Freelofting

[Valkie]

I have a question. Has anybody who ever freelofted their bird had the situation where their bird will fly better at a higher weight than when they are tied to a perch? it has occurred with both my kbirds and my lanner, they fly well at a higher weight when free, but when tied to the perch and flown at the same weight they are a bit disobedient

thanks for moving it to the right section

[HawkingRage]

I would assume that because they are able to bounce around in the mews that they have more muscle mass than a bird that is teathered. i can say that is true with my rt that i flew this year. teathered she flew at thirty two and freelofted she flew at 34.

[safalconer]

Do you guys think the size of the mews plays n role...?

[Valkie]

i think so, they have more room to hop around in a bigger mew. my mew is 3mx3mx3.5m. only negative side to freelofting is they screw up the tips of their feathers on the safety netting.

[jfseaman]

valkie said:

i think so, they have more room to hop around in a bigger mew. my mew is 3mx3mx3.5m. only negative side to freelofting is they screw up the tips of their feathers on the safety netting.

There's always trade offs.

I agree that it is likely that the fitter bird with more muscle mass will fly/hunt at higher weights. Energy is burned bouncing around keeping the metabolism up as well. 3mx3mx3m.5m should be plenty big enough. The feather tips issue is why the US guys use bars.

An alternative is a high narrow mews. Forces them to power up from the floor to a perch. Keep the perches above 1.3 meters (4 feet) Give them a rock or short stump to stand on after a bath. But still far enough away from a perch to have to power up.

[Valkie]

unfortunately our regs state that we have to have safety netting, and my mews is a built in veranda, with bars on the one side and a huge window on the other, so i had to cover up both sides with netting. over here most of the guys use "open" mews, that means, mews with two sides covered in anneling, and to sides with welded mesh, and safety netting, and the roof partly covered.

[duskyhawk]

I free loft my MHH and he does very well, some days when I go in to get him to fly he is on the ground infront of the door, I have to walk by him to get in. But I don't think its for all birds.

[Master Yarak]

No hard and fast rules for all birds. I would be hard pressed to keep a bird of any species I could not free loft. I really think its the way to go.
Yarak

[jondarp]

That's precisely why I'm leaning toward releasing my hen RT after this season. I like the way she flies and she has a lot of potential, but she simply won't stay still in the mews even with a full crop - very different from my first bird.

I can't stand the thought of keeping her tethered all summer and I don't want to watch her beat herself up in the mews for six months, so I'll enjoy her hunting with her for the rest of the season and cut her loose in the spring.

Aside from the paperwork and the inconvenience of not being able to trap birds in my own state, I actually like the idea of flying a new bird each season. I plan on flying at least two to three more RTs before I even consider a different species.

I believe that I've still got a lot to learn as a falconer and want to gain a better mastery of my skills with RTs. If and when I opt to try another type of bird, I want to do so with the knowledge that I have achieved a reasonable level of success with RTs.

However, if I get a nice size bird down the road that flies well and is fairly mellow in the mews, I may change my mind and keep it for several seasons. As Yarak (and others on this forum) can attest, there's a lot to be said for flying a bird over several seasons. Most multi-season birds improve with each new season. My first bird was much better her second season than her first. Also, it was nice being able to start hunting in October rather than November.


Regards,

Jon D.

[HawkingRage]

jondarp said:

I believe that I've still got a lot to learn as a falconer and want to gain a better mastery of my skills with RTs. If and when I opt to try another type of bird, I want to do so with the knowledge that I have achieved a reasonable level of success with RTs.

Trust me on this. even if you trained and where successful with redtails that doesnt mean squat when it comes to other raptors. I have learned that frist hand this year. It is almost worth another appreniship just to fly an accipiter. Falcons I do not know but keep in mind that it is a whold new ball game when it comes to flying different species.

LOL- it is fun though, just needs a whole new mindset.

[jondarp]

[quote author=rage board=managment thread=1185363621 post=1199748546
Trust me on this. even if you trained and where successful with redtails that doesn't mean squat when it comes to other raptors. I have learned that first hand this year. It is almost worth another apprenticeship just to fly an accipiter. Falcons I do not know but keep in mind that it is a whole new ball game when it comes to flying different species.

LOL- it is fun though, just needs a whole new mindset.[/quote]


Rage,

I believe you. I have friends that have been flying accipiters for the last few years and they've told me the same thing as you - that you can pretty much throw out everything you know about RTs when it comes to dealing with an accipiter. I've seen more than one very competent falconer struggle with their first gos (or cooper's hawk) after flying RTs very successfully for years.

Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to fly accipiters in CT so that's not what I had in mind. I was thinking that after another couple of years with RTs I might want to try a merlin (which is one of the other species we can fly). I'm sure flying a merlin would be a completely different ball game from a RT so before I would consider that, I'd want to get out in the field with other falconers flying merlins.

Still that is down the road a aways for me so, in the meantime, I will concentrate on the RTs.

In any event, thanks for the input.

Regards,

Jon D.