Mews Views 2016

2016 - Volume 14

Journal of the South African Falconry Association ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11

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EDITOR: Stuart Pringle (078 894 3698 or safamewsviews@gmail.com) LAYOUT & DESIGN: Beetle Inc (031 701 1812 or www.beetleinc.co.za)

COPYRIGHT: Mews Views is protected by copyright. Any form of reproduction, in whole or part, is prohibited.

Contents 1

WORDS FROM THE CHAIRMAN

2

FALCONERS, FALCONRY CLUBS AND ANIMAL WELFARE

8 10 12 16 19 20 23 24 32 PAGE 2

MY FIRST REDNECK

ARGENTINIAN FALCONRY

BUZZ - MUSKET RED SPARROWHAWK

REHABBING A EYAS BLACK SPARROWHAWK

BLACK EAGLE

BLONDIE MY FIRST LANNER SOME THOUGHTS ON THE NEW MARSHALL RADIO GPS TRACKING SYSTEM CLUB REPORTS

ADVERTISING: For information on advertising in the next issue, please email safamewsviews@gmail.com CONTRIBUTIONS: Mews Views welcomes photographs and editorial contributions. Mews Vies retainers all reprint rights; contributors retain all other rights for resale and republication.

Letter from the ed I’ve been very ill this year and almost neglected my duties of Editor of the mag. You see for nearly a month I woke at 3am, bundled myself into my car and before I knew it, the tunnel vision of looking at Pylons, in the early morning gloom, some 70km away from the farm, had closed in. At this point I’d like to add that another Comrade was religiously waiting outside his house every day, because he too was infected. Peregrinutus, as it’s affectionately known, had bitten hard, we were on a mission that is not understood by anyone (every single one of my non falconry mates now believes that I am actually clinically insane), but those that have admired and watched these incredible birds hunt and the bond that we form with them. Once you have that raw unshaped potential in your hands the hours of frustration and 1000 of kilometres simply fade away. The obsession that we share for these birds unites us and it gives our lives focus – often away from the more important duties of life.

Anyway, you can see how one gets distracted from the task at hand!! This year’s articles are varied and come from all types and grades of falconers. I’d like to make a plea that as soon as this season comes to a close, you take the time to write an article and submit it to me for next years Edition. It can only be as good as the articles you guys write. It doesn’t matter if you are new to falconry or about to pass on after 40 years of Peregrinitus, write it and as one contributor told me once he started he just couldn’t stop. Don’t be scared that you do things differently to the more experienced falconers. The saying you cant teach an old dog new tricks just aint true. To the more experienced guys that have contributed time and time again, I thank you and ask that you continue to impart your knowledge to the “younger” generation.

This previous year has seen major technological advances in our sport and I was lucky enough to get my grubby mits on one of Marshall’s state of the art GPS systems. It truly is an amazing piece of engineering and the box it come in says it all – THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. It’s already saved me hours of tracking and is great reassurance when your bird gets sucked up to mega pitch in a thermal. The applications are endless when it comes to training but again it’s easy to get caught up in the quest for pitch at the expense of getting out into the veld to hunt, which is in essence the purpose of this great Art.

Our esteemed editor wants me to write a Chairman’s

a week and unfortunately still only a half decent falconer

Depending on what proves popular this year and areas

report, and discuss the plans for SAFA into the future

on a good day. I am extremely passionate about falconry

we may find that we are lacking we will be filling the

and a short intro about myself.

and I am not sure which I enjoy more, flying my own

usual hangover reddines preparation periods between

birds or watching others fly theirs. One thing is certain, I

11 am and 2pm with something that will hopefully

Well Stuart, I will try making this a little entertaining but

want everyone to do the very best they can do with what

improve our falconry. Last year we had a brilliant talk

guess it may be bla bla.

they have where they live.

by Dr. Dirk Verwoerd on various Bird of prey health and

I started falconry in 2005 in Durban. I did make some

Currently there are a number of threats that we have

demonstrations on backpacking, imping, ringing and

enquiries though when I lived in Cape Town in 2002. I

to challenge, mostly by the misguided and miss

some general talk around some falconry basics. A talk

got the number for a certain Dr. Lombard, who after a

informed animal welfare types. In general, hunting the

and demo on the fantastic new gps tracking system and

few attempts eventually took my call. He told me that I

world over has been very much in the spotlight of late.

an airplane for falcon fitness display. If there a few ways

needed to be very dedicated. I needed at least 3 hours

Even with the very low impact we have on quarry, we

to skin a cat then in falconry there are 10 ways. The

a day spare if I wanted any chance at being even half

should always be aware that not everyone understands

purpose of these talks and demonstrations is to show

capable of becoming a good falconer. In addition, I would

or supports this ancient art form we practice. We are

just one way that things can be done. Learning is the

need land to hunt on at least 4 days a week, a pigeon

very fortunate to have in our stable many who have

name of the game.

loft, a Mews that is like a large birdcage but for birds of

been down this road before and have access to a good

prey. I would need some good quality-pointing dogs that

team of people, all equally driven to make falconry in

I invite everyone with suggestions to pass them on to

I would have to train. And if that wasn’t enough I would

South Africa everything it can be. Fortunately, the high

your clubs so that all the ideas can get into the mixing

have to go through a very strict aprentorship program

standards set for Falconry over the years before my time

pot, and as a group, we can take our falconry to even

that usually takes 1 to 2 years. The part that really blew

has stood us in good stead. South African falconers can

greater heights.

me out the water was when he asked me if I wanted

walk proudly amongst any in other countries. With many

to be a short winged person or a long winged person.

visitors commenting in the positive to this fact. It is

Lets never stop learning, let us never stop teaching,

I decided that this was never going to be for me. Too

all of our responsibility to continue the good work of

and let us become one another’s inspiration. Mostly lets

obsessive, too time consuming and too many weird out

those that laid the foundations. We need to always have

laugh at each other and at ourselves.

of the stone age terminology, not to mention that you

the birds well being at heart and behave in a sporting

had to be able to make a glove, a hood and other weird

fashion. Our behavior both in the field and quite

May 2016 have brought you some great falconry so

stuff. Blocks, bows, belchat, leashes etc. Madness.

often with a falconry cap off the field should remain

far and may the rest of the season be your best ever.

beyond reproach.

Whether you are a long winged person or a short winged

husbandry issues. This year there will be some practical

and often my sanity I was introduced to a certain Bruce

We will be using the annual SAFA meet as a more

Padbury. “It’s easy”, he said, pop over to my shop and

formalized training and mentoring opportunity for all of

I’ll talk you through it. The rest is history.

us. Young or old if you think you are on top of this game

Enough from me, I trust that this season brings challenges, spectacular flying and great dog work. Until next time…….

THE NEW PUP...

ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11

Stuart

person may you always be a passionate falconry person.

Unfortunately for my wife, my kids, my bank manager

Bruce lied, and Adrian was on the money. Damn obsesive

you have just taken five steps backwards. The more we

Ross Kramm

can learn from each other the better.

SAFA

Chairman

all consuming passion now. Still don’t get to hunt 4 days

ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11

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We all, as falconers, have some discomfort when the topic of “Animal Welfare” is raised. This is because it is often confused with “Animal Rights” and there is no commonly accepted definition of what Animal Welfare is. In fact, as falconers we are deeply concerned with Animal Welfare. The reason why we have falconry clubs is to establish good standards of animal welfare relating to falconry raptors. The reason why we are concerned about people who do not belong to a club is because they may not know how to look after a hawk – in other words they may not practice adequate standards of care for the welfare of the hawk. This is the reason why we insist on a mentorship or apprenticeship and grading process.

The concept of Falconry as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage” is based on the passage of knowledge from master to apprentice, through generations. The knowledge which is passed in this way relates, in large part, to the welfare of the hawk which is in the care of the falconer. It would then, be very reasonable to consider falconry clubs as “Animal Welfare Organizations” which are concerned with the welfare of falconry raptors but also with the welfare of dogs and ferrets which are used to aid falconry and also WORDS BY DR

ADRIAN LOMBARD

those animals which are used for food. As falconers, we all understand the obligations which we have to those animals.

There are many organizations which have an “Animal Rights” agenda. These organizations often masquerade as Animal Welfare or Conservation organizations. The Animal Rights movement believes that animals should have rights equivalent to the rights of humans. Thus animals cannot be forced or coerced to work or killed for sport. The killing of animals for food becomes a grey area but correctly should be equally condemned. We can understand the conflict with conservation when culling may be necessary to control animal populations. In this case the rights of individual animals must take precedence over the management requirements for conservation reasons. The issue of “Animal Rights” finds great popularity in an urbanized society where the knowledge of nature and the needs of conservation is largely superficial and based on popular television programs which show – for example – Lions with first names presented as a weekly soap opera (“Mary, matriarch of the swamp pride, has moved her cubs to a new den and guards them against the neighbourhood hyena gang”). The larger Animal Rights organizations are well funded and run as multi-million rand business entities which need enemies to generate public support – think of the American Dentist who, unwittingly, shot Cecil the lion and who has subsequently been portrayed as a poacher and has received death threats (Death Threats??). I could go on in this vein but my focus is the issue of Animal Welfare for Falconers.

SAFA, as the umbrella representative organization for falconry in South Africa, correctly involves itself with the setting of standards of falconry practice and husbandry through the Grading system. The gazetted Norms and Standards for the Regulation of the Hunting Industry in South Africa recognizes SAFA as the accrediting body for falconers. Thus, it would be correct to recognize SAFA and its member organizations as Animal Welfare organizations and for them to be registered as such. Indeed, SAFA has a clear record of involvement in Animal welfare since its development of the Code of Conduct for Falconry which SAFA lodged with the Department of Agriculture in 2008.

The International Association for Falconry and the Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) also recognizes an important role in representing the Animal Welfare aspects of falconry and supporting good practice on a global level.

With this aim the IAF has undertaken the following actions: 1. The holding of veterinary conferences to develop the capacity of veterinarians to treat falconry raptors.

We have held 2 international conferences so far, generously supported by the Alganaas Club of Qatar and more are planned.

2. We have developed a General Welfare Paper which provides broad guidelines for falconers around the world. This is by necessity a very broad document and which may not meet the standards or levels of welfare in all countries but rather sets a base level. This document is attached below as an appendix.

3. We are developing an on-line audit to set welfare standards relating to raptors. This audit is open to falconers but is more correctly aimed at those who have commercial involvement with raptors and will allow for certification of their facilities by the IAF. This Audit will be available, on-line shortly. In respect to this we state: MEWS VIEWS > 2016

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Appendix: General Welfare Paper of the IAF.

– especially if caused by an individual of higher social

injured or damaged individuals correlating to a certain

Guidelines for the General Welfare of Falconry Raptors.

rank, e.g. the human – can lead to the desired learning

keeping or managing system, this system will be

experience. Falconry birds are not social in this sense;

recognized as not compatible with the approach of animal

The International Association for Falconry and Protection

negative reinforcement caused by the falconer would

welfare. For this judgment the seriousness of the damage

of Birds of Prey (IAF) has strong views on the animal

just make them avoid the falconer. Falconry practice for

is to be taken in consideration as well.

welfare of both the falconry bird and its prey. Therefore

this reason has to be based on training through positive

these guidelines have been approved by the Assembly

reinforcement alone and on the avoidance of stress.

The concept of the Five Freedoms was founded by the Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1979. It focusses on farm

of Delegates at the 45th AGM at Doha Qatar in January 2014. These guidelines are suitable for dealing with

In addition to this ethological integrity, physical inviolacy is

animals, which are all social animals, a behavioral pattern

hunting birds that fly free in the hunting season and, also,

crucial. Of course, veterinarian health care is obligatory;

that birds of prey do not share. These live facultative, even

This IAF Audit for the keeping, management, handling

in part for the rehabilitation of free ranging birds found

this includes a laboratory check of the mutes twice a

mostly solitary lives. Because of this, companionship of

and training of birds of prey, shows that the birds are

injured or debilitated. They are not appropriate for birds

year, and immediate medical treatment by a specialized

the animal’s own kind is not crucial.

managed at high standard to ensure their welfare. It

that are kept in exhibitions, in a zoo or as pets that do

avian veterinarian if necessary. The maintenance of intact

provides the owner or manager, as well as the official

not hunt.

primary feathers has to be a priority. Damaged primaries

Freedom from hunger and thirst: by ready access to

prevent a raptor from being a successful hunter.

fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor.

veterinarian, some certainty that a high standard of animal welfare is being met. The IAF recognizes the competence and autonomy of its member organizations in the setting of national or regional norms and standards for the welfare of raptors utilized specifically for the

Freedom from discomfort: by providing an appropriate

Introduction: Falconry, defined by the IAF as: ‘taking quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of

What does animal welfare mean? The term “animal

environment including shelter and a comfortable resting

trained birds of prey’ depends on two premises: 1. a

welfare” can be seen by a juridical, aesthetical, ethical

area. Freedom from pain, injury or disease: by prevention

completely healthy and stress-free bird that is physically

and biological point of view. In the context of the IAF

through rapid diagnosis and treatment.

hunting art of falconry and we will provide support and

and psychologically able to catch its prey sufficiently

the biological aspect has to be discussed especially,

express normal behavior: by providing sufficient space,

advice to member organizations and government bodies

and 2. A bird that has no reservations towards humans

because there are no biological differences between the

proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.

on welfare issues at their request.

about sharing both the hunting event and the prey

hawking birds and their prey, irrespective of the cultural

Freedom from fear and distress: by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

with the falconer. This premise implies a unique and

or legal background of the falconer. Two concepts out of a

The IAF has concern regarding the use of falconry

mutually beneficial partnership between the raptor and

bundle shall be mentioned: the Meet Demands and Avoid

methods and practices by organizations and individuals

the falconer. It must be recognized that the only way to

Damage Concept and the Concept of the Five Freedoms.

who do not fall under the guidance of our member

achieve excellent performance from a falconry bird is to

organizations. We have concerns regarding people who

have it in peak fitness, optimal health and subject to a

Meet Demands and Avoid Damage Concept This

keep several raptors and use these raptors to derive an

minimum of stress.

concept was elaborated by a group of Swiss and

income or whose use of them may be viewed by the

Freedom to

Both concepts are covered for falconer’s birds completely – with the exception of companionship as mentioned above.

German ethologists (ethological working group of the

Handling of the bird: For a proper handling, a falconry

public. In order to assist them to maintain good welfare

There is a considerable body of knowledge that has been

German Veterinarian Society, Tschanz et. al., 1987) and

bird has to be fitted with jesses on each of its legs. Like

standards and to ensure that falconry methods and

developed for more than 3000 years on the management

first published in 1987. At present it is the most often

dogs with collars and leads or horses with bits and reins,

practices are used ethically and correctly, the IAF has

of Falconry raptors in a way that will optimize hunting

used method in Germany to decide whether a certain

the birds can be handled with jesses during training, in

established an Audit to determine “Best Practice”.

performance, minimize stress and prevent disease.

phenomenon has animal welfare relevance or not.

the field and be tethered in the breaks between hunting.

4. We are developing an on-line training course in animal

To understand the behavior of the bird and the training

The concept of Meet Demands and Avoid Damage arises

of the species of bird and the cultural heritage of the

welfare for falconers. We would strongly advise all our

provided by the falconer one has to take into consideration

from the assumption that every organism is capable

falconer. Most often, in Western falconry, the so-called

member organizations to appoint an Animal Welfare

the reasons for animal behavior. Every behavior has, at

of self-creation and self-maintenance. Whether an

Aylmeri bracelets are fitted: these are leather anklets (or

officer who completes this course, when it is available,

least, the aim to preserve the life of the animal so that

animal can manage self-creation and self-maintenance

bracelets) which are fitted around each tarsometatarsus.

and who is responsible for welfare issues within that

it can transmit its genes into the next generations. Birds

sufficiently can be evaluated if the animal is able to fulfill

Removable “jesses” made of either braided nylon cord

organization.

of prey in the wild have a survival rate of approximately

its demands and preserve itself from damage. The animal

or leather, are passed through the eyelets of the Aylmeri bracelets and connect together at a swivel. A leash is

There are different types of jesses in use depending

20% for hatched chicks. This means that about 80% die

uses for these aims its physiological, morphological and

5. We provide training and advice for national or regional

in their first year and most of them starve in autumn/

ethological equipment acquired by evolution and by

attached to the swivel and this is tied to the glove of

authorities in the Animal Welfare issues relating to

winter. For this reason raptors are “energy efficient”

individual ontogenesis. With this equipment animals use

the falconer or to the perch. This method allows for the

falconry raptors and have provided training in Belgium

predators that are largely sedentary when not hunting.

or avoid structures and conditions in their environment (if

jesses to be changed to un-slit ones or to be removed

and Malta to date.

Hunting itself needs a special motivation. This can be

an animal is kept, the structures and conditions are ruled

altogether when the bird is flown free, so resulting in a

aligned with mating, brooding and rising offspring, or

by men). If the adaptability of an animal is overstretched,

minimum of encumbrance or risk of entanglement on the

We can see that falconers have real concerns and

simply with the need of food, commonly called hunger.

physiological, morphological and/or ethological damage

bird. (There is a considerable amount of further detail

skills relating to the welfare of the animals in their

This hunger has nothing to do with starvation. If a bird

will occur. Physical damage can be seen easily with,

which relates to the application and use of jesses and

care. Falconry organizations, be they global, national

were starving, it would lose the ability to hunt efficiently.

mostly even without knowledge about that animal

that is suitable to a practical manual and not a motivation

or provincial have reason to state that they are Animal

After the successful hunt or the daily training the bird will

species, and there is no dispute about the relevance of

such as this).

Welfare Organizations. With this support, falconers

be fed up to receive its required diet so the hunger will

the injury to the welfare of the animal. Ethological damage

can justifiably claim that they are the experts with

be satisfied.

will be recognized as disturbed behavior like stereotypes.

Birds of prey are almost solely visually orientated. To avoid

It is most often not so easy to detect, and there is much

stress in unfamiliar environments or to prevent them from bating at unhuntable prey, hoods are of immense value.

relation to the welfare of falconry raptors. We do not require organizations, which may have expertise in the

Besides positive motivation, negative feelings can

more discussion, whether disturbed behavior does really

care of cats and dogs, instructing us on the correct

influence the behavior of animals in general. In social

indicate poor welfare. The concept of Meet Demands and

care of our hawks.

animal species like dogs or horses, negative reinforcement

Avoid Damage claims if there is a significant amount of

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

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Travelling with the bird: While travelling, the negative influence of a

mesh. Very fine but strong nylon nets, such as those used by farmers to

different climate has to be avoided as well as stress through unknown

protect their silage from crows (shade cloth), can also be used. The roof

stimuli. To protect the birds from stress, hoods can be used or, alternatively,

should be partly closed to protect from bad weather, and partly open to

travel boxes are suitable. These should be ventilated by small electric

give access to sun and rain. The mesh wire on the roof should be double

fans powered by means of the cigarette lighter socket of a car or a battery.

laid and/or small meshed to protect the inhabitant from wild raptors and other predators. Every aviary must have a double door system to avoid

Housing of the bird: For all housing which is intended to last for more

unintended exit of the hawk.

than a very short time or only in fine weather, shelter from rain, intense sun and especially from draughts has to be provided. Every day, if it is

Training of the hawk: The aim of training is to shape the bird into perfect

not frozen, a water bath has to be available for several hours. Attention

physical performance and to teach them how to catch prey successfully.

has to be paid that the bird does not come into contact with its mutes (faeces). Security against free ranging predators has to be provided;

Raptors are supreme athletes, and as with human athletes, their body fat

domestic cats and even rats can actually kill smaller birds of prey

has to be reduced, but not depleted totally, and the muscles have to be

especially in an urban surrounding.

built-up. Although the body weight is not the main indicator for hunting motivation; experienced falconers will monitor the behavior of the bird.

For housing the bird, two different methods are in use:

It is very useful to monitor the weight daily with proper scales and to document it in written form. Weight will give a good indication of the bird’s

• Essential for initial training, is the use of traditional falconry method

appetite and general health.

with jesses as mentioned above and perches. There are different types of perches designed such as screen perches, block or bow perches and

Different exercises have been invented to improve fitness depending on

flight line arrangements. The falconer will choose the perch depending on

the species of the hawk, if it is not possible to fly it on wild game at least

the species of hawk, the state of training and the location. Falcons like

every second day. The principle is that the food is given as reward just

to stand with outstretched talons as on a rock so “block perches” would

after the bird has put some effort for flying. For longwings like falcons

be preferable. Goshawks or buzzards stand mostly with bent talons, as

lure, kite or balloon training works well. Shortwings like goshawks or

on a branch, so bow perches are suitable. In the very first few days of

Harris Hawk do best with flying from fist to fist of two falconers or with

the training, it is important that the bird does not learn to jump away, so

vertical jumping.

a screen perch can help. While travelling e.g. to a hunting ground or a falconers meet, a flight line arrangement cannot be transported, where-

The use of bagged game (if allowed by the local laws and depending on

as, at home, it is a very useful tool, especially for Accipiters, like goshawks,

national or regional norms and standards) may be acceptable but is not

giving them almost the same freedom as an aviary with much less danger

promoted by the IAF. Live animals, used in this way, must be handled

of damage. Tethering is exclusively recommended for birds that are flying

carefully and killed quickly after they have been caught, as with wild prey.

free, during training – or for the rehabilitation of free ranging birds found injured or debilitated. If birds are not flown during the molting period, they

Hunting with the bird: While hunting, the safety of the bird and preventing

are best kept in aviaries, or tethered with flight line arrangements.

unnecessary suffering of the prey have the highest priority. The falconer must pay attention to the dangers that may occur in the hunting ground

• Aviaries are a perfect housing system for most of the species in the

such as traffic, uninformed people, wild, feral or pet predators or other

molting period and are crucial for breeding pairs. The absolute size of

human or environmental risks.

the aviary is not the crux of the matter, but attention has to be paid so that no damage can occur due to the construction of the pen, especially

The size of the hawk and the size of the quarry have to match one-another.

to the primary feathers. Some very tame and calm individual birds, especially Buzzards, Eagles and Harris Hawks, can be kept in aviaries

Captured quarry, if not already killed by the bird, has to be killed by the

made completely from mesh wire, but, for most raptors, wire-mesh must

falconer as soon as possible in a most humane way.

be shielded by “shade-cloth” or silage-protecting net to avoid damage to the beak or cere and the primaries. Most of the birds will do better if

Recommendations: To ensure that falconers have the knowledge to

up to three walls of the aviary are built with non-transparent material.

fulfill all the requirements mentioned above, the IAF recommends that

For most breeding pairs and for some particularly anxious individuals,

all people, who would like to become falconers, should undertake an

such as Goshawks, sunlight and seclusion pens work best. Ventilation

apprenticeship with an experienced falconer for at least one hunting

is important in open roofed pens and ample ventilation needs to be

season. The IAF also recommends that aspirant falconers join a falconers

installed above floor level in the form of a ventilation point or slot. This

club to make contact with other falconers. In addition, a good falconry

will create a chimney effect drawing clean cool air in and expelling warm

course should be taken, even if it is not required by law in the country.

air out the top and will also aid in drying the floor surface after rain. To avoid stressing the hawk by entering the chamber, a flap type system

To Administrations, we suggest that provision of a “Falconers License” be

to accommodate removal of bath to change the water is recommended.

based on completion of an apprenticeship and a falconer’s exam and this

A food chute for the same reasons, are also advisable. Every solid wall

may be included within hunting legislation.

should have a smooth surface. Mesh wire, if used, shall be covered with plastic; in many cases wooden vertical bars would be better as a wall than

PAGE 6

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 7

The other headache with RNFs is carrying.

offering the bechin and the whole exercise would be

The lack of try confidence in footing and the

Fortunately there is plenty of information on

very chaotic. This then translated into the chaotic

abundance of small prey like cisticolas, prinias

managing and preventing this from various experts.

pick up attempt on the lure/kill. It seems as if they

and grassbirds on my grounds caused him to tend

I think I was more successful with this than with

are a lot more aggressive than the northern Merlin,

towards early success in low, fast flights that ended

hooding, although he did carry once or twice in the

or perhaps the tierce is more ‘frantic’ about food in

as the quarry hit cover. We did encounter some

field, but not far. I was far less successful at getting

general due to being the weaker party in the nest

longclaws, Namaqua doves and larks, but he was

him to trade off. He simply wouldn’t trade off a

and at hack. Perhaps their fear of being robbed by

not confident with his aerial footing and so we had

small kill and would only take the pickup piece once

their sisters gives them this ‘grab and go’ approach,

few high level flights. In future I would definitely do

he was completely finished. Any attempt to offer

which so complicates the trade off and pick up.

the work to make the bird more aerial – lure flying, use of ridge lifts, kites and drones. I got him going

him the pickup before he was finished would result

WORDS BY JOHN

STUART

in him overflying the glove, with the remains of the

The messy pickups/trade offs were a turn off to me,

up 60m to the drone but this was later in the season

pelt in this feet, and land a few metres away. There

but I persisted. I determined not to attempt to enter

and try as I might he wouldn’t take a pitch if the

he would continue his meal and repeat the overfly

him until we had improved on this. This caused me

drone wasn’t airborne.

if I tried the trade-off again. The few times he did

to try lots of methods to try to incentivise him to

trade off was when he had a large kill and it was

eat part of the kill and then revert to the pickup,

All in all, my first RNF was a case of what might

getting dark. In that situation he instinctively knew

all of which failed. In the end I gave up and we

have been. We got plenty of kills – we killed

that he needed to get onto the glove and back to

moved on to the entering stage, which went well. At

grassbirds/LBJs whenever we deliberately hunted

safety. There was never a problem with fidelity – he

this point I did make one major mistake though – I

them, and a few larks, pipits, canaries, quail

liked being a falconry bird and on the two occasions

failed to give him footing training. Nick Fox suggests

and one shrike. But my expectations were much

he slept out he was recovered almost immediately

using the thrown lure under a waiting on falcon to

higher than my reality. In some ways this is good

on presenting the lure the next morning.

improve footing, but I skipped this step because I

because it keeps one hungry and enthusiastic. I

was convinced that it would encourage him to carry.

aim to make the best of our successive seasons

The standard technique to encourage trading off is

The other way is just to do conventional lure flying,

and I will definitely lure fly him to encourage him

to use bechins. We are told to give bechins from

but I didn’t want to make him lure-bound. In the

to foot and make him more aerial, but I know that

the start and especially when the hawk is on the

end I think there is little chance of this with a RNF,

the lessons from the first season are definitive. I

lure, so that he looks forward to our approach and

because they are aggressive and kill-focused, like

also aim to include more of Ed Pitcher’s knowledge

has a positive association with the glove/hand.

sparrowhawks. I would definitely lure fly a future

into my falconry, having recently read his excellent

Unfortunately this did not work well with my RNF.

RNF and may in fact try doing in the second season

book. I hope this will be the first of many of these

What happened was that he would ‘attack’ the hand

with Octavian (the name we gave him).

excellent, dashing little falcons.

Somehow, when we have to be patient for something looked forward to, it always seems sweeter in the end. After initially refusing to grant a permit for a Red Necked Falcon, Cape Nature finally granted one at the end of 2014. Anton Muller had earlier promised me one of the remaining tiercels he had bred, and after some ups and downs I set out on the1200km trip to fetch it from his farm near Christiana.

There is nothing more exciting than a trip to fetch a new hawk. The sheer range of possibilities, the potential waiting for one is wonderful to consider. On such a long trip there is plenty of time to plan and re-plan, and so I did. I wanted to fly a RNF to do ringing flights from the glove and take on larks, pipits, wagtails and longclaws. Other open-field LBJs would be good, but we would not stagnate on them. I had read John Loft’s book on merlins as well as everything else I could find on the topic, but then the northern Merlin is not the RNF of Africa and India. Michell said that a good RNF was like an average Merlin, but I concluded that he was probably speaking of the Indian sub species and that it was underperforming in the colder environment.

Nick Fox also cites RNFs in his ‘what the falcons can do’ table, where he suggests they can wait on for hedgerow birds, unlike Merlins. Although I had one source that cited waiting on/pitch hunting, I decided I had more information on Merlin hunting from the glove, at quarry on the rise. So I decided to be conservative.

I would love to say that I turned my first RNF into a real star, but that would not be true. In fact I made many mistakes, but that is, I suppose, how we learn. There is just not enough information on these amazing little pocket rockets to be able to follow a known course, and in situations like that one has to make the best of the bird based on what little information there is.

h

a d y W a n o s in e s o l c n a i v cta

So I returned home with a beautiful, feather-perfect Red Neck male, fresh from hack at Anton’s farm. He calmed down relatively quickly and was eating on the glove on the first night. Training was textbook, besides the daily hysteria we had when trying to hood him. I am the first to admit I’m probably not the best hooder, but where I’d persevered in the past and hit success, it was clearly not going to happen in his case. Anton had warned me that they were not keen on the hood, and when I realised that my continual attempts to hood were making him hand-shy, I had to give up conventional hooding. This is not a disaster when it comes to birds that will fully tame up, and when a transmitter has to be removed or a battery changed, one can slip on a hood in a dark room with a flashing headtorch on. The drama is soon over, and not doing this regularly I think helps prevent hand-shyness from developing.

PAGE 8

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

Octavian retu

rns to the T

perch

O

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 9

In August last year I had the privilege to attend the IAF

falcon, and clearly one held in high esteem by the local

breeding pair of cassini peregrines (which even put on

meeting in Posadas, Argentina. It was my first visit to

falconers. I think it would do very well in South Africa,

a copulation display for us), wild Aplomados, burrowing

South America. It was very interesting to see such a

being larger than the redneck falcon, and very versatile.

owls and a whole lot of other local raptors. We went

variety of plants, birds and wildlife so different from

The Argentina falconers expressed willingness to send

right up into the Andes at 4000 meters, and saw some

what one is familiar with in South Africa, and to see

captive bred birds to us should there be anyone who

of the most amazing geological structures I have ever

“aliens” growing in their natural environments.

wants to import. They breed easily in captivity.

seen. We also made a visit to the Iguasu falls, one of the

The falconry was of excellent standard despite some

One interesting event occurred, at the last day of the

movie “The Mission”. Incredible to see wild macaws and

of the birds having come from the south where it was

meet it was election day in Argentina, and so at 8 pm

toucans flying around the treetops.

4 degrees, to the north where the meet was, it was 35

on the previous evening till the polls shut the following

degrees even though it was winter. The climate was very

day, no booze was allowed to be sold nor consumed

In order to get a glimpse at the birdlife that I was not

similar to our lowveld. I spent most of my time going out

in public. Furthermore, no public meetings of any type

able to see wild, I went to a bird park near the falls. This

with the Aplomado falconers, and so saw only a few

were allowed. So all hunting was cancelled, and a very

was well worth the cost and effort, as the variety and

flights of the cassini peregrines which is the local race.

miserable batch of falconers sat around with nothing to

colours of birds in Argentina is simply staggering. They

There were some odd looking hawk-eagles, a buzzard

do but watch videos. Nevertheless, I made contact with

have around 900 species (much like here), but most

eagle and a falconet on display. The Aplomados were

some local falconers, who decided to go flying anyway

of them are completely different. I felt like a kid birder

flown out the hood, sometimes in a cast, sometimes

as long as we didn’t make a group that would arouse

all over again, everything was new and exciting, even

singly. Quarry was mainly plover (lapwing) very similar

suspicion, and we had a stunning set of flights.

common birds like mockingbirds and tinnagers.

birds gave excellent flights that lasted upwards of 15

There was a strong contingent of Brazilian falconers,

All in all it was a most worthwhile trip, which would have

minutes. Occasionally they were taken on the rise, but

who badly wanted to see some real falconry, as in Brazil

been much better if I could speak Spanish. Definitely

this was rare. Another very exciting flight was at a black

it is illegal and only allowed for rehab, airport clearing

worth the effort to learn the language before visiting

bird similar to a coucal, but the size of a dove, an expert

etc. The Brazilians are also very good at making falconry

again. It was good to catch up with old friendships

at evading the stoops and hiding in the smallest cover.

equipment due to import restrictions.

made at the 2008 IAF meeting. Perhaps it’s time to have

most spectacular waterfalls in the world, the site of the

but a bit larger than our crowned plover (lapwing). These

another meeting in South Africa? For those with the time

The area we flew in was open grassland, with some

WORDS BY EDMUND

PAGE 10

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

OETTLE

small bushes scattered around. The Aplomados were

After the meet we made a tour with the local

and inclination, the meeting this year is in Ireland, and

beautifully tame, with excellent manners, both when

falconer/organizer Henrique Rezende. He was very

should be an excellent meet with Gary Timbrell.

flying as a cast, and on the glove. Overall a very brave

knowledgeable and showed us Andean Condors, a

I called him Buzz…

I have been looking for a Redspar for the better part of 5 years, with Nick Aitchison and I having driven thousands of kilometres in search of nests but to no avail. After a trapping session in Tokai Forest that yielded only adults, my old friend Margo Wilke phoned to say she had a baby Redspar dropped off by a Vet. It was early December and I had just pulled an all-nighter working but hopped in the car immediately to go and fetch the little guy. What a Buzz! He looked to be about 2 weeks old and an imprint was not my first choice, so Nick and I, along with the Vet who found him, returned to the spot where her dog had found him above Dear Park on Table Mountain the next day to return him to the nest. After a tricky climb, Nick discovered that the whole nest had been blown down, so I had no choice but to raise him. And so began my most memorable year in Falconry to date...

I built him a nest using Pine needles in an old car tyre with a shade net hammock. I found some clear Perspex and built a ring around the tyre to prevent too much mess in the lounge. He became the centre of attention in the home and was an absolute character. I feed him a variety of prey species, chopped up small enough for him to eat and placed on the un-plucked carcass of his next meal. I rigged a system that allowed me to serve him his meals on a WORDS BY ALAN

CLEMO

plate covered by a heavy bowl that I could lift half an hour later from inside my garage using a long line. From here he could not see or hear me. This worked well and he never food begged, which is not to say he was not vocal, but never in a nagging way.

His rate of growth was incredible and I could see the difference on a daily basis. He tamed down almost immediately and accepted us all, Pointers included. We would put him out on the lawn for hours at a time, and the kids were told to carry on regardless. My yard faces onto a busy, noisy road, so what with this racket, and with kids and dogs aplenty, he has grown into a truly bomb proof Hawk. He took to sleeping in the crook of my arm lying flat like a human baby from about 3 weeks of age, which was super cute.

At about 4 weeks old he started branching, making short flights from the top of his Perspex shield to the back of my chair and then up to the mantelpiece. During the day, when he wanted to nap, he would sleep on a ledge above the fireplace in the lounge, using a blanket as a pillow. My Wife found him like this one day and came running through to my office to tell me she thought Buzz was dead, which is what it looked like when he slept this way.

When his tail was about half down (4 weeks old) and he was flying around the lounge, I fitted anklets to get him accustomed to the equipment and started tethering him on a small bow perch for short periods, again to get him used to not having the run of the house. I kept up the 3 meals a day, so from the age of about 4 weeks old he was catching and killing his own food. To date I have only ever seen him pull feathers once, the rest of his 500 odd kills were caught, and I attribute his great footing to these early lessons.

I read and re-read The Imprint Accipiter by Mike McDermott, and although a bit technical for a simpleton such as myself, I found the chapter on weight management to be invaluable. By the end of December he was hard penned and I slowly started reducing his weight as per McDermott, no more than half a gram a day. I had to buy a microscale for this as my only other scale was accurate to the gram but according to McDermott, fractions were important!

By early January I was taking him out to Middelpos, the farm I planned on using as his nursery grounds due to the lack of trees and Blackspars for the start of a short tame hack. I was spending a few hours every morning just letting him play and get used to the wind, plus the walks were great. He was now around 135 grams and was instant to the lure, so I was happy to let him play and build fitness. He didn’t show much interest in chasing anything yet, and I attributed this to him still being high. For the next 2 weeks this became my daily ritual, with my plan being to enter mid to late January once his fitness and mastery of the wind had improved.

My main concern flying such a small Hawk was that he is food to almost everything else. We have no shortage of Balckspars, Lanners, and Perries and I decided because of this to fly him without jesses. I figured that if it didn’t look like he was carrying something, anything that tried to eat him would have one, or maybe two tries at catching him, and then give up. I tied a short piece of line to my thumb, which I then passed through the eyelets on his anklets and grasped the end between my thumb and forefinger. I did this purely as a measure of control, and once out in the field I seldom used it at all, preferring to have him free on the glove. Through the course of his first season we were hunted by all of the abovementioned larger Raptors, and as I had hoped, they tried their luck once or twice, were out turned or out climbed, and moved on.

PAGE 12

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 13

On the 22nd of January, Toni Kraus and Joshua Day

some very long, high speed chases, they were dumping

joined me for a hunt and Buzz got his first kill. He

and running before he could bind to them. Then one day

chased a Cisticola out over an open piece of ground and

Graham Sleep and I were out on a particularly windy

grabbed it as it turned back for cover. He made it look

rainy day and Buzz flew a Golden Bishop out of the car.

so easy. I was the typical doting Father and was chuffed

The Bishop dumped in long Wheat close to the road, so

that all the time spent with Buzz was paying off. He was

I picked Buzz up to re-flush the Bishop as conditions

used to 3 feeds a day at this point, so I decided to hunt

were horrible and I was keen to get indoors. When I

him morning and evening, skipping his midday feed but

hopped the fence with Buzz on the fist expecting to

making sure he was cropped in the mornings. Such

flush the Bishop, a Quail bumped a few meters ahead

is the metabolism of these little guys that he was on

of him. It broke straight into the wind and seemed to be

weight every afternoon after a big crop in the morning.

standing still so strong was the wind. Buzz also looked

Buzz was going from strength to strength, with multiples

to be going nowhere fast, but he eventually reeled it in.

becoming the norm on every hunt. His flying weight was

It all happened in slow motion barely 3 meters in front

128 grams, but towards the end of the season, he was

of me. He grabbed it and dropped into the waist high

killing as high as 165 grams (the joys of an imprint).

Wheat and it took me 5 nerve racking minutes to find him, still firmly attached to the Quail. I was over the

At this point we were catching mainly Cisti’s and Prinia,

moon and have decided that this season I will use a dog

and Nick warned me that he was going to become

and focus more on Quail when they arrive as this was

wedded to them, which of course is exactly what

some of my favourite flying.

happened. To try and mix things up a bit and introduce him to a broader quarry base, we went car hawking on

With Buzz approaching 500 kills for the season, he

the farms. In this way I was able to get a lot closer to

dropped his decks. I was gutted, what would I do

Weavers and Sparrows, and once he had caught a few,

without my daily fix. I decided to moult him on a bow in

it was back to the bush, but now I had a hawk that was

my office, and after a full moult, he dropped his decks

game for anything.

again. Damn! There goes another couple of weeks I thought to myself, although I must admit I was happy

After the first month or two of flying his tail was not

to now have a spare set. His third year decks are a

looking great. This was partly due it being worked

full 10mm shorter than his second year’s, which are

before being hard penned, but also due to fences, killing

shorter by the same margin as his Juvenile train. It’s

in cover and mantling. I was not using a box when going

amazing to me how compact he looks now, and his

into the field and he would sit on the backrest of the

colours are spectacular.

passenger seat all the way out to the farms, make his kills, and then eat them still on my passenger seat on

The start of his second season has been a revelation,

the way home. This also accounted for a couple of tail

he is a different Hawk, chasing harder and further than

feathers so I started using a box. I really missed having

he did last season. He is also much more agile on the

him sit alongside me on the way out to hunt, but I was

wing, and he seldom misses once he has left the glove.

starting to get some strange looks from some of the

Just this morning he flew down a Golden Bishop over

other falconers. Nick and I decided a Rock Kestrel tail

100 meters, folded his wings into a full tuck for the last

would work perfectly, so after replacing his whole train

15 meters using only his tail to scream through some

with that of a Rocky we were good to go again. It took

cover and nail the Bishop 5 meters on the other side of

Buzz a full week to get used to this new arrangement

the cover. The Bishop was going too fast to dump and

and he flew like he was carrying a heavy weight behind

Buzz was way too close for it to try. Nick and I were gob

him, but once he had adjusted to it, it was business

smacked by his speed and agility.

as usual.

This little Hawk has become a huge part of my life. He Buzz ended up taking 35 different species throughout

still lives in my office so we are together almost all day.

the course of his first season, catching some rather

I know his moods and can read him like a book. I am

unusual things too.

more than happy to fly Buzz for the rest of either his or my life, he absolutely crosses all my T’s, and dots all my

When the Quail arrived late in the season we went

I’s. I fly Hawks to see the chase and the kill, and with

looking for them. By now Buzz was an accomplished

this little guy, even if the flights are long, I get to see all

hunter with a wide range of quarry under his belt, and I

the action first hand. This is and continues to be a truly

felt certain Quail would turn him on. We were not using a

amazing experience!

dog and just walked the Wheat wherever we heard them calling. The problem with this was that they would get up 20 or 30 meters ahead of us, and while Buzz put in

PAGE 14

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 15

In December last year I received a call from Bruce asking if I would like to take a musket blackspar that had been handed into to C.R.O.W, along with his sibling, as eyasses. They had been raised in a 70m flight pen and would need to be taught to hunt before being released.

WORDS BY BRETT

PAGE 16

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

FRANKLIN

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 17

Having only flown Goshawks the thought of taking on

required a fair amount plastic tapped to the floor and

a blackspar that had never hunted for itself required

walls! We had a holiday planned in December and so

some thought. I knew that I needed time and as luck

he came along essentially not leaving my side for a

It was a dull Sunday afternoon and I was in the field

would have it, the December holidays were coming up

month. The result was a well manned bird but one that

at Cato, 1st slip, nothing, 2nd slip, nothing, 3rd and

Earlier this year I was contacted by Ben Hoffman and asked if I wanted to rehab a juvenile

and so I put in a month’s leave and decided I was

didn’t know how to hunt yet. This I soon realised was

off he went. I couldn’t believe it. Finally the penny

Black Eagle. I had already successfully rehabbed and released a Brown Snake Eagle and have a

going to it.

going to be more time consuming and frustrating than

dropped. He didn’t catch it (that would have been

passion for Eagles. He came to me at 3kg and was found on the side of a road and handed in.

the manning process. I certainly did not realise, having

just too good), but he chased his first wild bird! It

He was tube fed for 3 days then on to solid food. The first day with me, he wouldn’t eat at all,

I met Ross down at C.R.O.W where we caught both the

had a passage bird previously, that a raptor would

took another two weeks until his first kill, he reeled

however, I couldn’t believe how tame he was - this may have to do with the fact that he was fed

birds that were housed in a 70m flight pen. It took a bit

need to “taught” or convinced that birds are food. Not

the quail in and plucked it out of the air over 40

by hand in the previous rehab centre – not Raptor Rescue. By the 2nd day, he was happy to eat

of running back and forth with nets but finally we had

knowing any better and being fairly stubborn I thought

or so meters just before it could dump. I was so

on the fist and things progressed from there.

them both. On first inspection the bird seemed in great

if I get him into the field with some nice setups the

happy you would have sworn I had caught it. He

condition, but a closer look revealed fret marks across

urge would be too much and he would chase. I was

now chases anything that moves and is racking up

2 weeks later I introduced the lure which he took to on the first show. Once I wash happy with

most of the train - I was in for some imping. Boy, was

wrong. I spent a number of days giving him perfect

a nice list of accomplishments.

his lure response, it was time for a free flight. This was done in summer veld on a ridge with a

I a happy man!

slips over a dog at quail, lark and LBJ’s. He would just

Now I had manned a passage Gos and so I thought

WORDS BY GRAHAM

BERRY

steady up draft. He did 2 circles around me on the breeze and landed back at my feet without the

sit on my fist and watch the bird fly right past him and

The whole process has taught me a few things,

lure being shown. I have had the most fun with him watching him thermal and play in the wind.

into the distance.

patience being the most important one of them,

After a week or so of free flying I decided to introduce him to a goose, which he took one look at

listening and taking the advice of those with more

and didn’t hesitate. He is absolutely amazing on a kill and shows no aggression at all, although he does become quite vocal.

I knew how this should go. I went straight to Bruce

PAGE 18

process followed with weavers as with the pigeons.

Padbury’s place in order to get the anklets on and for

Back to drawing board. I stocked up with a loft full of

experience than you can save you a whole lot of time

him to give it a good once over. He was impressed, the

pigeons and spent some time with Andre van Sittert

too, and finally that time and commitment are needed

bird was fit and a nice size. It was at this point that I

who had gone through the same experience with his

for this sport, don’t even try without them.

started to realise the difference in manning a Goshawk

musket blackspar two seasons back. It was a slow

and a Blackspar. The bird refused to stand on the fist,

process but providing him with pigeons at various

It was only after this that I read an article by Zayin

fed would stop the screaming. This has worked wonderfully as he doesn’t see where the food

bating continuously to the point that I started to think

distances over a few weeks he finally put two and two

Vermaak published in Mews Views 2008 called

is coming from.

what I have got myself into here. Bruce parted some

together and realised it was food. Excellent I thought,

“Observations on Black Sparrowhawks at their Nest

advice which calmed me down and suggested I wet

it’s time to go catch some quail and again I was sent

Site” where he deduces that blackspars catch and

He is happy for me to be in the pen with him and is not vocal at all. I don’t believe when I take

the bird so that it doesn’t want to fly. This helped, he

back home, frustrated and scratching my head. He

then release pigeons for their young, teaching them

him up again he will start screaming as I have not had to drop his weight at all, from the day I got

calmed down, but getting him to stand on the fist took

chases pigeons but no other birds? In fact he had

to hunt. I found this incredibly interesting and at the

him to get a response out of him.

a few days until he finally realised this was a good

just chased and caught a pigeon which we tracked to

same time sympathised with the frustrated parents!

place perch. We were on our way.

over 3km away. I knew he could hunt, and in typical

He has become a member of the family and obviously enjoys the human company. He is flying at

blackspar fashion, he doesn’t give up. So I realised

the same weight he came in at. The beauty of an imprint be it social or other. I have been blessed

I made the decision to keep him in the lounge and

he was locked onto pigeons and I needed to give him

with the opportunity to interact with this amazing eagle and I look forward to many amazing

around me and the kids as much as possible. This

some opportunities on smaller birds. So the same

hunts with him.

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

After a few more guinea fowl, he started screaming quite a bit, the food imprint in him coming out. I decided to put him in a free flight pen at my farm as I thought the isolation from being

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 19

Pitch and Kite Work

It was already obvious that Blondie was a very

2. Be aware of wind direction and any surrounding

aggressive Falcon.

slopes. It is not practical especially at the beginning of the season to expect a falcon to fly to good pitch in a

Throughout the year my main flying time is early in Catching Ducks

strong downdraft.

during this time without the assistance of thermals. I

It took very little encouragement on my behalf to get

3. Many falcons have their own peculiarities try to learn

decided to spend the first several months flying her only

Blondie to hunt ducks. She is a large lanner falcon

these it will certainly contribute to your success if you

in non-thermal conditions. I flew early mornings to the

and could easily deal with all but a large yellow bill

plan your slips taking these into account, unless you

kite. Kite training progressed quickly and Blondie never

on the ground.

have a plan to change these behaviours. For instance

the mornings, the first hour and a half of light. I was concerned about getting a Lanner Falcon to mount

Blondie simply refused to stoop ducks over any thick

saw the kite lower than it was the previous day. Within five days Blondie was doing a thousand feet to the kite

I was incredibly fortunate to have Nick Aitchison with

in poor thermal conditions.

me on all of my initial flights at duck. Blondie caught

cover be it fynbos, long wheat or canola.

her first duck (Cape Teal) on her very first attempt at

4. If you are trying ducks with a lanner after the initial

I found the kite to be an extremely important training

wild quarry. There is a lot to learn about how to fly duck

stoop they have very little chance flying down a duck

tool for the falconer. I mean this literally; the kite was

setups successfully and a good mentor like Nick was

into a strong wind, take this into account on your flush.

instrumental in training ME about flying falcons. Serving

instrumental in my first few attempts. My first solo duck

a falcon which is climbing to the kite taught me about

kill with Blondie was our 4th duck kill, a red bill teal on

5. Do not rat hunt ducks it will destroy your birds

positioning. The kite allowed me to make decisions about

a very cold and very wet morning at the end of May.

pitch. 2013 had an exceptionally wet winter with vast

when to serve and positioning far easier and allowed me

The flight was a good yet not unbelievable flight from a

quantities of casual water on my hunting grounds. This

My interest in falconry started when I was ten years old. I cannot remember what the

to learn these skills in a controlled environment. With

pitch of around 700 foot and yet it is certainly one of the

meant that when the ducks broke from the hunting dam

source of my interest was as I lived in the suburbs of Johannesburg and had no falconry

Blondie climbing to the kite sitting at 1600 foot it kept

highlights of my falconry career so far.

they often would not fly true and bail into casual water

exposure. I did a lot of reading and decided already at that age that I wanted to fly a

my nerves in check when she ranged looking for lift, it

peregrine falcon. The peregrine falcon was listed in the Guinness book of records as the

taught me patience and it taught me to let her fly. I think

My first season of duck hawking with my lanner taught

several ducks in this manner and Blondie’s pitch

fastest bird in a dive to fly one was a dream.

the value of the kite in educating the new long winger

me several things and I certainly made errors during the

certainly suffered for it towards the end of the season.

as opposed to only the falcon is hugely underestimated.

season, while probably common knowledge to most and

WORDS BY GRAHAM

SLEEP

Background

lying on the lands. I made the mistake of rat hunting

potentially not agreed on by all I thought I’d mention of

I eventually found some falconers and so started a long period of apprenticeship, first

Weight

few of the ones I found to be most important here;

for a year in Johannesburg and then for a year in Cape Town. I was fortunate enough to

For two months I did nothing but serve Blondie while

attend my first SAFA in Bloemfontein in 1997. I saw a lot of great falconry there but two

she was climbing to a kite at well over a thousand feet.

flights sealed my desire to fly falcons and will forever stand out in my mind.

I was treated to some of the most spectacular stoops

1. Whilst the urge to hunt is strong if your falcon does

training and kite work was done in a weight range of

and deadly strikes during this period. I was hoping to

not take what you consider to be a reasonable pitch

650 grams to 665 grams. She was entered on ducks

The first was a last light flight with Francois Breedt and his African Peregrine Falcon

ingrain a flight style in Blondie in similar conditions to

do not serve the falcon, if she is successful it is not a

at 655 grams.

“Penny” in which she caught a Yellow billed duck in spectacular fashion in a high speed

what would come during the winter months.

good lesson.

Blondie was trapped at 730 grams with no crop. Initial

bind with both of them cart wheeling through the air in the setting sun and back to the earth. The second was with Cobus Bezhuidenhout and his Lanner Falcon “Pam”. Pam was out of sight in a thermal being followed by Cobus only with the use of telemetry. On the flush of some Orange River Francolin she came sizzling down. As luck would have it I was standing on a koppie above where the flush occurred. Pam came right over my head with the sound of a jet and then away below me where I got to see her strike the francolin to the earth in an explosion of feathers My dream to fly falcons intensified and I also now knew that the peregrine Falcon was certainly not the only amazing falcon available to us in South Africa. I was however fourteen at the time with no practical falconry experience and no real option to even attempt a longwing. As many youngsters do I learnt my falconry flying African Goshawks for several years. I loved it. Who doesn’t have extremely fond memories of their first feathered hunting partner…?

Higher education and emigration to Dublin, Ireland in 2005 put a lengthy pause on my falconry. It wasn’t until 2009 when I moved back to South Africa that I saw a chance to realise some lifelong dreams. In 2011 I re-joined the CFC and in 2012 bought a house and prepared for my first charge.

Blondie was trapped on the 9th January 2013 as a very fresh large passage female Lanner Falcon. She was trapped at 730 grams with no crop. I was brimming with excitement and moved swiftly through the initial manning and very basic lure training.

PAGE 20

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 21

Once the kite was removed from the sky a pattern of

in. Lanners are very smart falcons and any success from

sure that these are the day’s falconer’s scratch their

inconsistent performance emerged and I spent several

a low pitch has a large and immediate effect on the

heads, curse, scream or throw furniture wondering why

weeks trying to figure it out; flying at numerous different

pitch they will take.

their bird has not “performed” when she normally takes

weights from 645 grams up to 685 grams.

a good pitch.

The plane

I then realised that she performed best in a high

3. I’m hoping that it teaches the bird to look away from

condition but on an empty system. A lanner is a falcon

With me having mucked up Blondie’s pitch a bit and

suited to desert life and does not have the metabolism

with the duck setups poor with large quantities of casual

of many other falcons. To me at least logically 24 hours

the falconer freeing it entirely from the pocket.

WORDS BY ALAN

water around I decided to put Blondie on the plane. I

There is much for me to learn with the plane and I look

I was lucky enough to receive one of these hi tech GPS

I was a bit sceptical at first that this was just more

without food must not be that uncommon to the wild

was at first extremely sceptical... Blondie was not. The

forward to doing so.

units from Robert Bagley to try out this season. This is

technology to drag to the veld but having used it for

lanner where poor weather conditions or lack of quarry

first day she saw the plane she chased it up to around

definately a step up from the normal telemetry we have

a couple of weeks now I am really enjoying it. I do not

The iPad can actually be be used to follow the

or successful hunting attempts may prevent a lanner

600 foot and we ramped it up very quickly from there.

been using for the past few decades. As the guys at

carry the iPad around the veld watching the flight unfold

direction of the bird, giving you the precise distance

from taking its meal on any given day.

With the plane the falcon is in hunt mode and the plane

Marshall say “this changes everything”

on the screen. I switch on the IPad and pocket link,

from your position making the old receiver redundent.

leave them in the vehicle, put the transmitter on the bird

The ability to change the frequency of the transmitter

Finally

continues laying down the track.

is flown very differently to the kite. The highest I took

I had an amazing season and a bit with my first

Work prevented me from flying every day during the

Blondie on the plane was just shy of 2000ft which she

longwing. We are a lucky crowd of falconers who can

A basic description of the the components is as follows.

and fly as usual. The iPad and the pocketlink do their

from the app on the iPad is also really helpful at a

week and I decided to allow Blondie a “blow-out” crop

managed in less than 7 minutes.

go out and trap passage lanners to fly as these are

The GPS transmitter is the same size as an RT, using

thing while I enjoy the flight.

falconry meet.

certainly phenomenal falcons in their own right. I had

the same battery. Then you have a pocketlink which is

when I could not fly the following day and then skip feeding the following day as opposed to feeding a

The plane works wonders for getting a falcon fit after

some successes and made a few errors but would like

the size of a small cellphone. Then you need an Apple

This unit really comes into its own when thermalling or

This system is expensive but it shows the way falconry

smaller amount every day including days I could not

the moult and was crucial in my successful release

to think on balance was successful in what I wanted to

device either an iPhone or iPad with Wifi and cellular

when you have a very big flying bird. When you lose

tracking systems are moving. Marshall have really taken

fly. This “blow-out” and skip method meant I could

of Blondie at the beginning of 2014. She was flown

achieve with Blondie. I took a reasonable bag of quarry

capabilities. An optional extra is a hi-gain omni that

sight of the falcon looking at the app tells you exactly

a big step forward leading the field in developing this

mostly only fly every second morning during the week

exceptionally fit in a short amount of time on the plane.

including Red eye dove, Spotted Thick Knee, Cape

connects to the pocketlink via a cable.

which direction, distance and what altitude the bird is

technology. The chances of losing a falcon using GPS is

and then I’d try to get in an early morning Saturday

Prior to a change in jobs which forced Blondie’s release

Shovelor, Yellow-bill duck, Red-billed teal and Cape teal.

on Google earth. If like some guys your bird is sitting on

much reduced and all the info you get about your flight

and late afternoon Sunday flight. The effect was

she was able to bag five ducks in quick succession and

The way it works is the transmitter receives signals from the

a paal or a tree you can even see which paal or tree! The

enriches the falconry experience. I have found that my

immediate and pronounced.

in great style.

Due to a change in work commitments Blondie was

satelites in space and transmits the info to the pocketlink

transmitter also transmits a normal signal that you can

600ft pitches are actually closer to 400ft and my out

released back out on the Cape Farms in April 2014

which in turn is connected to the iPad via bluetooth.

track with a telemetry receiver. This is invaluable if the

of sight pitches around 1000ft. Other interesting facts

pocketlink is out of line of sight of the transmitter. This

are my birds fly on average a distance of 10km during

Blondie was flying in high condition but on a strong

I have only just begun to experiment with the plane but

after a reasonably successful start to her second

appetite. Her flying weight climbed steadily over

am excited to see what it will do for my next long wing.

season. During the rainy season in the Cape we have

This info includes altitude, direction, distance,speed and

link is similar to what you would experience tracking a

a normal waiting on flight and a short vertical stoop

the rest of the season and I was often only able to

The main differences I am hoping to exploit with the

a staggering number of ducks on passage between

a number of other interesting facts and figures. All this

normal transmitter with your receiver. When the pocket

seldom exceeds 150km per hour. The season is still

bring her weight back down a bit on days we were

plane are;

dams and I often wondered if after release Blondie

is displayed on the app running on the iPad in real time.

link/GPS transmitter link is broken by terrain or distance

young but I am sure that full tuck verticals stoops from

would continue to hunt duck as part of her quarry base.

The entire flight from start to finish is also recorded and

of over 50km the last location of the bird is stored on

1000ft plus stoops will reach the oft quoted 2-300km

stored in a file so you can analyze the entire flight later.

the app. Once the signal is again received the app

per hour.

not successful. For the middle part of the winter we experienced some excellent flying performances and

1. The falcon is not “fetching” food from a high point

This question was answered about two weeks after her

hunting was successful at almost each attempt. Blondie

which many falcons (including Blondie) can do in a fairly

release when she interrupted Nick Aitchison’s flight on

was catching ducks in good style at weights up to

relaxed not urgent manner. They are hunting something

some duck coming in and helping herself to one of the

715 grams only 15 grams below her trap weight. This

and fly as hard as possible and in my experience do not

ducks flushed for his peregrine. Nick reported to me that

together with a large exposure to artificial light had the

seem to wonder looking for easier lift.

she looked in good health.

dropped her first feather in mid-July, and I decided to

2. The falconer is able to learn a bit more about

I like to think that she continues every now and then

continue flying.

atmospheric conditions. On several occasions it was

to rain down on passage ducks from thermal pitch

almost impossible to fly the plane through some

wherever she may be!

unforeseen side effect of kicking off her moult, Blondie

PAGE 22

HARVEY

Then the rains came and I made the mistake of rat

invisible barrier in the sky at varying heights in what

hunting a few puddle ducks when the “duck fever” set

appeared to me otherwise to be good lift conditions. I’m

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

Mpumalanga Falconry Club

WORDS BY PAT

MCALISTARE

Members: George McAllister (Chairman), Pat McAllister (Sec/Treas), Charles and Marile Sadler, Stephen Van Rensburg, Dave McAllister, Paul Fallone, Thomas Holder New members: Paul Mare, Magdali Theron School pupils: Kevin, Grant, Megan, Ryan, Ockert The club continues to monitor breeding patterns and migration of local Black Spars, Lanners, Crowned and Ayers Hawk eagles, Stephen is very active in this endeavour and we thank him for his efforts.

Stephen has flown a Lanner, Black Spar and peregrine this last season. Charles has flown a cast of peregrine tiercels but has passed one of the cast to Stephen, he has had a lot of sport on doves. Marile has not flown a bird this season as she has been very busy with her studies. Paul Fallone has been inactive as a falconer but he has a hack station for owls out at his farm and he has hacked 15+ owls, mostly from Dullstroom Birds of Prey Centre. Thomas had a Black Spar but have had no communications from him as to what type of season he had. George had a very slack season due to demanding work committments. He still has a female Peregrine and is still looking very actively for an African Hawk eagle.

Dave has also been inactive but is hoping for a Hawk eagle ex Dylan Freeman. Paul and Magdali have both got an Af Gos each and are looking forward to some sport in the coming season.

Read Penryn college report on school kids activities.

Penryn College

WORDS BY RYAN

SCHREUDER

Greetings from Penryn College, Falconry at Penryn College is a huge privilege to be apart of since we are taught and “watched over” by our friend and mentor Steven Van Rensburg. With all the skills that we have learnt, we are proud to say that when the time comes we can make use of these skills by teaching the next generation of falconers at Penryn.

I have had many opportunities during my time here at Penryn College to learn and experience what it means to be a falconer and I would like to personally thank my mentor for the direction that I’ve received from Penryn College since they have had a helping hand in particular study on the mongoose, where I had to fly my jackal buzzard over the mob of mongoose to find out what noises they make when a hawk or eagle is in the area.

Caleb Van De Ruit our newest falconer at Penryn has just gotten his female passage African Goshawk and her name is Hiwa. He is currently busy with the manning and training process and he should be hunting with her in the next couple of weeks.

Megan Martins our only female falconer at Penryn College has flown a haggard female African Goshawk and she is now currently awaiting a new hawk.

Joshua Hookstra an apprentice at Penryn College is going to be writing his D grade in the next couple of weeks and would like to fly a Jackal Buzzard as his first bird.

I am privileged enough to know Frith Douglas, Magdali Theron and Adian Botha. All who work at the Dullstroom Bird Of Prey Centre and are so to say some of my best friends. I spend my holidays and long weekends at the centre where I get to help Frith in the clinic with all the rehab birds and other Rehab mammals. The amount of knowledge gained from my friends at Dullstroom Bird of Prey has being more than I could have ever learned by reading a book or studying a course. I’ve had many opportunities to fly some of these rehab birds such as my current goshawk who has a break in her wing from being shot with a pellet gun. Adian and Magdali teach me a lot but I also teach them something new every now and then, such as hunting Bunny’s with the spotlight. The Dullstroom Bird Of Prey centre is a big family of staff and volunteers all mixed together from all over the world teaching each other new languages and new techniques in hunting and handling of different birds.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped me and taught me and a special thanks to my friends Frith, Adian and Magdali for everything they have done for me and most importantly I very big thank you to Steven my mentor.

I would like to wish all new and future Falconers at Penryn College good luck!

PAGE 24

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 25

Natal Falconry Club

WORDS BY ROSS

KRAMM

Looking across the dinning room table there are two

We are hopefull for a successful release in the not too

fond of. I’ve seen her put a good number of quarry in the

Ryan Lee. Male b. spar from Crow: in training with Brett Franklin. Male b. spar from Raptor Rescue: in training with Patrick Mitchel. Male b. spar from a member of public: trained

spectacular falcons sitting and preening. There’s

distant future.

bag and for a 120g bird she was a blur to watch. He has

and released, Stuart Pringle. Male African peregrine from Crow: in training with Gareth Rowley. Snake eagle from Raptor Rescue: trained and released, Graham Berry. Black Eagle

just started flying his third year Musket black spar and is

from Raptor Rescue: In training, Graham Berry. Little spar from Raptor Rescue: trained and released, Andre Van Sittert. Female Lanner Falcon from Raptor Rescue: in training,

looking forward to a very promising season.

Steven van Rensburg. Peregrine Falcon from Durban CBD: in training, Greg McBay. And many many more going back further than I can remember.

a pent up energy and excitement for the coming season. Already some bags are bulging for the pot. A

Stephan Lawrence is just getting his rehab lanner going

great season in the promise. Over the last year, the

and is expecting great things from her. He also hunts a

NFC members have been very active in their chosen

Harris and is on the same healthy diet as Greg West.

Stuart Pringle, thanks be to the falconry gods for letting him finally acquire a passage peregrine. I won’t bore

obsession as well as putting in some great rehab work.

Elton Arnett is flying his beautiful imprint black spar Juvi

you with the 250-page process but be sure to stop him

Gareth Rowley, nobody is counting of coarse, but Gareth

that is now in her 8th season. She is currently growing

at the bar and ask if it was easy. She is a clever bird and

took up the species challenge last year finishing with

in fitness and some birds have already landed up in the

to my great disappointment has proven quiet easy for

four different species. This lanner is now regularly

bag. Regularly taking small birds, quail and the beloved

him to train. What’s the fun in that.

robbing his new lanner of her meals. The new bird is

Swainson’s francolin. He will be having a great season.

starting to show some good promise.

He also flies a peregrine falcon in her 5th season.

Be sure to have a exit strategy at the bar because by then he will have some great hunting stories to tell

Kyle Solmes is still flying Morgan (fem. Lanner), his

The “black pearl” as she is aptly named is spending

trusty old love of 12 years. She is being flown very much

the hunting season with Bruce due to Elton’s work

overweight but still puts in a great performance. Kyles

constraints. No complaints from Bruce I am sure.

Bruce Padbury continues to fill the quota on his hunting permits with his trusty female peregrine of 3 years. And

other bird, a 525g male turbo is another animal entirely.

He loves big sky and uses it properly. If you want to see

Raegan Kramm, what a handsome young man decided

to make matters worse he also has Eltons bird adding to

a special bird fly, try twist Kyles arm and tag along. I

shortly after the field meet last year that he would start

the bag. The Padbury family also living off healthy South

think he ended the season with 27 head of game from

wasting his money and time on falconry. He flew a very

African grown, free range game birds.

rockies to partridge all in great style.

nice pretrained female af goss and learned the ropes well. He is now doing the weekend warrior thing with

And as for me, I am flying my very stunning hybrid of

Greg McBay has picked up his intermewed lanneret

a rehab female Gabar that he raised and trained to be

5 years. Last year he took the back seat a little as I

again. Greg often flew him on spec and regularly took

a fantastic little bird. Most weekends will see him and

concentrated mostly on my fresh passage peregrine.

quarry from 80g to 1000g. The lanneret often providing

I in the veld at sunrise doing what Gabars do very well.

This year the two of them will regularly have me with binoculars pointed skywards, a smile on my face and

the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Greg is also flying a peregrine falcon that we should be seeing

Ryan Lee has taken on a rehab blackspar. She did make

at mega pitch soon.

him and his Dad Garth quite grey in the early stages but

butterflies in my stomach.

Cape Falconry Club

WORDS BY DR

EDMUND OETTLE

like most birds has now seen the light and understands

The NFC falconers have been very busy in the last little

Warren Stone a relative new comer has already got his

the partnership. She will be released back to the wild

bit doing their fair share for the conservation of BOP in

The CFC maintains good communication with CapeNature, with the continuing of the wild take. This was due to the overwhelming response by members to submit their nest

JB entered and is now deeply in love.

when she is hunting well.

the form of rehab work. This has only been done with

records, and CN are clearly pleased with the data. This is ongoing, and a requisite for our wild take to continue. Thus we cannot rest on our laurels, and each member must

birds that have a good prospect of success in the wild.

submit their nest records annually.

Greg West also flying the love of his life. A female Harris

Patrick Mitchel, also flying a rehab musket black spar

Using falconry training techniques we get the birds

that spends more time with him at night than he spends

had some fantastic early success. Having entered his

fit and can evaluate them under hunting conditions.

The black spar nest project was stopped due to the abundance of wild nests that have been recorded, and so it was thought to be worth looking at alternative projects, for example

with his wife. Rabbit meat is very healthy and Greg is a

bird on the first free flight. A little injury has set the bird

Without this “real life hunting” and fitness, many would

artificial Red spar nests, since Red spars seem to have declined as the Black spars have increased.

great believer in living that way.

back a bit but will shortly be back at it.

not make it. Most birds having been rung prior to release.

Gradings: Toni Kraus received his A-Grade at Safa, for which he is congratulated.

A special thanks to them all.

The Field Meet was held in Greyton this year, to explore a different venue in the Overberg. The venue was great, but variety of birds was limited, and so a different venue will be

Rowan Mattig, our resident shopkeeper somehow

Brett Franklin, also flying a rehab musket and is testing

manages to hunt a whole tribe of Harrisess and keep

the distance capabilities of the marshal transmitters.

the falconry fraternity in SA and Zim well stocked with

This spar is one of those birds that just never gives up.

equipment. Often leaving us drooling at the mouth at

Whatever gets up needs to become a meal, even if the

3 wood owls from Crow: Hacked and released, Ross

the goodies he has on display. The new GPS systems a

chase ends 2km’s away. This is the brother of Ryan’s

and Tracey Kramm. Brown Hooded Kingfisher: Hacked

Some of the CFC members opted to join the BFC. This is probably in the long run a good thing, as clubs that are too large become unwieldy, whereas clubs that are too small are

case in point. Rowan is also one of our biggest sponsors

bird and will become another successful release.

and released and released and released again. Tracey

not really clubs at all. There is a better blance now.

used in future.

Kramm. O, sorry that’s a different report. 2 wood owls

for the raffle tickets at the dinner evening and for this we all are most grateful. I am going to get that damn

Daryl Tweedy is still flying his hybrid and managed a

from Crow: hacked back to the wild, Stuart Pringle. 2

crossbow this year.

good few duck in the bag last year. No doubt repeating

Spotted Eagle owls from Crow: taught what rats are

the same exercise this year.

and released, Stuart. 2 Spotted Eagle owls from Raptor

I represented Safa at the IAF meeting in Argentina in August. A report on that visit has been sent to Mews Views.

Papers published: Oettlé E E 2015: European Honey Buzzard feeding on Yellow Jacket Wasps’ (Vespula germanica) combs in Wellington. Ornithological Observations 6: 24-25.

Rescue: hacked back to the wild, Bruce P. Female b.

Graham Berry is flying a rehab Black Eagle that is a

PAGE 26

you too.

true gentle giant. She has come on very nicely and can

Andre Van Sittert had to be forced to relinquish his grip

spar from Crow: basic training, hacked and released

With the onset of the cooler weather, everyone is looking forward to the new season. Last year was the hottest and driest on record in the Western Cape, which negatively impacted

regularly be seen thermaling high above Grahams head.

on a rehab female little spar that he had grown very

Ross Kramm. Female b. spar from Crow: in training with

gamebird numbers. We all hope for good rains this winter.

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

North West Hawking Club

WORDS BY DYLAN

FREEMAN

North East Falconry Club

In the last season the club has continued to practice our

to basics and have some fun hawking. I also continued

Adri du Toit continued to excell in her rehabilitaton work

The NEFC was formed late in the 2015 Falconry season .We

fine art, we enjoy quality quarry and hawking conditions

to do Fly some birds for abatement has been keeping

and also continued to fly her male African Goshawk

had time to fit in a field meeting that was held at Louis

were quite good last season with prey speciecs in no

me quite busy. I have some bew prospects in the future

keeping her busy when she is away feom her hoeses.

Trichardt the attends was good and everyone enjoyed the

short supply, this season with the drought our quarry is

wuth regards to my falconry and will see what new

Despite not flying a long wing this season Adri did join

occasion.

not as abundant but looking forward to what the season

adventures my falconry takes me on. As usual we have

us in the field and assisted in the hawking. Her gos

ahead holds. Main falconry hawks flown by the club

some great hawking grounds and quarry and always

was vwry keen and it is alwyas great to see how these

We are all looking forward to the 2016 season but the

members were a Peregrine, lanners, black spar and an

great to head into the field with hawk and hound.

underated birds can do so well with experienced hands.

drought in our area is not good for the spirit , we must keep

Adri continues to assist in club comitee concerns and i

hope ing for rain.

african gos. Qurry we hunted ranged from plovers and mynahs to gambirds and many attempts at sand grouse.

Johan Smith started last season with a male lanner

am sure she will continue to enjoy her falconry in the

We were also privileged to welcome falconers from

which he flew in thermals with great success and he

season ahead.

some other provinces and enjoyed watching fine hawks

will continue to fly him this season. He also took on

in action. The new season will bring some changes but

Peregrines from a well known falconer and flew the

Marco Hogendoorn rejoined the club after being away

the club will continue to enjoy some fantastic sport this

female last season in great style. This bird really stoked

for a few years due to other comitments. He assisted

upcoming season.

the fire and now Joe is a life long wing convert I am sure.

Joe and as Joe was tied up with longwings, mentored

WORDS BY FLIP

BLIGNAUT

I want to thank everyone that helped with the forming of the NEFC.

Unfortunately work had kept him busy and supprisingly

Marco using Joes Female Black Spar. Much excitement

Dylan last season i focused on a lanner and had a huge

he hasnt let this effect his commitment to falconry and

was had by us as a group with this spar and by the end

amount of fun with thermals and pigeons. I did attempt

his passion is well evident. Joe is looking forward to a

of the season Marco was itching for a spar of his own.

but yet again that grouse eludes me. I also enjoyed

fantastic seasone ahead and I’m sure he will be in fine

We will see what the next season holds for Marco.

the emense pleasure of flying my 3rd phase female

form to harass the grouse even further. His field craft as

African Goshawk. Sometimes its a great joy to go back

well as passion has shown he is an asset to the club.

Happy Hawking from the North West Hawking Club.

Thank you.

Boland Falconry Club

WORDS BY GRAHAM

SLEEP

The BFC has expanded significantly over the course of the last year with 20 full members at the time of writing, a majority of which are active.

At the time of writing the BFC has not yet had its AGM due to a project to re-write a number of core club documents including the constitution. Membership participation has been good but it takes time to incorporate all the ideas and format final formats agreeable to the full club membership. Once this work is complete the club will organise its AGM and the new committee announced.

Hunting Numerous birds were flown during the course of 2015.

Graham Sleep, Francois Breedt, Johan Botes, Christo Cruywagen and Hank Chalmers flew a combination of 3 trapped female passage peregrines, 1 trapped tiercel peregrine. 3 intermewed peregrines including 1 rehab, 1 passage and one captive bred. These birds were flown with mixed success and some considerable tracking by some as anyone who attended the 2015 SAFA meet can attest to. There was however some truly remarkable flying.

Nick Aitchison flew his intermewed gyr / peregrine very successfully on ducks.

Alan Clemo had an excellent season with a rescued eyas redspar that was imprinted. Alan took a truly impressive bag across 35+ different species.

Rob VanVeen flew both Harris Hawks as well as blackspars with good success and a very successful 2015 SAFA meet.

Whehan Geldenhuys flew an intermewed Harris hawk on guineafowl with varying success.

Mark Cook continues to do well with his Harris hawks both flying and breeding successfully. Mark also picked up a blackspar towards the end of 2015.

SAFA 2015 A large contingent from BFC made their way to SAFA in 2015 with varying success. The trip itself was “character building” and it often seemed that if it could go wrong it would.

That being said it was great for so many new members to attend the meet together and great fun was had by all. The BFC extends its thanks to the SAFA committee and to everyone involved in organising this meet year after year.

The club continues to grow with numerous members added after the end of the 2015 falconry season. There are already several very exciting birds being flown, some intermewed and some new and 2016 promises to be a great falconry season for the club.

PAGE 28

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 29

High quality falconry was had although Tim in particular spent as much time driving to where he could hunt his preferred quarry as he spent in actually flying! Despite the

Free State Falconry Club

difficulties encountered by all of who live in cities, our hunting was very rewarding as is shown in the hunting report below.

WORDS BY ANTON

MULLER

Breeding Projects The Club continued with the Peregrine Falcon captive breeding projects of Timothy Wagner, Dirk Verwoerd and Riaan Hattingh. The Rednecked Falcon breeding project started

The year of 2015 has been the driest year in recorded

grounds, and to Bertus Beukes for the venue. There

lack of time impacts greatly on doing falconry. However

but was set back by the loss of the male while being flown for exercise. This bird has been replaced and the birds moved to Graham Anderson’s facilities. The Club was once

history. This has impacted on the quarry base available

was a good spirit especially around the braai and all

with prioritizing and organizing many still find a way to

again given the quota we requested to take birds from the wild and this will satisfy all our requirements for the coming year.

for falconers in the Free State. This was especially the

had a great time. The flight of the meet has to be the

do falconry in a great manner.

case for the central and western areas. Subsequently

one where Cobus Bezuidenhout’s intermewed peregrine

most falconers moved away from the traditional duck

tiercel struck a rock pigeon stone dead from an 800ft

The external pressures like that animal rights activists

The projects on monitoring Black, Ovambo and Little Sparrowhawks in central Gauteng is ongoing. Human activities as well as spread of defoliation of Eucalyptus trees had

and partridge hawking and concentrated more on

pitch. Well done Cobus.

pose, also holds danger to our sport. But at the same

increased negative impact on Black Sparrowhawks. The small Sparrowhawks have remained almost unaffected by these factors and continued to be rather successful.

Raptor Monitoring

time it is these threats that make us draw closer

doves, pigeons and sandgrouse. There was good influx of sandgrouse from the west and good sport was had

Our membership has grown, at the writing of report we

together and put aside our differences. However we

Black Sparrowhawk

on them. To the east conditions were a bit better, where

are standing on 18 members.

have to be vigilant in the manner we do falconry and

Seven Black Sparrowhawk nesting areas had been monitored for many years by TFC members, but by the 2015 breeding season only 2 pairs were still successfully occupying

be conscious to always improve our general standard of

the original areas. At one site the birds occupied the nest and presumably laid a clutch, but the nest tree and all surrounding trees lost almost all the leaves by early July. There

husbandry and ethics.

was also disturbance immediately adjacent to the nest when all large trees were cut down as part of the Working for Water programme. The birds abandoned the site and no new

good partridge hawking could be done.

We continue to have a good relationship with Nature

nest was found. The pair at the last remaining site fledged 3 eyasses.

We held our annual Field meet in the Parys area. There

conservation (DEAT) and have assisted in the

was a good attendance from our members as well as

rehabilitation of numerous raptors. Tim Mcpherson has

I would like to wish all our members and the broader

some out of province falconers. Hawking was mainly

done a lot in this regard and we thank him for his efforts.

falconry community a good season. And thank everyone

Ovambo Sparrowhawk

done on partridge, doves and pigeons. It was a good

Many of our members feel the pressures on our beloved

from the SAFA Exco at the top down to the isolated

Of the remaining seven long-term monitoring sites that survived the Working for Water clearing programme in 2015, one pair (or their successors) relocated to a grove in a nearby

venue and will possibly see us in future. A big thanks

sport external and internal. Internally the economic

falconers on the fringes of the provinces for their

park and fledged a musket and female. One nest in a city park was destroyed by a windstorm and no replacement nest was found. Of the other five pairs, the following were

has to go to Gert Pretorius for organizing us the hunting

climate, rising fuel prices, family responsibilities and

contribution to our sport. Happy hawking.

observed: • 2 pairs fledged 2 and 3 chicks respectively. Both nests are in peri-urban farming areas • 2 pairs nesting in city parks fledged 2 chicks each.

• m1 pair in a grove alongside a stream in the city produced 3 young, but these were not actually seen to fledge.

Transvaal Falconry Club

Little Sparrowhawk WORDS BY ROBBIE

ROBINSON

Three of the four pairs (or their successors) that have been monitored since 2010 are still using the same breeding areas; two in parks and one along an urban stream. Two of the nests definitely produced only a single chick that reached at least brancher stage. At the third nest site, two juveniles were seen in the nest grove in December, presumably both from the nest. (This nest is in a very tall pine tree so I have not been able to see onto the nest at all.)

Membership Member numbers have declined through some falconers leaving the Province or country and some finding that they can no longer practice falconry so have left the Club, at least for the present. Five new members joined the Club during the year and by SAFA 2016, two of the Novice Falconers have graded to Apprentice.

Work and other commitments prevented a number of our members from flying during 2015, so only 17 members actively flew birds.

During the year a WhatsApp group was started by members and this contributed tremendously to the communications within the Club. Many interesting pictures were swapped as well as the (expected) number of friendly insults! Some of the messages that were shared also illustrated the care that has to be taken when using social media: people sometimes forget that messages despatched into cyberspace have a wider readership and a much longer and available lifespan than is sometimes desirable.

As of 1 April 2016, the following were the grades of TFC members: A Grade

10

B Grade

7

C Grade

9

Apprentice

2

Novice

2

Associate

1

Eastern Cape Falconry Club

WORDS BY ALAN

HARVEY

Chairman: Alan Harvey Members: Arnold Slabbert, Brian Reeves, Romario Gonsalves The past season has seen no increase in club members in spite of many inquires and. Romario is our newest member who has just joined. He will be flying one of the small shortwings this coming season.

Arnold still has his female Peregrine flying mainly redwing francolin in the Port Elizabeth area. He also has a pair of Harris hawks. Brian Reeves still has his female Af Gos but has not been active due to work commitments. Alan flew his 3 times intermewed passage female Peregrine at duck mainly with a first Namaqua sandgrouse at seasons end. This bird struck a lot of duck dead in the air with headshots this season. Also flew Gumtree once intermewed hacked female Peregrine also at duck. She has turned into a high flying aggressive duck killer with an impressive score.

Falconry In spite of the difficulties in finding suitable hunting grounds and quarry, longwings were still in the majority with ten Peregrines and one Lanner being hunted. One of our members took a wild-caught Lanner at the beginning of 2016. Two of the Apprentice Falconers flew Rock Kestrels, one of which was actively flown at small birds. Six shortwings (two Black Sparrowhawks, one African Goshawk, one Gabar Goshawk, one Ovambo Sparrowhawk and one Harris’ Hawk) were flown.

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MEWS VIEWS > 2016

Arnold still runs a rehab service through Wildline. Our dealings with Conservation are low key with us having to wait long periods for our permits to be issued however we do get our wild take and basically what we ask for.

MEWS VIEWS > 2016

PAGE 31

have the opportunity to select and train a pup out of the first breeding?

In addition, other simple things start to make you wonder as well. Will there be enough seasons left to really get the new pair of hunting boots you recently acquired to fit the contours of your feet and to feel like a second skin when you follow your dogs through the veld? Will you be there next season to see the plans through to train a new hawk and to see it come to its full potential over the next few years? You know the young eagle you are training for release will be your responsibility for at least the next two years. Will you eventually be there to see it released to fly free and find its own mate?

This is the way of life. You never used to think of an ending when you were younger, but it sure features strongly now. Fortunately we have our dogs and hawks, a hobby that helps to keep us fit and sane. Every morning when the new pup sees me I know that he is happy to be alive and that he is ready to shower all his love on me. He also gives me the warm feeling in my heart that only a pup can do. I just hope that I will be there to share it with him for many more seasons.

WORDS BY JULIUS

KOEN

I have just got myself a new pup, a little orange and

shaping your furniture and shoes and everything else

white one. He is a Brittany out of the best presently

they can get their teeth into. On top of that, they could

available in America. Multiple Hall of Fame dogs and

be around for ten to fifteen years.

field trial winners in its immediate past generations. We will have to see if he will live up to his pedigree, but the

Now you can see that there were a lot of things that

potential is already there. Waiting for him at home was

I considered before I got the pup. Importantly, being

another orange and white Brittany, a potential mate for

retired meant enough time available for the pup. There

the pup. She was also chosen from the best breeding

was, however, one consideration that outnumbered the

stock available with a compatible lineage to the pup.

rest. At my age you wake up in the morning, blessed

Although I bred GSP’s thirty odd years ago, I have never

with the realisation that you are alive and healthy and

hunted with a dog bred by myself as I never wanted

able to live out your passions. But you are also aware

more than two dogs. Apart from a desire to improve the

that many of your friends, colleagues and people you

Brittany genetics in South Africa (hence the reason why

have known in various circles are no longer around.

we imported), I also wanted to breed and hunt my own

They have departed on or before the age you are now

pup.

at. You also know that you are living on borrowed time.

Will you have enough time to train the pup and to see it

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I have always maintained that getting a new pup is not

put its nose to the wind in the habitats you think suitable

easy. There should be no spur of the moment decision to

for spurfowl, francolin or guinea fowl? Will you see it

get a pup. You must carefully consider the time available

improve its abilities season after season and possibly

to train the youngster and you must get yourself in

end up as the dog you have always dreamt of? The one

the right frame of mind as you know they will lie and

that will never miss or the one that will slowly pursue

steal and generally try their hand at gardening and re-

a runner until it eventually locks up tight. Will you ever

ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11

ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11

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ULTIMATE SPEARFISHING MAGAZINE > VOL 11