Fall is coming and my thoughts turn to hawks and bird guns first. I don’t know if I will have a chance to train a Gos again or not, but they will forever remain a favorite, flown in a circumpolar band by virtually every falconry culture because of their utility and I suspect beauty, though …
Tag: Falconry
Two Falconers
Tim Gallagher, whose new book Imperial Dreams I have reviewed below, is visiting England and just sent this fine portrait of two generations of falconers. John Loft, on the right, is the living master of merlins,; he literally wrote the book on them, A Merlin for Me, a delightful but almost daunting combination of experience, …
Oldest Falconry Film?
I have the Craighead film of their months with an Indian prince just before WWII, which is not unlike having films of Emperor Frederic in Medieval Sicily, or of being able to step into the print of Vadim Gorbatov’s “Kublai Khan’s Hawking Party” hanging to my right. But this short film, made before the first …
Dispatch From Mongolia (Lauren McGough)
These flights! They are amazing and addictive. I liken these eagles to Houbara spotter falcons, who somehow see that rust colored spot scooting along in the distance – and immediately become pure predatory power. Many times I never see the fox, I just trust that that is what the eagle sees. Once she’s powered out …
The continuing adventures of Lauren…
Text to come soon– patience please!
“New” Petroglyph
… from none other than Andrey Kovalenko— see below. Andrey says: “This rock art is located in (تیمره) Golpaygan, Isfahan in the central part of Iran. GP Location is: 33° 38′ 31.43″ N 50° 19′ 27.30″ E. There have not been any scientific examination (Magnetic Polarity Chronology, Uranium Thorium, Carbon 14 HL) to date the …
Red Kite?
I can’t prove the bird morphed into an “eagle” in the hoax video below was a red kite (Milvus milvus) but I have seen a few in the wild and I think it was. A beautiful bird with remarkable buoyancy and power of flight, a common medieval street scavenger, a most challenging quarry hunted through …
Christmas with Dogs Plus: Daniel
D and his team are returned from the High Plains to the wine country. My big computer is down for repair; our own Christmas stuff plus a whole lot of book reviews will return through the weekend…
Granddogs: The Kids are Alright
Photos from Terence Wright prove that the descendants of the late Plummer, the creaky Lashyn, and the still healthy Taik and Kyran are doing well at that rarest and oldest form of team pursuit hunting here in New Mexico: Fubar is a perfect example of how falconry can rehabilitate a seemingly hopeless bird. Terence wrote: …
Quote: Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel’s trilogy on Henry VIII and his court, as seen through the eyes of courtier Thomas Cromwell, is one of the most harrowing fictional works I have ever read– brilliant and acute, never pleasant. Am I the only reader who sees a similarity between Henry’s court and that of the Red Czar? As with …