December 2013 Hawk Chalk by NAFA President

Hawk Chalk The Newsletter of the North American Falconersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association

December 2013

The NorTh AmerIcAN FAlcoNerS’ ASSocIATIoN “. . . Our purpose is provide communication among, and to disseminate information to interested members; to promote scientific study of the raptorial species, their care, welfare and training; to promote conservation of the birds of prey and appreciation of their value in nature and in wildlife conservation programs; to urge recognition of falconry as a legal field sport; and, to establish traditions which will aid, perpetuate, and further the welfare of falconry and the raptors it employs.”

Art. I, Sec. 2

Identification Statement: Publication name and frequency: “Hawk Chalk” (ISSN 0441-6503) is published three times a year in April, August and December by the North American Falconers’ Association (NAFA) at 533 Maple St., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 Issue Number: Vol. LII No. 3, December 2013 Subscription included in NAFA dues. Postage paid in Connecticut and at other offices. Mailing address for change of address orders: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hawk Chalk, c/o Pete Rodas 6301 Connaught Dr., Black Forest, CO 80908

Submissions to Hawk Chalk

Directors’ and Officers’ reports are due on 10th of the month before its publication date (for example: the August reports are due July 10). All other submissions are due on the 1st of the month before its publication (such as July 1 for the August issue).

Submission Guidelines:

Electronic copy in Rich Text, ASCII or MS Word format; e-mail submissions preferred. All hard copy must be double-spaced, typed or laser printed — No dot-matrix please. Attach photos to e-mails as .jpg files. Do not include photos in Word docs.

Please submit to: Kenn Filkins, 533 Maple St., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 hawkchalkeditor@yahoo.com Front Cover Credit: A red-tail hawk at the California Hawking Club meet at Lake Topaz in 2008. Photo by Rob Palmer

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Back Cover Credit: A group of Harris’s hawks held by Wayne Schoope. Photo by Eric Leathers of Missouri

Current nAFA LeADerSHip OFFICERS AND SuPPORT STAFF president: Larry Dickerson 695 Garden Valley Rd. Statesville, NC 28625 704.546.2703 NAFAPresident@n-a-f-a.com Vice-president: Bob Welle 27400 S. Gribble Rd. Canby, OR 97013-9514 NAFAVicePresident@n-a-f-a.com Corresponding Secretary: Donna Vorce 601 East 6th St Davenport, NE 68335 NAFACorrespondingSecretary@n-a-f-a.com Membership Secretary: Pete Rodas 6305 Connaught Dr. Black Forest, CO 80908 719.488.9740 NAFAMembershipSecretary@n-a-f-a.com treasurer: April Davenport-Rice 704.763.6730 NAFATreasurer@n-a-f-a.com Journal editor: Jon D'Arpino NAFAJournal@n-a-f-a.com Hawk Chalk editor: Kenn Filkins 533 Maple St. Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 NAFAHawkChalk@n-a-f-a.com

nAFA Foreign Liaison: Mike Hope NAFAForeignLiaison@n-a-f-a.com nAFA Medical editor: Patrick T. Redig DVM NAFAMedical@n-a-f-a.com nAFA Webmaster: Fred Fogg Winston-Salem, NC NAFAWebmaster@n-a-f-a.com iAF representatives: nAFA - uSA: Dan Cecchini, Jr IAFuSA@n-a-f-a.com nAFA - Canada: Mark Williams IAFCanada@n-a-f-a.com nAFA - Mexico: Juan Carlos Rojo IAFMexico@n-a-f-a.com nAFA Sales representative: Cathy Bauer-Tintinger 29970 County Road 14 Lamar, CO 81052 NAFASales@n-a-f-a.com 719-688-9634 uK Membership Liaison: Mike Hope NAFAForeignLiaison@n-a-f-a.com

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

reGIoNAl DIrecTorS Director-At-Large: Greg Thomas 5125 E. 161st St. Noblesville, IN 46062 Director_At_Large_1@n-a-f-a.com Director-At-Large: Ron Clarke Box 22372 Juneau, AK 99802 907.723.6840 Director_At_Large_2@n-a-f-a.com Canadian Director: Martin Geleynse Ayr, Ontario, Canada 519.501.8611 Canadian_Director@n-a-f-a.com Central Director: Don Roeber 9115 Bentwater Parkway Cedar Hill, TX 75104 Central_Director@n-a-f-a.com Great Lakes Director: Dianne Moller 608.883.2795 Great_Lakes_Director@n-a-f-a.com

Mountain Director: Paul Domski 36 Brendan Lane Tijeras, NM 87059 505.281.7124 Mountain_Director@n-a-f-a.com northeastern Director: Scott McNeff 64 High Street Kennebunk, ME 04043 207-604-6283 Northeastern_Director@n-a-f-a.com north pacific Director: Danny Cecchini, III Bend, OR 541.690.5522 North_Pacific_Director@n-a-f-a.com Southeastern Director: Michael Beran 294 Longhorn Drive Bossier City, LA 71112 318.572.2594 Southeastern_Director@n-a-f-a.com South pacific Director: Adam R. Chavez 949.374.4168 South_Pacific_Director@n-a-f-a.com

leGAl couNSel General Counsel: James H. Maynard, Esq. Maynard, Truland & Ware, LLC 6 Dumont Place Morristown, NJ 07960 973.540.0054 NAFA_GC@n-a-f-a.com Associate General Counsel: Brian F. Clayton, Esq. NAFA_AGC2@n-a-f-a.com

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Associate General Counsel: Ryan N. English, Esq. The English Law Corporation 1820 E. 17th St. Santa Ana, CA 92705 714.835.3837 NAFA_AGC1@n-a-f-a.com General Counsel emeritus: Frank M. Bond, Esq. NAFA_GCE@n-a-f-a.com

tAbLe

COntentS

current leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2- 3 President’s message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6- 8 News and Notices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- 11 update on IFA by Dan cecchini, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 In rememberence of David lee Kershall 1940-2013 by Tom c. Gossard. . . . . . .9- 11 Director’s reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12- 25 central: Don roeber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Great lakes: Dianne moller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13- 14 Northeastern: Scott mcNeff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15- 17 mountain: Paul Domski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18- 19 South Pacific: Adam chavez. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 canadian: martin Geleynse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20- 22 North Pacific: Dan cecchini III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 At-large: Greg Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23- 24 Northwestern: michael Beran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 At-large: ron clarke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Affiliate club News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26- 45 Wisconsin Falconry Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 utah Falconers Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 oregon Falconers Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28- 29 minnesota Falconers Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 North carolina Falconers Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 4

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TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED. . . West Virginia Falconry club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 michigan hawking club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 maine Falconry and raptor conservancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 massachusetts Falconry and hawking Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 oklahoma Falconry Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38- 39 Florida hawking Fraterity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Texas hawking club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Arizona Falconers Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Alberta Falconers Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42- 43 Arkansas Falconry Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44- 45

From the Field, mews and Breeding chamber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46- 59 Kestrel and Red-tail Art by Kandy Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Why Write? by Bill Boni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47- 48 Idaho Caption Correction by The editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Falconers Aid At-Risk Prairie Grouse by caleb Stroh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Greenland Fascinations 2013 by Tage Jessen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53- 53 Training Owls Vs Hawks by Karen Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54- 57 Letter to The Editor by Bill Boni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58- 59 Falconry Friends We Have Lost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

The last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Thoughts From The Editor by Kenn Filkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

FROM THE PRESIDENT By NAFA President Larry Dickerson There is a song being sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman that is playing in the background as I write this message. “Time to Say Goodbye.” It is time to say goodbye as your NAFA President and as your president, this will be my last Hawk Chalk article. It has been such an honor to serve my falconry family, but after nearly 20 years as either an officer or director in my state club, the North Carolina Falconers' Guild, or as an officer or committee chair in NAFA, I feel that I have adequately contributed my time, my energy and sometimes my money, my meager skills as a manager and many frequent flier miles to my passion of falconry and to falconers, many of whom I have never met. Two years ago, when the NAFA Board of Directors elected me for another term, I made it clear then I had no desire to serve a third term as president. I personally wanted to see all states successfully transition to new regulations and permitting authority; a project that was begun almost a decade ago. I knew it would take at least two terms to complete that with your help and the help of some wonderful people within NAFA working together as a team. That project has been successfully completed and now I'm ready to depart the leadership of NAFA and leave it in the exceptionally capable hands of the officers and board that are currently serving us. A favorite colloquialism in my little part of the world for one who is worn out is: "Been rode hard and put up wet." I have been rode hard and put up wet. I am whipped. My hair is a lot grayer now and I have a personal need to re-dedicate myself to my own falconry and effective January 1, 2014, I will do just that. Almost four years have passed since I wrote my first Hawk Chalk article as the newly elected leader of the world's largest, in my opinion, the world's finest membership falconry organization. When I entered falconry years ago, I could never have imagined such a role nor could I foresee the friendships I would make all over North America and indeed around the world that will last the rest of my life. This article has to be in to Editor Kenn Filkins before some decisions will officially be made by the board of directors as to the person that will be the next President of NAFA. I am going to make a prediction and I feel the prediction will be accurate. I predict Bob Welle will serve as your next president. I cannot think of a finer person I would personally like to see lead NAFA as its President than Bob. Bob has served for years as your Vice President, my personal back-up; and has quietly, yet passionately carried out his duties and those duties are innumerable. Bob does not like to talk about himself a lot, but he is a devoted husband and father, an extraordinary outdoorsman and a true gentleman. He is an avid fly fisherman in the off season and devotee of 6

all things falconry. In his time prior to service to NAFA, Bob served as President of the Oregon Falconers Association and remains very active in his state club. I cannot even begin to write about all the things he is involved in with NAFA but suffice it to say he touches almost every aspect of our association every day. He is a leader, he is a manager, and he is more than qualified and experienced to lead NAFA into the future. Bob and I are two different people and our styles of management are different, but I think we have complimented one another in our working relationship for NAFA. He has a great sense of humor and we enjoy kidding one another. He has been my quiet voice of reason when I wanted to hang someone from the yardarm. From two strangers a few years ago, to working together for NAFA these past years, I think we developed into a very fine team. Playing to each others strengths and working together to make others successful and to make NAFA successful and we have become friends. On occasion he has been my conscience and counselor and I think we have developed a friendship and camaraderie that has worked very well for the entire NAFA team of Officers, Directors, Committee Chairs and all of the volunteers that serve our association. I have been blessed to work with an exceptional team of people volunteers all. If I had the space in this issue of the Hawk Chalk I could tell you about each one and their incalculable contributions. I See PRESIDENT on Page 7

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

PRESIDENT Continued from Page 6

could tell you about the discussions and while differences of opinion are often the norm, the respect shown to one another. The ability to reach a consensus as a team are simply phenomenal. Some members of the board have changed over the years, but without exception, I have never worked with a finer group of people. Each has the best interest of falconry and NAFA at heart; each has served or continues to serve with honor and distinction. Have we always agreed? Certainly not, but we have never been disagreeable. Well done ladies and gentlemen. Keep up the good work! I have met so many wonderful, passionate and caring people in NAFA. I cannot think of a single organization I have ever been associated with however where so much talent and so much dedication by such a tiny portion of the general population results in such a huge impact on what I love to do. NAFA includes some of the finest from all walks of life. It seems in our falconry family however, no one really cares what you "do" as long as you "do" falconry. I do not remember the last time someone asked me, "What do you do for a living?" More often than not the question is, "What do you fly?" Falconers do not seem to care if you are a doctor, lawyer or indian chief. They care that your bird is in good health, fine feather, flying strong and catching stuff. For more than 50 years, NAFA as an association has done well and I am sure will continue to do well for the next 50 years and beyond. A stumble here and there, some turbulence too, but through it all we are a stronger voice for falconry on this continent and NAFA is respected around the world. I am always proud to tell people I am a NAFA member and I always intend to be. It is beyond me why every falconer is not a member. I am amazed at the number of non-members who continue on their merry way, without a thought of the people and of the association that has kept legal falconry alive for them, yet when "the knock on the door" comes, they run to NAFA for protection or advice. I think together we have accomplished much, but there is so much more to do. Together we saw the most comprehensive changes in falconry regulations at the federal and state levels than at any time since federal regulations were put in place more than 30 years ago. Every single state was successful in getting new regulations and their request for permitting authority in and approved on time. Together we saw and responded to more federal, state and local legal challenges than we had seen in years and were successful in meeting those challenges. We implemented changes in how the board of directors conducts the business of our association going from somewhat formal, to very formal agendas and involving members that want to be involved. As a NAFA Member, you received more information about the everyday events of NAFA on a routine Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

basis, not only from me but from your directors via email. Our membership information and updates moved from adequate at the time to excellence in accountability and our membership has remained relatively stable in a very unstable economy. Our budget has been and continues to be in the black each year. We overhauled our by-laws and brought them up-to-date and made all meeting agendas, minutes of meetings and every detail of NAFA operations immediately available to any member with a computer and internet access. We opened NAFA's "books" for all to see any time they wanted to see it. We completely overhauled the old operations manual, reviewed every policy and every procedure. When it was bad or did not live up to the expectations of the NAFA membership or meet our current needs, we either modified it or got rid of it. We streamlined committees and put many of them into work groups and got rid of the appointment by the president of all committee members. We now leave it to the committee chair to choose the people they want to work with on their team. The productivity by doing this has gone way up as has the professionalism and accountability. Together we have opened NAFA to more new members than ever before and made the process faster, easier and more accessible via our website. Renewals are a few key strokes on a computer and so is meet registration. The NAFA website has gone from a handful of people using it ten years ago, to an average of 100,000 individual visitors a year over the past four years. Listening to the membership is one thing, taking quick action on majority membership requests, which your NAFA Board did and continues to do, took a lot of grit and determination. But we headed off in those directions and together built successes and we stumbled some too. NAFA has tried many new things over the past years and we looked outside the box to see how we could do better. Respecting our past and traditions while looking to our collective future has been and continues to be a priority of your NAFA Board and Officers. Together we have embraced technology but retain a lot of the "old ways" that our members have enjoyed for decades. This has often led to a balancing act and a lot of extra work, but that work paid off with the majority of the membership satisfied with the effort and the result. No single person is responsible for NAFA's successes; no more than a single person is responsible for its failures. Because we were not able to achieve more permits in the past four years for passage peregrine take or resolve issues with the USFWS on eagle take and equal access to National Wildlife Refuges, I do not see those as failures of NAFA nor personal failures on my part. They are ongoing and I think someday will be successful. They will just not happen on my watch. History and you, my fellow falconers and members, will judge whether I served See PRESIDENT II on Page 8

IAF REPORT AND WORLD FALCONRY DAY BY DAN CECCHINI, JR.: U.S. DELEGATE TO THE IAF By the time you read this report, the new international event created by the IAF called World Falconry Day, will be in the history books. As mentioned in my previous report, the IAF is UNESCO’s advisory NGO and must undertake promotions for the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Convention. The IAF developed the concept of World Falconry Day as part of its promotional activities for the UNESCO ICH Convention. The inaugural celebration day was November 16th of 2013. Our stated goal for World Falconry Day was to promote the intangible cultural heritage aspects of falconry, promote falconry in a positive light to society in general, work toward unifying the various aspects of falconry, and building a sense of community among falconers worldwide. Some specific activities that were discussed and hopefully will have occurred in multiple ways and places on World Falconry Day include press releases, promoting falconry-centric school activities, public dialogue, seminars, and lectures. The organizing committee for the IAF World Falconry Day is chaired by Dr. Javier Cabellos (Spain) and includes Gary Timbrell (Ireland), Veronique Blontrock (Belgium), Patricia Cimberio (Italy), Yukio Asaoko (Japan), Adrian Lombard (South Africa), and Dan Cecchini (USA). The IAF created an online catalog of World Falconry Day activities to capture the events occurring worldwide. As of the end of October,

three NAFA affiliate falconry organizations, the Colorado Hawking Club, the Texas Hawking Association, and the Saskatchewan Falconry Association have organized events for the day! I’m working on a press release right now and hope to get it widely distributed in time for November 16. To be part of the official online catalog of activities required an organization or individual to complete an IAF application, get the approval of NAFA (if you are in the US, Canada, or Mexico), then submit it electronically to the IAF for final approval. NAFA President, Larry Dickerson, was good at expediting the NAFA process to allow organizations to keep their momentum on their World Falconry Day events. That is great and exciting work on behalf of those organizations; by November 16 I suspect a few more NAFA affiliates will have joined the celebration. As a member organization of the IAF, NAFA shares the same basic goals as the IAF does for falconry and raptors. Both NAFA and the IAF work to keep falconry accepted and legal in our changing world and to protect wild raptors and their environments. I am serving as the IAF Public Relations Officer for America, so if you have any ideas about what kinds of things you would like to see on the IAF website or what types of things you would like to see the IAF involved with in the future, please let me know. You can send me emails regarding the IAF at Cecchini@iaf.org .

PRESIDENT II Continued from Page 7

NAFA well and adequately contributed to our success or not. I feel that I have fulfilled my only promise to the board and to you when I promised I would do all I could for NAFA and for falconry. In closing, allow me a moment to thank my wife Cynthia. She is not only my love life partner of more than 34 years, but she is my confidant, legal advisor, my fishing buddy, hunting partner, fellow falconer, editor-in-chief of my correspondence and the person who politely pretends to listen as I rant about one thing or another. When I was in yarak she has smoothed my feathers and quietly cropped me up so my tendency to "kill" was abated. She is a much better falconer than I and a much better fish8

erman too, but as long as I still have value in handling stinky garbage, lifting heavy stuff, making some decent BBQ ribs and feeding her birds when she is traveling, so perhaps she will keep me around. Thank you sweetheart for your encouragement, patience, tolerance and understanding for all these years and cleaning out my game bag a week after I forgot. Again.Thank you NAFA for the honor and privilege to serve you. I hope to see you all in the field someday and I hope you and I never forget that NAFA helped put us all there and that NAFA works hard to keep us all there. God Bless You. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

A FALCONER REMEMBERED: DAVID LEE KERSHALL 1940-2013 BY TOM C. GOSSARD David was born in Burbank, California January 26, 1940. It was a time when youngsters participated in many outdoor sports and pastimes. Both boys and girls could be seen playing different games on the quite streets of Burbank. Outdoor activities were encouraged by parents. Falconry was attempted by many boys in junior and high schools. It was a popular sport, and since we knew very little of the art, owls and hawks (not good for hawking) were kept as learning tools. Keeping and training, say a barn owl was not frowned on, it would be viewed as a learning process. The few books on falconry were mostly English, and well beyond the means of a teenager. What was available: the 1920 National Geograpic Society article by Fuertes and novels like The Falcons of Eric the Red. They helped fuel the desire to hawk but gave up little to be helpful in the maintenance of raptors. During the 1950's and 60's it took a great deal of persistence, dedication and trial and error to become a competent game hawker, the end game. This is the climate that Dave grew up in. Falconry history can be traced through many fine works on the sport. But our own personal history starts with the first book on the sport read, the viewing of a wild hawk or falcon taking prey, or the first encounter with a real falconer. Mine started with a high schooler neighbor, Jim Miles, who was flying a eyass prairie falcon taken from the famous Southern California eyrie, "skull rock." In 1953 Jim was in his last year of high school, (had his own car and driving) while I was bicycling to junior high. He soon moved away and left a void in my learning falconry stuff. At Luther Burbank Junior High. We talked about our interest in falconry and I soon met Dave Kershall, who also had a burning desire to be a falconer. There was a feeling a youngster would start slowly, a progression, say training a sparrow hawk (soon to be termed a kestrel), Cooper's hawk, prairie falcon, then to the top, a peregrine. A youngster had to "pay his dues." Dave and I flew a couple of kestrels, but he was the first to find nesting Cooper's hawk and take and fly an eyass. He then introduced me to a close by friend, a serious falconer, Mike Arnold. Near Mike's house was a large park and we would fly/exercise our hawks and falcons there. I seem to remember another kid riding over to watch, Ray Linder. Ray would later be a dedicated "duck hawker" too. A short time later Bob Martin joined the group, another serious falconer. Someone in the group heard of a close by San Fernando Valley falconer, Robert Klimes. Klimes was flying an intermewed eyass Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

PHOTO FROM TOM C. GOSSARD

1954, Burbank, CA, from left, Dave Kershall with his Cooper’s hawk and C. Gossard with his second “sparrow hawk,” “Ned.” tierce1 peregrine, "Massi" taken from the Lompoc eyrie. He would host club meetings and helped the "wannabes" practice better falconry. Dave and I made many visits to Bob's house. Massi was flown at the San Fernando Valley's Sepulveda Dam. This became a great flying area for many of the Southern California falconers. Sooner or later we all flew our falcons and hawks there. It was a great meeting spot. Dave was not a loner, but if no one could go he went anyway. He was a "doer and a goer." He made many friends and stayed in contact. When he bought a car and was mobile, he started trapping the Mojave Desert. There he met professional trappers, Warren Rook and the late Don Blites. Blites worked for Ed Harrison and provided eggs and skins for California's Western Foundation of Zoology. They gave him better trapping methods, like the pigeon harness and gossamer nets. Before that we See KERSHALL on Page 10

KERSHALL Continued from Page 9

PHOTO BY TOM C. GOSSARD

July 1960, Sepulveda Dam, CA. Dave with his first eyass prairie falcon taken from the “skull rock” eyrie. were using noosed box traps and bow nets. We had already trapped a few passage prairies with the harness method and wanted to try using a do-gma net. So, I tied one up, 4 feet wide and 3 feet high. On the desert we spotted a prairie on a utility pole and made a set some distance off. We then drove off, out of sight. Then slowly Dave drove back. We stopped a long ways off and glassed the area. The prairie was gone and we could vaguely make out the poles bent over and something on the pigeon. On racing to the net we found a golden eagle feeding and she was flushed off, luckily not taking the net. Kershall was not a trouble maker, but some how trouble always found him. If you rolled with Dave, it was an adventure. He was driving back to my house and we had stop for a signal. A car pulled up next to us and the fellow driving started to beat up his girl friend passenger. We looked over, quickly looked at each other, then looked straight ahead, not knowing how to handle it. The driver yelled at us, "got a problem." The signal changed and Dave crossed the 10

intersection, once into the next block, the driver passed then cut in front of our auto. The driver jumped out and we did the same. Dave got to him and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. That guy got what he deserved. You notice Dave did nothing to provoke him, but that sort of thing happened a lot with Dave. He liked to drink and sometimes that helped the situation. In the 1960's, Dave and I went into northern California looking for nesting prairie falcons. We stopped at the famous egg collector's house, Fred Truesdale in Santa Margarita for the night. He had supplied many trays of clutches from peregrines and prairie for Harrison's Museum. Fred was always willing to give great directions to nesting falcons as he had collected all over the state. We found our rooms then went into town for a quick dinner. It was found at a small bar. We ate chili and beans and had a couple of beers at the counter. The door way darkened as 15 or 20 Hell's Angels came in. They started drinking and dancing with their biker babes. I thought, *+@#%*, we aren't getting out of here alive. I mentioned to Dave perhaps we should head back to Truesdale's house. He surprisingly said “Okay.” We got back fine. On this trip we located a couple of new eyries with Fred's help. Dave was easy-going and quickly made friends. He knew lots of people and lived a 20 hour day. One evening – when we both lived with our parents but had cars – he came by the house and said, “Come on... Let's go look at an eyass gos.” On the drive, he explained that Ken Miller, nicknamed "Ace," had just gotten a gos from Yosemite Park. We found the house and went into the back yard to see a female gos tethered to a wooden bow

PHOTO BY TOM C. GOSSARD

May 1963, Santa Margarita, CA. From left, David Kershall and Mike Arnold at a prairie falcon eyrie. See KERSHALL II on Page 11

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

KERSHALL II Continued from Page 10

PHOTO BY TOM C. GOSSARD

David Kershall with his passage prairie falcon in December, 1972, Palmdale, CA.

was to build gas stations in Alaska. He trapped and flew a passage gos while there. When it started to get cold he drove back home to sunny California in his 1955 Ford pick-up truck. We started once again to trap prairie falcons on the California deserts. Dave had two passions, falconry and hot rods or custom cars. He was not a club person but many times he would show up at the California Hawking Club meets to watch the sport. In later years, we would meet at cars shows and Friday night car cruises at the local drive-ins. As time pasted he had not the health or time to fly hawks, but he still cared for sick or hurt owls and hawks and then hacked back to the wild. Dave still made time to go hawking with our old friend, Mike Arnold, whom was flying peregrines at duck. Dave dearly loved falconry. He had worked for other people until his wife, Ginger, help set up his own company in 1980's. Being his own boss took more of his time but helped make him more money. The company is now being run by his son, Ron. Dave out lived his sister, Janet by two years and is survived by his son, Ron, and his wife of many years, Ginger. This rememberance was by Kershall’s long-time friend of over 60 years, Tom C. Gossard.

perch. This was the first goshawk we had seen, and we were both amazed at how wild she was. Ace explained how the gos nest was found, high up in a pine tree. His two older friends had no climbing spurs, so they threw ropes over branches and pulled him up to the nest. He then lowered down the young hawks. Well, if they could do it so could Dave and I. The next year, about 1957, we drove the one way trip of 300 miles to Yosemite Valley with a car loaded with ropes and climbing gear. We saw goshawks but could not find the nest. We did find a nesting sharp-shinned hawk. One of Dave's new friends loaned him The Art of Falconry by Hon. Gerald Lascelles. He shared the book and it further fueled our desires for better falconry. In 1960, he took an eyass prairie falcon from "skull rock." He flew her one season with some good results. David's trade was cement, making all kinds of things. In PHOTO FROM TOM C. GOSSARD the late 1960's, his company June 2010, Burbank, CA. From left, Tom C. Gossard and David Kershall in from of David’s other sent him to work a year in Hawaii and the next year it passion, his 1956 Chevy. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

CENTRAL DIRECTOR By Don Roeber Central Director — Central_Director@n-a-f-a.com It’s mid October as I sit down to start writing this report. Fortunately, since Minnesota has now certified under the new USFWS regulations, there is nothing else significant to report for the Central Directorate! That major milestone is now behind us, but before we move on, we all owe Dr. Dave Eslicker a debt of gratitude for his role in this huge effort. I also hope that each of the key individuals involved in their state’s certification will schedule ongoing periodic meetings with their respective game department to keep those critical relationships alive and well into the future. Regarding passage peregrine trapping, Arkansas filled both of their permits. Oklahoma managed to fill a permit and Texas filled their permits. Minnesota filled their permit as well. We’ve all heard from multiple sources that the migration was slow this year, yet falconers across the Central Directorate rose to the challenge and ‘made it happen’! Congratulations to all of you who trapped new birds this year! NAFA has been very busy with several initiatives on behalf of the club. Number one, we’ve finalized our first ever NAFA brochure. This brochure is targeted specifically at falconers who have never been NAFA members or past NAFA members. We’ll get a copy of this brochure on the NAFA website shortly for you to view. I think you will be very pleased with the results. By the way, I’m also getting Francisco Vazquez (FEMHEA President) to translate this brochure into Spanish for our members (and prospective members) south of the U.S. border! Second, James Maynard, NAFA’s Legal Counsel, is working hard with outside legal counsel and Allen Ayers, who will file the appropriate IRS application, to establish a 501c3 organization that will be able to accept tax-free donations. Once established, NAFA will partner with this new organization to protect the sport as well as protect the wild raptor resource. I anticipate this entire effort to come to fruition in the first quarter of 2014. Third, we will be engaging in a number of activities to enhance our ability to retain members as well as grow our membership. Some of these activities

include improving the online membership application to make the process easier to follow and easier to execute, as well as reviewing our communication practices with the membership to make sure the officers of the club are able to maximize our opportunities to keep our membership engaged and providing feedback. I don’t have a whole lot else to report. We’ve just had our “heads down” working for the membership. One final thought: When you talk to your friends, who are not NAFA members, please remind them that NAFA was a key partner with the states on helping them preserve their falconry programs as they certified under the new federal regulations. This instance alone is a compelling reason why nonmember falconers should join and support NAFA. Remind them of that! By the time you read this report, the Alamosa meet will be history. If you attended the meet, I hope you were able to find me and introduce yourself. I’m always looking for feedback. Good hawking and I hope you start and finish your season with the same birds!

Look up any nAFA member on-line at nAFA’s website. n-a-f-a.com username: nafa2013

Password: Hawks2013Falcons

username and password are case-sensitive!

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

GREAT LAKES DIRECTOR By Dianne Moller Great Lakes Director — falco5@ticon.net I can’t believe it's winter again, this year seemed to just fly! By the time you read this, the NAFA meet in Alamosa, Colorado will have come and gone. Thank you to NAFA meet chair Pete Rodas and the Colorado Hawking Association for hosting a wonderful meet. Your directors will have elected a new president, appointed an interim vice president, and dedicated an entire day discussing important issues at meetings. The board will have said farewell to outgoing directors and welcomed those new to the board. I would like to personally thank NAFA President Larry Dickerson for his service and dedication to NAFA as he completes his second term. Larry has done an outstanding job leading NAFA in new directions that include: a higher level of communication, increasing customer service, remaining on top of important issues such as our new regulations, and implementing many new ideas. He is quick to lend an ear, a smile and never short on thank yous. We will miss his baritone voice, southern charm and quick sense of humor. It has been my pleasure and privilege to serve under his leadership. Please help me thank Larry Dickerson for his four years of hard work and dedication to NAFA. As you may already know, Larry traveled to Wisconsin in October and successfully trapped a female goshawk with Dan Orth. While Larry and Dan were trapping here, I was in Belgium participating at their falconry meet. This was my second visit to this charming and beautiful country. This time I was accompanied by my photographer friend Allison Halkey, who has taken professional pictures for my center for several years. We were greeted by my good friend Veronique Blontrock at the airport who was kind enough to host us once again. We spent several days hawking in the field and witnessed some great flights on crows and partridges. On Saturday, we spent the day at the Belgian Falconers Club Marie de Bourgogne meet with falconers from Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, UK and USA. It was a perfect day for hunting, and at the end of the day we were treated to a delicious traditional Belgian game dinner. The glazed pears are to die for! I would like to thank my dear friend Veronique for graciously opening up her home to us, and also the falconers of Belgium for allowing us to witness some great flights, for their kindness and sharing their camaraderie. In addition to hawking, we managed to squeeze in a couple of days of site seeing, shopping and fine dining. While I was there a female falconer friend had mentioned being criticized from someone in her own country stating she didn’t “look or dress enough like a falconer.” This comment prompted quite a discussion amongst both

PHOTO FROM DIANNE

Dianne and fellow falconer Klaus Leix of Germany hang around the weathering area at the meet in Belgium. The falcon she was holding belongs to a friend Tula - and its name is “Luna.” men and women who had also heard similar remarks in the past. So what does a falconer look like? Falconers are found everywhere and in all walks of life. Some are doctors, lawyers, machinists, engineers, bankers, paramedics, pilots, waitresses, etc. We may all look different but falconry is what brings us together. Take Danny Pickens for example: when he’s behind the pulpit in his suit and tie, he’s still a falconer, the same with Scott McNeff when he’s scooping ice cream, Kelly LaBarbara when she’s wearing her nurses scrubs, Cynthia Dickerson who worked for the Superior Court, Dave Eslicker when he’s wearing his doctors coat, Eric Edwards when he’s selling cars, and even me when I’m behind the hospital desk or in front of the camera – we are all still falconers. Recently I heard about a falconer who was See Dianne on Page 14

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

DIANNE Continued from Page 13

nesting on the nearby power plant and produced four chicks. Sadly, two of the fledglings had drowned the week prior when they sought cover in an old burm tank. By early September Caitlyn’s feet were healed and I began to lure fly her, followed by the kite and eventually entered on pigeons. She’s a beautiful bird and it’s been an absolute blast flying her. The WI DNR is in agreement that flying her through the season and hacking her from here in the spring is in Caitlyn’s best interest. Like so many others, one day PHOTO BY DIANNE I hope to trap and fly a passage peregrine. Dianne said, "I took this photo while in Belgium, it was hanging in a shop in Bruge." On a final note, my wearing a suit when trapping on his way home from daughter, Mandy, and her husband just informed work because he didn’t want to lose daylight and me they are expecting their first child. You know miss an opportunity to trap a bird. While site-seewhat this means; a little more falconry DNA in the ing in Europe, I saw paintings and statues that were world. hundreds of years old with kings and queens dressed in formal attire, holding their falcons. No one argues they were all falconers. What makes us a falconer is our love for birds of prey and hunting, not gender or clothing. No one should be judged on their ability by the way they dress. Just be a falconer, we don’t care what you wear as long as you are wearing something. Back to trapping, several folks indicated there was no shortage of trapping peregrines in Wisconsin. In fact, both peregrine permits were filled in Wisconsin by Dan Orth and Dave Noble. However, trapping red-tails seemed to be quite the opposite indicating the population may be a little lower than normal. Reports here show an increase of young raptors affected by West Nile this season perhaps due to cooler and wet summer. In July, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WI DNR) sent me a young fledgling peregrine falcon named “Caitlyn” found on the 6th floor of a building in downtown Madison with severe burns on her feet and legs. It is likely Caitlyn was sitting on the PHOTO BY DIANNE large radio antenna above where she was found that Dianne said, "The passage peregrine “Caitlyn,” was photographed may have been hit by lightning. The adults had been one afternoon after a flight." 14

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

NORTHEAST DIRECTOR By Scott McNeff Northeast Director — scottmcneff@yahoo.com There’s quite a bit of news from the northeastern states to report this time around. As I write this, members of the NYS Falconry Association are enjoying their annual field meet and I’m regretting not being able to make the drive west to attend. I had planned to stay home and devote full attention to the opening week of deer season here in Maine, but while hanging a tree stand, ended up suffering some serious damage to the inside wall of my chest on the left side, which caused inflammation and enough pain and irritation (combined with nausea, sweating, tingling sensations and shortness of breath) to convince me that I was having a PHOTO FROM SCOTT MCNEFF heart attack. After a trip to Joe Kosakowski, the President of the New Jersey Falconry Association, with a Cooper's hawks the emergency room, and caught at his permanent blind on a secondary ridge in Hunterdon County, NJ. doctor’s orders to take it to do the same here. Hank has been a real asset to easy, I’m thinking that I would have been better off the NY crowd and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to (and had a LOT more fun) if I’d attended the meet hear that he ends up bringing positive change and instead! energy to the falconry community out west. In any event, thanks to the leadership of the Also from NY, Chris Tocco reports several new NYSFA, I’ve at least been able to keep up with that passage birds being flown and trained in his region crowd through their regular installments of email and experienced birds getting out for the season as newsletters. President Bill Deckert was extremely well, such as Abby Duval’s extremely successful happy to report that the NYSDEC has finally female Harris’s hawk and her gyr/saker too! adopted the new regulations after a lot of (someI’d like to include a brief side note at this point, times very stressful) work invested by many individbefore moving on; typically, when composing my uals. He kindly thanked those of us in NAFA who Director’s Reports, I pause before mentioning indiwere able to offer assistance, and he detailed some of the beneficial changes that have been made to the vidual names, and cross-reference them with the regs including one that I’m personally very proud of NAFA Membership Database. Under normal circumstances, I refrain from mentioning a falconer in having brought to the table during a meeting with the Hawk Chalk unless they are indeed members of Joe Therrien a couple of years ago, which makes NAFA. I do this for several reasons, but have capture authorization permits unnecessary henceforth. I’m sure that Bill is more than ready to take a strayed a bit from that rule here, as there are a couple of individuals who I feel do indeed deserve break from all of the work invested in this project recognition despite the fact that they are not memand he has made it very clear that he had a lot of help from others in the state, including Eric Peretta, bers of our association. This instance does however serve as a reminder that there are quite a few pracJim Webber, John Parks, Chris von Schilgen, Tim ticing falconers in the northeast that are not memGallagher, Beverly Jones, Paul Kupchok, Bill Robinson, Peter Capainolo and others. While we are bers of NAFA. I would like to see that change. If you have a hawking buddy that is not a NAFA member, dropping names, Tom Lowe and others have publicly thanked Hank Minor for all of his hard work on please encourage them to join our ranks, and if they remain hesitant after your appeals, I would love for behalf of the club, and wished him the best of luck with his upcoming move to the west coast. I’d like See MCNEFF Page 16 Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

MCNEFF Continued from Page 15

you to send their contact information to me so that I may have an opportunity to invite them to join. I feel very strongly about this subject and firmly believe that if you are a practicing falconer in this country, and not a dues-paying member of NAFA, you are getting a free ride. (Our Honorary Members are of course, exempt from that statement, as they have given far more than was necessary over the years) Stepping down from my soap-box, I’m happy to relay news from my friends Jon D’Arpino and John White in Connecticut that there are a number of folks in their state that have been out trapping new birds for themselves and that there are a few new apprentices in the mix that I’m hoping to see NAFA Membership applications from before too long. John and Jon also reported that the CT DEEP office stated their new falconry regulations package will be on the November Regulations Review Committee agenda, and of course, everyone involved is breathing a deep sigh of relief. Some of the crowd in Massachusetts has already been out into the field raising a little Cain again. Bill Johnston has a full cadge with his 6x-intermewed hybrid and two peregrines. My buddy, Dave Peltier is out pulling ducks down, and his protégé Pat Brown, has got a new red-tail that started killing rabbits in front of his beagle on the first day out. Kimberly Meiners has been spending some time with Wendy Pavlicek and in my estimation, it has been time well spent, as Kim is out aggressively hawking her red-tail on game, and getting off to a good start. John Tobin was happy to report that he successfully produced captive-bred gyrfalcons again this year, as he continues to improve and expand his propagation project. I recently enjoyed a lengthy phone conversation with Todd Haskell who is bringing along a new imprint Finnish goshawk, and I’m really looking forward to seeing that bird in the field. Good luck with him Todd! Joe Kosakowski from NJ (who is ALSO training a new goshawk) reports that they were very happy to receive two permits for passage peregrines this year (an increase over the one filled last year by John Heffner) and that both permit recipients (Paul Eliya and John Gilbert) caught birds that they are happy with and have already got on the wing. He also stated that there are a couple of new apprentices in the state, including a 14-year-old who attended the NJ Fish and Game expo over the summer and identified himself as someone who had been eagerly studying the sport for some time. Pauline Kint has got that great big red-tail of hers up and running for the season and took her first rabbit of the year just before I wrote this report. The only other news from NJ is that the fall trapping season was more difficult this year than it usually is. The migration didn’t seem to come in big waves of ideal weather, as can sometimes be the case, and consequently, trapping days 16

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT MCNEFF

Jeremy Zobel with his intermewed, male red-tail, and a woodcock that they caught in flight. were somewhat hit or miss. Coincidentally, I experienced the same thing at my trapping station here on the southern coast of Maine. John Pittman reported that NH also has a couple of apprentices in the mix thanks to the willingness of people like Michael Walter and Rita Tulloh to help them along. John is prepping his peregrine and Harris’s hawk for another season, and he gave me a full report on a meeting that took place last week in Concord with the Fish and Game Department. Every five years, there is a scheduled review of state regulations, and at this particular meeting, there was some positive discussion about loosening things up with minor changes to accommodate falconers a bit better. Many of the falconers in the state attended the meeting and most of them did a great job of representing themselves and expressing interest in less strict regulations. It was nice to hear that news. Working with NAFA’s Technical Advisory Committee has shown me over and over again that falconers can often be their “own worst enemies” when it comes to drafting regulations and requesting changes in policies. We frequently seem to want to pull up the drawbridge behind ourselves in ways that are not necessarily best for the sport and instead seem only malicious or spiteful in intent. And after several years of trying to trap himself a passage merlin, Jeff Owens is finally working with a female and has her chasing small birds around southern New Hampshire while he cheers her on. Here in Maine, we are pleased to report that once again, we filled both of the passage peregrine perSee MCNEFF II Page 17

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

MCNEFF II Continued from Page 16

mits that were allotted, as we have done every year since the opportunity became available in 2010. This year’s peregrine harvest was a rerun of the first season, with Mark Fanning trapping another falcon, and Scott Keniston trapping another tiercel. I’m sure they’ll both do fine jobs with these new birds, as they did (and continue to do) with their first ones. I’m also extremely happy to have Marek Plater here in Maine. We stole Marek away from the PA crowd, and he has been a real joy to have among the Maine Falconry and Raptor Conservancy members. I got to spend some time this fall trapping passage raptors with Marek and Ken Felix, and it was a real laugh to listen to the two of them banter back and forth with one another after many decades of close friendship. I enjoyed their company immensely. Dennis Kerekes has been raising another imprint goshawk – his second in as many years. Apparently, he is a glutton for punishment, but seems to be enjoying it despite all of the hard work. Jeremy Zobel is back in the game with his intermewed male red-tail, and reported that they caught a woodcock (on the wing) last week! Way to go Jeremy! That must have been really exciting. There are lots of new red-tails in the mix this year as well, including those on the gloves of Taylor Lumia, Corey Hamilton, and yours truly. Our annual snowshoe hare hawking meet is bound to be actionpacked. As usual, there’s too much news from Pennsylvania to even consider reporting it all here in this small space but a recent phone call with Jeff Finch brought some interesting things to light. First off, Dave “Marbles” Farabaugh is at it again with another passage red-tail. He hooked up with Seth Roy and caught another bird of the year to chase rabbits with. Marbles just can’t keep himself from training a new red-tail every year, and he’s lucky to have that bird because the trapping report from Karl Stiedieck’s ridge mirrors what was seen here in Maine and in New Jersey. It just wasn’t a particularly good trapping year. Finch has continued his quest for leucistic red-tails and has found several “white birds” within a 50 mile radius of the nest that his pure white bird came from – the same bird that is out in Oklahoma at Bill Voelker’s breeding project. Meanwhile, his ornate hawk eagle is coming down in weight and looking great and ready to do business for the next several months. In other PFHT news, raptor biologist David Brinker collaborated with several PA falconers to continue gathering data on goshawks in the Allegheny National Forest, and one particular waypoint led to Richie Guadagno taking home a new imprint goshawk to raise for the summer, but he ended up giving it to Greg Dorsch, because he is such a nice guy! We all love you Richie! Coincidentally, Seth Roy and Rob Giroux are also working with first year goshawks this season. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT MCNEFF

McNeff’s imprint female sharpshin with her first woodcock. The only other news from the northeast comes from Vermont, where things have gotten even quieter than usual. Ron Kumetz soldiers on with a new imprint tiercel Barbary, while two of the licensed falconers in the state (Dawn and Mark DeCrease) are moving to Pennsylvania. Also the British School of Falconry in Manchester, Vermont, owned and operated by Emma and Steve Ford, is shutting down. After 18 years of operation, and for reasons other than financial success, the school is closing its doors to the public. I am personally moved by this decision because I was employed as an instructor at BSF for many years. I honestly believe that it served as one of the finest introductions to the sport available to the public, and I’m sad to see it go. The Fords, and every instructor that they employed over the years, were (and in most cases, still are) some of the finest ambassadors that our sport has known. I will always express gratitude to Steve and Emma Ford for the image of falconry that they instilled upon me, and for the way in which they trained me to communicate our passion to a “non-hunting” public. Happily, they continue their work in the UK, and I hope that you will join me in applauding their efforts on our behalf. 17

MOUNTAIN DIRECTOR By Paul Domski Mountain Director — Here we are a few weeks out from the NAFA meet in Alamosa, CO and I’m racing trying to get things in order, and get my director’s report in before the deadline. As usual in these things I always end up talking about the weather. In my August report, New Mexico was in dire straits as far as precipitation went with nearly the whole state being classified as under extreme to exceptional “drought conditions.” Shortly after filing that report the deluge hit and we had a better than average monsoon season. The close of the rainy season here in NM saw a week in early September where at my house we got 6 1/2 inches of rain in five days. This was the same storm that devastated parts of Colorado. The weather seems to be an all or nothing affair these days. Regardless of the cause there’s no denying that the global climate is in flux, and all living things are at the mercy of the elements. Just as animals and humans are at the mercy of the global climate, so is falconry at the mercy of the social and political climate. NAFA is evolving to

Mountain_Director@n-a-f-a.com meet the challenges that will face falconers and falconry in the future. During the September board meeting, a proposal was approved to fund the organization of a non-profit which will be formed to use tax-exempt donations to fund important falconry advocacy activities, as needed, in the future. We live in a world that is increasingly urban and where the tolerance for sports such as falconry will only decrease in the future. Organizations such as PETA and HSUS are real and obvious threats to our way of life, and in order to effectively combat any threats NAFA needs to prepare now for the future. Besides the obvious threats, there are also hidden threats in the form of legislation which can have far reaching impacts on our sport on everything from housing raptors on your property, to breeding regulations, to crossing state lines with our birds. In addition to warding off and fighting threats, NAFA will also be better positioned to lobby government agencies to increase wild take of birds such as goldSee DOMSKI on Page 19

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

SOUTH PACIFIC DIRECTOR By Adam R. Chavez South Pacific Director —

South_Pacific_Director@n-a-f-a.com

Finally falconry season is upon us once more. Now if only the weather would cooperate. It has been extremely warm and very dry here in Southern California. This has led to a late start for duck season and fewer rabbits in the field. We are really hoping for some cold weather and rain to come our way. With that being said, I would still rather be hawking then sitting at home in the off-season. Others, as well as I, have been able to find some rabbits but we are working a little harder this year. I hope to see many of you at the upcoming NAFA meet in Alamosa, CO. I have just about finished jumping through all the hoops in place so I can bring my falcons and hawk to the meet. I have electronically filled out the CPW import permit, paid the $55.25 Colorado nonresident falconry license fee, I have got my Colorado Habitat Stamp, I have been assigned PHOTO COURTESY OF CHAVEZI my HIP number, I also paid for my Colorado Chavez with his falcon, “Athena,” a female gyr/Barbary falcon. waterfowl stamp and finally have an appointment to get my health certificates for my birds help drive membership. We will be showcasing it at from a category II accredited vet so I can get my entry permit for each bird. I think that about covers the Alamosa meet. If you get a chance please read this brochure and let us know what you think. A lot it. I believe everyone who is willing to take the time of effort and thought went in to each sentence and and spend the money to go through this process picture so I hope you enjoy it and that the message should be entitled to a good time at the meet for you deserve it. For those of you who can’t make this truly represents what we are about. Lastly, we will all be under new regulations as of meet, perhaps we will see you at the regional joint January 1, 2014. It will be a little strange but at meet with the CHC at Topaz in January. I will be least we have prevailed and falconry is still alive and introducing my two new apprentices to NAFA and well. We do have some issues that need to be the CHC lifestyle at this meet to help further worked through at the state level but we can make strengthen our ranks for the future. do with what we have for now. I hope everyone has a I have been working on a NAFA task force which great and productive hawking season! has put together a brochure on NAFA’s behalf to

DOMSKI Continued from Page 18

en eagles and peregrine falcons. This will be a monumental change for NAFA and it will take some years to realize the changes and the true potential that will be offered by these changes. I am excited by the prospects and proud to have been a small part of what I believe will only

strengthen the sport of falconry and the falconry community for generations to come. For NAFA to be successful in the future we will need help from the members, all of us. Our dedication, talent, and money will be key – this is the beginning of the NAFA of the future.

A Collection of Books and Publications For Sale Larry Crowley is selling his collection of books and publications. Contact Larry for a list of what is available and prices. magic@ecentral.com or (303) 666-0640. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

CANADIAN DIRECTOR By Martin Geleynse Canadian Director — This is high-season for hawking across the country, and everyone, it seems, is pretty busy. As I am writing this, in parts of the west the ducks have left and the switch to uplands has taken place. In other parts of the country, like my home, there are no uplands to switch to so when the weather dips below freezing we have to search for open water and/or crunch through the ice when necessary. This morning I found myself doing just that – without the benefit of waders or rubber boots – in order to recover my bird. She was standing on the thin ice above her duck. It had been knocked down and swam under the ice to escape and apparently drowned when it could not resurface. She stood there inches from her duck looking very perplexed. I stood there in knee deep frozen water looking down on both of them, also very perplexed! It was one of those times where I find it necessary to remind myself that this is fun! In October, a contingent of eastern falconers made their annual trek to Saskatchewan. Mark Adam, Carl Millier and Ken Roczniak spent two weeks in the Weyburn area. I spent two weeks traveling around the province with stops in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatoon, Mossbank and Riverhurst where the Saskatchewan Falconer’s Association held its annual field meet. The meet was well attended with several new faces including (relatively) new NAFA members Chad Pawluk and Gail Bryne. The weather over the two weeks was very cooperative with much less wind than most years. Duck numbers were excellent. As visiting falconers, sharp-tails represent a unique and challenging change from ducks and we all tried a few grouse flights once the birds were “tuned up.” Only Ken Roczniak took a trophy this year! Upland game bird numbers are down considerably, in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, from their highs two or three years ago. Huns have been particularly hard hit. Everyone is reporting only scattered coveys. Sharp-tailed grouse are also down but not as much. In Saskatchewan, Pascal Hins estimates grouse are down 75 percent from their high point a few years ago but can still be found in flyable numbers. Pascal is flying three birds, two gyr/peregrine tiercels and an intermewed passage female goshawk. He is entering the goshawk on fielding ducks that are lingering on the large reservoir near his house. His tiercels, one intermewed bird originally flown by Mark Williams and a first-year bird, are both doing very well on grouse and the occasional pheasant flight. Bob Rafuse has been flying sharp-tails since midOctober with his peregrines but reports they are often hard to find. One of the highlights of his sea20

Canadian_Director@n-a-f-a.com

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY MARTIN GELEYNSE

Above, Gail Bryne after a successful flight with a cast of tiercels. Below, Paddy Thompson with “Spook” after a successful duck flight.

son was trapping a haggard female peregrine with Maya Basdeo. They were hoping for a passage bird so after a few photographs she was released. Maya was also flying a rehab passage tiercel peregrine. The bird had a soft-tissue wing injury which fortunately recovered very quickly. Dale Guthormsen is flying his intermewed hybrid, “Chip,” and has startSee MARTIN on Page 21

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

MARTIN Continued from Page 20

ed an imprint jerkin. Chip is flying as spectacularly as ever and “Ira,” is off to a very strong start. With lower grouse numbers Dale was enjoying the slightly longer than normal duck season. Paddy Thompson is still flying his gyr-peregrine, “Spook,” and also has a first year female peregrine. Lynn Oliphant was flying a tiercel in a cast with another tiercel being flown by his apprentice Gail Bryne. The two birds put on a great show at the meet in Riverhurst. There will be a one day mini-meet at Simon Skerten’s north of Swift Current to celebrate World Falconry Day. From Manitoba, Robert Wheeldon reports, “Beginning last winter at Parkland Mews we began a series of introductory workshops about falconry for a small group of interested folk. It was very gratifying to see two of the participants go on and work their first red-tails this fall and get their birds on the wing. Adding to this number is the return to Manitoba of a long time practicing falconer from Colorado who is also a red-tail enthusiast bringing with him much in-depth, practical experience. A personal highlight was an all too short visit to Saskatchewan by Paddy Thompson. Paddy made the trip ostensibly to pick up a number of peregrines but the experience proved to be far more rewarding and time passed all too quickly. We trust it will not be long before we see Paddy again.” I was not able to get a detailed report from the AQFA by press time but I gather that the annual “réunion de vol” (field meet), held November 9-10, was a great success. The Quebec club is very well organized and I keep promising myself that I will get out to their meet one of these years! In eastern Canada, John Conohan reports that he got together with Jamie Stride, the only falconer on Prince Edward Island. John’s current apprentice is

Director Geleynse with a passage merlin. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Lynn Oliphant and Gail Bryne releasing the cast. flying a male Harris’s hawk. His previous apprentice is flying Harris’s hawks and a passage red-tail. John is working hard to bring new people into the sport through Nova Scotia’s two-year apprenticeship program. In my home province, Ontario falconers are gearing up for the annual Ontario Hawking Club field meet which will be held November 15-17. This date coincides very nicely with World Falconry Day and it is shaping up to be the biggest meet ever in Ontario with over 115 people registered so far. The meet theme this year is “merlins” and Jeremy Bradshaw will be the keynote speaker. In terms of Ontario falconry news, I will have a lot more after seeing everyone at the meet next weekend. Mark Adam really enjoyed his trip to Saskatchewan this year. Although he did not catch a grouse he had many good duck flights with his new falcon as well as “Magnum,” now in his 18th remarkable season! Dave Doughty got a very late start with a fresh peales female. Ken Roczniak is having a lot of success with this intermewed gyrperegrine and a new bird. Dominic DiCarlo got a tame-hacked female anatum from Lynn Oliphant’s project in Saskatchewan. The bird flies big and is catching ducks in great style! Louise Engel is getting fantastic aerial flights with her 2x-intermewed peregrine/merlin, “Solo,” on large flocks of starlings. Louise reports that Solo has decided, perhaps in response to the “Cooper’s situation” that it’s best to eat the starlings in a tree. Louise is finding ways to adapt to the new policy. Dion Thompson has started training a freshly trapped male red-tail. Urszula Korolczuk has gotten her intermewed passage red-tail off to a very quick start and is looking forward to her second season with this bird. Finally my tame-hacked anatum, See MARTIN II on Page 22

NORTH PACIFIC DIRECTOR By Danny Cecchini, III — North_Pacific_Director@n-a-f-a.com To falconers near and far: Happy Holidays! I hope the 2013 falconry season has brought you joy and happiness this year. For many falconers, I know this time of year will mark the end of yet another falconry season. For those falconers, hopefully, you had a fruitful year; either marked by game in the bag, quality of flights from the birds, or stories to share and embellish with friends and family this holiday season. For the falconers that will continue to fly their birds, like myself, have fun and stay warm out there. Obviously catching quarry is the name of the game, but I know that whenever my mom, dad, and I head out into the field, we mark the day as successful if we have all the falcons and/or hawks alive and back in the truck; if we do, that means we get to fly another day. Quarry in the bag, or a spectacular flight is always icing on the cake for my family! For the falconers, birds, and dogs that will not be joining us in the field next year, I want take a minute to thank and remember them for all the memories they shared throughout their lifetimes with us. As they continue their falconry stories in the big field up in the sky, never forget what they brought to your life and the impact they have made, no matter how large or small. I also ask that you please take a minute to thank and remember the quarry you have flown and caught this year, for without the quarry our sport of kings wouldn’t be. I would like to raise my glass in memory of all who have passed on this year; some I could proudly call my friend, while others, although we never met, we shared a special bond though falconry. Thank you, and you will never be forgotten. Cheers! It’s always interesting for me to write the

December Directors report in early November. At this point in the season, to my dismay, I haven’t even gotten my birds out of the mew from their summer molts. In my current career I spend very lengthy chunks of time traveling all over the US speaking to high school students about their opportunities after high school, and what they might want to do with their lives. I’m actually sitting in a hotel room in downtown Seattle finishing a two month stint on the road right now. As I look out over the city, from my bird eye view, I can’t wait to get home and get my birds on the wing, and my dog running/pointing out in the field again. Hopefully for my next report I’ll have some amazing tales from Central Oregon to share with you all. Hopefully you’ve been reading your NAFA update emails from NAFA President Larry Dickerson. This will mark the end of Larry’s tenure as NAFA President, and I just want to extend my personal gratitude for all the work that Larry has done to not only keep NAFA alive and well, but progressing into the future for future generations! However, I’m sure while Larry will miss his time as president, he will find some way to fill the extra time he’ll have on his hands now! Larry, thank you, and job well done sir…. It’s been a pleasure! From my conversations with falconers around the North Pacific Directorate it sounds like the 2013 season has started off well. Time in the field has been productive, and local state meets have been enjoyable as always. I’ll make sure to get an email out to all the North Pacific falconers asking for your stories from this year for the next Hawk Chalk. As always if you need anything please don’t hesitate to contact me. Happy Holidays!

MARTIN II Continued from Page 21

“Kira,” is now in her 5th season. She moulted very cleanly and is delivering some of the best duck flights I have had. As if that wasn’t good enough, I was very fortunate to draw a “wild take” permit this year and trap a beautiful passage merlin. It has been a learning experience and I am thoroughly enjoying it, although I am finding two birds a lot of work! There are many other falconers that are flying birds in great style in Ontario. With the Ontario meet being held next week, I will be in a much better position to include a much more detailed report of their activities in my next update. Ontario falconry has grown tremendously in the last few years and this growth has still not slowed 22

down. For us old-timers used to flying “under the radar” it takes a bit of getting used to – ok, a lot of getting used to! Nevertheless, I am convinced that, provided the essentials are not compromised, growth is a good thing that strengthens organization and the activities it promotes. Over the past few months I have been privileged to work with Director Roeber and others on the Strategic Planning Committee on initiatives designed to ensure NAFA continues to grow and to strengthen its ability to protect and advance falconry in the 21st century. This is an important initiative and the committee has some lofty goals which you will be hearing more about in the months to come! Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE By Greg Thomas Director-at-Large — When you read this, the 2013 NAFA Meet in Alamosa, CO will be over with (thank you Pete Rodas and your volunteers), but as I write, the weather forecast is calling for some snow and/or a little rain the starting weekend of the meet. The San Luis Valley’s massive size (over 8,000 sq. miles) and 7,700 feet elevation can make for interesting weather, when entering, leaving or spending time there. No matter how it actually was, I know its grandeur left a lasting impression on newcomers and return visitors alike. One of the real joys of being a NAFA Director is to see the steady stream of new folks applying for membership in NAFA. Some are old timers returning to the fold after an absence, some may never have felt like joining before, but an increasing number are new falconers searching for the camaraderie and learning opportunities that come with being a member of NAFA. Check out the picture of the two fine young lady, apprentice falconers from my home state of Indiana. Their enthusiasm and excitement is a wonderful thing to behold. Their birds are feather perfect and game is already falling under their sharp talons. Home-schooled and blessed with patient, encouraging parents they have the ideal situation to spend the time and effort to acquire the skills to become good falconers. The giant hoods they made with their dad are worthy of an article. I’m sure their mom can find a way to work that into a language arts assignment. These young falconers, and others like them, are the future of NAFA. My son, Matt, runs the family mfgs. representative firm, New/Era Sales, Inc. these days. He worked out a partnership between one of our lines, Bosch Security Systems, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to provide the superb HD video KestrelCams that are installed at The World Bird of Prey Center in Boise, ID. Bookmark http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/17/American _Kestrels/ to watch the action in 2014 and check out “Bird Cams” on Facebook as well. While we’re all preoccupied with the prime part of our falconry season, it is not too early to start thinking of things we need to pay attention to and start working on for the sake of our sport. Perhaps you are weary of my reminding you of this, but dare we ignore Jefferson’s sage advice, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Yes, we are grateful that the new falconry regulations were approved in all states (thanks to the tireless work of NAFA’s Dr. Dave Eslicker and Larry Dickerson, state club staffs, and the able cooperation and assistance of George Allen at the USFWS), but there are other issues out there Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Director_At_Large_1@n-a-f-a.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMAS

Two new Indiana apprentices, on left, Stephanie Thomson, 14, holds her female red-tail hawk, "Dre," and Caroline Thomson, 16, show her tiercel red-tail hawk, "Criere." that we need to attend to now, before they either become entrenched or even take root. There isn’t room in this report for a detailed discussion, but shouldn’t falconers be concerned about bureaucratic overreach and/or micromanagement by both federal and state agencies into the affairs of our sport? They presume that a “problem” exists, which neither science nor experience can justify that requires bureaucratic oversight with all the attendant rules, regulations, permits, inspections, fees, and penalties for “violations” that accompany them. Is it wise to allocate scarce taxpayer dollars to such unnecessary government activity? Of course not. There are many ways to make good things cease to exist besides outright prohibition. The tyranny of bureaucratic “sand in the gears” can all too easily make the practice of our sport so difficult and expensive that many will just throw up their hands and say, “Enough!” and drop out, while newcomers will look at the barrier for entry as too high to climb and turn away. We should also be very concerned over how the ever more intensive use of our limited physical resources impact the habitat needed by the wild raptors and the quarry we pursue. Social and major media are used by anti-hunting groups to promote their ignorance and untruths to people utterly disconnected from the natural world. It does little good to rant about such evils when we know the fiscal and political limits of such a See THOMAS Page 24

SOUTHEAST DIRECTOR By Michael Beran — Southeastern_Director@n-a-f-a.com As the Southeastern Director: I said I would work toward the following goals. I would do everything in my power to assist the southeastern states with the adoption of the revised falconry regulations. One priority here is to ensure that states reciprocate with respect to travel, moving to, and hunting in other states. I would also lobby for legalization of a peregrine falcon to take in all southeastern states where it is not permitted now but could be. As your director, I would engage the southeastern members as much as possible, and include reports from falconers and clubs in my director reports. My impression is that the average NAFA member finds the leadership aloof and not concerned enough with hunting issues. I have made strives to make NAFA into something all falconers want to be a part of, and encourage non-

member falconers to join NAFA. I have also urged NAFA to make hunting the first priority for NAFA meets. I’m still on track with these, however, I did not run for a second term due to my plans and move into the Central Directorate, Dallas, Texas. Currently I’m focusing on our Income Diversification Committee, NAFA has several very creative plans in the works, and you will be hearing more on each of these in the coming months. Finally, I'm excited to review the new falconry regulations adopted by the State of Louisiana.... I'm excited and relieved. I look forward to meeting everyone at the NAFA meet in Alamosa, Colorado. The fellowship is always top notch and enjoyable!

PHOTO BY BERAN

Beran wrote, “I'm excited to review the new falconry regulations adopted by the State of Louisiana.... I'm excited and relieved.”

THOMAS Continued from Page 23

small group as we are... unless, like Archimedes, we can find the “fulcrum” upon which to place our “lever” of good ideas, and thus be able to “move the world.” History has shown that dedication, determination, and persistence have oft times won the day against a seemingly overwhelming opposing force. I’ve closed most every one of my reports with a request for input from you, dear readers – the members of NAFA – for your ideas and opinions on what NAFA is or is not doing that you think would be 24

good for falconry and the lack of response is at best frustrating and at worst discouraging. Many hands do indeed make light the work of accomplishing hard tasks. Will you lend a hand this year to help your state falconry club and NAFA protect, preserve, and promote the sport you love so much? If not you, then who? If not now, than when? God bless, and may you return from many fine days in the field with smiles, your birds well and cropped up from game brought to bag, and memories to last a lifetime. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE By Ron Clarke Director-at-Large — Director_At_Large_2@n-a-f-a.com Wow. Director Scott McNeff and I sure hit a nerve with our article about falconry videos in the last Hawk Chalk. In the three years I’ve served on the NAFA board, I’ve never heard much from members in response to my earlier reports. Maybe admonishing falconers to check their facts, promoting volunteerism, and preaching respect for quarry doesn’t register. But the image of falconry as presented on YouTube and other Internet venues resulted in a heap of comments. So falconry’s image seems important to a lot of falconers. Good. Scott and I have talked a little about how to keep this conversation going. Stay tuned for some pointed (and lighthearted) video reviews in future issues of Hawk Chalk. Meanwhile, though, let’s think about it. Why should we care how the world perceives falconry? The equation is simple enough. A lot of people other than falconers have a say in how falconry is practiced. Like it or not, it’s a fact. If those people don’t care about or actually like falconry, we’re in good shape. But if those non-falconers have a negative attitude toward our sport, we’re more likely to face a hard time practicing it when and where and how we’d like. Now, to be sure, the “don’t know and don’t care” faction far outweighs the rest. Falconry simply doesn’t have a reputation with the majority of the population. The world is largely unaware of what we do, and is likely to remain totally ignorant of our existence. There’s a lively and ongoing debate over whether we should do everything we can to keep it that way or make an effort to more widely present a positive image of falconry. I’m no fan of indiscriminate promotion of falconry, but if select segments of society were more familiar with falconry, I think we’d benefit. I can also understand the attraction of staying below the radar. I can see both sides. It’s like the falconers who tell me “I don’t want to get involved with regulations and politics; I just want to fly my birds.” Believe me, I get that. I’d love it if I had nothing to do but fly birds. But without our best political and regulatory efforts, “just flying birds” is not going to happen. At least not the way we’d like it to happen. An aside: My appreciation for the “I just wanna fly” sentiment stops when falconers finish with “and that’s why I’m not a member of NAFA.” It baffles me that any falconer wouldn’t support the organization that literally has made falconry possible in North America for more than fifty years. Sure, not everyone has the skills or the stomach for doing the political groundwork to make field time possible, Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLARKE

At 70-plus years old, Jim Frazier hunts with his hybrid, “Sassy,” and Boomer. Sassy took a sage grouse in Idaho in Nov. 2013 but we can all lend a hand to the people that do. Every falconer should support the organization that does that work for them: NAFA. OK, back to our public image. Bottom line, our reputation matters. And whether it’s an encounter with one landowner or a video seen by eight godzillion people, every falconer can affect how the world perceives what we do. We all ought to talk about how each of us can help. Judging by the reaction to our article, Director McNeff and I can only conclude you are ready to have that conversation. Let’s do it! In the meantime, you can do something to improve (or at least not damage) falconry’s reputation. At minimum, follow the rules, respect the landowners, respect the quarry, and treasure your raptor(s). Take a landowner, wildlife biologist, or conservation officer hawking. Make a presentation to a local rod and gun club, a birding organization, or your kid’s class at school. There are plenty of ways to be a caring, community-minded falconer. Part of the reason NAFA held it’s second annual blood drive at the Alamosa Meet this year was to palpably demonstrate falconers are good and decent and respectful people who appreciate their local hosts. Many thanks to all who participated – you left our host community an invaluable gift. If you missed the drive this year, we’ll hold a third annual event next fall. See y’all in Texas! 25

AFFILIATE CLUB NEWS Wisconsin Falconers Association By Secretary Peter Kurth www.wisconsinfalconers.org On August 1, 2013 the new Wisconsin falconry regulations went into effect. After a very long process and a lot of hard work on the part of many people, it is finally done. It's worth mentioning that in addition to the efforts of the WFA board members and supportive club members, this couldn't have happened without the hard work and support from some fine people at our state's Department of Natural Resources. These folks deserve a great deal of credit for doing their jobs well and exhibiting some great teamwork in assisting us on this project and seeing it through to the end. For that we are very grateful. As a result, Wisconsin falconers this season are able to take advantage of a couple of very important changes. A slightly more liberal trapping season beginning earlier than the traditional midSeptember date and a change in banding criteria that is more supportive of making a good evaluation of a trapped bird. Back in August, the WFA held their annual summer picnic at the Kurth farm in Fairchild, WI. It was a beautiful summer day and it was well attended. This event is always fun and gives everyone a chance to meet family members that may not attend the winter meet or new apprentices and

those interested in getting started in falconry time to get to know each other, ask questions and see some falconry birds. Diane Moller attended with her golden eagle, “Shao Lee” and Phil Yurtis brought his new female goshawks, and Ed Koutnik came with his newly acquired Siberian goshawk to mention a few of the birds everyone enjoyed seeing. So far this season, newsletter editor Kelly Labarbera has reported getting a new female redtail for the season and new apprentice Chris Karaker has his first red-tail. Two permits were available this year for the passage peregrine take and both Dan Orth and Dave Noble were successful in acquiring a female. Both birds are progressing well and should be chasing game soon. Congratulations to all of you. Lastly, the WFA winter meet will be held at a new location this year for the first time in many years. This year's meet will be held in early February in Black River Falls, WI. Our hope is that this change will bring a more central location, convenience and greater access to hunting areas. Small game populations seem to be better this year and we are excited about getting out in the field again this fall.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAN ORTH AND DAVE NOBLE

On left, WFA members Bob Bett and Dan Orth with Dan's new passage peregrine. Above right, Dave Noble holds his new passage peregrine.

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Utah Falconers Association By Randy Hyte Our club just took the second weekend in October off to gather at Crystal Hot Springs and celebrate the contributions King Frederick made to falconry. There was a fair turn out with all different levels of experience from pre-apprentice to legendary masters. This is one of the oldest running events falconers in our state have. We had beautiful weather. It has been unusually warm in Utah this year. The nights are cool enough to change the color of the leaves but they just hang on and on with the 70 degree daytime temps. The 40 to 45 degree nights made this a chilly campout. Luckily the naturally heated pools were open late for those that wanted to soak and warm up. Steve Chindgren read passages from King Frederick’s De Arte Venandi Cum Avibus (The Art of Hunting With Birds), specifically the passage about what traits make a good falconer. Steve has told us before that when he first took up falconry, there was very little literature that focused on the training of birds for falconry and the English translation of King Frederick’s book was his guide. It must have some awesome falconry secrets in its text, as Steve is one of those legends mentioned earlier. This meet is a hunting meet. Although there were not a lot of birds flown, game was taken. I flew my first year female gos the first evening. We only saw one cottontail but “Maxi” managed to catch it. That was her first head ever taken. I have so many memories of falconry that would not be possible

without friends. This was one of them. As dry as it has been and on this vast hillside, I would never had that one opportunity without friends. Melissa Wardle, Chris Wall, Caleb Stroh, Matt Klar and his daughter Haley all beat sage brush for that one flush right before sunset on the mountain. Thanks to Matt for taking pictures of the moment. Melissa also took a cottontail with her first year male gos the following morning. As you can see from her picture she was pretty stoked. This season is just barely underway, but I know there are several falconers already out in the field. Brian Brekke is out there with his first year female gos catching cottontails. While at King Fredericks Matt Klar passed on a story of him and his daughter Haley successfully flying their first year Harris’s in a cast with Justin and Tanya Searle’s three Harris’s. Bobby Baldwin is stalking the industrial parks taking birds with his eyass Cooper's hawk. Caleb Stroh is fine tuning his 2x-intermewed tiercel peregrine and first year gyr/peregrine with balloon fights. Caleb and Ryan Miller are chasing Chukar with their birds. Caleb uses his longwings and Ryan his intermewed gos. There are lots of apprentices out there with their first birds learning as much from the birds as they are training. Chanelle Jones has a beautiful red-tail that she trapped last week, big enough to make eastern falconers jealous! But we know size doesn’t matter. That’s what I told Victor Meza a couple of Sundays ago when we trapped a smallish tiercel with the most beautiful high contrast feather pattern I’ve ever seen. My apprentice has already free flown his red-tail, now we just need to get him on game. Finally, to all of our friends that live out of state, best wishes this year. May your birds be healthy and the game be plentiful.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UFA AND MATT KLAR

Above left, Melissa Wardle with her first year goshawk on his first ever cottontail. Above right, Randy Hyte's hawk, “Maxi,” on her first ever cottontail. For more Matt Klar’s photos visit klarphotography.com Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Oregon Falconers Association 2013 Fall Meet By Dan Cecchini, Jr., Karen Cottrell, Sue Cecchini and Larry Cottrell On the weekend of October 25-27, central Oregon again served as the meet site of the Falconers Association. Over 65 people attended the meet, many ready to hunt rabbits and ducks. The meet was held at the Madras fairgrounds. Madras is on the east slope of the Cascade Mountain range and is a mix of agriculture, juniper, sage, and grasslands. There were hunting opportunities on both public lands and with permission, private ranches and farmlands. We had a number of people who are interested in falconry, but not quite sure if they are ready for the big step yet, attend the meet; they varied in age from eight years-old to middle age. They got the opportunity to go with both longwings and hawks in the field to see them fly. A variety of birds were brought to the meet including kestrel, Harris’s, gyr, redtail, Aplomado, hybrids, and peregrine. PHOTO FROM OFA Some Non-Hunting Highlights Richard Hoyer opens his present for this 80th birthday. There was a video on Friday night about Arizona Harris's hawks in the wild by Jim Dawson that was enjoyed by the attendees. On Saturday night, we had a birthday cake for four OFA members who had birthdays during the month of October: Sue Cecchini, Richard Hoyer, Larry Cottrell, and Kelley Cargile. Sue, Larry and Kelley didn't reveal their ages but we did know that it was Richard's 80th birthday. Richard is still one of the most active Harris’s hawkers in Oregon, spending fall and winter in the field catching rabbits and other things! He is always ready to take anyone interested out in the field with him; a great role model for enthusiastic falconry! Richard's former and present apprentices, plus many friends, got him a telemetry unit so he can find the birds when they are in the brush and can't be seen. We expect to celebrate many more birthdays with him. On Saturday and Sunday morning, the OFA tried something new, serving a pancake breakfast in the fairgrounds meeting hall. There was a nominal fee for the breakfast that covered the cost of the food plus added some money to the treasury. Larry Cottrell was the pancake chef and both breakfasts PHOTOS COURTESY OF OFA

OFA's newest Honorary Members, Larry and Karen Cottrell. 28

See OREGON on Page 29

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

OREGON Continued from Page 28

were well received. On Saturday night, the OFA had a Mexican-themed dinner, with lots of great desserts. Karen Cottrell organized it and Larry took responsibility for much of the cooking on Saturday. There were lots of helpers in the kitchen to layout the food and clean-up on Saturday night, including Sue Cecchini, Linda Kellogg, and others. We had a business meeting after dinner on Saturday. The membership was updated on the work and recent meetings with the Oregon Department of Fish and Game by a Bob Welle, Trent Seager, and Dan Cecchini. We are working to loosen up the peregrine take regulations in Oregon to make them more practical and workable for falconers, as well as expand the take of species in Oregon and update the facilities inspection material to bring it inline with the new Oregon falconry regulations. Also during the evening there was a request that Karen and Larry Cottrell, both founding members of the OFA, be given Honorary Membership status in the OFA. The board members present

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

PHOTO COURTESY OF OFA

Bob Welle and Dan Cecchini visit at OFA Meet. agreed and voted to give them Honorary Membership, the entire membership in attendance agreed with the decision and they received a rousing round of applause for their years of service to the OFA. Congratulations to Karen and Larry! The Winter Meet Co-Chairs will be Chris Fox and Kort Clayton. The date and location will be announced when they are finalized.

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Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

Minnesota Falconers Association By Matthew Lasch President As I write this article, I am handing out Halloween candy; but by the time people read it, they will probably be back from the NAFA meet and hawking will be in full force. It has been an eventful summer and fall in Minnesota. I took a trip to Alaska at the end of July, and before I left, I was pressuring our Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to continue working on regulation submission. There was not a date set for submission to Dr. George Allen, but the wheels were in motion. When I returned, some details still needed to be completed at a state level, but our regulations had been submitted and were accepted by Dr. Allen. Everyone was relieved! We still have some work in front of us in order to address items of concern, but falconry is legal in Minnesota. MFA summer ended as it usually does with the Game Fair in Anoka, MN. Frank Taylor has been our ringmaster at this event for 30-plus years. He does a great job coordinating falconers, manning the tent, and educating people (mostly other hunters) about falconry and raptor conservation. Crowds easily number into the hundreds. Several falconers brought recently acquired birds including a few Harris’s hawks and a tiercel Peales. There was good attendance from new members and participation from some of our founding members. This fall has been exciting from a trapping standpoint. A handful of new apprentices have taken passage red-tails and are progressing nicely. Our allocated passage peregrine permit was filled by Curt Ruthenbeck who took a beautiful, blond tiercel. A number of folks have taken passage goshawks, both resident and non-resident falconers. Even the enigmatic Minnesota gyrfalcon was taken. We hope to see many of these birds at our upcoming MFA

meets, mini-meets in December and January, followed by our major meet in February. Game numbers are stable or down. Bunnies and squirrels are stable, and people should be able to find them in decent numbers. Upland bird numbers took a hit with the late snow and wet, cold spring. There are still some small populations around, but decent falconry set ups may be few and far between. Ducks are relatively stable, but ponds will start freezing soon, and many of the small ducks are already gone. There may be some hunting for wintering mallards later in the season if you’re able to find them. Happy hawking to everyone!

PHOTO FROM MFA

Above, Dan Orth with passage female peregrine, Larry Dickerson with passage goshawk, and Curt Ruthenbeck with passage tiercel peregrine, pause for a photo after a successful Minnesota experience. PHOTO FROM MFA

Below right, new apprentice, Dale Schurle, with his freshly trapped red-tail.

PHOTO BY MFA

Just a few of the helpers at Game Fair. 32

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

North Carolina Falconers Guild By Richard Shores Treasurer The North Carolina Falconry Guild (NCFG) held their annual picnic and auction on September 7, 2013. The event was held at Sloan Park, in Mt Ulla, NC. This is a great opportunity for the NCFG members and guests to catch up and rekindle the falconry spirit. This is always a special event because it marks the beginning of the season and all the preparation necessary for a successful falconry season. This is the first year of an extended NC trapping season. Maybe it’s the hot weather or that there is lots of food available to the juvenile birds, but I did not see the falconer trapping habits being adjusted by the extended season. Our picnic also provides a great opportunity to show off the newly trapped or the newly acquired captive-bred birds. Joni and Martin Gnyp showed off two such hunting partners, a goshawk acquired from Keith Hix, named “Virgil” and a Harris's hawk acquired from Mikes Falconry, “Ray.” There were also several newly-caught red-tails. Good memories are inevitable with the picnic, auction and numerous trapping stories told and enjoyed by all. The NCFG is planning on four field meets and of course some mini-meets organized by individual members. Falconers and guests are always welcome at our meets, search the meet dates on the website (NCFG.org), and contact the officers for specific details. The NCFG has completely updated their website including a PayPal option for annual dues renewal. The website changes also include easier access to members, email lists organized by status,

and summary tables to make the funds accountability a little easier for the treasurer. Education events have included the National Hunting and Fishing Day celebration in the very popular Lake Wheeler Park, Raleigh, NC on September 28, 2013. This is the fourth year of NCFG participation in the National Hunting and Fishing Day Celebration. The NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) event is well attended and organized in such a way that everyone speaks highly of the event. Another event included the NCFG annual apprentice workshop, held on October 26, 2013 at the NCWRC building, North Carolina State University, Centennial Campus. The NCFG has for many years enjoyed a very cooperative relationship with the NCWRC and we are very appreciative for all that the NCWRC staff members do for the NC falconers. NC was awarded one peregrine permit this year and I am very happy to report that Bon Lozaga trapped a tiercel weighing 486 gms. Congratulations to Bon and we are all looking forward to seeing the tiercel fly. One of our NCFG members told me that he looks forward to the start of the hunting season more and more every year. Just like a child at Christmas, he was so excited the night before that he could hardly sleep! Just for the record, he has hit the woods running and has already had more kills than some falconers can report at the end of the season. Good hunting to all and to all a good season!

The NCFG annual picnic and auction on Sept. 7, 2013.

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

West Virginia Falconry Club By Jason Caldwell

PHOTO COURTESY OF WVFC

Matt Frey holds freshly caught passage red-tail as Howard Caldwell looks on.

As I write this, another falconry season has begun and the raptor migration is in full swing. It seems like this year’s migration is finally back on track and following normal precedents. The flow has been off over the last five years or so. This was due to warm winds from the south or unexpected weather patterns caused from storms like Hurricane Sandy last year. We usually don’t see red-tails in good numbers until November. This year, they were moving at the beginning of October. This is always welcome as it allows early training of new birds which, consequently, allows more time for hawking before the season ends. It also seems like a colder October than in seasons past. This definitely helps motivate birds to move south. We are finally operating under our new regs. In the past, non-residents were not allowed to practice falconry in West Virginia without first acquiring a resident falconry permit. Additionally, a health certificate and an importation permit were needed before any bird was brought in. Now, a non-resident falconer just needs his state falconry permit and a non-resident small game license. As I mentioned in an earlier report, we did not get everything we wanted in the new regs, but it is definitely better than what we had previously. Our small club finally has a website. It is simple 34

but sharp. Matt Frey did all the web design for the site. Thanks Matt, for all your work. It was definitely needed to provide information for interested parties, resident and nonresident alike. Check it out at www.wvfalconry.org. Those interested in reviewing West Virginia’s new regulations can find them there. We did have another major change happen in October: our permit coordinator, Sherri Young, retired after spending over 30 years with the DNR. This was a tremendous loss for our falconry community. Everything we have done to advance falconry in West Virginia has been an uphill battle. Sherri was the only pro-falconry person we dealt with in the DNR. She was the best. We hope she enjoys her well-deserved rest. We are not sure yet who her replacement will be. As of now, I don’t think the state knows either. We just hope they are in our corner. Time will tell. If any of you plan on hawking in WV during this season and have questions regarding the current regulations, please contact us through the website or call me on my cell phone at 540-742-1591. We have worked very hard to get these regulations and want to make sure we follow the rules so as to not jeopardize the rewards of our labor. Have a great hawking season! Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Michigan Hawking Club By Jeff Alkire, President It has stayed quite warm here in Michigan well into October but we are finally experiencing some eagerly anticipated brisk fall days. As with every fall, newly trapped birds can be found in many mews and accompanying falconers into the fields across Michigan. Whether you are an apprentice or a seasoned master, not much matches the fall excitement that a newly feathered hunting partner brings. The club members have once again been faithful this fall in sharing with the public their love of raptors, the role they play in our environment, and the art of falconry at several events. The Michigan Hawking Club takes public education seriously and makes efforts to promote the legal practice of the sport, and the birds we adore throughout the year. Fall events include the Woods-N-Water Weekend in Imlay City, Hawkfest in Brownstown, and Cranefest in Belleville. The varied focus and audience of these events allow us the opportunity to share with people of different backgrounds and interest. The MHC’s Legislative Liaison Dave Hogan and I attended a Natural Resources Commission meeting in September, speaking in favor of the three year falconry regulation review cycle we currently have established here. Three years allows a reasonable time frame to measure the impact of current regulations and affords the ability to make adjustments on a scheduled regular basis. The MHC is fortunate

to have a good working relationship with the Department of Natural Resources and we are thankful to the past and current leadership of the DNR and MHC for developing and nurturing the positive discourse we enjoy today. There will be two club sponsored field meets held in Michigan this winter. On December 7, a “hunters' meet” will be hosted by Chris Wysocki in Walker, Michigan near Grand Rapids. This meet is a day focused on hunting with our falconry friends and family. In early February, we will gather near Lansing for our annual field meet. This is our “big event” every year where the public is welcome to join club members in the field as we do what we love. The day culminates with both silent and live auctions allowing people to go home with some really nice items while helping to fund the clubs efforts. Additional information about these meets and other club activities will be available on the club website www.michiganhawkingclub.org. A recent inquiry was made of me concerning what was happening in Michigan falconry, to which I responded “things are pretty quiet here.” That got me thinking how fortunate we are to be able to “quietly” practice the grand sport of falconry here in Michigan, today and far into the foreseeable future. May your hawks and falcons be swift, fields full of game, and eyes and hearts open enough to appreciate the magnificence of it all!

Show a Journal or Hawk Chalk to your falconry friends and invite them to join or rejoin nAFA!

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

The Maine Falconry and Raptor Conservancy By Scott Keniston The Maine Falconry and Raptor Conservancy held its annual picnic and business meeting Saturday, August 10, 2013, and was hosted by George and MaryLib Eyerer at their home in Newburgh, Maine. The attendance was higher than any other gathering we have had in our 28 year history and we voted in three new affiliate members during our business meeting. We would like to welcome new Maine apprentice Corey Hamilton, Massachusetts falconer Kimberly Meiners, and past Massachusetts falconer Wayne Peabody to the club. The membership voted to continue to give financial support to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The

Archives of Falconry, Avian Haven (a local rehabilitation facility), and the Maine Wildlife Park (which is an extension of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Officers of the MF&RC are elected to serve for two consecutive years), so the last order of business for out-going President Cindy Fanning, was to hold elections for new officers. Larry Barnes was elected President, George Eyerer, Vice President, and Tom Gagne took on the working role of Secretary/Treasurer. Member Taylor Lumia offered to host the picnic next summer at his home in Cape Neddick, Maine the second Saturday of August, 2014. Meeting was then adjourned.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MFRC

The Maine Falconry and Raptor Conservancy held its annual picnic and business meeting Saturday, August 10, 2013, and was hosted by George and MaryLib Eyerer at their home in Newburgh, Maine.

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

Massachusetts Falconry and Hawk Trust By William F. Johnston, Jr. Liaison Officer It’s the third week of October and MFHT members have started their 2013–2014 hawking season. In the first few days, Dave Peltier and his two awesome North American goshawks have already put a smorgasbord of quarry in the bag: a crow, a duck and multiple bunnies. Dave tries to get out with one of his birds each day and the regular exposure to game is apparent. I joined him last week and flew my 6x-intermewed hybrid falcon. Right out of the molt, this was her second time on the wing. We spotted some ducks in a cranberry bog and put the bird up. Unfortunately I misjudged where they were in the trenches and they flushed prematurely. Oh well, the duck season goes until February so still plenty of opportunities. Our club picnic this summer was well attended with more folks showing up each year. A huge thanks goes to John Tobin for organizing the event and to Bruno DiDuca for the outstanding auction he put together. In early September, members gathered for our fall business meeting. This is when we elect officers for the year, set meet dates and discuss other matters that effect Massachusetts Falconry. The first meet will be held this December in Western Mass, hosted by John Tobin. January will find us on Cape Cod

where Dick Morrison will be our host, February Central Mass, hosted by Bill Hatch; and, a possible fourth meet might be held on Plumb Island. Diane Welch will be checking out the feasibility, as we have never held a meet there before. Officers elected for the year are: Todd Haskell, President, John Tobin, Vice President, Wendy Pavlick, Secretary/Treasurer, and Bill Johnston, Liaison Officer. Two new by-laws were passed, non-members attending field meets must be accompanied by a current MFHT member and annual dues not paid by June first will be assessed a $5 late fee. Those members still in arrears on September first will be dropped from the club. The MFHT, like many other state falconry clubs, participates in public events where the venue is compatible with who we are and what we do. One such event is the Mass Outdoor Expo. Sponsored by local hunting and fishing clubs the event portrays these activities in a positive, educational way. This year Bill and Linda Hatch, Wendy Pavlicek, Kathy McKeown, Diane Welch and I attended. Best wishes for a good season, with lots of game in the bag and all hawks returned safely to the mews.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MFHT

A part of the MFHT crew at the Mass Outdoor Expo. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Oklahoma Falconers Association By Robert Huber, President Three years ago two groups of Oklahoma falconers independently headed to the field to trap peregrines on the open Oklahoma prairie. Since that initial trapping excursion, a small group of Oklahoma falconers have gathered every year in September. Mark Runnels who was the first to trap a passage peregrine in Oklahoma, continues to get the event kicked off each year. At this years rendezvous, around 20 falconers stopped by the camp site to visit, camp for a couple of days or assist with trapping. Several in the group are trapping specifically for passage peregrines, but there is always opportunity to capture other passage birds as well. This was a tough year, the migration was sporadic (down by at least 50-percent from previous years) and after numerous falconers spent more than 150 hours in the blinds, only a few birds were captured. Joel May and Ronnie Davis have new red-tails, David Price and Ron Lloyd are trying their hand at flying prairie falcons and Dave Stevens is working with a beautiful female peregrine. For me, this year’s highlight was trapping on the last weekend of the peregrine season with one of Oklahoma’s legendary falconers, Mike Brewer. Mike has been a falconer since the early 1960’s and the “Paul’s Valley Drive In” which was also Mike’s home, was an Oklahoma falconry mecca visited by many well known falconers of the time. Mike successfully flew beach peregrines at ducks as well as many captive bred falcons over the years, participated with many of the early peregrine studies of the 1970’s that included locating eyries in the Rocky Mountains and counting/banding peregrines on the Texas beaches. Mike took a hiatus from flying birds for a few years and I was fortunate to be his trapping partner on this trip. While we were not successful at trapping the peregrine we were hoping for, we were successful at capturing a very nice female prairie on the last day at the trapping location. I had been telling Mike for several minutes that I needed to pack the gear and head home and was just lazily working the lure bird. Wouldn’t you know, just then a prairie slammed the pigeon, and within seconds was secure in the bownet. Mike was almost speechless and just looked at me and said what a “serendipity moment.” At last report, Mike is feeling like his old self and we should see him in the field this winter flying ducks over the ponds at Paul’s Valley. All we can say is welcome back Mike. Two other items occurred at this year’s ren38

PHOTO COURTESY OF OFA

2013 Padre Island, from left, Steve Trent, Daniel Murray and Mark Waller with some peregrine falcons. dezvous. A research professor and her team from Oklahoma State University Zoological Department were present for the first week of trapping. They collected blood samples from the trapped raptors to determine if there are physiological changes due to migration. I suspect that they will be back next year for more data. In addition to trapping, the falconers were able to put on a falconry presentation to residents of the area. The presentation was well attended by the local residents. Dave Stevens, Mark Runnels and Ron Lloyd did a good job talking about raptor biology and falconry. The biggest hits were the birds; Dave impressed everyone with the size of his male golden eagle, Mark had his Harris's hawks and his intermewed passage peregrine and Ron had his prairie falcon just two hours out of the trap. When I was back the last week of season, they were still talking about the presentation and hoping that we will do it again next year. Two Oklahoma falconers and one former Oklahoma falconer now living in Kansas made the trip to South Padre after being drawn for Texas non-resident peregrine permits. Several others See OKLAHOMA on Page 39

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

OKLAHOMA Continued from Page 38

made the trip to enjoy the scenery, bird watch, and help with the trapping. Daniel Murray, Perry White, Mark Waller, Steve Trent, and Rob Summers all met up with Texas falconers Chris Godfrey, Austin Ledger, Frank Erhard, Steve Oleson, and Scott Coleman for some good times. As always, the local seafood was fantastic, and Chris cooked up a gourmet feast of whitewing doves for the whole crew one night. All of the permit-holders trapped passage tundra falcons. Each day they were treated to watching wild merlins, peregrines, and even one passage prairie falcon, as well as ospreys, Caracaras, and an endless array of shorebirds, such as gulls and terns. A good time was had by all, and as of writing this, all of the new birds are coming along nicely. OFA member Bob Aanonsen reports that he is currently hunting with a 14PHOTO COURTESY OF OFA year-old wild-caught female Harris’s Mike and Revea Brewer with their passage prairie. hawk, “Valkyrie,” a six-year-old male wild caught Harris’s hawk, “Beagh,” well, but a lack of bunnies prevented a first kill. and a five-year-old male captive-bred Harris’s Another husband/wife team, Rich and Natalie hawk, “Kato.” Shannon Cole is killing rabbits with Andes are in the fields at every available opportuniher 3x-intermewed captive-bred Harris’s hawk, ty to hunt with their hawks. Rich has a once-inter“Jessie.” She is also in the process of mending a one mewed gamey male red-tail, “Houdini,” and Natalie and a-half-year-old male ferruginous hawk that was is attacking the fields with her first Harris’s hawk trapped with avian dry pox, assorted injuries and a female, “Sora.” case of bumble foot. It is a good thing that Shannon As a final note, Dr. Ken Riddle, who was serving was just accepted into OSU Veterinary Program. as OFA President, has once again left the fine Husband/wife team of Daniel and Julie Olson of Oklahoma prairies to head back to the Middle East. Tulsa had a busy year getting permitted, trapping, We were sorry to see him leave, but we all underand manning their new red-tail hawks. They had stood what this meant and hope him the best in his their first hunt recently and the birds responded falconry endeavors. Good luck Ken.

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Florida Hawking Fraternity By Neal Ottoway President Finally, we have a cool down in Florida, even in South Florida the temperature went all the way down to 69 degrees last night. Brrrrrrrr. At least we seem to have dodged the hurricane bullet this year as the close of that season is just a few days away. October saw another successful picnic at the Avian Conditioning Center in Apopka sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. McCorkel. I saw some old faces and met some new folks. Florida once again got two peregrine permits but I’m afraid it just wasn’t in the cards and not a one was harvested. Not for a lack of trying from the trappers. Seems there was an unusual weather pattern keeping the passage birds bottled up as many falconers in Florida noticed a lack of peregrine sightings in the usual viewing places of years before. This years winter meet will be in Mount Dora at the Lakeside Inn: http://lakeside-inn.com/index.html. It is an absolutely gorgeous, 130 year lakeside mansion with ample weather area for man and beast. Even if you’re not a hawker the town of Mount Dora is full of family-friendly activities. Please see the website www.F-H-F.org for registration. Since I seem to have lots of photos of my new passage red-tail hawk, “Kali,” I thought I would share one (see right). Trapped weight 1270 grams, she is flying nicely to the fist and we will be out in the field within the week.

Texas Hawking Association By President Chris Davis PHOTO FROM DAVIS

Harris’s hawk on right, is Davis’ 6-year-old passage male.

The Texas Hawking Association is finalizing the details of our 2014 annual field meet. The meet will be held in Waco, Texas on January 17-20. The Clarion Inn is again this year's meet hotel. We are pleased to announce that Lynn Oliphant will be our keynote speaker at the banquet Saturday night. The banquet will be held in the beautiful Texas Ranger's Hall of Fame and Museum located a few blocks from 40

the Clarion. Steve Duffy is slated to be the Friday night speaker. Hal Webster and David Frank are planning to attend. If the game populations and weather hold out this should be a really great meet. So if you've ever considered attending one of our meets, this would be a good time to come down. I wish all of you a good season and hope to see a few of you in January. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

Arizona Falconers Association By Ken Mesch, Secretary The Arizona Falconers Association recently celebrated falconry in the state with a picnic at Thumb Butte Park near Prescott. In addition to having great food, cooked by Jeff Parker, the club heard presentations from representatives of the two major power companies about efforts to reduce raptor electrocution in Arizona. Also, Tom Munson gave a presentation on home-made telemetry transmitters. About 35 falconers, friends and family attended. Brian Olney hosted the first mini-meet of the season in Desert Hills North of Phoenix, and Matt Hankins has held two outings for apprentices to see Harris’s hawkers hunting jackrabbits. Sad News The AFA suffers the loss of one of our members, Bob Graf, after a long illness. Bob was active at our meets and was a very good falconer and photographer. Bob and his wife, Anne, were partners in life

PHOTO BY ROY PRIEST

Ken Mesch and “Hombre” pause with a jackrabbit.

PHOTO BY ROY PRIEST

Arizona falconer Casey Miller and “Raena.” Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

and in falconry. He will be missed. The 2014 Desert Hawking Classic The Arizona Falconers Association’s annual Desert Hawking Classic is going to be held in Kingman this year. The dates are January 23-26, 2014. Club President Charlie Kaiser is spearheading the initial planning. Meets in Kingman, home to Harry McElroy and Jamaica Smith among others, have a reputation for greatness. The AFA welcomes falconers from other states to come and enjoy the great hunting opportunities and camaraderie. Donations to our raffle are needed and much appreciated. Please contact Ken Mesch at 406-6729906 to arrange a contribution. For more information, please see our website at www.arizonafalconers.com. 41

Alberta Falconers Association By Alex Stokes A new season is upon us, and inevitably with it will come triumph and tragedy, delight and despair. Barely a few weeks into the season, shortly after returning from our fall meet, I personally feel this despair following the death of my fifth season gyr/peregrine “Vampire.” A single power line stretched across a sea of open prairie proved to be his nemesis as he slashed across the sky in pursuit of a duck which looked as though it would never make the pond it was racing toward. The impact was colossal and catastrophic, death instant. Sadly he isn’t the first and he will not be the last. The hunted flew on unhindered; the hunter will not grace these skies again. Such is the bitter sweet nature of falconry. Most of our active members are now back in the field and our annual fall meet held in Drumheller in early October was very well attended with guests Dale Guthormsen and Lynn Oliphant joining us from Saskatchewan. Dale flew his intermewed gyr/peregrine “Chip” and his 2013 gyrkin and was successful in adding game to the bag on most flights. Ducks were plentiful and great sport was enjoyed by all. This year the club invited Lynn to give an after dinner speech concerning his Four Week Window hack method. A number of our members including

PHOTO BY JON GROVES

Steve Schwartze with female anatum, “Pembina.”

PHOTO BY JON GROVES

Alex Stokes with, "Vampire," (a gyr/peregrine tiercel). Steve Schwartze, Jeremy Roselle and Mark Williams have flown one of Lynn’s hawks and Phil and Helen Trefry from Edmonton recently used Lynn’s methods during a hack of a number of their own home-bred peregrines with great success. In addition, member Rick Skibsted’s anatum falcon, “Green,” has been a cornerstone in the breeding program and continues to produce many fine falcons each year. Lynn gave a very enjoyable and informative speech, which was very well received by our members. Lynn was also able to show a recently completed video which added greatly to our enjoyment and understanding of the process. At the meeting long-time member Wayne Nelson were presented with a plaque and lifetime membership for himself and his wife, Alora, for their outstanding contribution to the club over many years. As I write this, our temperatures have dropped and our waterfowl have departed for warmer climes. It is now time to venture into the stubble and see how our upland game numbers have fared. Reports from the south of the province indicate there are good numbers of sharp-tailed grouse and, although it is too early to say with any certainty, it appears as though partridge numbers, depressed for so many years, may have started to bounce back. In the field I can report the following from the north of the province: Mike Person is flying his intermewed gyr/peregrine, “Gobbles,” along with a new black gyr/pereSee ALBERTA Page 43

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

ALBERTA Continued from Page 42

PHOTO BY JON GROVES

Mike Person's gyr/peregrine on a gadwall. grine which has started the season well. Phil and Helen Trefry are flying their hacked peregrine tiercel “Comet.” Scott and Deone Taylor have a new prairie falcon and passage goshawk which will keep them busy this season. Rick Morse has released his intermewed prairie falcon and this year is flying a tiercel peregrine bred by Phil and Helen. Dean Mushtuk has taken a passage female goshawk and will be flying it at snowshoe hare this winter. In southern Alberta, Louis Pesti continues afield with his intermewed peregrine. Rich Moore recently trapped a passage merlin and is already enjoying success with it at starlings. Rick Skibsted is flying his veteran anatum falcon “Green” along with her son “Little Bill.” With the death of Vampire, I will be concentrating on my intermewed passage prairie falcon, “Witch,” which showed great promise last year. In Lethbridge, Steve Schwartze is flying his 9x-intermewed gyr/barbary, “Cargill,” along with a wild-hacked peregrine falcon “Pembina.” She has already proved to be quite the dynamo on ducks and Steve is looking forward to some grouse trips this fall. Jeremy Roselle has been flying his female peregrine as well as taking on a passage and imprint merlin. Last but not least, is Udo Hannebaum who is lying his intermewed tiercel peregrine, “Hay.” He has already taken a number of ducks this year and is now moving on to upland game. At our AGM, we set the dates for the 2014 fall meet, which will once again by held in Drumheller, between October 3-5. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

PHOTOS BY JON GROVES

Above, Jeremy Roselle with his anatum peregrine. Below, Rick Skibsted's anatum peregrine "Green."

Arkansas Falconry Association By Rusty Scarborough It has been a great year in Arkansas falconry! We had a very good turnout for the annual AHA Apprentice Workshop held in August at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center in Little Rock on August 3. We have three second-year apprentices and five or six first year or “want-tobe” apprentices in attendance and many of the regular club members. The club gave every falconer in attendance a field medical kit loaded with supplies for emergency situations for our hunting partners when far away from medical attention. Heath Garner put on a great hood making session and Francie Forrester and others helped the apprentices make cuffs and jesses that they would need for the upcoming season. Cody Fields brought BC’s and spoke to apprentices about BC design and trapping and bait. I helped a couple guys cut out and prepare Coroplast giant hoods. I also did a short demonstration on beak coping and talked about food and nutrition to prevent the need of coping. The day was rounded out with a great pizza meal provided by the club and an apprentice-only door prize/raffle (each apprentice was given a number of tickets at no cost). All in all it was another great year for the AHA apprentices and next August we look forward to holding our tenth AHA Apprentice Workshop.

PHOTO BY CHRIS PRICE

Greg Seaton with the first passage female peregrine caught in Arkansas in 2013.

PHOTO BY RUSTY SCARBOROUGH

Francie Forrester working with group making cuffs and jesses.

In September, we had a huge amount of expectation and excitement leading up to passage peregrine falcon trapping season. Heath Garner had proven all the naysayers wrong last year by trapping a passage female in Arkansas and took ducks with her. This year we doubled our allotted permits to two and on Sunday September 29 Greg Seaton (N. Little Rock, AR) (one year to the day of Heath Garner’s trapping the first peregrine in Arkansas) trapped a beautiful passage female peregrine. Tuesday October 1, Chris Price was able to trigger the bow net on a passage tiercel. Then on October 7 after listening to so much chatter about passage peregrines in Arkansas, Heath Garner, who had drawn a non-resident permit in Texas, was finally able to head back to Arkansas with another passage female peregrine. As of this writing, all three have been flown free and the tiercel has caught a wild head of game. All of Arkansas is excited to see the PEFAs flown at game See ARKANSAS Page 45

Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

ARKANSAS Continued from Page 44

PHOTO BY CODY FIELDS

Chris Price with his passage tiercel peregrine. The second caught in Ark. 2013. in Arkansas this season. To date two of our apprentices, Chad Reynolds (Farmerville, LA) and Derrick McCollum (Cherokee Village, AR), have trapped passage red-tail hawks. Kenley Money (Maumelle, AR) is planning to trap a kestrel any day now, Michael Skvarla (Springdale, AR) is awaiting his permit after passing inspection and plans to trap a redtail. Ashley Money (Maumelle, AR) and Spencer Riba(Mabelvale , AR) are going to fly their intermewed red-tails again this season. For more information about what is going on in Arkansas or the falconers around Arkansas go to www.arkansashawkingassociation.org or plan to join us in person for the annual AHA Winter Meet to be held in Ethel, AR., ary 31-February 2, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;14. Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

PHOTO FROM HEATH GARNER

Above, Heath Garner with Texas-caught, passage falcon. PHOTO BY RUSTY SCARBOROUGH

Below, Heath Garner provides hood making workshop.

FROM THE FIELD, MEW & BREEDING CHAMBER KESTREL AND RED-TAIL ART BY KANDY PHILLIPS

See more of Kandy Phillips art on Page 60.

hawk chalk By Peter Tirrell out in the backyard, under the apple trees, near the birdfeeder. creamy white splatters against a brown leafy background have become telltale excremental marks, punctuating one of nature’s games. Studying this pattern, I visualize the exchange between a brown creeper – a bit of song, color, and energy – and a blue darter that killed, consumed, sliced, and slipped away. chalk up the timeless score: brown creeper has become blue darter, nothing less, and nothing more. 46

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WHY WRITE? BY BILL BONI Over the years I have had an opportunity to create and/or edit a number of club newsletters and journals along the way. So, I have firsthand knowledge of how difficult it is to get falconers to share their experiences in writing, which is odd because falconry is their passion. It would seem that these folks would jump at the chance to share their stories with the falconry community at large, but this is not the case. This short essay will explore the reasons why there is such a struggle amongst falconers to write, and the consequences of not doing so, in hopes that a few more falconers will take pen in hand before all is lost (literally). Falconers are not alone in their reluctance to write. For a number of years I taught college English, primarily First Year Composition, and I learned early on that the vast majority of students do not like to write. I used to tell my colleagues that if composition was not a required course, we would have no students in class. I said this as a joke, but the statement is very true. And there are good reasons for this abhorrence. Despite a popular belief that there is some sort of correlation between writing and intelligence (of which there is absolutely no evidence), writing is, in fact, a skill, and just like any other skill, the more you do it, the better you get. The process of learning to make hoods is a good analogy — the first ones are not very good, but they continue to get better with the making of more hoods, and a person’s skill level increases. However, having said this, some folks come out of the womb having more of those innate attributes that are related to writing, which gives them a leg up; for example, coming out of the culture of poverty, I did not have a very good education as a youngster, and was a high school dropout, yet when given the opportunity to tap into my writing skills later on in life, I did well, despite my education. I, of course, had a long way to go in honing these skills, but I certainly had an innate advantage. (There are, of course, a couple of good reasons for this but that discussion is beyond the scope of this article.) And again, hood making is a good example — some folks seem to rapidly excel making hoods, while others (like me) have struggled to achieve incremental progress. Another very good example of what I am talking about is mathematics. Most folks seem to struggle at math in school, while others seem to grasp it rather easily. The same principle is at work here as well — some folks have it, and most folks not so much, which means that there are those who have to work harder (some very hard). And because of my own struggles with math, I can fully appreciate Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

other peoples’ aversion to writing, but the end results are entirely different. Refusing to write about a topic that you have knowledge and expertise in, regardless of reason(s), has a much more profound consequence than not maximizing one’s potential in mathematics; and this is the message that I want to get across, and have tried to get across over the years. There are three main reasons why falconers, who have something to say, won’t put their thoughts on paper. One is – as indicated – they don’t feel comfortable writing, and they find it very difficult. They are reluctant to show their writing to anyone, let alone for publication because they are, basically, embarrassed about their writing skills. They don’t seem to appreciate the fact that most editors, like Kenn Filkins, have a real appreciation for the written word and would be the last person to sit in judgment of one’s writing ability. But, needless to say, this is a big hurdle to overcome, something – as an editor trying to get falconers to write – I have really had to struggle with along the way; in fact, in the book, The Passage Cooper’s Hawk and Those Who Fly ‘Em, more than one of the authors made it clear to me that they did not want their writing skills to be viewed as inferior in any way. They wanted their words to appropriately and exactly represent what they were trying to say, and for good reason, which brings me to the second reason why most falconers struggle to write about falconry. I don’t think there is any doubt that falconers (in general) can be critical of their peers. Unfortunately, in my earlier years I was of that same ilk. I really thought I had a handle on the nuances of falconry, and had little patience or understanding of those I felt did not, or were doing something contrary to my vision of what was right and best. But, what goes around comes around, and since then, after letting my guard down and letting the chips fall where they may, I have been on the receiving end of this criticism, so I know from where I speak. Needless to say, this underlying element of criticism compounds the problem of falconers not writing about their experiences — many of them don’t want to put it out there, which is very unfortunate indeed. And then there is their “image” to consider as well, which is the final hurdle. Golfers might fudge a bit on their handicap, but have no problem admitting that they are “hackers,” or just average golfers; not so, with falconers. Unlike other similar endeavors, most falconers would rather cut their tongue off than admit that they were “average.” Even if they don’t make a concerted See WRITE on Page 48

WRITE Continued from Page 47

effort to present themselves in the best of light, they still want to be perceived as “good falconers,” and many falconers work hard to cultivate that image. Again, I know from where I speak — been there, done that. In other words, this image thing is paramount to a lot of falconers, and can certainly interfere with any writing that they might do otherwise, as — once again — they are afraid of how it might be perceived by their fellow falconers. I have been in verbal conversations with numerous falconers over the years who had never written anything about falconry, but had a lot to say, and were more than willing to share their expertise with anyone who would listen, which is a good thing. But, when these falconers die, their words of wisdom — as profound as they might be — will pretty much die with them; in fact, as time passes, future falconers won’t even know these people ever existed. On the other hand, the words of those who have taken the time to write something will go on for future generations of falconers to read and resurrect. The writer and their written message will be reintroduced time and again for as long as there are falconers interested in reading about falconry; for example, few people know that Harry McElroy was once a Director in NAFA. And, if he had not taken up the pen, no one, except those around him, would have known who he was. But, fortunately for the falconry community, Harry chose to write about his experiences, and his numerous books as well as the many articles that he has written for a variety of publications over the years are voluminous. The information that he has shared with falconers has been well-received, and beneficial to the sport. And, had he not put his thoughts on paper — there would have been a real in-depth void of timely worthwhile information over the years as a result. There are, of course, other falconers who have added their writings to the pool of knowledge along the way. But, unfortunately, there are many more seasoned falconers who have not published their thoughts to the falconry community. So, how does one go about writing their first article? The first step is to make a firm commitment to write. I liken it to alcoholics — the first step to recovery is a commitment to quit drinking even though they realize that it is going to be very difficult. Similarly, once a person has made up his/her mind that they are going to write about their experiences, come hell or high water, then the writing process can begin in earnest, but not until then. There is no need to be concerned about spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Just getting thoughts onto paper, even random thoughts, is sufficient. Once everything is on paper that you can think of, 48

quit writing. Give it a day or two, but be thinking about it. Then go back and read the prose again. There will certainly be things you will want to add, as well as some reorganization that you will want to accomplish. There may even be a few things that you want to remove. Keep revising, but don’t make it a laborious project. Do it when you feel the need. You are in no hurry, but do it! Again, if you are a struggling writer, don’t concern yourself with what you don’t know about writing; just present your story as best you can. Once you feel that you have taken your article as far as you can, read the article out loud. Most folks can speak better than they can write, due to two different areas of the brain being involved with these forms of communication. As a result, writers can often hear their written mistakes, and this auditory exercise will help them along. Once finished, don’t agonize over what you have written, just submit it for publication. Any editor worth his/her salt will help you to fine tune it, without changing your message in any way, only enhancing it, which may not be necessary. The question remains, if you are a struggling writer, who dislikes writing, afraid that what you put on paper may not be an accurate reflection of what you want to say, and concerned about your image as a falconer (to a greater or lesser degree), why take pen in hand? What is in it for you? One of the contributors to the book I edited was in this situation. He was very reluctant to write anything, and it took him a long time to decide to do so, but once completed and he had an opportunity to read what he had written within the context of the book itself, he wanted more copies to give to his family and friends. He was, obviously, proud of what he had done, and rightfully so. So, there is a certain degree of self-satisfaction that is achieved in writing for publication, but more importantly, his words are now indelible, for all to see, not just a select few. I’ll conclude by simply saying that I learned long ago you can’t hold a gun to falconers’ heads to make them write. For most of them, writing represents a daunting challenge that they, unfortunately, forego. But, I am ever hopeful that this article will somehow encourage more falconers to contribute to what has been written about our passion before all is eventually lost, or written by someone else. Many years ago when I was an undergraduate student taking a course in creative writing (non-fiction), I wanted to write about my experiences in Viet Nam, but was reluctant to do so. The professor said to me, “Bill, if you don’t write about what it was like to be in Viet Nam, someone else will.” As Carlos Fuentes said, “Writing is a struggle against silence.” Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

IDAHO CAPTION CORRECTION The captions for these two pictures were incorrect in the 2013 August Hawk Chalk in the Idaho club's report. The editor was at fault. Below are the correct captions with the photos.

ABOVE PHOTO BY DENO NEUBOLD

A vote by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission finalized the “take” of peregrines in Idaho. There for the event, from left, were Rich Howard of IFA, Jim Younk (holding a peregrine) of IFA, Brad Compton of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Scott Nichols of IFA, Dave Smith the President of IFA, and Deno Newbold of IFA. BELOW PHOTO FROM RICH HOWARD

The drawing for two permits was held on a sunny morning. The Director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game was just as excited as IFA members. At the event were, from left, Rich Howard of IFA, Dave Smith the President of IFA, Brad Compton of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Jon Nevaiser of IFA, Scott Nichols of IFA, Virgil Moore the Director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and Rex Sallabanks the Nongame Manager of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

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FALCONERS AID IN CONSERVATION OF AT-RISK PRAIRIE GROUSE BY CALEB STROH Prairie grouse truly are symbols of the vast North American west. They’re pleistocene mega-grouse; bold, powerful and guarded. Able to withstand scorching summer drought and callous winters. And the places they flock to: the epitome of beauty and desolation, the west incarnate. In a word, prairie grouse are magnificent. But despite their hardiness and grit, it’s with great sadness that we are seeing these birds slowly diminish, swept away as if by a prairie storm in a whirlwind of greed, materialism, and progression. Yet hope remains. Prairie grouse require large expanses of undisturbed landscape. The plow, the fire, and the campaigns of man are all his enemy… but we also have the opportunity to offer salvation. Falconers, hunters and all manner of conservationists have stepped up to assist the imperiled prairie grouse species. Large scale land acquisitions along with improved ranching and grazing practices have made monumental differences. Set-aside land management and habitat programs, both governmental and private, have given these tenacious galliformes another chance. The management of entire prairie grouse populations relies on the continued vastness of the west. It must remain wild and unfettered. But we can do more. Recent studies have concluded that area-specific management practices also help prairie grouse. Improved grazing practices in riparian areas, protection of historical leks (dancing grounds) and marking fences to avoid strikes can improve overall production and sustainability of local prairie grouse populations. Falconers continue to be great stewards of the environment. The success of the peregrine falcon and the California condor are deserved sources of pride for all falconers. The Utah Falconers Association (UFA) and the North American Falconers Association (NAFA) along with many other supporters again deserve accolades. With financial assistance from multiple conservation groups (including NAFA) the UFA was able to purchase a first installment of 7000 high-visibility Fly Safe® fence markers (www.flysafellc.com). Over the course of the next two years the UFA and other conservation organizations plan to install these markers in high-traffic-fence-strike areas. Particular care will be given to leks and riparian areas, as well as wintering habitat and along migration routes. These markers will hopefully mitigate fence strikes by prairie grouse (and other bird species such as diurnal raptors, waterfowl, and owls.) The UFA thanks NAFA and its members for their contribution, without which projects like this could Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

not take place. It’s truly our pleasure to assist in these conservation projects and we look forward to completing more in the future. Falconers truly are the oldest form of conservationists. Please take the time to enjoy nature and the environment, but never take it for granted.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UFA

Above, Utah Chukar and Wildlife Foundation member installs 7000 high-visibility Fly Safe® fence markers to protect the prairie grouse and other birds of interest.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UFA

A sharp-tailed grouse in flight. 51

GREENLAND FASCINATIONS 2013 BY TAGE JESSEN OF DENMARK During late August/early September of 2013, my wife Søs and I spend 12 days in Greenland, visiting the Disko Bay area and the Disko Island. All logistics on the trip ran smooth and we were fortunate to have optimal weather conditions, with mostly sunshine and partly overcast skies. Wherever we went, we felt truly welcome and enjoyed the company of the locals. As a falconer and peregrine breeder from Denmark, Greenland has, with its closely linked history and harsh environment, always captivated my imagination, and our trip proved to be an experience far beyond what I had expected. Søs enjoys searching for rocks and identifying the local flora. Whereas my main interest lies with the birds, so together we cover the details of the landscape. Some our most memorable falcon sightings include: On the first morning we departed from Ilulissat (Jacobshavn) to sailed 50 miles north to the beautiful Eqi glacier, where we stayed for two days, but saw no falcons. When back in Illulissat we went for a walk, south, to the old Sermermiut. Here we stood on the high rocks and enjoyed the great view over the Icefjord. Looking up we spotted an old male peregrine, coming out from a lofty pitch over the mainland. He descended in a long stoop to meet with his female out above the Icefjord and from there they went up high above and finally disappeared beyond giant icebergs. Next day we walked the same route and reached outside of town. From there we watched a white male gyr playing with a small group of ravens, before he took off south and out of sight. An hour or so later we spotted another (or the same) white male gyr, as he took off from the walking track, just 20 meters in front of us. He flew low and out of sight. We walked on carefully and found him perched on a small cliff face, some 150 meters to our left. We took our lunch there and enjoyed the wonderful sight of him. The travel continued south to Qasigiannguit (Christianshåb), where we stayed over the next two days. Here we were lucky to observe a brown colored female gyr. She was at first seen playing with the ravens, whereupon she headed straight for the town, flying only a few meters above the houses. From Qasigiannguit, we traveled by boat to Aasiaat ( Egedesminde). There, resting at the seamen´s home with a cup of coffee, I thought about how lucky we had been and surely we would be very lucky to see falcons today. A few minutes later a white gyr male came into sight just as he was head52

ing into town, again flying only a few meters above the rooftops. He then continued down to the harbor and disappeared out to sea. I was surprised at how abundant these falcons are and that they so readily turn up in and around towns. In Aasiaat, we got on the boat heading for the Disko Island. Sailing out from Aasiaat we made a stop at the small islands called Kitsisuarsuit, for a mail delivery. Here a young male peregrine came in, flying very close to the boat and later the male was seen chasing snowbuntings. On the first day at the Disko Island, in Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn), we went for a walk. Just a mile out of town a male, white gyr came into our view. He was flying low over the ground before he sat on a rock approximately 150 meters away. He then moved to a different rock, even closer, but then flew out of sight. Two minutes later from the opposite direction, arrived another male, white gyr. He started chasing a medium-sized, juvenile gull, around 150 meters from where we stood. They flew close to the ground, the gull evading the gyrs rapid stoops and passes from below. At first it all looked like they were playing, but soon enough I could see the gyr was set on killing the gull. Sure enough moments later, he bound to the gull in midair, a quick attack from underneath. As the male, with his prey, descended to the ground below, a white gyr female appeared on the scene and all three landed together. At first the female watched him dispatch the gull, and then she flew to perch on a rock 20 meters away from him. After a little while she noticed us and flew low over the ground and out of sight. Around five minutes later, I moved carefully toward the male. He was sitting behind a small rise so I was able to get within five or six meters of him and take two photos before he left his kill. He flew up and got about thirty meters away, he then turned and came back just five to seven meters overhead. I collected the gulls head as a precious souvenir and walked back to the track. When I was around fifty meters away from the kill, I saw the gyr sitting on a rock no more than sixty meters away, and from there he went straight back to the gull. We left. The other thing that surprised me was the gyrs obvious tolerance of people, or almost naivety in our presence. This naivety is something we know of from other wildlife living in such remote and wild places. The next day we went to the same location and here we saw an old female peregrine as she was leaving a rocky perch. One hour later an old male pereSee GREENLAND on Page 53

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grine appeared and started to repeatedly stoop at a snowbunting. Just as the snowbunting was getting hard pressed, it found a rocky outcrop to escape behind, but at that same moment an old peregrine female appeared around the corner and caught the bunting with ease. The female went out to the rocky coast with her meal and the male also took to the horizon. Again we felt very privileged to experience such a spectacle and all this unfolding just 120 Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 2013

meters in front of us. Ten minutes later we watched an old peregrine female soar above the coastline cliffs. We miss Greenland; we know there are many more falcons to see up there. You feel in love with the country side because you are in the middle of a place where the two most lovely and handsome falcons can show up at anytime, anywhere. All you have to do is keep your eyes open. 53

TRAINING OWLS VS HAWKS BY KAREN YOUNG As a breeder of Eurasian eagle owls for some years now, I am often contacted with sundry questions about owl behaviors. Many of the people who contact me have a lot of experience with raptors but not specifically owls and find them confusing to work with. What I have found is that there are many misconceptions regarding owls, particularly when compared to hawks. I was asked to share my understanding of owls (large owls, that is) in this article to see if it could help others understand some of these idiosyncratic owl behaviors. Do I think I am an expert? No. I’ve had the good fortune to spend some time with owls and have tried to pay attention. The scope of this article is to compare some of the differences between hawks and owls (not necessarily to explain how to train an owl) in order to avoid some typical mistakes when working with owls. Mistake #1: Owls are stupid. I hear the “box of rocks” description all the time. It’s only partly true. Owls have huge eyes (containing five hundred times more light receptors than humans) so the space for grey matter is limited. But owls have enough brain power to learn and remember a lot. I’m often asked if owls remember things well. Yes, they do. I’ve had owls remember events and people years after their encounter. While owl thinking may not be complex, they have enough storage in the brain to take on a lot of data. Human brains also take on a lot of data but a lot of our intellect is used to sort it out, make distinctions and hide that which isn’t relevant. Studies show that when words are read they are comprehended by a person’s brain correctly even when the letters are jumbled, i.e. if the first and last letters of the words are correct: “A prseon can raed tihs eevn wehn its worng.” However a computer will stall at the least out-of-place character, which you know if you ever put the “.” in the wrong place. The computer holds volumes of data but doesn’t interpret it without “brainy” software. An owl is similar to a basic computer in that regard. Once an owl learns something, it’s a done deal – stored away for good, for better or worse. Again, like the computer but without a delete key. Hawks really don’t rate much better in the smarts department when it comes to storing information in the brain; they also remember well and can store a lot of data. While owls and hawks both have the ability to store a lot of information, owls don’t make a lot of connections with the information. Hawks seem better able to do so. Here, I think, is the crux of where owls and hawks differ. I once heard a comedian describe the difference between female and male brains. The female brain 54

was a road map with thoughts traveling curving and intersecting paths, shooting off ideas in different directions while interlinking odds bits of data. The male brain was a lot of boxes where information is stored, each box not necessarily related to another. To keep it simple, I would say that owls are more like the male model: lots of boxes filled with single and separate thoughts. This leads to a different way of learning. Owls learn A-B events; they store and retrieve information as such. Hawks may learn A-B-C-D+ sequences; they string together a simple pattern of actions to achieve an end result. Owls look to find a single and direct route to achieve an immediate result. For example, a hawk may learn that when a gloved falconer arrives in its mew, it means the hawk is going hunting. It comes to the glove for jessing, flies to the scale for weighing, then into its giant hood for traveling. For an owl, each one of these actions is a single and separate event. It learns to step to the glove. It learns to step on the scale. It leans to step into the giant hood. The owl does not assume that these actions are related or sequential. With this kind of thinking, an owl may seem to lack understanding of what is being asked of it when the task seems obvious to the handler. In most cases the owl really is confused. My eagle owl, “Big Foot” (a twenty-five year-old veteran as an ambassador) knows his routines very well. However, if I ask him to do something different than he has done before he will look at me as though he has no idea what I want…he doesn’t. I have used the same travel crate for him for years, which has grown rather worn. I was recently gifted a new and very elegant giant hood for him. The first time I went to put him in it he seemed totally befuddled…he was. It was nothing he knew how to deal with. All my hawks and falcons popped right in their new giant hoods, seeing them as similar to the old ones and thusly familiar. For the owl, this was a totally new deal. If you put together a puzzle the overall picture – say a horse racing across a field – the overall image emerges as the pieces are put in place. Once done, you will see only the horse scene as the pieces merge. For a hawk some patterns emerge that become identifiable – the horse’s eyes for example. For an owl, the pieces remain individual pieces packed together…no horse is evident. But what the owl can do is readily find the piece with just a wisp of cloud showing against a blue background while the rest of us must search for that unique piece. Mistake #2: Owls are stubborn. My experience is that owls are not so much stubborn but, rather they See KAREN on Page 55

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The first snowy owl ever trapped in Michigan for falconry. don’t know what is being asked, or don’t know how to do what is being asked. Owls, generally, are very willing to do things that are not contrary to their sense of well being, even when the action does not necessarily bring a reward. Hawks, on the other hand, while working readily for a reward, often balk at doing a task that does not have an immediate reward. Hawks seem to need a reason to do something; owls need a reason not to. Now go back to the description of male vs. female brains, where an owl is compared to a brain full of boxes. The comedian went on to say that, befuddling to women, men have an empty box where they like to hang out. Owls have an empty box where they can hang out almost endlessly. When asked to leave the empty box, an owl may react much like a man comfortably watching football while lounging on a couch: they don’t particularly want to be disturbed. Leaving the comfort of the empty box is one of the times owls have a reason not to want to do something…they are fine without doing it. I have worked with owls that seem reluctant to do something only to see, almost literally, the light bulb go off in their head when they “get it.” I was helping someone train a great horned owl as an educational bird, a bird they couldn’t use in programs

because it bated constantly. They had manned it well by sitting with it for hours on the glove but as soon as they tried to move around with it, it bated and wouldn’t stop. They would sit even longer with it, then try to move very slowly and gently to get it to sit on the glove while they walked. I had the owl step on the glove and then very quickly took the owl on a trip around the compound at a fast pace. It was fine after that. The owl knew how to sit on the glove (no point in going through that again) – what it didn’t know was that it was supposed to stay steady when someone moved with it. By skipping the glove sitting segment and showing the owl what was expected, i.e. moving while on the glove, the owl “got it.” It bated once but we kept moving while it came back up and it settled into the new deal right away. I don’t COURTESY PHOTO believe in anthropomorphizing about animal behaviors much but it did appear that the owl gave me “why didn’t you just ask” look. Remember, the owl bated as soon as it was moved, after which it was returned to the familiar and comfortable action of just sitting still on the glove: the owl learned that bating worked well for getting what it wanted. If an owl seems confused, it probably is. It sometimes takes breaking down the circumstances into small puzzle-like pieces to find what the owl understands in order to see what information is unclear to the bird. If you are asking the owl to find a piece of “sky” that isn’t clear to an owl…asking it to find the piece that is “blue with the wispy piece of cloud in the lower left corner” is actually clearer to the owl. The trainer must make it clear what is being asked…and then be there for the “ah,ha” moment. A quick word about training here: I often hear people say “but I didn’t train it to do that.” They probably did even if they didn’t mean to. Or they often say “while I was training the bird” – referring to what happened during a training session and forgetting that animals are trained at all times, not just during a session. When an owl appears unresponsive to training I suggest the trainer examine her/his own methods before blaming the owl. An owl may have “baggage” that prevents it from doing what is See KAREN II on Page 56

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asked, but this is probably the rare instance. More likely the owl is being asked to doing something it doesn’t understand, cannot do, or is afraid to do. Mistake #3: Owls are stupid and stubborn. I have found this usually associated with owls’ lack of response to training methods used on hawks where food is withheld to promote learning new behaviors. Typically with hawks trainers use hunger to motivate a hawk to adapt to new behaviors, such as flying to the glove or lure. Hunger only serves to get the hawk’s attention – it doesn’t teach it anything – prompting the hawk to learn what it takes to get the food it needs. When a hawk is hungry it means the system is empty and it is time to find food. With a crop serving as an onboard lunch box, a hawk gorges then does not hunt for food again until its crop empties and it is drawing on energy reserves. Hawks have a fairly rapid metabolic rate that varies little and fuel must be provided when the tank is empty. Hawks will fill the tank then cruise until time to refuel. Owls have no crop so eating patterns naturally differ from hawks. Owls can only ingest the amount of food their gizzard will hold, a relatively smaller amount than a hawk can stuff into its crop, at one feeding. This also means owls are full until they have cast; a hawk can remain hungry with an empty crop even when ready to cast. After a meal, owls cannot take on more food even if they are still hungry. They do not respond to a food reward when they are not ready to eat. Owls have a slower and more adjustable metabolic rate than hawks. Rather than fill the tank for fuel reserves they must have a source of food available for constant refills, so they cache food. It is a very different approach to hunger and food supply. They refill often and/or slow down metabolism to compensate for short term food shortages. I think this different approach to food resources is evident in that red-tailed hawks will breed even when food shortages exist in their habitat. Snowy owls may not breed at all when the lemming population on which they are dependant, plummets. The red-tail is used to finding meals as it needs them. The owl needs to have a fully stocked pantry. So an owl’s response to food is spotty in the short term; a relatively small bit of food may leave an owl unwilling to do anything for more food until it is ready to eat again. A hawk without a full crop feels needy until it is sated. In the long term, an owl without it cache and after adjusting its metabolic rate, becomes determined to find food available for the taking, even at the risk of using brute force (for which they are well equipped). A hawk also becomes determined to get food but will use an intermediate means to

get food if that works without resorting to brute force if possible. If we return to the A-B thinking of owls only two things are evident to the owl, “A” being the hungry owl and “B” being the food. The hawk has A-B-C thinking with the “A” being the hungry hawk, “B” being the trainer, and “C” being the food. The hawk will take the intermediate stop to go to the trainer to get the food. The A-B thinking owl will go through the trainer to get the food. The difference is that the owl does not see the trainer as a way to get the food; rather the trainer is in the way of getting the food. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of knowing of two owls that were starved to death using traditional falconry training techniques of dropping more weight when the response in the bird was slow in coming. Aggression and malnutrition, even death, can result when mismanaged food rewards are used as a motivator for owls. Mistake #4: Owls are cranky and irascible. Not so much as one might think. Owls just don’t like leaving the empty box much and they react to most things that interrupt their contented state with a hiss before cooperating. A hawk may be eager to assess an upcoming change, such you walking into its mew, by trying to see what’s up, looking for clues as it readies itself for action. An owl may not be curious about what’s up and not want to leave its empty box. On the other hand, if a hawk is content and well fed it most likely won’t fly to the glove as it has no motivation for doing so. But the owl most likely will, even when content and well fed, because it has no reason for not doing so if flying to the glove is a familiar behavior. One thing to keep in mind is that irascible behaviors and crankiness can indicate a health problem. If an owl that is generally amenable most of the time unexpectedly turns nasty there may be something wrong. I know of one case where someone had an owl many years only to find it becoming more and more irritable during a six month period. The owner couldn’t see any reason behind it; the owl’s living conditions and activities had not changed in that time. It turned out the owl was going blind. Since owls are sedentary by nature, unlike hawks that are generally more active, early signs of health problems are more readily evident in hawks by how they do or do not move. Owls may show early signs of a medical problem in attitude changes. Mistake #5: Owls are slow learners. Not usually in my experience. But owls do have an elongated learning curve when compared to hawks. Large owls at least, mature much more slowly than hawks (and more like eagles) in that it may take three See KAREN II on Page 57

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times as long, or more, before an owl is at the same developmental stage as a hawk. Young owls will learn most things later than a young hawk. A hawk that may be sexually mature at one year is way ahead of an owl that won’t reach sexual maturity for three to five years. Owls also don’t seem to have a need to act quickly unless there is a compelling need to do so. I have seen owls move quickly when a life-threatening event occurs, but mostly they seem to ponder each and every move. I don’t really know just why this is. Perhaps looking for that small unique piece of a puzzle takes more time than finding the horse picture. Mistake #6: Owls sleep during the day. For many owls this is their preferred time to rest as they are adapted to nighttime hunting. Snowies, due to their arctic habitat, are very diurnal as well as nocturnal; even great horned owls and eagle owls do a fair amount of daytime hunting, particularly when food is scarce or they have young to feed. Owls are seldom permitted a deep or prolonged sleep during daytime hours. While my eagle owls most certainly are more active at night, I do use them for daytime events and they seem adapted to it. Big Foot often takes an afternoon nap - even in the middle of a meet ‘n greet - if we are working sequential days. Owls raised in captivity seem to adjust well to diurnal activity. Hawks, on the other hand, are very diurnal and do not want to function at all in the dark. Hawks without night vision are at risk when they cannot see, and they know it. Since owls adjust their metabolism to nocturnal activity some, particularly wild captured owls, many do best with early morning or late day training sessions. Mistake #7: Owls stare blankly into space. I think this is because owls and hawks differ in their ability to see and hear. When owls stare blankly into space – making them seem blank-minded at times – I suspect they are listening more than seeing. An owl’s near vision is poor as they cannot move their eyes in the sockets to focus in the short range. Owls also have very binocular vision and less peripheral vision than hawks. Owls, unlike hawks, have asymmetrical ear placement that allows them to locate objects by sound alone. These adaptations in owls make them more attuned to audio stimuli than hawks that are very sight oriented. Using audio cues for owls can be more effective (i.e. faster) in some instances in providing the link to the piece of the puzzle you want them to connect with. Nuance of sound can mean more to an owl than a hawk. If a hawk is hungry it may fly to the lure for food in spite of an audio interruption say a loud boom - if there is no visual threat. An owl most likely will be so distracted by the sound Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

that any other activity goes on hold until the source and any impending danger is sorted out. Sound can also be a reinforcer for owls, more so than hawks. If an owl has something ‘good’ happen (or ‘not bad’ happen) when a specific sound occurs it will likely accept the sound as an indicator it can do a task without negative consequences. A hawk will more likely accept a food reward as an indicator it can do a task without negative consequences. Using audio/verbal cues can also help teach an owl what is expected of it, providing the necessary link to the behavior desired. If a simple “good bird” is said when a desired behavior is achieved it may provide that “ah, ha” moment for the owl. “Why didn’t you just ask” is now clear to the owl. The hawk is all about “show me the food.” Remember that owls often don’t “get it” right away so it may seem that it takes a long time for them to learn when, in fact, they just haven’t connected the dots. Again, this is because finding the right pathway for the owl to learn something isn’t always obvious to the trainer. It can take a long time to train a trainer. Training a raptor means finding out what means success to the bird. Birds work for success. Finding out what is successful, or what works, for a raptor is the first step. It may be food for a hawk, or simply not having something bad happen for an owl. Once “success” is established then the trainer must provide a pathway for the bird to achieve a successful outcome. Capitalizing on natural behaviors is useful when possible. Asking any animal to do something that it is naturally afraid to do is pushing the envelope (like asking a dog to sit while an eagle lands on it). Asking any animal to do something it cannot accomplish is impossible (like teaching a pig to fly). Speaking of pigs, when asked for advice about owls I usually think of the old adage: Never try to teach a pig to sing. There is no compelling reason to do so and it annoys the pig. I try not to annoy my owls. There are many differences between owls and hawks. These are a few of the obvious ones that can make training owls seem difficult. Do I think this article will guarantee a well-trained owl? No. Good luck. Do I think this is a “complete” work on idiosyncratic owl behaviors? Not at all. This article is intended to be a short overview to stimulate others with owl insights to offer them up. I am hopeful that others will add their expertise and experience so that perhaps in time we will reach a fuller understanding of what makes owls tick leading to predictable protocols for training them. I once heard a frustrated husband say about women, “You can’t live with them and you can’t shoot them.” Owls can be a little like that. 57

LETTER TO THE EDITOR BY BILL BONI - NORMAN, OKLAHOMA In his article “The Vision of Falconers — The Vision of NAFA,” Steve Sherrod brought light to the fact that individual falconers and NAFA have not stepped up to the plate in the area of wildlife conservation by helping to ensure the future of those animals that we, as falconers, are dependent upon. He feels that NAFA should do more, particularly in the area of donations to organizations dedicated to preserving certain game species, and he used the prairie chicken as an example of a species in need for help. He also feels that falconers should follow suit; in other words falconers, as a whole, should be more proactive in the area of wildlife conservation than reactive. Steve has some very good points that I want to follow up on. Steve alluded to the decline of the quail populations, and how right he is. In fact, this is a species-like the prairie chicken and sage grouse--that has been in decline in Texas and Oklahoma (and elsewhere) for years; it is not a cycle. There are different theories as to what has happened from loss of suitable habitat, fire ants, to ocular parasites, etc. To get to the bottom of this decline, The Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in Texas and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation joined forces and launched a concerted effort to find out what has been happening to the bobwhite quail population in both of these states; in order to do this they funded eight different research projects at the tune of $2,000,000. So, it is like anything else these days— to get something accomplished at a meaningful level, you have to have deep pockets. Gone are the days when NAFA’s purse was heavy with coin. The membership here in the States has declined almost 50-percent from days gone by, and there has been a resultant significant drop in attendance at the annual field meets, which have always been NAFA’s bread and butter. As a result of not having a lot of money to throw around, the board has to seriously consider where to “donate” our money and clearly, NAFA does not have the financial resources to make the type of monetary donation that would have an impact upon the population of any wildlife species. As for individual falconers are concerned, a big part of the money for these quail projects came from Texas quail hunters, or those who hunt quail in Texas, of which there are around 250,000. So if every quail hunter in Texas contributed just $8.00, the amount would cover the $2,000,000, but this, of course, is not the case with members of NAFA, which has only 1,326 members in the United States. To put these numbers in perspective, if each of these eight quail projects were equally funded, it would amount to $250,000 per project. If all NAFA members donated $20.00 each to help save the quail it would amount to $26,520. Here again, it seems 58

somewhat unrealistic to think that NAFA members could make a real monetary impact upon any conservation effort, even if they wanted to, and as Steve points out, most falconers are obviously unwilling to help conserve the sharptail grouse, or for that matter, the sage grouse, or the quail either. But, should falconers feel guilty because they have not donated their money to help conserve these species? Of the gun hunters who contributed money to help the bobwhite quail, I doubt very seriously if these same individuals contributed much of anything to help out the sharptail grouse, who is in dire need of assistance. Why, because most of them probably don’t hunt grouse; in other words, it would not be in their best interest. In a perfect world, we would follow Aldo Leopold’s advice and act upon the fact that we are all part of a natural world, but this is not a perfect world, and humans will always do what is best for them, which is the nature of the beast, particularly when it comes to dollars and cents, unless, of course, they have a lot of money to give away. I am not suggesting that humans are not capable of rising above their own self-interests. When the tornadoes hit Oklahoma, we saw a tremendous outpouring of support from people all over the world, but this catastrophe is much different than saving a game species, unless — as we have learned — it impacts a fairly large group of hunters. If rabbits, ducks or tree squirrels were to fall on hard times across their range, falconers would come out of the woodwork to donate money for the cause, but the fact of the matter is, relatively few falconers hawk sharptail grouse, quail, or sage grouse; this may be short-sighted as Steve suggests, but it is — in fact — reality, and when you look at a given situation “reality” always has to be factored in. As for NAFA’s efforts in conservation — in order to make a determination as to whether NAFA should be more involved in the area of conservation, its only real obligation is set forth in its mission statement, and the focus there in terms of conservation is on birds of prey, as it should be. However, part of the mission statement also says, “to establish traditions which will aid, perpetuate, and further the welfare of falconry.” Helping to ensure that certain prey populations are healthy surely helps to “aid, perpetuate, and further the welfare of falconry.” Yet, on the most recent Strategic Planning Report there is no mention of “conservation.” But, what can be done? Acting on my own concerns about the decline of quail populations, I discovered that like Ducks Unlimited, there is Quail Unlimited, with chapters in various states. On their website, which is http://www.qu.org/, they have a list of “partners.” It appears the club offers this service primarily for See MR. BILL on Page 59

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FALCONRY FRIENDS WE HAVE LOST As from the NAFA President’s recent email report.

Victor Hardaswick On October 23rd I sent information to you about the recent passing of honorary NAFA LifeTime Member Victor "Vic" Hardaswick. Vic lost his battle after a long fight with cancer on October 21st. Vic was one of those people who helped to make falconry what it is today in North America. I have heard from a number of members who would like to remember Vic and have done so with some great stories. I know in the upcoming edition of the Journal you will read more from members who knew him for a much longer period of time than I did. I got my first chamber raised goshawk from his breeding project. What a bird. The family has asked that memorials be made to the North American Grouse Partnership, 60965 Ward Road, Bend, OR 97702. If you would also like to ensure Vic's place on the Wall of Remembrance at the Archives of Falconry please remember that you can contribute to that as well by sending your memorial to The Archives of Falconry, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, Idaho 83709, or simply click here to donate now.

David Gardiner Sadly, I must also report to you the death of David Gardiner. I received a forwarded message from Phillip Smith, Washington Falconers Association President, that David passed away at his home on October 18. David was married to his wife for over 35 years. He worked at Wagstaff Engineering for over 20 years. David was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was also a master falconer who was active in the falconry community for 25 years. As a falconer, he enjoyed teaching children about falcons. He served in the U.S. Army for two years as a Military Policeman assigned to B CO 504TH MP BN with service in Vietnam from 1964 to 1965. A memorial service was held for David on Nov. 1. My deepest sympathy to his family and many friends. I know you will also want to remember David and may do so by sending your memorial to The Archives of Falconry, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, Idaho 83709, or simply click here to donate now.

MR. BILL Continued from Page 58

company and corporations that want to take advantage of their publicity efforts; however, part of that list is the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, none of which have anything to sell. It would be of benefit to NAFA if our logo was part of that list as well. And while falconers cannot donate the type of money that would result in a meaningful contribution in the area of prey conservation, like Steve, I do think donations are in order, as every little bit helps, and anything we can do as falconers to further our image and gain friends, the better – it is a win, win situation. Perhaps NAFA could start its own chapter of Quail Unlimited? If not NAFA, then maybe some of the state falconry organizations Hawk Chalk Vol. LII No. 3 — December 2013

could start a chapter. And we might possibly be able to do something like this for the sharptail and the sage grouse . . . . something that would put falconers in the conservation spotlight beyond raptors, as they, of course, represent only half of the equation in terms of falconry. Having said this, I will be the first to recognize that this is a volunteer organization, and that those that keep it afloat do it without pay, and as time permits, which is yet another limitation to our efforts and more of the “reality” that has to be factored in to the scenario. So, I write this letter with full understanding of the limitations both financially and personally. The sole intent of this letter is to expand on Steve’s comments, in hopes of keeping conservation on the sky line. 59

THE LAST WORD: THOUGHTS FROM THE EDITOR BY KENN FILKINS

MORE KESTREL AND RED-TAIL ART

BY KANDY PHILLIPS

Submit Your Local Falconry Club’s Logo Please submit your local falconry club’s logo to the Hawk Chalk so we can use it in future editions. Send the logo as a digital graphic 6-inches wide and 300 dpi, to hawkchalkeditor@yahoo.com.

Hawk Chalk online: As a service to our members, we put the Hawk Chalk on-line on April 1, August 1 and December 1. Also note, there are new deadlines for the HC: February 28, June 30 and October 31. As always, send me your photos and stories, and I’ll do my best to get you in the Hawk Chalk. 60

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