My Kestrel Spent 2 Days Lose! | How I Got Back My Lose Bird
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- Опубликовано: 11 фев 2025
- In this video I tell the story of how I lost my bird of prey and how I got back my lose bird. My kestrel spent 2 days lose and I had to track him and get him back because he doesn’t know how to survive in the wild. I have made a video in the past about how to find your lose bird and how to get back a lost bird but this time it was for real, and I had to put everything into practice. While is spent days chasing my lose bird I didn’t do any filming while he was lose, my priority was to get him back, so this is more of a story of how it all happened.
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#falconry #birdofprey #birds
This explains everything with a cooper's hawk I raised. I never weighed him and just fed him wild meat I hunted so he was probably overweight because I fed him well. He got to where he seemed to act more wild. I decided to just turn him loose behind my home in the country. He would never come to me. He hung out in the same area around my creek an my girlfriend even checked on him and spotted him but he wouldn't come down out of the trees for us. I always hoped that he made it. That was 10 years ago. I guess there's a small chance he's still alive.
Weight management is so important in training birds of prey, without weighing and lots of feeding he was likely fed up and that’s when they tend to behave a little more wild
No shit flying away double beeps.....you are killing me on inside...same shit happened to me...but I forgot to turn it on..he missed rabbit under think bush..I went around the bush...gone high winds No where..I looked at a tree 300 yards with crows in tree...
Nope..no signal..I was looking in trees spinning receiver around bumped a car
Now I thought maybe rabbit took him in hole I started walking down fence row no signal...I look at end of fence row 350 yards
He was on the rabbit..still no signal..
I got so lucky...glad you got him back
This story happens...but most falconer won't say it happened to them
That must be scary not getting a signal!
Thanks for sharing
@@MercerFalconry you would know right
Got them back is most important
Hey Dan. I love the story you have been sharing the past year with everyone. Please, do not stop! I love you and the birds, and my subscription page would feel empty without you and them.
Knock on wood, I have been very fortunate in not having lost my birds throughout my falconry years, but that is not to say that I haven't come close.
I live in the United States, and started out with a female American Kestrel - Eve. About midway into my first season with her, I ran into my first real pickle with her. I was hunting her around my house, and she caught a Starling - all good - until she got spooked by a passing Red Tailed Hawk and took it all the way up onto a telephone pole... and began to eat it. I didnt know that she could have carry something that heave straight up like that - you live and learn. Like you, my Kestrel was spooked, and had a great meal. I thought that there was no way I was getting her down, and after many attempts to call her down while she was eating, all the way up until she was done three hours after. It felt like my hunch was correct and I was going to lose my first bird.
But finally something clicked to me. Like you, I didn't really train my Kestrel to the lure, starting into the lure training process she was very sciddish on it, and I was afraid she was going to break feathers with all of ber constant bating on the ground, but secretly I had trained her to one... a plastic bag. I pulled out the zip lock bag I had her tidbits in and crunched it in my hand and she instantly came down after almost four hours of her not even looking at me.
Another time a little later in the season, I nearly lost her to a Coopers Hawk. I was just on the other side of a hill and called her to the fist for the last time for the day from the other side. I grabbed her jesses to hook her up, and right about that time she tried to fly away - she never done that to me. My fist lowered, and the Hawk hit the side of my face. Fortunately, I walked away that day with my Kestrel, but I had to carry a black eye for a week and a half... worth it. :)
Another time the next season. I had sent her off into a tree that stood in a fence line. Is was trying to flush some nearby Sparrows, and hopped to look up as another Coopers Hawk was fling alongside the treeline straight for Eve. I hollered and shouted and scared it off. Eve had flew to a nearby tree in the opposite direction the Hawk retreated in, and I decided to call it a day. I looked down to get a tidbit, looked up and Eve was gone and the Coopers Hawk high over head being swarmed by other birds.
I never put bells on Eve because they were simply too heave for a 100g bird, and starting out in Falconryat the time, didn't reallysee the need to spend about 500 dollars on telemetry. That did not serve me well that day though. I searched for almost 45 minutes in an area with a known killer to my Kestrel to find her under a neighbor's covered porch on a push mower for cover about 100 feet from the tree I had last seen her in.
Still a little spooked, but now a more trusting bird. I was able to go and pick her up and take her home.
I am so very glad you got your Kestrel back. I couldn't imagine how you must have felt leaving him out over night. I think that I might have died for the stress and worry.
Please, again, do not stop. I know that there might be a lot of negative with the posts you make, that is with anything anyone posts. There are just haters, or simply - in the case of Falconry - people that do not know what we are doing. But aside for all of that, please let this be a positive for you. It comes form the heart.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for that, great reading someone else’s stories, I have a similar thing to your zip lock bag, I keep all their food in takeaway tubs and all the birds go crazy when they hear me take a lid off 😂
Interesting to hear how it’s different in America, here I don’t really have to worry about larger predators just scavenging buzzards that look big and scary to kestrel but it would be very unlikely for one to actually come near us.
Thanks for the comment!
@@MercerFalconry Did you kill those chicks?
Well done. just found you on RUclips, Subcribed and need to go and watch them all.. Hi from Canada
Thanks, I would love to visit Canada, I have family over there!
Love the channel man keep it up
Thank you, I really appreciate hearing that, I will do 😁
I read H is for Hawk and her Goshawk went AWOL too....Falconers dedication and love of their birds is a beautiful lesson for us all :)
Wow , you done so well trying to find your kestrel, I was with you all the way, I would of had sleepless nights, I can imagine how you felt when you finally had him in your hand.
I use the same receiver, I find it a little difficult to pinpoint a direction at times, especially in a wood but the size is perfect in a wood also.
I searched for my Harris hawk for 40 minutes once last year not to long I know , I finally found him underground, a rabbit had pulled him down a hole, I spend several minutes getting him out he was deep, I could just hear the faint bell, very strange when your above and the signal is strong but your hawk is nowhere to be seen.
I have searched a few times for longer after pheasant flights but this one was a heart stopper for me.
I’ve helped a falconry friend hunt down newly trained peregrines a couple times, they spent nights out but we always find them before returning at first light.
Great video very tense, glad you found your friend.
Thanks for sharing, I wouldn’t like to have to chase around a peregrine though, I bet that was some hard work!
@@MercerFalconry not really, both times we got in the car with roof mount receiver to find where it was , in the morning there was a bit of travelling on foot, but not to bad really.
Ah that’s very Dr Nick fox style!
@@MercerFalconry I have just looked up Dr Nick Fox, my friend is very old school, he has written articles, also in a book called the complete Merlin.
I’m fortunate to have this guy as a friend, and mentor.
Good luck , we love your channel always very helpful and well put together.Top quality.
Ah excellent, I’ll have to look that book up!
Great video, great outcome. In the 30 years I flew birds, I only lost about five. I recovered three of those, the two that I never did find was an eyas female red-tail, and a passage female goshawk. In those days telemetry was a new concept and I never used it. Now it's a must. 😎👍
It’s crazy to think how fast the technology has come on, I’m not old enough to have flown birds without it so I can’t imagine what it would be like
@@MercerFalconry
Back then, we had to rely on the bells to find your bird. Nowadays, I know some falconers don't even use bells anymore.
My Harris Hawk pulled her bell off recently and I didn’t notice until I had released her in the woods, it was awful, felt like I was flying her completely blind!
Great stuff Dan. I'm just starting out with my Harris Hawk Isla, she's still on the creance at the moment but hopefully free flying her soon. The windy wet weather is getting the better of us at the moment.
Wind is a nightmare when training a young bird who hasn’t gained the experience to work with it yet, good luck and keep at it!
Oh man! What a suspenseful story. I would've been a nervous wreck! I remember moving my 13 and 14 year old cats up country and letting them outdoors for the first time was quite scary. They disappeared and I was so worried they wouldn't come back. Fortunately they did. I admire your persistence and the way you applied your knowledge to the ever-changing situation. I'm actually quite local to you (Tamworth) so will definitely have to book a visit. I just visited my first falconry centre today in Shrewsbury, so I'm stoked to find you on here and that you are local.
Great, I look forward to having you join us for a session! 😁
@@MercerFalconry Definitely!
I love working with the Kestrels 🙂
I am so happy that you managed to get your beautiful male kestrel back. It shows that you're a master of Falconry
Nice video Dan , great to put things out when things don't go the way you expect shows a great side and quality to show failures as well as all the good stuff. Makes it more real and really helps with showing what falconry is like and what can happen even to a highly trained falconer like yourself. Glad he's back he's a lovely bird and full of character , can't wait for the next one, keep it up
Thank you, I think it’s important to show all sides. And thank you very much for coming and helping, I think we did a good job at wearing him out so I could get him on the third attempt
Thank you so much for your content, I am trying to learn as much as possible before taking the falconry license course in Germany as a native English speaker to prepare as best as possible to pass the course given in Germany, which will be in German.
You sir have the patience for animal care, they’re lucky to have you
Important tip about the scales! Happy ending getting him back!
Nice work Dan. We all have these hair raising moments
I always tell people who are starting out that’s it’s not an ‘if’ they fly off, it’s ‘when’ because it happens to all of us at some point
This man deserves so much more views and likes! Its a precious work that you do, thank you very much for sharing your experience.
Thank you, very kind words 😁
great video, glad you got him back!
Thank you, I’m happy he’s back too
Great and informative video!
Thank you! 😁
Glad you got him back, had to do the same with a f red tail , took me 4 days to get her back , using the same method as you did , people just assume your bird will automatically come back to you regardless, but it isn’t an exact science , we all lose birds at some point , through different means , I’ve had kestrels killed by other wild kestrels , attacks from wild sparrow hawks , etc , really enjoyed your vidio
FANTASTIC video, thank you so much for taking the time to create and upload this. Your situation describes almost exactly what happened when I lost my tiercel, I believe a pair of Buzzards spooked him. I managed to locate him in some tress 100m or so from where he originally bolted, he took one look at me, and took off. However, I never managed to retrieve him. The area was quite built up, signal was all over the place, I was using a TinyLOC with a Merlin transmitter. Some great tips here though. Many thanks.
Thanks, well done for getting him back safely!
COOL, FIRST LONG VID OF THE YEAR, GOOD LUCK
Hopefully there will be many more
Lost a goshawk a few times, so I know that feeling.
Hello, I am a student studying birds of prey in South Korea.
I always enjoy watching your videos. It is helping me a lot.
I'm not familiar with English, so it's hard to understand everything, but the videos are helping me a lot. Thank you very much.
I also lost a hawk during my training and it was very troublesome.
I had given up, but I managed to capture it after someone else reported it.
I would like to make a manual about the birds of prey that live in Korea, where I am researching and studying, and I was wondering if you could help me.
Good video Dan. Glad you got him back safely.
Batteries very temperamental in cold conditions, always liked to use counterbalance scales just to double check the electric were reading correctly.
Keep up the video content.
I’m on the look out for a set of balance scales, I was trained with them originally so it will be nice to have a set just for double checking from time to time
Great video once again very informative and very enjoyable. The story of how you got Ago back is nice and it had a great outcome. You must felt so relieved when finally got him. I had lost a parrot this way. When he started flying higher and higher and flying out of sight I thought my heart was going to stop. Unfortunately, unlike your story our didn't have a good ending because he tried to go back home he was flying towards our balcony but then a seagull came out of nowhere and grabbed him by the neck and started to fly towards the sea with him. Then for some reason, the seagull let go of him and he fell into the sea but a kind tourist who saw what happened and was closer to the sea than us, jumped into the sea and found his body and brought it to me. I was incredibly sad but at the same time, I was relieved that I got him back and that he died very quickly without probably even realising it. Watching your video made me so happy for you and Ago and I hope nothing like that happens to you or your birds.
Oh that’s such a shame, that must have been horrible for you to go through when we put so much love and care into our birds, I am very lucky to have got mine back alive
Never give up pls😢😢😢❤❤❤
I really like your way of story telling. Please consider to make some longer videos in the future again.
Thank you, I am working on them it’s just difficult to find the time during busy show season!
I really love your videos! Your story telling is so fantastic! You are clear, with the right amount of details while still moving things along at a great pace. Thanks for taking us along with you!
(Side note) could those odd bands on the tail be stress bands?
Thank you that’s a wonderful compliment I really appreciate it, I don’t think so, I know stress can cause feathers to moult strangely but there is quite a lot of stripes and I can’t think of anything that would have been stressing him continuously throughout their growth, and interesting thought though
Truly your vids are super awesome!
Yeah I was only speculating about the bands. My theory (which is a very weak theory) was perhaps the kestrel was mewed or weathered too close to a larger bird that it might be seen as a predator to the kestrel. But like I said it was a weak theory and can't wait to see what the tail looks like when it's fully molted out.
If something had stressed him it wouldn’t be the other birds I have, they are all comfortable sitting on perches on the lawn, I’ll make sure I get some good pictures when the feathers are fully grown!
How smart that bird.
Beautiful you love your bird too much
Nice video.. I have the same experience with you.. the issue is that my scale in accurate.. so it’s better to invest in equipment rather than having the risk of losing your birds..
Yes, and don’t put all your trust in 1 set of batteries!
@@MercerFalconry totally right..
My kestrel was out overnight once as well. Similar story, except it was a digger instead of another bird. The workmen had said they were going on break for half an hour when I got to the flying field. Less than five minutes later they started it back up and breaking concrete on the private road next to the field. It was only about an hour before sunset and she only flew to the corner of the field and sat at the edge of the woods.
I tried much the same techniques as you did but with no success. I stayed watching her until it was too dark to see and left.
When you said you were out at first light when did you mean in relation to sunrise? I have an advantage where I used to be a full-time professional ecologist and carried out hundreds of dawn bat surveys, which means I've seen just about every habitat type transition from total darkness to daylight in most weathers. On a clear day you can have birds moving and flying forty odd minutes before sunrise, when it's still too dark for us to see properly.
Lucky for me I trained my bird to the lure and as a result she hadn't eaten anything the previous day. I was under the tree I'd last seen her in an hour before sunrise, she'd gone to roost huddled close to the trunk overnight I think because forty minutes before sunrise I saw movement and she was looking at me from a branch. I produced a chick on the fist and twenty minutes before sunrise she was on the fist; just as the local jackdaws started waking up which might've caused some trouble (I'm certain it took so long for her to come down because it was still dark on the forest floor and she couldn't see the glove properly). It was cold and windy overnight so I was really worried. Especially when I couldn't see her in the morning. I still had a telemetry signal but with a bullet leg mount there's no telling if she's managed to pull it off or not. Similarly, no bell. I used to fly her with one but I found the bell on the bewit could knock the bullet on the transmitter and knock it out- it happened in mid-flight once.
It's great you shared this story though. It's difficult to share when things go wrong but it's really helpful for others to learn from mistakes. Simple stuff like calibrating scales and checking the battery of the telemetry every time you turn it on are little things that can make all the difference. In fact my scales have been giving me odd readings the last couple of days and I suspect it might be the same issue you had- luckily I'm not out flying my kestrel at the moment but it's absolutely something to consider for the future (I had to move and change career entirely due to the pandemic. Between general stress and learning an entirely new skillset I haven't had the time to secure new permissions to exercise her on so she's been freelofted this last year with regular manning and daily weighing to keep her manners up. Hoping to be able to take her out by next spring and fly her through the longer months).
Thank you for sharing this story, like you said I think a lot of people hide these things but these situations make us learn and address issues!
I checked my weather app to see when the sun was going to rise and got up an hour earlier, I didn’t mind if he had taken off and moved because it meant he would be even more hungry and likely to come back to me.
Mine has been moulting for a while now but he’s just about done so I’m going to be making a new video about him soon!
Can't imagine how it must be to have to leave a bird outside at night like that. I dont think I'd sleep a wink if my kes was out all night. Going to start retraining her soon, trying to do it earlier this year because i was only getting longer flighs toward the middle of autumn. got a nice new field I've found (and got permission for) to fly her in, nice and high up, great visibility and not many trees. cant wait
Excellent, I’m sure you will have lots of fun, always exciting to get out on a new piece of land!
Longest I’ve ever lost one for was about 3 hours. No tracker on him because he’d pulled out of my hand when I was putting the creance on. Found him in a tree, put the lure out but he was gaining too much speed when flying down and missed it. This happened about 5 times before he finally caught it. Chased him all over the place, he got attacked by a good few magpies and got tangled in a tree too. Hasn’t flown off since, I think he knows now where he’s best off.
I have lost a bird once without telemetry when she was in temporary housing without a double door system and the door wasnt shut properly, I got her back a couple days later but it was stressful few days, well done for getting yours back
I would love to see you manning a completely new hawk previously unhandled by anyone before.
Planning on getting my first bird next year and nervous about the process.
Would be great to see it done from scratch, day by day.
I wish I could show all of that but unfortunately I am at full capacity and don’t plan to get a new hawk any time soon
A reasonable response :) I pick up a lot from your videos regardless. Maybe you could do a video some time in the near future just talking and using previous footage for eye candy. Particularly interested in the first few days - i.e. first approaching/feeding/weighing/health checking in those first crucial days.
If not no worries!
Have you seen my How to train a Hawk video from 2020, that goes through all those steps and while filming it was genuinely the first time I had ever seen that hawk and she had spent a while in an aviary not being handled, the only difference is that a juvenile will be a bit more jumpy, I also have a video called how to tame a hawk where I go through my manning stages
I saw the 2020 video but not the other one. Thanks! I'll check that out.
Hello I also have a kestrel and it flew away for a week. It had 200G and the normal flight weight is 190G when I found it again it had 139G and almost died but I think I pepped it up well
Wow that’s a lot of weight to lose for such a small bird, well done for finding her just in time!
You make exceptionally good videos. I subscribed although I'm usually more interested in wild birds. Explaining the process in such a format requires additional skills and it is a lot of work. Thumbs up! AFAIK lithium metal batteries (non-rechargeable) perform better at low temperatures. They are more expensive, but battery life is longer. However, attention must be given to the higher voltage developed by the lithium cells before using them as a drop-in replacement in devices that normally use ordinary zinc cells.
Thank you, I tend to just keep it plugged in now rather than using batteries!
Interesting video glad you found your kestrel
Thank you very much 😃
Are any of your birds used to catch game
Meilleur vidéo RUclips 😉👍 juste dommage pas sous titre français (merci)
Thank you
Do kestrel's droppings smells
Not to me
Great video bro but the title should read loose not lose. 👍
🌴💯 Mercer Falconry 💯🌴
💪😃✊
👣
I don’t have no bird I just like watching the show
Excellent thank you 😁
Hello
How come you don’t teach your bird how to kill the reason I ask is because I’ve watched loads of your videos on other devices and your great at what you do but I’ve never seen you train your birds to kill and the reason I ask is because if your bird gets spooked like igor he cannot survive in the wild not all birds want to come back and as trainer you really want the best for the bird which means teach them everything you know so if spooked and you cannot get them back you know that the bird will survive in the wild
The reason I don’t it because Mercer Falconry is a full business not just a RUclips channel. I go to country fairs and events doing flying displays with the birds, if I train them to hunt they would start doing so on display and that is illegal
Your hunting ammunition requires a lot of maintenance
Quite funny... the title is 'How I got back my Lose Bird'... it's the inverse of the mistake that so many US Americans make, substituting 'Loose' for 'lose' as in 'Your a looser' or 'don't loose your falcon'... and your title is 'lose' instead of 'loose' ;-)
Americans can be funny with language sometimes 😂
@@MercerFalconry many times ! How you going??
Doing well thanks, working on a very exciting big new video to be released soon!
How are you?
Taking too much
Thats a female
The kestrel doesnt belong to you its a free bird
He’s a captive bred bird, he wouldn’t have survived much longer in the wild, with me gets the safety of an aviary, a vet if anything goes wrong, food every day, and he flys free and chooses to come back to on his own free will, this time he was just spooked by a buzzard