Falconing experience - Part 2

This is our second post at Frau A's photoshooting experience with falcons (first blog entry is here).

Frau A's event started with a younger female falcon that had very little training experience (in the first post).  After that, Herr Schmidt & his associate brought out a second bird.  This female was a veteran flyer with trainers and guests.

The falcons travel in the car with their hoods on (first falcon is on the right, second/older one on the left):

Herr Schmidt and his associate kept the hood on the second falcon until the first was back in the car...

 

...then the trainer took the falcon's hood off and let the bird acclimate for a while on her glove:

This falcon was lighter in color than the first bird, but not nearly as fidgety - its maturity really showed.

It was another very handsome bird:

This time, we could do exercises without an attached rope and up to maybe 20+ meters in distance.
Therefore we all walked around the side of the farm house - down this path in the photograph below:

In the video you'll see the trainer take the falcon, Frau A walks away a bit, and it flies right back.  Well done:

That was quick - no hesitation like the young falcon.  And like the first bird, these two definitely got along well togther.

You'll see in the photo below (background, upper left) the trainer standing down the path, ready for the falcon.

The trainer and Frau A continued sending the falcon back & forth a few times:

Here's a video of the falcon flying to Frau A - it's cool to see the head-on view of its landing approach, wings spread.
It's also interesting that it only secures the chicken meat that Frau A was holding, and doesn't eat it immediately:

After it landed and settled on Frau A's glove, it seemed to pose for us:

The process continued - in the pictures below, the trainer (background, left) stands up the path as the falcon lands:

Here's a cropped version to better see the falcon coming in for a landing on Frau A's glove.  Very cool.

Again later,this falcon seemed to pose - it certainly has style!

I was able to catch a few fast action /sequence shots of the landing too (with Alps in the background!):

Like the first bird, it reached a stopping point (and after the treats, it's not motivatable by food anymore).
So we spent a few minutes taking some final photos with these two beautiful models and gorgeous scenery!

I could tell that this part (hint: more posts) of the birthday present was a hit with Frau A.  That smile says it all:

Actually, I'm not sure who enjoyed this falcon experience more, Frau A or myself.  I got to take some great shots of my beautiful fiancee with some cool falcons, fall colors, and the Alps.  It was a perfect afternoon in Upper Bavaria.

We eventually had to bid a final farewell to the second falcon back at the entrance to the farm house:

A special "thank you" to Herr Schmidt and his associate, and their two great falcons - we really had a nice time. 

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.