J.M.Spencer@newcastle.ac.uk (Jonathan Spencer) (02/21/91)
The weather in Britain turned pretty foul towards the end of January with several inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures. (I know this isn't much, but the previous three winters have been extremely mild.) I got out with my redtail (a 7 times intermewed female flying at 2lb 6oz) several times over the final week of January. We had two very frosty days at an estate in Northumbria flying at pheasant, rabbit, and hare. We were in party consisting of two goshawks, a Harris hawk, and my redtail. I took two German Wirehaired pointers, my friends took an English pointer and a Brittany spaniel. On the first day, the two goshawks caught three pheasants between them in mature pine woods, and my redtail connected with a hen, but didn't hold it. She flew a number of walked-up rabbits and an adult hare (a full grown brown hare weighs 7-9lbs), and flew it well. The older GWP had held a point on the hare in some marsh grass and flushed it nicely. The hare took off in a straight line and had gone about 40 yards downwind when the redtail took her first grab at it, the hare jinked and she shot over the top, threw up, turned and stooped to grab a handfull of grass just as the hare jinked a second time. So the hare got away. I was quite pleased because normally she won't even bate at hares, having received a good kicking from one in Germany (the German hares are somewhat larger than British hares, although they are the same secies). Later on, she was sitting on a post when we flushed a leveret (i.e. a young hare of the year weighing perhaps 5-6lbs). She watched it run right past her at a distance of only 20 yards and didn't even try for it. She's funny like that. On one occasion we flushed five pheasants which she had marked down in a hedge and watched four fly under her, and then she flew at, and took in grand style, the last one which was the one she had decided she wanted. We took some ferrets on the second day, but the rabbits were very reluctant to bolt. Conditions were nearly ideal (except for the bitter wind) so this was a little surprising, especially as the ferrets were experienced jills. It meant that the spade came into frequent use. (Do people use ferrets to bolt rabbits in the States?) Fortunately, our ferrets wear a transmitter around their necks and we can locate exactly where they are - makes life much easier. Do others have these "ferret finders"? They are such a boon :-) We were working an old railway line which was on top of a 30" bank above the surrounding countryside. I got several good flights at bolted rabbits. They would bolt out of their burroughs and run along the railway line but keeping inside the unkept and now overgrown bushes. This made it very tricky for the hawk to get close in to foot them. Added to this was the breeze which seemed to make her much more bouyant so that it appeared she had difficulty in coming down. Perhaps she was just high. She made two flights over over 100 yards when the rabbit ran a good distance before putting back to earth. She didn't catch any rabbits that day, but the eyas tiercel Harris hawk was entered (i.e. made his first ever kill) after he flew a bolted rabbit along a dry-stone wall and footed it in the rump as it crossed the railway line. He had quite a struggle holding it - it didn't stop immediately he connected but kept right on running. The rabbit carried the hawk for about 15 yards and then the pair of them were jumping up and down as the rabbit tried to shake off the hawk. The hawk wasn't going to let go, but he hadn't got full control of his quarry and there was a risk of him getting injured. I sent in my old GWP who took hold of the rabbit and the hawk then footed it in the head (at which the dog released the rabbit :-). It was a good flight for any hawk, but especially an unentered eyas. The rabbit weighed 3lbs 12oz after it was paunched. That's big by our standards. Normal rabbits weigh about 3lbs after they've been paunched. The tiercel was flying at 1lb 5oz and had only been flown for a couple of weeks. Later on, my dog pointed and flushed a rabbit from under a bush. It ran into a wood and made it safely to ground but not before the redtail had given it some good exercise :-) She put up into a tree over some brambles (blackberry bushes) and sat there for a few minutes. Then she dropped down into the brambles and grabbed a sitting hen pheasant. Not really what I'd call a flight. It was late in the day, and so the two hawks were fed up on their kills. The goshawks, meanwhile, had both caught another pheasant each. So ended another season. =========================================================================== From : Jonathan M Spencer Mail : Computing Lab., University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, England Phone : +91 222 8229 ARPA : J.M.Spencer%newcastle.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk JANET : J.M.Spencer@uk.ac.newcastle UUCP : !ukc!newcastle.ac.uk!J.M.Spencer ===========================================================================