.
Not going to throw homers any more. Too much of a risk. Easy kill pigeons when he is 1200’ (or more) or game.
This is a small community and word travels. Have had a couple other people tell me I need to bring him down to the Sky Trials first week of Feb. Also have another breeder maybe interested in putting him in a large flight/breeding with one of his falconry birds for the molt. They wouldn’t breed this year since they are both young, but they’d bond and be ready next year. Pull them back out for hunting in August. The socialization would be good for him, going to talk to him more about this.
Greta Grouse had a nice point 5 minutes out of the truck. His peregrine, a female, was heavy and unmotivated, as the females can often be. She mounted about 300’, we flushed, she bounced a hun but not hard enough to hurt it, chased it off then came back and started looking for a handout.
She remounted, finally, but only to maybe 200’. Greta Grouse found some more birds and we put 10 or so sharptail under her. She halfassed the flight.
Oh well, he has had a couple really nice seasons with her. Showed her game on her last flight. Beautiful day. Not a waste at all.
Went to a different field. Greta Grouse found a couple coveys of huns but they were all but too close to the creek bottom and not worth flying.
Put Roach up to fly pigeons with the GPS on him. He went up 1175 ft and hit 100mph in the stoop. This GPS is really helpful.
Ignore yesterdays numbers - first time with the thing and didn’t do it right. The number in the second two screen captures are at the time of a screenshot not overall for flight.
Yesterday, I got a nice flight on huns. He either bounced one or had it dump into Sage. As I walking over I saw a female prairie come down on him. Started running towards them and shouting. He got up then flew right too me, landing at my feet for safety. The little ahole has some awareness, at least!
Getting nerve racking. This is the time of year little falcons get killed. There are eagles everywhere now and I’m sure that every flight there are a dozen or more pairs of eyes on him watching between the eagles, hawks, and prairie falcons.
Not going to throw homers any more. Too much of a risk. Easy kill pigeons when he is 1200’ (or more) or game.
This is a small community and word travels. Have had a couple other people tell me I need to bring him down to the Sky Trials first week of Feb. Also have another breeder maybe interested in putting him in a large flight/breeding with one of his falconry birds for the molt. They wouldn’t breed this year since they are both young, but they’d bond and be ready next year. Pull them back out for hunting in August. The socialization would be good for him, going to talk to him more about this.
I didn't find this thread until today. Thanks for sharing the ups and downs of your experiences, Mike. Peregrines hold a special place in my heart, as I spent hundreds of hours observing them over several summers in western Colorado, from territory maintenance and ledge selection in March and April to seeing fledged young well on the wing in August. I had the good fortune to work with Jerry Craig and Jim Enderson, two cornerstones of the recovery effort for the species. Falconers played a pivotal role peregrine recovery, starting with Tom Cade at the top. Your descriptions of Roach's flights bring back fond memories.
Some might find the summary of the Colorado recovery effort interesting, particularly the section on recycling, hacking, fostering, and cross-fostering. Similar efforts were taking place all across the west at the same time.
Mike, you may appreciate an experience I had two days ago, sitting atop a hill in southern AZ glassing for Coues deer. I heard the sound of cacking right in front of me, and knew immediately that I had not heard such a sound before. Someone who has observed raptors extensively can cross off known species without even thinking about it. I caught a glimpse of a rather small bird attempting to land on ocotillo branches a couple hundred yards away. I threw my binos up, but my view was somewhat obscured by ocotillos between the two of us. The glimpse I got before it landed made me instantly think "aplomado," although it seemed inconceivable. I turned to grab my spotting scope and tripod sitting next to me, and my phone with phoneskope. As soon as I set my tripod down in front of me I saw the bird take off. I found it briefly in my binos before losing it in shadows of the hill in front of me, never to be seen again. I ended up with no photo and no look good enough to confirm an identification. I've subsequently listened to aplomado call recordings and they sound quite similar. It would be nearly 200 miles from the nearest sighting, but the habitat is perfect and anything is possible in the Borderlands at this time of year. Alas....
Some might find the summary of the Colorado recovery effort interesting, particularly the section on recycling, hacking, fostering, and cross-fostering. Similar efforts were taking place all across the west at the same time.
Mike, you may appreciate an experience I had two days ago, sitting atop a hill in southern AZ glassing for Coues deer. I heard the sound of cacking right in front of me, and knew immediately that I had not heard such a sound before. Someone who has observed raptors extensively can cross off known species without even thinking about it. I caught a glimpse of a rather small bird attempting to land on ocotillo branches a couple hundred yards away. I threw my binos up, but my view was somewhat obscured by ocotillos between the two of us. The glimpse I got before it landed made me instantly think "aplomado," although it seemed inconceivable. I turned to grab my spotting scope and tripod sitting next to me, and my phone with phoneskope. As soon as I set my tripod down in front of me I saw the bird take off. I found it briefly in my binos before losing it in shadows of the hill in front of me, never to be seen again. I ended up with no photo and no look good enough to confirm an identification. I've subsequently listened to aplomado call recordings and they sound quite similar. It would be nearly 200 miles from the nearest sighting, but the habitat is perfect and anything is possible in the Borderlands at this time of year. Alas....
BirdManMike
Well-known member
Oak,
You worked with some legends, for certain. Neat you were involved in the reintroduction efforts.
I believe you saw one. Im sure you know the Peregrine Fund has been working on reintroduction efforts since the 90s and there are now breeding aplomados again in southern Texas. There have been documented breeding pairs (or maybe just one?) in New Mexico, also.
A photo would have been neat!
You worked with some legends, for certain. Neat you were involved in the reintroduction efforts.
I believe you saw one. Im sure you know the Peregrine Fund has been working on reintroduction efforts since the 90s and there are now breeding aplomados again in southern Texas. There have been documented breeding pairs (or maybe just one?) in New Mexico, also.
A photo would have been neat!
Bird, hard to even say anything to this thread because it is so awesome and so far beyond anything I would ever even think of doing (or be capable of pulling off).
Really enjoying your write ups, they are very much appreciated- thanks for taking us in this journey with you.
Really enjoying your write ups, they are very much appreciated- thanks for taking us in this journey with you.
RobertD
Well-known member
I don't have anything to say other than if Roach has a fan club I want to be the damn president.
Seriously though, Mike: This is some one of the best threads on the site. Thanks for keeping it updated.
Seriously though, Mike: This is some one of the best threads on the site. Thanks for keeping it updated.
Truly amazing read, thanks for sharing your unique experiences! I have read a book or two on the subject, but learned so much more from this thread.
I am fully committed to starting falconry whenever I retire so that I can dedicate the time to it that it deserves.
I am fully committed to starting falconry whenever I retire so that I can dedicate the time to it that it deserves.
