A poem by Gavin Maxwell. He doubtless did others but this one imagining wild Iceland from home is the only one I know. It resonates for this traveler stuck at home at least for the present… Slowly through a Land of Stone So although no ghost was scotchedWe were happy while we watchedRavens from their …
Author: Steve Bodio
Three Small Falcons, and Thoughts on Speciation…
Anne Price of the Raptor Education Foundation flies the excellent taiga merlin Tish, who has been drawn by Vadim Gorbatov “bulldogging” a starling (Cowgirl Tish). We were discussing Cheetah who is half taita (or teita) falcon. The species lives in the river gorges of eastern and southern Africa– I have seen nests near Victoria Falls. …
Two from the Commonplace Book
I can’t die yet. There are many men I must kill first!-Yojimbo On the door it says what to do to surviveBut we were not born to surviveOnly to live-W S Merwin, The River of Bees For the record, I think the first at least is hilarious…
ID Query
Tom McIntyre sent this photo his friend Keith Benoist snapped in Mississippi last weekend. Suggestions include Swainson’s and broadwing which I doubt– slighter and migratory– and Harlan’s which is possible though ours tend to be more “speckly”. I call darkish (for the east) redtail. What say you?
“Horned Rifles”
Central Asia is full of archaic survivals, which include old technologies (should that be “technologies” with quotes, to include animal memes like hawking and various “old ways“– thanks Liz Thomas!– with dogs and other animals as well as actual “tech”?) China controls guns but Tibetans actually still hunt with matchlocks (and tazi- like dogs though …
Links
Got so many I may split them! Peculiar links (scroll down) to a wonderful little film on Black Sea sparrow hawks in falconry– for Turkish TV? High point is as he says throwing them overhand like baseballs at quail, but the “pubs” and characters are amazing– must get there! Thanks to Paul for pointing me …
Tree Dogs # 2
I have TONS of content overdue– bear with me, I’ll begin tomorrow. Meanwhile here are more of Teddy’s amazing tree dachsies, this time in hot pursuit of a feral cat…
Tree Dogs!
Meanwhile Teddy Moritz’s dogs are climbing tall trees in pursuit of squirrels with their avian partners– that is a dachshund up there, not a Harris hawk! And she tells me he had gotten all the way to the end and was returning…
Falconry: News & Pix
Paul has suggested I take back and fly my sweet Barb Taita female, the mini- shahin Cheetah (formerly Chicken as in Chicken Little), while he takes up Ms Mean Girl and attempts duck. We are both happy, as our respective quarry better fits the recent switch. One “trouble” with red shahin types is that they …
How to make (this) bird happy…
The peregrine (who I sometimes call Bella II after an older bird of the same breeding I once had, who moved to Utah ended up killing five- pound sage grouse though she only weighed about what this one does, 23 ounces) is pretty well trained now. She even has good manners. She never screams or …