Comparison's

I pulled Jez from the Mews yesterday. he weighed 680 grams.

Amazing how much he has changed in a year.

Here is a  side by side comparison taken by my wife.

Old and New

I had 2 transmitters lying around doing nothing. Both were the FMV 1/3N Transmitter nice transmitter but since moving over to Marshall Scouts i have not had the use for them. I also prefer the screw caps to secure the batteries.

With having the Kestrel these where way to big a friend lent me what i thought was a FMV mini but it turns out to be a MX Mini 377 which is even smaller. He needs it back to fly a merlin so i went on the hunt for a new transmitter and in the price range i could afford (which was about $100). the MX Mini 377 was out as that is around $170. with just moving house money is tight.

I first tried the FMV mini , this might be ok for the merlin’s or coopers but no good for a kestrel.

The specs for the mini are good and if i was flying something bigger i think i would come back and look at a mini again, the price isnt to bad either at $104 dollars but whilst it is light 4grams with battery it is has a large form factor.

So the other option was an LL electronics Merlin Special. They have two options available but i went with the great range and lighter weight 14 miles and 3 grams with battery. the price was $129 which was right at the limit of what i wanted to spend.

 

So once it arrived i dully tested it and made sure it worked. I plan to use it on a neck mount which from what i have read from other falconers shouldn’t be an issue.

 

AK Training

She’s flying to the fist quite happily but that’s all she wants to do. So from today we are not flying to the fist she either has to fly to game or a lure, she has started to fly to a lure (10 feet) but doesn’t really chase it, she will pounce on it if it’s like a foot away. The same goes for a sparrow. she won’t chase it but will pounce if its right at her feet. I let her have an English sparrow and make in. I don’t think she has ever caught a sparrow so right now it is getting her weight dialed in just right and presenting lots of sparrows for her. right now she is a 96.6 so i have reduced the one gram decreasing to 1/2 gram decreases.



 

AK well feed on sparrow.

(incedently i wouldnt normally let her crop up on this as there is a risk of sour crop but to get her switched onto sparrows i let her eat what she wanted)

 

My wife has been doing some amazing photography during training.

 

 

 

 

Harris Training

 

I'm in no hurry to get started and want to bring his weight down more slowly. currently he is at 700grams , im aiming for 640grams. We should be there by the end of the month . i want to try and solve the screaming that he was prown to last season in the mews (but not in the field)

The season is slowly starting

We moved house and we are still unpacking, i'm racing against time to get all the hunny do list completed. Jez is weight is starting to come down.

A short while ago i took on an imprint kestrel. some family had taken it in, they panicked when they found out it had to be licensed and tried to get rid of it, it flew back..... being an imprint that's really no suprise but they didn't know that.

 

The idea being to get her flying and hunting and then release her. Apart from the imprint screaming i'm pretty pleased with her progress. Almost got her ready for Lure flying and then onto catch some sparrows and starlings. So far she is at 101.6 grams ( was 110grams) when i got her.

 

I have finally had some success at sparrow trapping thanks to another friends pointers on funnel traps. I've been using elevator and V traps with little success , so i turned the V trap on its side, instered a funnel and closed the rest of the opening and success.

 



Changes

Lots of changes going on not just with hawk but with the hunter too.The molt is progresing painfully slow , dog training has started in ernest. Pigeons have been breeding like crazy. 4 months left  to get ready for the season and we start again. New goals, new objectives.

Falconry is not just for me

when your out in the field its easy to forget the people that have supported you in your effort to get there. have all your stuff together and then make sure you get out in time.

Often the spouses of a falconer put up with allot like dogs and birds handling things they really wish they had not. My amazing wife is one of those people. My wife is not a hunter or an animal person but puts up with me in so many different way. She expects her meat to come on a shelf in a plastic wrapper and not worry about the animal it came from. She also doesn't want to scoop out dog poop or chase after them to retrieve one of the kids toys back.

So it always amazes me when she goes the extra mile and out side of her comfort zone to help me with some of the passions i have. Today she took me to buy a water trough so Remington and Bella could cool off in the heat and sun. She cleaned my game fridge and wiped/cleaned my cutting board and game scissors. On days i'm not present she puts the dogs out cleans there yard and feed them. She never wanted pets or animals but she does want me. For some very strange reason shes prepared to put up with the mood swings when we don't catch the determination to do better. the politics of small clubs and stubborn men. All of this just so she can be with me.  Something i have only really grown to appreciate recently. I leave you with a video of Remington with his new bath. 

Post by Latrell Brown-Olner.

More Photos

Some more pictures of Rivington and Liverpool from my visit with my family. Really enjoying using Film to create these images.

 

Photography ~ Old School

I have been a pro photographer for over 10 years its only been in the last few years that i could make more money supporting my family by going back to the Information Technology World (20 years experience in Application Development). I have pretty much done every kind of photography sports, fine art, landscapes and commercial but i enjoy Architecture, Landscapes and Still Life Photos the most.

Digital Photography really got me into commercial photography, actually getting paid to do it and making a living. But since i was a young child if have always loved the excitement of B&W Film Photography. My Dad has always been influential as he is also a pro photographer and has even photographed royalty , amazing landscapes (Greenland) and micro photography that has documented engine failures for the RAF.

The problem with Digital is that its becoming to instant and the value of the photograph gets lost. After a while the photographer gets lazy and just takes so many pictures hes bound to get one that's right... right ?

I have had a Hassleblad Medium format (120 Film) Camera for some time. i have one 50mm lens. For this Camera that's all i need. You get 12 shots per roll of film so it discipline the user in to composing the shot and taking great care in what they are taking a photograph off. When i wanted the film developing in the past I would give my film to my dad to process(he's brilliant) and then scan the negatives in. Moving to the USA meant i lost that, so then what to do with all this unprocessed film. If i send it away it will cost a fortune in development costs and may get lost. So on a recent visit to see family i got my dad to teach me how to develop my own film.

I also have 2 5x4 cameras (a studio 5x4 and a field 5x4 camera) that i want to use for landscapes again i just want to do black and white film and then scan it in for myself.

A Stream In Meltham , United Kingdom.

My Growing Sons in Meltham , United Kindom.

I have an idea for a study of taking a picture of every falconer in Oklahoma with their current bird. don't want it to be an action shot just a portrait. One of the Bird and One of the Falconer and his bird. It wont be color it will just be black and white.

There are two reasons for this, first it will be a permanent record for future generations to view. Digital is not permanent storage and files can easily be corrupted and lost, film is more permanent in that there will be always something to scan it it can be stored without worry of degrading (there are negatives over 100 years old)

So in the future there will be more B&W shots displayed on this blog