raptor

Many have tried to recapture these owls but failed.....it isn't that easy....they have acute hearing as well as sight and cannot be crept on and not easily trapped........

Oh dear............ murdering pets?........... explain that statement? ..if you can Read the thread properly........no one is trying to cause trouble just disccusing your problems with raptors.......

Simply.....NO........ but as you know it happens.............. so what I am saying again is once released into the air they are and always will be under threat if they pass over a falcons hunting ground........

Birds of prey hyave no sense of smell................... hearing is not used by hawks and falcons in the main..........mainly by owls.................. Hawks and falcons use their eyesight which is very acute to see quarry..........

But you know that when you release them surely?

Fair comment.........

Are you saying that none of the poisoning of raptors is being carried out by pigeon fanciers?

Have you rang anyone to let them know that a falconers bird is in the area?

Falconers are not your enemy................. we as falconers who fly longwings really don't want our birds chasing pigeons........ we either train them on game or the blackstuff................. I have flown falcons for years and can honestly say hand on heart that only once did my one of my birds check at it's intended quarry and take out a racing pigeon....... the only reason it did take it was the bird was knackered out and flying so slow and raptors are opportunists and it took the opportunity of an easy kill........... I did ring the owner and tell her and she was fine about it.......turned out the bird had been missing for over 2 weeks and she presumed a peregrine had taken it anyway.

Well some of you wish it on your pigeons ............ Why not remark on post below............ lot of fanciers moan about their pigeons being killed by raptors but ........... every year without fail I get at least 6...10 racing pigeons land here and feed alongside my doves........ Last year I rang the owners of 5 birds I caught up to let them no the bird was here.............. what answer did I get.............it went along these lines.......... " oh just knock it on the head it isn't any good now"............... I didn't 5 are still here now don't dare tell me that is right?? Only 2 fanciers in 3 years have collected their birds from here.

Well apart from trying to ignore Tammys silly remarks................ One way would be for falconers to be allowed to trap parent birds which would split up a lot of the breeding pairs and would eventually cut down on the numbers breeding......... Another is a cull.......... not to sure I would agree with that .......... Apart from that I am not sure of the solution...............

Yep you have stood alone all those years and are still in the same position as you were then..well done!! :

But that is the point .....not all peres in all locations are taking large figures of pigeon....I am not saying it doesn't heppen...............

No but frounce does.............. as for coffee no thank you............. grow up and talk like an adult instead of your stupid remarks...........

???............... who takes pleasure?.............. that is such a small minded statement............ Raptors are hunters...we train them in captivity as the parent role........ once realeased it is nature against nature........... they don't kill everytime nor would I want them too............... I would say that deliberately poisoning birds is much more sick and cruel as if it kills the parent bird first as it often does then the young starve to death in a slow manner or is that ok with you? Most good falconers are animal lovers through and through. Hunting with birds of prey is the most natural thing in the world............. it is not man made like a gun................. A lot of fanciers moan about their pigeons being killed by raptors but ........... every year without fail I get at least 6...10 racing pigeons land here and feed alongside my doves........ Last year I rang the owners of 5 birds I caught up to let them no the bird was here.............. what answer did I get.............it went along these lines.......... " oh just knock it on the head it isn't any good now"............... I didn't 5 are still here now don't dare tell me that is right?? Only 2 fanciers in 3 years have collected their birds from here.

Nature would take over though................ peres will just take what is on offer............. How do you come up with the figure of 95% ?................... in the southwest on a certain part of the coast 2 peres nest and having watched them over the breeding season for the last 3 years they have a main diet of gull and songbird and very little pigeon

Look at it the other way then.................. pigeons carry frounce................ falconers wish all pigeons dead because of the threat to their raptors.................you wouldn't like that would you? To make a sweeping statement like Tammy made will just turn all falconers against you and cause a total divide.............we actually think that some issues that concern the fancy are valid............... look at it in an adult way instead of a vindictive way...........

Very true............. we or I for one anyway would love to be able to trap and fly wild raptors but we can't.............. I started mowing an 8 acre field last week and had no less than 22 buzzards circling waiting for rodents to appear..............they will starve these birds out of existence by their actions of protection and cause the same problem that they haveover corrected .....the protection for some species is well past it's sell by 'date............but those who decide these rules and regs can't see it as they dwell in city offices............. But I can't and won't condone the poisoning or killing of raptors by anyone as they are to all intents the innocents of democracy gone wrong..............

What a sad statement that is................you do nothing with quotes like that to get anyone outside of the fancy onside................ :

I class everything as in the wild..................when a bird takes to the air it doesn't matter whether it is over the countryside or a town or city............ A lot of habitat has been destroyed over the years and driven lot's of animals towards towns and cities like the fox etc,.......... one of the main causes of birds like sparrowhakws etc coming into towns and cities is bird tables..people feed wild birds and create a dinner table for raptors.............a spar will revisit a bird table often as it is easy kills for it.....so it is inevitable that it will come across pigeon lofts on it's travels..........

That is a bit of a sweeping statement...............I personally have never hunted anything just for fun........... All I take is either eaten or goes into the food chain for my birds......I eat game and rabbit which is mainly what I hunt..............Most good falconers will only hunt what they eat..there are those that will kill for killings sake but that applies to those who shoot as well...........fact of life sadly.

I agree with you and many other falconers would as well............. we need to get licences again to take from the wild but our hands are tied...........there are too many spars, peres and buzzards now in the wild causing it's own problems........I keep and breed fantail doves.they breed and fly free.......last year I had over 30 birds taken by a spar.......... carnage to say the least.............. but as a falconer I have to accept that letting my doves fly free they are at risk...heartbreaking but lawfully I can do nothing.

Why is it that you all seem to condemn birds of prey in the wild?.............. when you release your pigeons you must know that there is a chance that a raptor will if given the opportunity try to take one out...............We as falconers try to deter our birds from chasing pigeon as they will take the hawk to far away and it may result in a lost bird. I don't and never have trained a falcon to take out pigeon and few falconers ever will. Wild Peregrines will take out racing pigeons flying across there territory but they are only doing what nature intended them to do............. Sparrowhawks will learn where easy prey is kept and will get quite brave in trying to take them out............. to the point where they will ignore humans in the hope of an easy meal. We also have to watch out for spars when we weather certain birds on the lawn as spars will and have killed raptors on the block/bow. I see there is a post on here that wishes bird flu would kill all raptors!!........ well imagine a bird flu that would kill all pigeons and falconers wishing it to happen!.....not a nice thought really is it? If you release pigeons to fly in the wild then you have to expect casualties as that is par for the course.