Thank you! That does my heart good to hear. I’m still really struggling, but making progress. So hearing that you notice a difference really lifts my spirits!
@benwoodrufffalconry thanks for video, you have a wild Halloween theme you've got going thr! 🎃🦅is that a huge skull, like what is it near pumpkin, man that is big teeth by the looks too, enjoyed some of video like more great!photography filming of all beautiful hawks! They are magnificent creations!✨️☁️☁️❤🦅🦅❤🦅🦅❤🦅☁️☁️✨️
I'm not him so I can't speak for his experiences, however a good friend of mine who is a falconer released a coopers hawk this summer who spent the majority of the summer hunting birds at their bird feeder
@@anthonyhackett1569 I had something kind of like this. I released a ferruginous hawk years ago out in the wild, and it did find my house and came back.
Fantastic video Ben! Question, are there some parts of the US that have a wider variety of hawks and falcons suitable for falconry than other parts of the country?
@@massmanute I think just about every part of the country has Cooper’s Hawks. Red tails are pretty common in most places as well. Usually, you can find a red tailed hawk orchestral within five minutes to an hour of just about any place in the country. Beyond that, it is more specialized. Prairie falcons, prefer more desolate areas, peregrine falcons can be found in the cities as well as next to any waterways, Sharp and Hawks very radically from region to region, as far as where they will nest or where they will be found, but you can always find accipiters in cities in the winter hunting neighborhood bird feeders. And you can also always find Merlin’s hunting in the cities in the fall and winter too
@@bgtuc84 usually during the trapping season, I will keep an active open trapping permit and will catch and release several birds until I find what I’m looking for.
Fascinating video, thanks. Where I am from in Scotland we see peregrines moving to the coast to hunt the small waders and migratory birds and ducks in the estuaries over the winter. Also goshawks move down from the hills and moorland into the lower lying farms. We get large numbers of common buzzards coming into the UK from mainland Northern Europe, too. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more soaring on thermals just inland from the coast hunting whatever they can after a long flight over the North Sea.
@@benwoodrufffalconry I'm told (but I have never seen them) that Merlins come down off the moors to hunt small waders such as Dunlin on the foreshore in winter too. Now, these I have seen, long eared owls hunting small rabbit and other rodents on the grassy sand dunes in the early morning. Beautiful bird and again, I think, locally migrant. For a small but temperate country, we attract a lot of continental European birds over winter.
Being in the coastal plain in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast ( Long Island ), the most commonly seen migrants at our hawk watches are Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Kestrel, Coopers Hawks, Sharp Shinned Hawks, and Northern Harriers. Bald Eagles aren't uncommon, and I've noticed an increase region wide of Broad-winged hawks.
I am in South Central Kansas. Migrant Red tails and Harlan's hawks show up here first week of October, specifically the 5 th- 9th. Merlins about at the end of September is normal. I already had on over a week ago. It was the Taiga sub not prairie. Four prairie Merlins have a night roost just a mile from my house, this has happened for several years now. I have a terribly lit pic of four adult Merlins in one frame. Probably the one to ever happen in Kansas. Prairie falcons are a wild card and very sporadic here. I see a few each Winter, one several times though. The Harlan's hawks are will return and use the exact same poles to hunt from until mid March when the head back North.
@@toonarmy017 I hear they are absolutely incredible birds. I have never had one, but always wanted to work with one. I hear they are even more fast and adult than a regular northern goshawk, but have the nimbleness of a smaller accipiter
Here's a question. Consider two birds, one caught as a passage bird, trained, and set free in the spring. The second is a passage bird that is not caught, and it survives the winter. Which bird will have the best chance for long term survival. A related question, if a bird (say a red tail hawk) is trained to hunt rabbits, which I believe is not their usual prey in the wild, will that enhance the birds survival chances in the long term?
Ben, and those of you who have a lot of trapping experience; have you found any difference, is it easier to tame and train September/October bird than November/December bird, or does it mostly just depend on the character of the bird and some late winter birds can be easier to train than September passages? Is there any rule to the timing of the bird trapped?
Locally, I find accipiters, buteos and falcons trapped in October to be the absolute best birds. Merlins being the exception as I usually am not trapping them until November. Buteos trapped in September will still sometimes revert back to a babyish state of semi imprinting
First 🦅
Your love of nature is contagious Ben 🤲🏽
Hell yeah man! You're speaking so much quicker and clearer. I am happy to see you get back in too it!
Thank you! That does my heart good to hear. I’m still really struggling, but making progress. So hearing that you notice a difference really lifts my spirits!
@benwoodrufffalconry thanks for video, you have a wild Halloween theme you've got going thr! 🎃🦅is that a huge skull, like what is it near pumpkin, man that is big teeth by the looks too, enjoyed some of video like more great!photography filming of all beautiful hawks! They are magnificent creations!✨️☁️☁️❤🦅🦅❤🦅🦅❤🦅☁️☁️✨️
@@benwoodrufffalconryfalcons💕hawk's💕kestrels💕exceptional!❤🦅
Thanks for your videos! It’s really great you are not afraid to make noises and be silly when talking. Amazing info!
Really interesting watch, I certainly gained an understanding.
Hope you are feeling better.❤ from us over the pond.
Ben, spot on Man!!! I've never heard anyone teach the fact of the matter like that before 👍👍👍👍👋👋👋
Thank you
You are welcome, can't wait to meet you sometime. Hope you're feeling better 👍
Great video have you ever released a bird of prey and it returned to your house?
I'm not him so I can't speak for his experiences, however a good friend of mine who is a falconer released a coopers hawk this summer who spent the majority of the summer hunting birds at their bird feeder
@@anthonyhackett1569 I had something kind of like this. I released a ferruginous hawk years ago out in the wild, and it did find my house and came back.
Fantastic video Ben!
Question, are there some parts of the US that have a wider variety of hawks and falcons suitable for falconry than other parts of the country?
@@massmanute I think just about every part of the country has Cooper’s Hawks. Red tails are pretty common in most places as well. Usually, you can find a red tailed hawk orchestral within five minutes to an hour of just about any place in the country. Beyond that, it is more specialized. Prairie falcons, prefer more desolate areas, peregrine falcons can be found in the cities as well as next to any waterways, Sharp and Hawks very radically from region to region, as far as where they will nest or where they will be found, but you can always find accipiters in cities in the winter hunting neighborhood bird feeders. And you can also always find Merlin’s hunting in the cities in the fall and winter too
Great video. Do you trap the coopers just for fun? Capture and release?
@@bgtuc84 usually during the trapping season, I will keep an active open trapping permit and will catch and release several birds until I find what I’m looking for.
Fascinating video, thanks. Where I am from in Scotland we see peregrines moving to the coast to hunt the small waders and migratory birds and ducks in the estuaries over the winter. Also goshawks move down from the hills and moorland into the lower lying farms. We get large numbers of common buzzards coming into the UK from mainland Northern Europe, too. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more soaring on thermals just inland from the coast hunting whatever they can after a long flight over the North Sea.
That’s so cool! What a fascinating ecosystem to be able to experience!
@@benwoodrufffalconry I'm told (but I have never seen them) that Merlins come down off the moors to hunt small waders such as Dunlin on the foreshore in winter too. Now, these I have seen, long eared owls hunting small rabbit and other rodents on the grassy sand dunes in the early morning. Beautiful bird and again, I think, locally migrant. For a small but temperate country, we attract a lot of continental European birds over winter.
I get Cooper’s hawks in my yard
Being in the coastal plain in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast ( Long Island ), the most commonly seen migrants at our hawk watches are Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Kestrel, Coopers Hawks, Sharp Shinned Hawks, and Northern Harriers. Bald Eagles aren't uncommon, and I've noticed an increase region wide of Broad-winged hawks.
I am in South Central Kansas.
Migrant Red tails and Harlan's hawks show up here first week of October, specifically the 5 th- 9th.
Merlins about at the end of September is normal. I already had on over a week ago. It was the Taiga sub not prairie. Four prairie Merlins have a night roost just a mile from my house, this has happened for several years now. I have a terribly lit pic of four adult Merlins in one frame. Probably the one to ever happen in Kansas.
Prairie falcons are a wild card and very sporadic here. I see a few each Winter, one several times though.
The Harlan's hawks are will return and use the exact same poles to hunt from until mid March when the head back North.
Hi Ben great video as usual 👍 I’ve just acquired a black sparrow hawk what’s your thoughts on them? Thanks
@@toonarmy017 I hear they are absolutely incredible birds. I have never had one, but always wanted to work with one. I hear they are even more fast and adult than a regular northern goshawk, but have the nimbleness of a smaller accipiter
Here's a question. Consider two birds, one caught as a passage bird, trained, and set free in the spring. The second is a passage bird that is not caught, and it survives the winter. Which bird will have the best chance for long term survival.
A related question, if a bird (say a red tail hawk) is trained to hunt rabbits, which I believe is not their usual prey in the wild, will that enhance the birds survival chances in the long term?
Ben, and those of you who have a lot of trapping experience; have you found any difference, is it easier to tame and train September/October bird than November/December bird, or does it mostly just depend on the character of the bird and some late winter birds can be easier to train than September passages? Is there any rule to the timing of the bird trapped?
Locally, I find accipiters, buteos and falcons trapped in October to be the absolute best birds. Merlins being the exception as I usually am not trapping them until November. Buteos trapped in September will still sometimes revert back to a babyish state of semi imprinting
I just got my trapping permit for the season. Perfect timing!
@@wesleyworley8982 wishing you the best of luck! Happy trapping!
@@benwoodrufffalconry I've got your book!