mark
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by mark on Feb 23, 2006 22:22:50 GMT -5
I am a Tennesseean, but live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Falconry is THE national past time in the UAE, which is cool.
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Post by Weasel on Feb 24, 2006 9:12:37 GMT -5
Welcome to the site Mark, I have a possible chance to move to Dubai in the near future....Not sure if i will do it, but it sure looks nice over there!
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wes
Junior Member
Posts: 100
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Post by wes on Feb 24, 2006 11:25:23 GMT -5
Welcome Mark,
You got my intrest going,
What BOP's are flown there by the general public, most popular, or mostly rare BOP's,
post pics, if possible?
Happy Hawking
wes
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mark
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by mark on Feb 28, 2006 13:22:05 GMT -5
Weasel, thanks for the welcome. The UAE is definitely a great place to be for a falconer. Let me know if anything comes of the Dubai possibility. Wes, the most popular falconer's bird here are large falcons, most particularly gyr hybrids, peregrines and sakers. The local Arabs find smaller falcons (i.e., merlins, hobbies, etc) weak and non-chivalrous, and as such do not appreciate diversity as much as in the West. Accipiters and Broad-wings are not traditionally used here, partly because they were not practical for the Beduin nomads. Barbary falcons are tolerated by many and even loved by a few, despite the fact that they are smaller than their Peregrine brothers (okay, and sisters). ![]() [/img] There are two falconry stores right across the street from where I live ----in which they sell all types of falconry equipment and many falcons! Most of the falcons are sakers, gyrs and peregrines, and there are Barbaries as well. I have found many Hobby falcons and Common/Lesser Kestrels for sale (30 US dollars) in the open markets, usually cooped up in small bird cages. The Hobbies are beautiful----I used to have one. You can also find Sparrow Hawks, an occasional Eagle (Steppe, Golden, etc----I saw 2 Steppes and 1 Golden for sale in Saudi Arabia), and an occasional Sooty falcon (I saw 1 for sale in Bahrain and 1 here in the UAE. It looked like a large Hobby, but in a different shade). I will post some pics later as it is REAL late over here and since I just got back from the States I am suffering from jet lag. (I wonder if migrating birds get jet lag?? Food for thought.)  |
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Minca
Full Member
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Post by Minca on Mar 1, 2006 13:59:00 GMT -5
Aren't Sooty falcons from Australia? I could be wrong. How fun to have falconry stores right across the street! We'll be looking foreward to stories from you in the future.  |
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Post by kmcarb on Mar 3, 2006 10:20:41 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. I have a good friend that is in the UAE (Abu Dhabi), Ken Riddle. He is working in Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed's falconry program. If you cross paths, tell him hi from Kent. He keeps sending me stories and pictures of their falconry trips to Morocco. I'm very envious.
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mark
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by mark on Mar 24, 2006 14:08:45 GMT -5
Kent, You won't believe this, but I just got back from a visiting Ken & Rebecca Riddle at their home!! How do you know Ken???!! Wow, this is something ironic, since I only just met him recently. I was just looking at some of his pictures of his falcons back at his ranch in Oklahoma. Simply beautiful. Ken is extremely influential around here when it comes to falconry. You know this better than I do, of course. It has been real neat to get to know him. I will definitely tell him that I ran into you.  It does seem to be a small world sometimes! Nice to meet you. I look forward to chatting more with you. Mark Thomas |
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mark
New Member
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Post by mark on Mar 24, 2006 14:19:20 GMT -5
Minca,
Sooty falcons are resident in North & East Africa and breed on islands in the Arabian Gulf. They live along the coast and feed on a variety of seabirds. Maybe you're thinking of the Grey falcon from Australia. It looks similar.
Mark
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Minca
Full Member
Posts: 389
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Post by Minca on Mar 25, 2006 13:30:52 GMT -5
hehe, that's probably it...
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jobbyjob
Junior Member
It's sad to be lonely in a crowd.
Posts: 173
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Post by jobbyjob on Mar 28, 2006 23:23:26 GMT -5
Um, UAE, where? To my knowledge the UAE is a conglomerate of nations not A nation. National pastimes are usually restricted to A nation. Which nation do you reside in? Just interested although it's not important.
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mark
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by mark on Apr 1, 2006 13:11:49 GMT -5
Jobby, the UAE is a single nation. It is a conglomeration of emirates, or "states", not nations. Colohen, sorry about your bank account. The people here are not known as thieves (even though the place used to be called "pirates coast"...hee hee). Maybe there are a few pirates still around. But now they have falcons on their shoulders, not parrots! I'm about as flightless as a dodo bird right now.  I don't have a bird at the moment because of the schedule that I'm trying to get out of! |
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