Post by Falcon Boy on Jul 18, 2007 22:30:48 GMT -5
It might be better to take the tarp off the weathering in the winter so that the snow doesn't build up on it and collapse the top of the weathering.
Another thing is you may find you like the chaps better without the skirt for over the toes.
Other than that everything looks good. You'll probably run into tangling problems though with the hawk perch, and the bird will probably be able to drag it.
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The mews looks good. What part of upstate New York are you from? I was trying to guess from the background in the photos. I don't see a lot of hills, so I'm guessing western New York state, possibly out near Rochester?
I grew up in central NY myself. In fact I was just up there this past weekend for a visit. I saw a few good rabbit spots not far from my parent's place. I plan on making a couple of hawking trips up there this season.
Regards,
Jon D.
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
Good point with the tarp building up snow over the winter, ill have to fix that, might just build a slight angled roof on it, have left over metal i can use.
The perch has 2 feet long side bars there, i dont think it will be able to move it, i might have an issue with tangleing and if that happens, ill just have to remake it.
i live in eastern NY very cloes to canada border, a little south of Massena. there arent many hills here for a long ways, but there is lots of woods. the rabbit population has been very down around me, and the one i have been seeing runnnig around recently became roadkill so i dont know if i will see more. i plan on taking a MRT, and to train it in on crows.
Thanks for the ideas, and that tarp building up snow idea i will deffinitly have to fix, right now it is at a slight slope enough were rain doesnt build on it, but i think snow would.
i live in eastern NY very cloes to canada border, a little south of Massena.
Josh,
I know that area well. I have relatives that live in Massena, Colton and Dickinson Center. My grandmother used to live in Nicholville.
That's a beautiful area, although I haven't noticed a lot of game up there.
You might want to rethink the idea of flying a male RT on crows. Crows can really do a number on small RTs. You may want to concentrate on squirrels if you don't have a lot of rabbits.
Once you turn general, one the best birds to fly in that type of terrain would be a merlin, sharpie or a male coops on the sparrows and starlings on some of those dairy farms up there.
- Jon D.
Last Edit: Jul 19, 2007 14:53:50 GMT -5 by jondarp
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
I liked the way you built the mews out of a shed than adapted for this purpose. I was wondering why would you need any thing on top of the weathering other than wire. The purpose is so the hawk can get some sun.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
if i didnt put the tarp on the top of the weathering area i wouldn't have passed my inspection. i was told by the inspector that i needed to have shad for the hawk, and that the hawk shouldnt be getting sunlight all the time while in the weathering area.
For crows with a red tail, the RT should do fine as long as i train him up on hunting them. in the wild it is known for RT to take crow, although not all the time but it does happen. ill be making a log once i get my RT in the fall, training and such on how i got about getting him to become a crow killing machine.
Hey josh! I finally get to see the Mew your/my sponsor talked about! It looks a lot like my mews will, like it's the same dimension or close anyway.I don't know about your area but here in Perishville are there are rabbits ( at least I see a lot from the car...) Looks good by the way, love it! I don't get that you have to have a roof for the weathering, the sponsor's weathering doesn't have a roof.
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Post by HawkingRage on Jul 19, 2007 17:34:30 GMT -5
The Mews looks good. The only thing id do is move the perches up till the perch is above the bottom of the window. this way the rt wont want to jump up to be over it. this is from personal experience with 2 birds, one whom bloodied himself up good from it.
Id only hunt crows that where for sure away from the Pack of birds. They really are nasty birds.
isn't the point of a weather to allow the bird to be exposed to the elements and protect it from other predators? seems like a roofless mew would allow other RTs to get in there and do some damage.
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I did not imply for it to be roofless or not cover with shade at all. One there is no way I would put my red tail in that with out being tethered because of the choice of wire used. If it is tethered than you have a limited area for the hawk to receive sun light. If you cover the whole top, no sun can get in so defeats the purpose of a weathering area.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
Sorry for not responding in a while, have been at a renissance festival this weekend.
Kenbro when you talk about the bird not being able to get sunlight with the whole top being covered, have you forgotten that the sun rises and sets, meaning that it will only be directed overtop of the mews for a couple hours of the day. in the morning to midday there is sunlight on half and half is shad, so the bird can get sun if wanted and then go into shad if needed. same for the afternoon to night.
i dont see how you can say the bird needs sunlight all the time when out there, haveing a shady spot for the bird to go is excelent.... how would you like to be tied up in the sun all day long... i would think you would like to have shade at some point.
unless you can read your birds mind then i would say shade is good
I think that you may be missing the point of a weathering area. A bird is normally not put into a weathering area for an extended period of time. It is not intended to be a another mews, but simply a place to put a bird for a few hours each day to get exposure to the sun and elements.
The tradition of the weathering area harkens back to the days when hawks and falcons were kept inside castles and didn't get exposed to sunlight. So falconers of that time would tether their birds in the sunlight for a few hours each day.
I'm certainly not an expert, but I wouldn't recommend leaving a tethered bird unattended all day long.
As Kenbro noted. most falconers with separate weathering structures don't cover the entire top of the structure. With regard to the inspector's request that it be completely covered, keep in mind that most wildlife officials don't really understand the principles of falconry. Your mews is the area where your bird can get out of the elements. The weathering area is where you bird should be fully exposed to the elements.
Regards,
Jon D.
Last Edit: Jul 23, 2007 10:46:04 GMT -5 by jondarp
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
I think that you may be missing the point of a weathering area. A bird is normally not put into a weathering area for an extended period of time. It is not intended to be a another mews, but simply a place to put a bird for a few hours each day to get exposure to the sun and elements.
The tradition of the weathering area harkens back to the days when hawks and falcons were kept inside castles and didn't get exposed to sunlight. So falconers of that time would tether their birds in the sunlight for a few hours each day.
I'm certainly not an expert, but I wouldn't recommend leaving a tethered bird unattended all day long.
As Kenbro noted. most falconers with separate weathering sturctures don't cover the entire top of the structure. With regard to the inspector's request that it be completely coverd, keep in mind that most wildlife officials don't really understand the principles of falconry. Your mews is the area where your bird can get out of the elements. The weathering area is where you bird should be fully exposed to the elements.
Regards,
Jon D.
Thank you, that is what I was trying to say. I do not have this problem as I built a combo mews/weathering and my bird is free lofted. So it can go in and out of sun as it desires. I was just stating that if your bird is tethered in the weathering area, (in that weathering area I sure hope so) it has a limited amount of area to move. I know that the sun rises and sets. If your bird is in the middle of the area it would have to be in it all day to get any sun from the morning and the evening depending on the direction of the mews. I can not tell by the shadows if the mews is in the direction of the sun. As jondarp stated, I hope you do not leave the bird in the weathering area all day un attended.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne