Falconing experience - Part 1

On the first Saturday in November, Frau A cashed in part of her birthday present:  a "Fotoshooting with Greifvogel" experience (Photoshooting with Falcons).  She's a real nature/animal lover, and it's getting harder to find things that make really good gifts, so this seemed like an idea with potential.  (It was a success, as you'll see below.)

The event is run by Erlebnisfalknerei.com ("Experience Falconry"), which offers different "experiences" such as photo shooting/workshops, intensive falconry training, childrens' or corporate events (e.g., birthdays, team-building), TV/film (stunt birds?), and even nature research.  Our host was Herr Schmidt and one of his associates.  We met them at a house/farm out in the country, near a town called Irschenberg, about 45 minutes from Munich:

 

Of course this experinece was not going to be real falconry (like going hunting, etc.), but it was the opportnuity for direct interaction with a bird, learning about the sport, and scaled-down versions of the activities.  Herr Schmidt would lead and take photos during the ~2 hours, and I was allowed to tag along and take photos & video too.

So we ran some errands that Saturday morning and then headed south on the autobahn (A8 towards Salzburg):

One nice thing about this route is that you start to see the Alps looming ahead if the weather is clear:

In fact, the weather was fantastic.  When we arrived at the farm we got fall colors in the Alpine foothills:

Herr Schmidt had two cages in his trunk:  one with a friendly dog, and the other with TWO falcons inside:

The first thing, of course, was to outfit Frau A with equipment - protection from the falcons' talons.  The clip on the glove is used to connect a falcon's rope (tied to one of its legs) if the trainer needs to make sure it can't fly away:

Herr Schmidt began with a short introduction, but soon his colleague brought out the first falcon.  This bird pictured below is female and quite young -- in fact, this day was its first time interacting/training with a stranger.

Here's a close crop:  lovely bird:

The trainer passed the falcon over to Frau A, and we continued to get background info from Herr Schmidt:

The falcon took a minute to flap its wings about and get adjusted...

... but was soon relaxed and sitting on Frau A.  Once the bird was comfortable, Frau A could stroke its feathers.
She loved that.  Afterwards, she remarked that it's quite light, but still tiring to hold your arm out so long.

  

Here's another close crop of the falcon:

Honestly, Herr Schmidt is fortunate that Frau A didn't run off with the handsome falcon!  Smiles say it all.

Note: in the pics above & below you can see the glove tethered to the bird's left leg, as described earlier.

Every once in a while the falcon would get "itchy" and reposition itself, but then go back to being relaxed:

(I was happy as well:  the Alps in the background were a bonus... I must have taken 300 photos that day.)

The falcon had no problem letting me get pretty close and take photos too.

We continued to get instructions and info, and clearly these two were getting along very well together:

So then it was time to see if the young falcon would interact with Frau A a bit.

The falcon's leg clip was changed from Frau A's glove to a grounded safety rope, so the bird could fly from one person to another (over very short distances) but still be secure.  The trainers also brought out fresh, raw chicken as reward for when the bird performs as desired - an entire satchel full of falcon treats.

First, the trainer tried tempting the bird from a REALLY close distance to jump over.  Again, this was the first time the bird was flying with strangers, and it did not have a lot of training experience in any event...

...it didn't work.  So Frau A handed the falcon to the trainer, took the food, and they tried it the other way.  Yes!

(Above:  you can see Frau A holding a small piece of raw meat in her glove to tempt the falcon into flight.
Even Herr Schmidt had to whistle and try to attract the falcon as well - you'll see this in the videos below.
Also, we see the safety rope attached - as described earlier, just a precaution with the inexperienced bird.) 

It downed the "treat" and relaxed on Frau A's glove:

Here's a video of the next (very short) flight, almost identical to the one from the above photos:

Took quite a bit of coaxing, huh?  Frau A and the trainer contined trying this, stepping back a little each time:

  

Here's another close crop from the photo above right, as the falcon is landing on Frau A:

And another action shot plus a close crop of the bird finishing its landing on Frau A's glove:

Next, a video of a flight the other way - from Frau A over to the trainer.  The rope seemed a bit tricky here:

Many times it took quite a bit of convincing, but in the end I guess the food won the falcon over.  I think I can relate a bit -- it's a little like my experiences training young (and distracted or disinterested) puppies.  Patience is key.

I also captured a few frames of the feeding - you can see the feathers still on the young chicken meat.  Yum:

  

For fans of the Discovery Channel, here is a video of the falcon feeding on a treat (with info in German):

In these last two videos, the falcon finishes the prior treat and takes off again soon - she really gets it now:

(Note:  from the post so far, you may have noticed something about technique.  If the bird is leaving from your hand, you face the other person.  When receiving the bird, your back should be turned to both of them.)

We paused briefly for a few more photos:

The short training flights continued just a bit longer - both the bird and Frau seemed totally at ease now:

The trainers were pleased at the young falcon's work that day.  After a number of flights and resulting treats, the bird was getting full.  Therefore, the trainers called it a day for this falcon and Frau A said goodbye for now...

That was fun, but Part 2 is coming with a second, more experienced falcon.  Stay tuned.

Have you seen... [microwave makes plasma]

Most people know that there are three common states of matter:  solids, liquids, and gasses.  There is a less understood fourth state, called plasma.  Wikipedia says is plasma is similar to a gas but some particles are ionized.

You've seen these things in gift stores?  They're "plasma lamps".

Three things to know.  First, a microwave oven can induce ionization and briefly turn a gas into plasma.
Second, due to the ions, a plasma is electronically conductive, resulting in effects (neon lamp uses plasma).
Lastly, people on the Internet and YouTube will try just about anything with a microwave oven.

In the first YouTube video, the skin of grapes is creates an electric arc that produces a small plasma discharge.
It gets more interesting when the host places a glass over the grapes to capture the plasma (1:45 mark).

In the second video, a match is lit and partially covered (enough to keep oxygen flowing but trap the plasma).
The sustained plasma gets so hot that it breaks the glass.  (And I think the gas is toxic, by the way.)

Finally, having nothing to do with plasma, check out the instant art when microwaving a CD or DVD (3.45):

Of course, don't do any if this at home unless you want fire, explosions, and toxic fumes in the kitchen.

Munich Hamburgers: Kennedy's Irish Pub

Our quest to find the best burgers in town took us recently to Kennedy's, a new Irish pub that the Killian's team (another Irish pub in Munichopened in the former Lamm's space at Sendlinger Tor.  Lamm's was unique: it was open 24 hours/day, VERY unusual here.  

Kennedy's doesn't exactly replace Lamm's, since, well...it actually closes..but there is another 24-hour restaurant now in the same building. Wirsthaus am Sendlinger Tor if you're in desperate need of somewhere to go after 3am. (We haven't tried it, but would be curious to know how it stacks up to Lamm's if anyone has been yet.)

Kennedy's have done a nice job with the interior -  it's a good, solid Irish pub atmosphere.  We were happy to find another hamburger to try - and one that really could be our corner bar (it's so close by!).

According to the menu, their burgers are 100% Irish beef, and of course with Irish cheddar.

Be advised, however, that they come medium-well and that there is a "special sauce" on both sides of the bun. (I don't like such spreads, and specifically asked for mayo "on the side", but the German waiter being German, he only carried out the order as stated.  The spread is something similar to, but not exactly mayo.  Not a nice surprice, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.  So, if you don't like mayo-type sauces, make sure to ask for yours without sauce.)

Aside from the unwanted sauce, it was a decent burger, though nothing spectacular. A little too much bun and the bun was a little on the boring side. The steak fries, on the other hand, are excellent. True steak fries, they're a bit thicker cut than the ones at other burger places.  And there are all kinds of tasty Irish and German beers on tap to wash it down. They do serve Augustiner, as well as Guinness, Kilkenny, and the other Irish pub standards.

We'll definitely go back to Kennedy's often (can't beat the proximity in a cold winter season!), and I'm looking forward to trying the Guinness Goulasch, Irish Stew, and a few other menu items.  If you just want classic pub food, they also have the same kind of baskets as they serve at Killian's bar near Marienplatz.

As far as the search for Munich's best burger goes, Hard Rock still is on top, though we need to return to Zum Goldenen Kalb to try the Wagyu Burger (we only tried their regular burger).  We did revist Hard Rock a few weeks ago and they've upped their game. The burger was perfectly cooked and seasoned - with a little pink in the middle - plus they changed from the sesame buns to one that reminds me a bit of the potato bread buns you find in the US. It was a much softer and finer bun than the sometimes dry sesame buns, and was a little less bread. Really a perfect balance and combination!

Next up will be the highly recommended Cosmo Grill. 

An American Classic

Spotted on the street this weekend in central Munich

 

Makes you think of family road trips... or perhaps the Griswolds are back for another European vacation.

Hofbräuhaus Traunstein

A couple of new beers popped up in our local grocery store, so we had to try them. We have seen a few restaurants around here with the Hofbräuhaus Traunstein logo on display, so we guessed it was a smaller local beer.

Upon further investigation, we discovered this was a private brewery from southern Bavaria (Traunstein is not too far from Chiemsee) and has been around since Elector Maximilian I founded it in 1612. See, the royalty had declared a monopoly over weißbier, so Maximilian started this brewery in order to help pay off debts he'd inherited.  Traunstein survived the Thirty Years War with relatively little damage. Through the years, the brewery survived wars and fires, passing through different hands until being acquired by the Sailer family at the end of the 19th century.  In fact the beer saved the brewery at least twice - they extinguished the fires with buckets of beer!

Today, Hofbrähaus Traunstein is a medium-sized brewery (10M liters per year), focusing on a mix of beer and hospitality (guesthouses and restaurants). They use Hollerdau hops, local malt and are the last brewery to transport their beer with horse-drawn carriages.

The Weißbier was quite good. It had hints of the standard banana and clove weißbier flavor, but was not overwhelming. It was nicely carbonated and unfiltered. Overall, we recommend it, especially to someone who enjoys a subtle weißbier rather than a sweet, strong one.

We also tried their helles.

 

The helles was OK...not bad but also nothing special. Not hoppy, not malty, not really much distinctive at all. It's definitely a decent beer and totally drinkable, but nothing exceptional.

We're looking forward to seeing what else might turn up on the shelves soon! 

European Stereotypes

Recently I received an email listing the new workshops in Europe offered by the Nikonians Academy.

Notice anything funny about how they targeted these courses?

For the UK customers, they focus on getting the most out of your software and hardware...

For the Dutch customers, the same technical focus, plus nature photography....

And then we see what they offer the French, Italian, and German customers....hmmm....

Have you seen... [crystallization]

Here are two cool illustrations of materials crystalizing - both the effect and the crystals' appearance are neat.

The first video uses a super-saturated solution of sodium acetate, and the demonstrator triggers the reaction with a single crystal.  In his second display, he pours the solution onto crystals, and the resulting growth occurs so quickly that it forms effectively a stable stalagmite on the plate!

You'll have to pardon the voiceover on the next video -- it sounds like he's in the witness protection program.
The experimenter uses a solution of silver, and crystallization requires some electrical current applied.
He repeats the process with a higher current (crystallization occurs much faster) and with a solution of silver nitrate.  When viewed through his microscope, the effects (some time-lapsed) are beautiful and fascinating.