Mississippi River Peregrine Falcons: Great News for Cliff Nesting Falcons

Tuesdays must be the lucky day to find falcons on the river cliffs. On 4/8/08 we located two adult falcons defending Pepin Heights cliff just south of Lake City, MN. On 4/15/08, I spent the entire day surveying river cliffs and was most pleased to find two adult falcons defending a small cliff just north of the town of Minneiska, MN.

It appears that falcons are now taking to smaller or secondary cliffs. However, the one constant is that all cliffs with falcons tower directly over open water. Will this change when all cliffs directly facing water are occupied?

The following is a list of cliff sites with falcons on territory.

1. West Bluff near Maiden Rock, WI: Historic eyrie with falcons back for the third time.
2. Maiden Rock: The matriarch of river cliffs. Purchased and managed by the West Wisconsin Land Trust.
3. Maassen’s Bluff: Four miles north of Alma, WI.
4. 12 Mile Bluff: On the south end of the town of Alma, WI.
5. Castle Rock: Across the river from Winona, MN.
6. Lynxville, WI cliffs: The falcons are back on Larson’s Bluff.
7. Lock and Dam 9: This is the third year for this small cliff to attract falcons. It’s interesting to note that in 2006 there was an adult male paired with an immature female. 2007 an adult male paired with an immature female. 2008 adult female, immature male.
8. Fountain City: Two adults taking to the nest box mounted to the cliff in 2006.
9. John Latsch: Adult falcons present. Bandings carried out by Raptor Center.
10. Queen’s Bluff: South of Winona, MN Bandings carried out by Raptor Center.
11. Homer cliff near Homer, MN: Two adult falcons defending
12. Great Spirit Bluff: South of Dresbach, MN.
13. Leo’s Bluff, Waukon Jnct, IA: The two adult falcons at this cliff have moved to a new cliff just upstream from Leo’s Bluff. This is the third time the falcons have moved upstream. Dan Berger jokes that this is the result of global warming.
14. Pepin Heights 1: We confirmed falcons on this cliff on 4/8/08. On 4/15/08 I saw them carry out a food transfer. The winds were too strong to attempt to read bands on the top of the cliff. I even got a creepy feeling while standing on the top of this bluff being buffeted by 30+ winds.
15. Hussen’s Bluff near Minneiska, MN: I confirmed two adult falcons on this small cliff yesterday morning. I met with the land owner who is excited about his falcons.

Cliffs that have had some falcon activity

1. Twin Bluffs: Near Nelson, WI. Two falcons were present on early visits to the cliff but on 4/8/08 no falcons were observed. This same day, two falcons were observed at the Wabasha Bridge. The owners of this cliff have asked us to install a nest box on the cliff wall.
2. Trempealeau, WI: Falcons were observed several times in 2007. We have not seen falcon activity as of this writing in 2008.
3. Brownsville, MN: There are two cliffs south of Brownville that have in past years attracted single falcons.
4. Alma Marina cliff: This is a historic cliff nest site for the peregrine falcons. Dan Berger working with Fred and Fran Hamerstrom trapped an adult female falcon below this cliff in the early 50’s. We’ve seen falcons at this cliff several times over the years however, last year and, this year, Great Horned Owls are nesting in the one prominent eyrie.
5. Goose Island cliff: We have had falcons visit this cliff off and on over the last few years. The land owner who lives near the base of this cliff will let us know if falcons are seen once again.
6. Hastings cliff: Falcons have nested in the nest box mounted to the small cliff and also on a nearby bridge. I have not heard what site the Hasting falcons are using this season.

Bob Anderson
Director, Raptor Resource Project

Falcons at Maasen's and 12-Mile Bluff

Sorry about the lack of pictures. My camera unclipped from my harness at 12-mile.

12-mile Bluff was supposed to be a piece of cake. Maasen’s certainly went well for us, although we banded just one baby there. The falcons had left the eyrie we’d improved for them and chosen another, with poorer drainage. While Dave and Rob obtained the single baby and brought it up top for banding, Bob rappelled down to the old eyrie and began planning further ways to make it more attractive to the falcons. They had much better production in this eyrie – when they used it! Bob thought that adding a perch after the falcons left in the fall might make it more attractive to them next spring.

The single baby was healthy. We quickly banded it and I got to return it to the eyrie. What a thrill! Maasen’s bluff is really beautiful – limestone swirled with pods of chert and what looks like feldspar to me, interspersed with a darker crystalline rock that I think might be traversine. It is also quite solid compared to some of the places we band falcons – something I quickly came to appreciate. Dislodged rocks are dangerous.

To return this baby to the eyrie, I removed my rappelling gloves and got the firmest footing I could. If I drop the falcon, it dies, so I can’t drop the falcon. Not if rock shifts, falls, or crumbles under my feet. Not if the rope rolls or moves, sending me in an unexpected direction. Not if the baby digs its talons into my skin or the mother whacks me in the head or slices my arm or binds to my back. I quickly recalled all of this before carefully unlocking and opening the kennel door, grabbing the little falcon firmly, and transferring it as far back into the eyrie as I could. I called to have the kennel sent back up the cliff and rappelled down. It was 300 feet from the top of the bluff to the bottom, and it was awesome! I was already looking forward to next year, when we should (if improvement goes well), have even more young to band.

12-Mile Bluff, located just behind the Alma power plant, is a new site. The falcons had previously nested on the Alma power plant, but had deserted the plant for the bluff. Dairyland Power has been very supportive of our work and John Thiel, the company’s biologist, was beaming like a proud father over the prospect of cliff babies. Since we weren’t sure quite where the eyrie was, everyone took a look at it before we went up. We looked for adults, babies, whitewash (aka poop), baby down, and even clouds of flies, which can be attracted to remains. Since no obvious spots showed, we decided that several people would rappel down to look. We got to the top, took a short hike through the woods, and tied off. Bob, Rob, and Dave went down. And down again. And down again. Bob proved his skills by tying off on top, climbing down a short bluff, climbing back up a chimney, and rappelling off that – with something like 50 feet of rope hanging in the air. Rob and I were wincing as we watched, since his rope ran over some small underbrush at the top, where it was tied off. If the underbrush moved or snapped, the rope would move, which could throw Bob off the chimney. I sat on the rope and held it, hoping to prevent any sudden shifts, while Rob made sure that the rope wouldn’t roll. Bob did successfully make the transition down the chimney, which the female seemed to be defending, but didn’t find any young. So we gave up. Bob rappelled to the bottom while the rest of us pulled up rope, packed everything away, and drove down to the bottom, where we discovered that the eyrie had been found. Fast forward through lunch, and it was back up the bluff!

This time, we decided that Dave and I would get the babies. To do so, we had to tie off to trees, back up through underbrush and poison ivy, laying our ropes as flat to the ground as we could, and crawl through a cedar snag. The snag was large and unrooted – ie, just sitting at the top of the bluff. Once we were through, we could descend.

Since there was a real risk of dropping the tree and killing a climber, we decided to go one at a time, Dave first. He got down to the eyrie and tucked under a ledge. Then it was my turn. I’ve never done anything quite so touchy in my life – carefully back through the underbrush, disentangle my rope bag, crawl backwards to the drop through the cedar tangle, first foot out through the cedar, untangle the bag, keep the grigri turned right, second foot out, stand up, lean back, don’t kill my partner! Through the tangle, and I hadn’t dropped anything on Dave. I headed down, at one point rappelling through a live cedar tree – or was it a juniper? – that clung to the cliff. By the end of the ordeal, I disliked the tree.

We got into position. I was on a ledge above Dave, who was positioned on a ledge in front of the eyrie. Bob and Rob belayed the kennel down to me, although it got stuck in the tree on the way down. I caught it and dropped it over the lip of my ledge to Dave, who got the four young falcons in. The eyrie was small and very, very hot – the babies were panting hard and loggy from the heat. However, they looked healthy and had good crops. Dave got the babies in and Bob and Rob took the kennel up.

We’d had to run all the ropes very close together, and of course the tree was in the way. The kennel got briefly caught under the ropes, so Dave and I had to dump rope and give Bob and Rob slack. We did so pronto, although it meant putting a lot of slack in our equipment – something that should be done only if needed, and only if you understand what you are doing. It was needed, and very badly. The kennel easily came free of the ropes and the two men got it up the cliff. We got the slack out of our equipment and dropped the ropes down the bluff. Then we waited. Man, was it ever hot! I didn’t know how those falcons could stand it. I read somewhere that the adults will shade babies with their wings. These babies needed it.

Once the falcons were banded, Bob and Rob lowered the cage again. Of course, it got caught in the tree. Dave used his rope to pop the kennel out and I swung into position to belay it down from the ledge to him, carefully avoiding a large rock that was just waiting to fall on his head. He tucked the babies in, yelled for the kennel to go up, and said, “When I tell you, drop quick. Go right past the eyrie, fast, and don’t even look!”

I don’t like fast rappels, but I did what I was told. Zoom past the eyrie without looking and pull up by Dave, feeling like a real pro. After we got down the talus (stop, pull the rope out of the grapevine or underbrush, drop it a few more feet, stop, pull the rope, etc), he told me that the babies tried to run out of the eyrie after he’d put them back. He blocked the entrance and prevented them from jumping, but wanted me out of there asap to avoid endangering the young falcons.

We got to the bottom and I drank two bottles of cold water in less than two minutes before getting serious and simply showering myself in some ice water. Eventually the rest of the crew got down from the top and we briefly celebrated the return of falcons to yet another river cliff. The four healthy babies were well worth the work! I’ll be looking for them a couple of years from now.

Northern Banding Trip

It started raining just north of Rush City, 12 miles from my home, and kept on raining all the way to Grand Rapids, 3 hours and 122 miles later. We drove through freshets, squalls, drizzles, and buckets of rain, with the radio forecasting yet more rain for tomorrow. I just hoped we didn’t get a thunderstorm! I still remember going up Genoa between thunderstorms in 2004. The stack was moving in the wind and the heavy weather was clearly heading our way. It is the only time I can remember feeling really frightened on a stack.

Minnesota Power again very kindly provided a couple of rooms for us at the Super 8 Motel. Bob and Rob bunked in one, while I took the other. After all that rain the rooms were a welcome sight, as was free coffee and breakfast in the morning! We stoked up and headed out.

Cohasset stack. The box is on the first catwalk.

It wasn’t raining – well, maybe drizzling a little bit – but it was very, very foggy. The Cohasset stack is large and usually easily seen from the road. This year, the only thing we could see was a corner of one of the buildings looming out of the mist. We got on to the plant grounds and back to the stack, where some current and past Minnesota Power employees met us. This year, Bob, me, Mike Chambers, and another Minnesota Power employee climbed the stack to band the two babies here. It went off without a hitch. I love this site – I enjoy climbing the stack, and the view is beautiful. Sometimes we bring the young falcons down the stack, but with a 200' ladder climb, it wasn't going to happen. Bob set up the banding supplies on top of the nest box, where they could easily be reached. He quickly and efficiently banded the two healthy young male peregrines while I held them. They were 24 and 25 days old. Although they still had a lot of white down, their juvenile feathers were coming in nicely on their wings and tail. We tried to get band numbers on the female, but were unable to do so.

Bob bands on the nestbox. Note the falcon's tail.

The guys from Minnesota Power.

The fog began to clear up while we were on the stack and burned off not long after we left. The day was so bright and sunny that both of us were surprised when Bob called the MPL Hibbard Plant in Duluth and found out they were in pea fog soup! Duluth, for those of you that aren’t familiar with it, runs down a large hill to Lake Superior, so it effectively sits in a sort of half-bowl against the lake. As we headed downhill from Proctor, the fog quickly became so thick it was hard to see and I’ll bet the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees. It was hard to find Hibbard when we couldn’t see the stack!

Minnesota Power had put up the box last fall and the falcons adopted it this spring. It is not a cammed site and we had no idea what to expect. We met with the Steve Schiller and went through the plant’s safety training before going to the nest. It is sobering to realize how dangerous a power plant can be. I really appreciate them going the extra mile to work with us on the peregrine-utility program – and I miss collecting footage from the King plant!

We were able to take a lift about 2/3 of the way to the catwalk before starting our climb. As at Cohasset, we were given fall arrest devices. These devices differ from plant to plant, but the ones I’ve used all clip on to a cable or bar that runs in the center of the ladder. If you fall, it will cause the device to catch and stop you. We clipped in and climbed up, where we were greeted by two fairly irate parents and four eggs. Bob checked to see if they had pips and we took a moment to try to read band numbers. We didn’t get them, but did confirm that the birds were banded.

After leaving Hibbard, we went to the Greysolon Building, where we were met by Ed and Miriam, former property managers and long-time supporters of our work; Julie O’Conner, from the Hawk Ridge PeregrineWatch, and her daughter Carly; Kelly Boedigheimer, an employee of the Fond-du-Luth casino and another supporter of our work; and Rob’s friend ‘Third’, whose actual name escapes me. At the last minute Jim, who lives in the building, and Michael Furtman, a photographer from Duluth, also joined us. We all headed up.

To get the babies here, we have to go over the top of the building on rope. We tie off to a window-washing rig that has a flat tire, so a bicycle pump is an absolute necessity – we have to pump up the tire before pushing the rig over by the box. We had a lot of help, and quickly got the banding ‘station’ and rig ready. Bob went over the top.

I think Bob decided he was sick of hard hats this year, because he didn’t have one on. Amy the falcon dove on him several times, finally getting his hat. She flew off with it clutched in her talons and circled around the front of the building before dropping it on a lower roof. I’ve seen some interesting stuff on these banding trips, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen a falcon steal a hat! Bob didn’t miss a beat as he put all four babies in a bucket, which we pulled up to the top of the building.

Amy the Falcon steals Bob's hat

Female peregrines are bigger than male peregrines. When banding babies, we look at size to help determine gender. However, that alone may not be enough. In this case, we had three large babies and one very small one. We think they began hatching on May 15th, although there was a big size difference between the larger and smaller falcons. They all had nice crops and white down, with the tips of a few tail and juvenile feathers just starting to show on the larger falcons. However, the small one was clearly younger, not just smaller. Bob looked at the thickness of the little falcon’s tarsus and size of its feet, and declared her a female. That left the three larger falcons.

The Little Falcon

Can You Pick the Male?

Bob pointed out that the falcons were making slightly different noises. The females make a lower raspier noise, while the males make a higher noise. I thought of the difference between crows and ravens, although they sound much more alike than that. At any rate, Bob had Rob and I band a falcon that he was positive was a female before turning to the last two. We listened to them and banded the next bird with female bands (lower voice, thicker tarsus, size of feet) before turning to the last, questionable bird. Rob looked it over, came to a decision, and asked me what I thought. Hmmmmmm. Well, the voice was higher, the tarsus was thinner, and the feet were smaller. I thought it was a male and he concurred, as did Bob. We banded the last bird with male bands and then took a female and drew blood for the University’s genetic study. I quickly returned the young birds to the nest. It was an odd feeling – last year, Duluth was the end of the year and this year, for me, it was the beginning! But what a great beginning: two babies at Cohasset, four at Greysolon, and four eggs at the new Hibbard site in Duluth Harbor. I can hardly wait to come back!

River Report: 3/26/2007

We started out the morning at the base of Leo’s Bluff near Waukon Junction, IA. We quickly located two adult falcons. The adult male is un-banded. The adult female is: b/g 66/A, a 2005 HY falcon from St. Louis, MO. Her right leg had what looks to Dave Kester and I to be a plain aluminum band. Last season on 5/17/06 we were shocked to find the shell fragments of three recently hatched eggs and one intact pipped egg. Both adult falcons were missing! I had a strange feeling about this loss and wanted to see who showed up this season. I am now more then ever convinced something killed both adults at or around 5/15/07.

I located an adult falcon on the Lansing, IA power plant cliff. It was perched about 20’ from the new nest box. The next few days will tell us just where the falcons choose to lay their eggs.

I worked my way upstream, spending time at each potential cliff nest site. From Lansing, IA north, we saw no falcons until Great Spirit Bluff near Dresbach, MN. Saw two falcons at Queen’s Bluff. Was disappointed to not find any falcons at the Homer, MN cliff where on 3/20/07 Amy Ries saw two falcons.

Found two adult falcons defending Castle Rock cliff across the river from Winona, MN. I did not see any falcons but have had reports from two people seeing one falcon at the Fountain City cliff nest box. Found two adult falcons defending Maassen’s Bluff. It made my day to find one adult falcon defending Twin Bluffs near Nelson, WI. Found two adult falcons at Maiden Rock. The adult female has a purple band on right leg. Was very pleased to find two adult falcons defending West Bluff! How great to have falcons back at this historical cliff after success in 2005 and no falcons in 2006.

Two adult falcons at the Red Wing Grain stack house nest box. Was able to read the band number on the adult female falcon at Horizon Milling in Lake City, MN. She is the resident falcon 29/A. Could make out the letter K on the adult male indicating he is very probably the resident male K/U. This pair is on their second egg as of this writing.

Over the last week or so only one falcon has been seen at the Lynxville, WI cliff. However, just this evening, Dave Kester reports finding two falcons on site. We now need to keep watch on the lock and dam #9 cliff north of Prairie Du Chene, WI.

We'll keep everyone posted! Let us know if you see falcons along the river between roughly Red Wing and LaCrosse.

Bob Anderson
Raptor Resource Project
http://www.raptorresource.org

I know that spring means melting snow, green grass, maple sap, and the season's first bare feet. But spring also means a floodtide of birds boiling up the Mississippi River valley to parts north. It was Tuesday, March 20th, and I was headed down river to Lansing, Iowa, to help install a peregrine nestbox. Little did I know that the spring migration was in full swing.

I had planned to come downriver on the Minnesota side and go back through Wisconsin, crossing at Winona. Although I was looking for peregrines, I expected to see some bald eagles - especially on Lake Pepin, which is famous for bald eagles. I didn't expect to see more bald eagles than anything except geese, ducks, and maybe gulls.

I began seeing large numbers of eagles near the mouth of Lake Pepin. At one point, I turned into a lake overlook and started counting eagles. Without really trying, I counted 20. 'Wow!' I thought 'Lake Pepin really does have a lot of eagles!' But Lake Pepin wasn't unique. Remember when Bald Eagles were really, really rare? As I headed downriver, I saw eagles sitting on ice, eagles perched in trees, eagles soaring over cliffs, eagles locking talons, and eagles sparring. I saw eagle nests. I saw adult eagles and immature eagles. I called people on my cell phone and babbled at them about the mind-boggling number of eagles I was seeing. Between the Highway 26 turn-off from 61 and New Albion, Iowa, I'll bet I saw over 50 eagles. I started counting about 2/3 of the way through the trip and got to 30. But I didn't see any peregrines until Lansing, IA, where Bob, Dave Kester, Tom Griffin, Maggie Jones, David Litton, and myself were all meeting at the Alliant Power plant to install a new nestbox on the cliff behind the stack.

This site has an interesting history. We first attracted falcons to a nestbox on the plant's stack. After two successful seasons, we mounted a nest box on a nearby cliff and removed the stack nest box. The falcons succeeded in producing young for two seasons in the cliff nest box. Then, in 2003 and 2004, they moved to a ledge, laid eggs and hatched young, which they lost to raccoon predation. They moved back to the stack and fledged young in 2005. They moved back to the cliff and lost their young again in 2006. This spring, the plant planned work at the stack during nesting season, so we decided to place a nestbox on the cliff and close the one on the stack.

Picture #1 shows Bob with the nestbox strapped to a backpack frame (picture by Maggie). The box is quite heavy! The rest of us are gathering up ropes, bags, equipment, and etc. to bring to the bluff. It is amazing how much equipment this takes. Fortunately, the cliff is a fairly easy stroll downhill and through a small woods. The last nestbox I helped install was a roughly 145-foot pull up the side of a watertower. This was easier.

Once we reached the spot, Bob and then Dave went down to check it out. Dave found a spot and Bob sent me down to take a look as well. Okay, we had a spot! It was quickly decided that Bob and Dave would install the box, I would hang overhead and pass equipment down in such a way that they would not be showered with falling rocks (a real danger on some of these cliffs), and Tom would rope up at the top and drop stuff over the first lip. Bob rigged a pulley to make dropping the box easier and safer for everyone involved, and we went to town.

Pictures #2 and 3 show Bob standing by the nestbox and Dave helping Tom get into a harness. Although Tom didn't come down on rope, Bob and Dave prefer everyone working near the edge to be harnessed and anchored.

Bob and Dave dropped over the edge and rappelled down to the chosen spot. I rappelled down to the halfway spot, and Tom, Maggie, and David began lowering the nestbox. The overhang was covered with rocks and dirt. Almost none of them were loose enough to simply be picked up and tossed out of harms way, but most of them could be jarred loose by, say, a heavy nestbox. We had to be quite careful to avoid dropping rocks and dirt on Dave and Bob - rocks especially are very, very dangerous. Picture #4 shows me muscling the box over a little overhand at the top. Note my lovely black snowsuit - it was cold on the cliff! Picture #5 shows Bob and Dave installing the box. Three bolts were easy. The fourth was the reason we went through two batteries.

Once the install was finished, I wanted to go down and take a picture of the box. Dave and I switched ropes. Dave discovered that I had a really, really bad rope bag. Note: old army-style backpack may not be acceptable substitute for actual rope bag. Must buy new bag! I took a picture of the cliff from the box, and Dave covered the old eyrie so the falcons couldn't use it. The ledge they had been nesting on was covered with raccoon tracks.

Once those tasks were completed, we picked up and headed down to the plant. We went up the stack and covered the front of the old nestbox so the falcons couldn't nest there, either. We all hope that providing the falcons with a new home, safe from racoons and out of the construction zone, will make this a productive spot for falcons once again.

On the way home, I saw falcons at Homer Bluff, just south of Winona, MN; Castle Rock, and one falcon at Maiden Rock. The falcons at Homer Bluff were quite exciting - Doug Wood spotted them here last year, but the site wasn't productive. We are hopeful it will be this year.

All in all - what a wonderful day! Falcons, eagles, friends, and a day on the cliffs - what could be better than that? I'm really looking forward to summer!

Amy Ries

California Hawking Club Annual Field Meet
January 2007 – Sacramento

Photographs of the meet can be viewed here.

Tuesday January 9th at 7a.m I set off with my sponsor Mark and his Harris hawk ‘Wiggs’, followed by Bryan and Sondra with their respective Red Tailed hawks. We were on our way to Sacramento for the annual CHC Field Meet. Weather conditions were perfect, the roads were actually clear and we communicated via walkie talkies. Once past the Grapevine, we stopped in Bakersfield to fly Wiggs. No sign of rabbits here. Bryan decided to fly Scarlet but didn’t have any luck either. We drove on looking for suitable fields taking several detours off the highway. After a couple more pit stops we thought we’d found a perfect spot to fly Sondra’s bird, Gabriel. However, he decided to just keep perching in trees as far away as possible and, although returned to the glove each time, was obviously not interested in chasing prey. We then flew Wiggs again but still no sign of rabbits. As the California landscape keeps changing and more housing and industrial developments sprout, it is getting more difficult for falconers to find any decent hunting grounds.

We arrived at our hotel about 8pm and it was much colder there than when we left my valley. By the time we all got checked in lugging respective bird kennels, I was too tired to join the gang for midnight supper so figured on a good night’s sleep. However, I think they forgot to turn on the heat in my room. I was so cold I had to sleep with added sweaters, socks and an overcoat on the bed. I’m not sure I actually ‘slept’ as the next sound I heard was the cry of a hawk coming from a nearby room. Looking at the clock it was 6.30a.m. I was about to dive further under the covers when I heard ‘kack, kack, kack’ the familiar sound of a peregrine. I jumped out of bed so fast, throwing my coat over my jammies and headed out my door. Sure enough there were two falconers getting ready to leave on a hunting party. Dave had a goshawk, and his roommate had a falcon, called ‘Lady’. I could have joined them if I hadn’t volunteered to help at the pre-registration desk for the morning and had an apprentice workshop at 11am. Back to my room and a couple cups of tea later, I wandered downstairs to watch the construction of the ‘weathering yard’ where they were fencing in a huge landscaped area of the interior grounds. It was day one and only a handful of falconers had arrived. By late afternoon there were several peregrines and Harris hawks perched in the yard and I had the hardest time trying to figure the peregrine breeds. They were so beautiful with unusual colour markings but I was too embarrassed to ask at this point. By 6pm some of the vendors had set up their stations next to the registration area. This is where you could purchase gauntlets, perches, blocks, hoods, you name it. Anything and everything to do with falconry. Even some great artwork and collector books. The programme for the first evening was a talk by Vickie Joseph, DVM who shared some valuable information about West Nile Virus vaccines for birds.

Day two: Once again I was woken by the sounds of raptors. These birds just can’t wait to get out and hunt. I would love to have joined the groups but I had more workshops to attend. Fortunately there were many breaks to go view more birds in the yard. This time I plucked up the courage to ask questions. You have no idea how relieved I was to be told by several ‘seasoned’ falconers that they also had no idea of the peregrine hybrid mixes. You had to ask each individual handler and, by the end of the event after observing more than 30-40 longwings, I was still no wiser. However, a budding 13 year old falconer-to-be called Connor could i.d. nearly every one of these hybrids. There were a lot of Gyr/Saker mixes and it was rare to see a standard Anatum.

Day three: It got really cold overnight and all the bird baths in the yard froze solid. There was also a vicious wind but today was Lure flying competitions so we headed for some far away field and I was really tempted to view from the warmth of our vehicle. However, the excitement of watching hawks chase a mechanical rabbit lure was thrilling and if the winds hadn’t been so high, I’m sure more falconers would have entered their birds. Next up was the falcon lure competition. I have to say this was the highlight of my trip. I forgot that I couldn’t feel my fingers or icicles were forming on my lashes. Watching a falcon ‘ring up’ (climb) against buffeting winds, disappear from view, then suddenly appear out of nowhere to chase a lure cannot be adequately put into words. The all time Master of this event is Joe Suffredini who, with his Lanner/Saker ‘Grover’ put on the winning show. He had his tiercel doing loops, figure eights and chasing the lure between his legs. The bird even buzzed a cameraman and, at one point, I thought it was going to land on my head. I spent time later talking to Joe - he and his brother run Avian Entertainment training animals for the movie industry and special events. He said the birds know it’s their job to ‘work’ every day! That evening we had a BBQ poolside with huge projection screen where we watched some amazing falconry videos. Thankfully the hotel provided many portable heaters.

Day four: Up at dawn to get on the road for the ‘World Famous CHC Sky Trials’. Promised as a crowd pleasing event held in a wide-open field. Even though it was still single digit temps I managed to help out collecting the $2 donation entrance fee. I’m sure there were about 100 people braving the elements as we waited for the PA system and food truck set up. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to warm up my fingers enough to take any photographs at this event. Due to the windy weather, once again we only had about 9 falconers willing to fly their birds in this competition. The idea is for each falconer to walk out into the middle of the field, un-hood his falcon and wait for it to ‘ring up’ high enough for them to ‘serve’ (release) a pigeon so we could get to view a stoop. I lost sight of the first entry and so did the falconer. He was last seen with his telemetry equipment and I never did find out if it was retrieved. The next few birds became specks pretty quickly as most of the birds took advantage of the gusty winds gaining 1,000 feet pitches. But the action was so fast and faraway when they reappeared in a dive, it was impossible to actually witness a strike. I was somewhat disappointed until the last entrant – a guy called Joe Roy who participates every year. He released his falcon and it actually stayed in view, right above us, just ringing up in a leisurely manner. This bird would just ‘wait on’ watching Joe obviously expecting to be ‘served’. But Joe was busy chatting to his buddies out in this field and we’re wondering why there’s no pigeon. He’d glance up at his bird and look away. The bird then starts to ‘ring up’ higher, we can still see him as he once again ‘waits on’ for his trainer to ‘serve’. After several more climbs (against strong winds I would add), we all start chanting ‘release the pigeon Joe’, but now Joe decides to ignore all of us and lies down on the ground sitting back on his elbows just chatting away. The bird is still watching his trainer and obviously understands it has to keep climbing until it is now out of view, at which point Joe decides to stand up and ‘serve’ the prey! Well, let me tell you, when that falcon reappeared in a stoop like a 200mph missile just above our heads it was one of the most exhilarating scenes I’ve witnessed. I should also add that most of the pigeons escaped serious injury except maybe the last one and each falcon returned to the gloved fist for their treats after each performance.

That evening we attended the Banquet where they give out game pins to falconers who caught the most prey during the week. Also I was lucky enough to win a hawking vest off the ‘super raffle’ table along with a fabulous t.shirt from the SkyTrials.

Sunday the four of us caravanned home, made a few pit stops and decided to detour through the Mojave desert to fly each bird. This time all three hawks were far more successful than previous days. Also, we tallied how many other birds we’d seen along the way. I think it was about 80 red tailed, 2 red shouldered, 20 plus kestrels and a fake owl.

This event was definitely what you call an ‘E’ ticket: Exciting, entertaining, exhilarating, educational and exhausting! I absolutely loved being woken by the sound of a hawk or falcon. Beats an alarm clock any day.

Veronica B.

December Falconry Hunt 2006

Veronica sends us another account of her progress as a falconer. Enjoy! Note - you don't need to log-in to see the pics - just follow the link and click.

Link to Pics > December Falconry Hunt

I was fortunate enough to go hunting several times during the latter part of December, thanks to time off for the holiday season.

Christmas Eve day, we set off for Santa Clarita, the Sand Canyon area. It was a beautiful day but a little windy. Once unhooded, Wiggs immediately took off towards a huge tree and it took several minutes to reach his location as the surrounding brush was extremely dense and unfriendly. Mark and I each had a long extendable pole. One end is for thrashing bushes to flush quarry, the other has a perch on top covered in green astroturf and can be used to retrieve your bird during inaccessible situations. The three of us worked together as a team and I was thrilled that Wiggs was observing my actions as well as Mark, particularly as we were quite some distance from each other. However, the two times I called ‘ho-ho-ho’ while flushing rabbits, Wiggs wasn’t paying attention and at one point I fell down a rabbit hole….yes, right up to my knee! Did I feel like a fool but I bravely hobbled on. Eventually, after a lot of swooping and soaring, Wiggs finally caught his rabbit. I have learned that I cannot go rushing in to ‘help out’ but need to stay back and let Mark either open up the rabbit for Wiggs to eat or furtively remove the rabbit (for later use) and replace with alternate fare.

A few days later, we all went out again to another desert area and hiked to a nearby hill in the hopes of some soaring slope flying. This was my first time watching a bird ‘wait on’
(they are flown in a “waiting on” style, in which the falcon climbs high above the falconer, waiting to “stoop” at game flushed beneath it.) I couldn’t believe my eyes as I thought only falcons waited on, not hawks, but I guess Harris Hawks are an exception. It was windier this time and the telemetry came in handy because Wiggs disappeared over the ridge and did not really need our help flushing prey. He managed quite well on his own as, by the time we heard his bell, he’d consumed quite a chunk of rabbit! No accidents to report on this outing but one pair of filthy sneakers might not see daylight again!

Christmas Eve was another exciting and unpredictable adventure as we hiked through the Tujunga Wash for nearly an hour before unhooding Wiggs. This time I don’t think his weight was low enough because he just seemed to take us for a joy ride and had his own agenda. I would have been quite happy to go along except for the rocks, uneven terrain and deadly cactus bushes. You really need a lot of stamina to keep upright and I was doing great until this one giant cactus “attacked” my leg. It went through my jeans puncturing the skin and took for ever to remove the spiny needles. I had them everywhere, stuck to my glove, my jacket and even my leather boots. I tried to soldier on, once again hobbling in pain and have never been so happy to hear the squeal of a caught rabbit! However, even after more than two hours of hunting, Wiggs decided he didn’t want this prey and flew off again. Does this bird know when I’m at the end of my staying power! Eventually, as the sun was setting we made it back to the truck and I got my first compliment from my sponsor…he said…’you did real good out there today’!

Veronica