Moorman 1

Mine are 5cm which is 2 inches never had a problem with them and I know plenty of people that use these panels.

Thank you....All I can say is it works well. The bird is free lofted all year round and keeps herself fit. Its just nice knowing that she isn't tethered with the risk of tangling etc. She sees plenty going on all the time. It works well with the minimum of maintenance etc

With a bit of Clematis for a bit of natural greenery.

I can't remember the dimensions it was a few years ago that we built it I will have to measure it in the daylight. There is no door between the shelter and the barred section its all open. There is a canvas sheet that I have rolled up as a curtain for really bad weather but have never had the need to use it. The wooden section is lined with plastic parlour board to make cleaning easy. The roof is corrugated metal sheet 4 x 2's then lined with parlour board. It all works very well and is easy to clean. Below is a pic before it was finished just to give you an idea.

This suits a female Harris very well, freelofted all year round.

You have a PM

You will find that a Harris's will fly to you at a high weight. You will have to bring the weight down to make a young hawk take the plunge and tackle quarry. Once they have had a few kills you can try the weight up a bit until it goes off the boil. As muscle and confidence grow its weight will increase, its all trial and error. There are a number of factors to take into account, the weather, they need more fuel when its cold. The quality of meat, ie red/white meat all have differing calorific values. Also the amount of exercise its had will determine the amount of food needed to maintain a certain weight.

Some centres do hunt some of their birds but you would be better off finding someone that keeps their birds to hunt with. It is possible to keep some birds of prey and not hunt them but obviously this isn't falconry in the true sense. You could try contacting the BFC and find out which region you would come under as a starting point. Or just try to find someone reasonably close to you that has their own birds and ask if they would be willing to let you tag along and see if its for you etc. Good luck! Here you go, https://www.britishfalconersclub.co.uk/New_Site/bfc-regions/ It may be worth contacting them just to see if they can put you in touch with anyone near to you that's keeping and flying raptors, as a starting point.

Hi Dave, nice introduction. You would be better off finding out where your nearest falconry club is, by doing this you would be able to meet people and I'm sure that someone would be willing to mentor you. This would be a far better and cheaper option than paying out for courses. Sometimes but not always these courses are run by people that don't really have a great knowledge of the sport. A lot of places are based on the keeping of raptors whereas true falconry is hunting with birds of prey. Good luck in your quest, keep us posted!

I know of several people flying their hawks well into their twenty's. I would personally fly them until they die, there is no need to retire your hawk if they didn't hunt in the wild they would die. As regards the bird not responding, this is a never ending process anyway. The birds weight should be adjusted due to its response. If it is getting older maybe its muscle consistency/tone isn't what it was, therefore an adjustment could be tried.

Its a Goshawk

Thank you! Yes she's great with the dog and ferrets and quiet at home. Couldn't ask for a better mannered hawk.

That's the thing I have had a male that flew at 1lb 41/4oz and he was unbelievable a really gutsy little hawk. Took huge buck rabbits and cock pheasants regularly. The males are more agile and exciting to fly but on the other hand the females are more lethal because of the extra weight and power. I have a female here that rarely misses on ferreted moorland rabbits. She will regularly take eight or nine in a session.

But also get kicked off more. Males are also more ariel and take to slope soaring much easier and tend to be more birdy (liking feather).

Good luck with it but cover yourself as its illegal to keep a native BOP without a closed ring and the relevant paperwork.