jobbyjob
Junior Member
It's sad to be lonely in a crowd.
Posts: 173
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Post by jobbyjob on Nov 3, 2005 13:02:08 GMT -5
I trapped my new kestrel five days ago! She's pretty big, her trap weight was 121grams. She's a passager and has been a blast to train so far. Ate off the fist the next morning, hopped to the fist the day after that, and already she'll fly across the room for a tidbit. She's really mellow and just fun to be around. I'm going to lure train her to starling wings in the hope that it will get her going after those ugly suckers! ;D
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Post by ccrobbins on Nov 3, 2005 13:35:28 GMT -5
Man! I am envious! My second bird is going to be the lil K bird. How are you going to battle the carrying? Good luck and keep us posted!
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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 Nov 3, 2005 14:00:36 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm going to take matt mull.'s word for it and train her with a lure that weighs to much to carry far, maybe 70grams or so. i might start with some baggie starlings staked-out on the lawn too. She's also very willing to let me approach her so far, dont ask me why just lucked-out i guess.
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jobbyjob
Junior Member
It's sad to be lonely in a crowd.
Posts: 173
|
Post by jobbyjob on Nov 18, 2005 19:11:39 GMT -5
sorry about the pics... i dont have a multi-media drive or a usb port on this compooter. Anyway check this out: I start working her with the lure (after a week or so flying to the fist) and she goes after it on the ground right away. It's made from 2 starling wings with a bit of meat tied to them. she does perfect and lets me walk right up to her the first few days, so i start thinking how i'm the master of the universe and all that. So i started to move farther from her and put a bit larger garnish on the lure and.....let the carryfest begin!!! She screams her alarm call and mantles and tries to fly back to her perch, and if the lure is restrained she makes this call which sounds exactly like a loud purring cat! Any ideas guys and gals? i guess i'll just see how she does this week. Also she has been standing with her left hallux under the ball of her foot regularly (no swelling or discoloration but if i touch it she starts pull on her jess buttons like it hurts her.)
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Post by ritchiera on Nov 21, 2005 17:10:21 GMT -5
I'm a first year apprentice with a Female Kestral. Mine does the purr thing when she's feeling especially savage. Kestrals mantle and purr/puff up like puffer fish when they think you're going to take their food. I have found that mine does it less and less now that she has had alot of experience eating her whole meal off my hand.
Take the time to let her eat dinner each night on your fist. It takes a long time at first, but as her weight drops and she get's used to you she will eat faster.
My Kestrel flys at 94 grams now, down from 109 and she loves the lure. After she takes the lure I trade her for her dinner at the end of every nights training session. This has allowed me to get her married to the lure, get used to me giving her something better, and eating off my fist every day.
The other day a Male kestrel came and called to her from a post during training. She ignored him for the most part and attacked the lure. I picked her right up with the lure and traded her in my hands for dinner. She's really coming along.
Have fun. Kestral's are a blast.
Bob Ritchie
Orem, UT
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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 Nov 22, 2005 20:24:08 GMT -5
That sounds great Bob...wish I was closer so we could fly our ladies together! She's doing really well on the creance....took her to the beach today and she was coming from 75 yards....response was a little slow becaue she's still a bit fat (107 grams). She responds much better at about 100g. Good luck, and keep those boys aways from her!  |
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Post by ritchiera on Nov 25, 2005 22:32:01 GMT -5
I Almost lost her on Thanksgiving Day. I walked her to a cherry orchard near my house and let her loose. She flew into a tree and I walked down the row. She flew to me when I called her and then I let her fly into another tree. She looked to the North and started kaking and in flew a male. He flew past her and she took off. They flew out of the orchard and out of site.
My heart sunk in my chest and I blew my whistle. I don't think my whistle turned them but they did circle for the next few minutes over the orchard, not paying any attention to me as I tryed to stay in sight and kept calling with my whistle.
I made my way to the largest clearing and whiped out the lure. I have always blown four blasts with my whistle when the lure was involved. As I blew four times I saw her head turn. SHe locked onto the lure and stooped. She caught it as I let it fall (about a foot off the ground). I stepped to her and reached for her jesses. I said to her "that was close babe, let's not do that again" as I picked her up. I clipped her swivels onto her jesses and wrapped her leash to my glove.
I don't think I'll be hunting the orchard again until spring. I hope to let her loose with an interested male in the area when the time comes, but I hope that time doesn't come too soon. I definately want to fatten her up first.
My advice, is get that kestrel of your's really married to the lure, by letting her have it every day (I let mine have it at the end of training.)
If she wasn't so used to the snack bar it provides, I'd of had a sad Thanksgiving.
A good second piece of advice is work in open areas. I was amazed at how fast she was out of sight . The borders of the orchard has homes and trees.
Happy Holidays!
Bob Ritchie
Orem, UT
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Post by ccrobbins on Nov 26, 2005 8:58:26 GMT -5
You didn't lose her, she just went for a walk is all! Glad you have her back!
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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 Nov 26, 2005 21:55:01 GMT -5
I'm glad you got her back! I took my bird hunting at the beach yesterday. She kept getting nervous because there was a northern harrier quartering the field next to us. She would ignore me whenever it came into sight, but I suppose that is to be expected seeing how she is food for a lot of other raptors. Other than that it was really fun to see her riding the breezes coming in off the ocean. She caught a grasshopper and ate it (our first kill lol!) And today we were hunting around the bird feeders in my yard (heartless I know) she was getting really interested in this one sparrow but she's just not confident enough yet. She loves the lure though and is starting to trade-off to the fist smoothly. I'm getting really good responses at around 100-103g. I think she needs to go down a touch more and get used to the whole hunting routine and then watch out starlings! I've seen about 30-40 kestrels this season and only 4 were males it's a little weird, but at least I haven't had to deal with that yet.
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Post by Redkestrel88 on Nov 30, 2005 2:05:21 GMT -5
last friday was my male kestrel's third free flight. he was almost after a sparrow but a rt came into the area and he was scared off a little ways but then he remembered me and came to me about five times to the fist before being brought in for his big meal. this male didn't real take to the lure like my female did and so i cut the part of the training out and just stuck with the fist.
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jobbyjob
Junior Member
It's sad to be lonely in a crowd.
Posts: 173
|
Post by jobbyjob on Dec 1, 2005 17:37:36 GMT -5
Redkestel I though about doing the same thing (regarding skipping the lure training, let us know how he progresses by the way!) Because I'm only going to abush starlings and sparrows with her anyway. But I decided to keep with it because I don't know how else to get her going after feathered quarry. Honestly she doesn't even seem to think these little birds are food yet! I have had her less than five feet from sparrows on the ground while she was on the glove and she still wouldn't bite. I've had some trouble getting baggies. I keep killing all the starlings I shoot with my airgun for her! But I built a sparrow trap today and hopefully we'll make some progress when I catch some. Oh yeah, now she has started crying to me when it's nearly her feeding time...I didn't think passage birds did that. I'm trying to figure out what I've done to teach her to do it...anyone else have a passage bird that begs for food?
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Post by Weasel on Dec 2, 2005 9:08:58 GMT -5
Every passage bird I have had has food begged at some point or another. Just make sure they are not being reinforced into doing it more.
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I love working with the little monsters, I get one or two every spring . Hope she does well for you !! Sounds like she's on the right track already. 
