A year or so ago I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to join a friend and fellow falconer, Leo Mandelsperger, hawking Herons in southern Germany. Hawking herons is perfectly legal for a brief season but local government can grant a special extension in the case of those employing falcons to help protect fish farms and rearing stations. I jumped at the invitation as the flight is one that has always fascinated me and although it can never be what is was when pursued by The Loo Hawking Club and falconers from around that era it is still a flight I longed to see carried out properly. There are many that have caught herons as they rise from a ditch with either large falcon or goshawks but for me this is smash and grab hawking not hawking of any quality. I wanted to see flights where the heron was already well and truly airborne and accordingly the contest between falcon and heron would be a sporting one. Subsequently I found myself in due course being collected from Munich airport and then enjoying some first class sport as well as old fashioned hospitality for a few days.
It has to be said I was expecting either Gyrs or a cast of Peregrines to be the falcon employed but was somewhat dismayed initially to discover we would be pursuing our intended quarry with a Lanner Falcon, and one on her own, not a cast of them. I was somewhat stunned I must say and wondered quite what I had let myself in for. The lanner was of the feldeggi sub species and therefore the largest and most powerful of all the lanners but even so had a flying weight considerably less than even a very small peregrine falcon. I am fully aware that Leo is an exceptionally gifted falconer and I was sure that he had chosen to use this lanner falcon for a very good reason, just for the life of me I couldn’t see what it was. Leo also had the brother of this falcon and the lanneret had a flying weight around that of most African lanner falcons. The lanners were named “Isabella” and Frederick” out of the respect Leo feels for the very famous falconer and his wife. It was Frederick the second that wrote “The Art of Falconry”, a very comprehensive treatise on the sport, in the early thirteenth century. In conversations with Leo regarding falconry the name and indeed thoughts of Frederick constantly crop up and it is blatantly obvious that some seven hundred years ago this scholarly falconer was way ahead of his time in understanding raptors and the husbandry required to bring them to the field in tip top condition.
My doubts as to the effectiveness of such a choice were completely allayed with the very first flight we engaged in. A heron was spotted out in the open feeding by a small brook. It was sufficiently far from any large expanse of water to be considered a worthwhile proposition and accordingly the falcon was readied. We then stepped from the vehicle and struck the braces on the hood of the falcon and then proceeded to shout and generally make a noise so that the heron took to the air. It was allowed to get well and truly into its stride and with every deep beat of its wings was opening u and ever increasing gap between ourselves and it. When it was flying well and had gained some decent height only then was the hood removed from the falcon. She immediately spotted the heron but did not launch herself instantly. Instead she took a good look around, roused and then left the fist.
The falcon climbed rapidly in quite tight circles and the heron having spotted a potential adversary was doing the same although this ringing in harmony was probably taking place at approximately a quarter of a mile apart. Once the falcon had gained, quite literally, the upper hand it started to make its way across to the heron. Only to aware it had lost its initial advantage the heron decided to take off in a straight line as fast as it could and believe me that is great deal faster than most people would give such a large bird credit for. The fight continued for some while until the falcon was almost upon the heron at which point the large bird turned down wind and passed almost under the falcon in its efforts to put some air space between itself and its would be attacker. However the falcon put in a short false stoop which made the heron drop rapidly some twenty to thirty feet. To be honest it was difficult to tell exactly in all the excitement. The heron levelled out and again the falcon false stooped causing the heron to drop some more height very rapidly. Then the falcon stooped for real, hit the heron and after a short throw up bound to it. The two combatants tumbled earthwards eventually landing in a flail of legs and feathers some hundred and fifty yards or so away from us. Leo was very quickly on the scene to help the falcon and my first taste of heron hawking 21st century style had left me almost speechless with the magnificence of it. A sporting flight, true spectacle, bravery required on the part of the falcon and discretion as to what is a sporting slip or not by the falconer. I was assuredly hooked on this flight and wanted to see as much as possible during my all too brief stay. When my stay had come to an end Leo said that he would make a point of inviting me over again to join him the following season for some more of this truly excellent sport.
Accordingly when invited to join him again this year for the last week of the season I jumped at the chance and soon had booked my flight. Apparently the feldeggi lanner falcon “Isabella” was flying as well as ever and was accounting for a large number of herons. It has to be said that in the area of southern Germany where this hawking takes place there are very large numbers of herons. The only problem from a falconry point of view is that the number of grey herons is staying approximately the same but the numbers of white herons are exploding and their numbers are swelled each year by birds that have migrated from Russia. So often you find the two species feeding together and this makes a flight impossible as the whites are heavily protected all year round and the greys can only be hunted for the limited period. The window for hunting the greys happens to coincide with the influx of the whites in ever increasing numbers. So although there are still plenty of greys getting flights at them is becoming increasingly difficult.
Having been collected from the airport it was back to Leo’s office for a quick cup of coffee and whilst i changed into clothing more suitable to hawking than travelling the falcon was readied and loaded into the car. Socialising and catching up could wait till later, we were here to go hawking. The weather was quite kind to us in that it was bright and breezy with just a few, relatively light, rain showers. We drove for approximately an hour and on reaching the flying ground a telemetry transmitter was fitted to the falcon and filed jesses replace the mews ones. Now we sought a decent slip and one that would be a fair contest. It didn’t take too long to find a grey heron fishing a small brook in some very decent open countryside with the nearest lake or river some considerable distance away. We pulled up downwind of the heron and got out of the vehicle and walked towards it. Walking directly towards it we got somewhat closer to it than the heron was comfortable with, the large bird eventually lifted into the air and lazily made off upwind. As it did so we shouted and yelled to give the large bird the added incentive to leave the area. The heron responded by circling twice and increasing its height quite considerably by doing so. Only then was the falcon unhooded and allowed to take stock of the situation. “Isabella” spotted the heron immediately and bobbed her head once or twice but then had a really good look around, roused, looked at the heron one more time and then took to the air.
“Isabella” flew some distance downwind and then started to ring up, mounting very quickly and with seemingly very little effort at all. All the time the falcon was ringing up the heron was doing the same thing but in bigger, far more expansive circles. This display of ringing separately but in some form of uncohesive harmony continued for several minutes. Watching from underneath and with the two participants so far apart it was difficult to tell who, if anybody, was managing to get the upper hand. This was resolved for us when “Isabella” stopped ringing and powered across the sky directly towards the heron. The heron had obviously spotted the change in the flight pattern of the falcon and now broke off from ringing and drove directly into the wind as hard as it could. The falcon closed the gap between the two of them a lot faster than I would have given credit for and once she had fetched the heron it was clear to see she was considerably higher than her intended quarry. There then followed two false stoops on the part of the falcon that sent the heron lower and with each throw up the falcon increased the height between them. Just as things were looking like the final telling stoop was about to be delivered a kite came from nowhere and started to harass the falcon. Now we all know a kite can’t possibly pose a serious threat to the falcon but obviously the irritant tactics put the falcon off of her stroke and as a result of constantly shifting from the attentions of the pest the heron managed to make good its escape. What was shaping up to be a fabulous stoop and interesting culmination of the flight had been ruined by, what has to be begrudgingly classed as a first class flying display, the kite. “Isabella” was taken down to the lure and we could only ponder on what might have been. Never mind, a break for lunch, give the falcon a chance to rest, and then look for another flight in the afternoon.
Over lunch Leo and I discussed the fact that to the uninitiated in this flight it would be all too easy to think the falcon has refused the flight when she goes off a little downwind from the heron to start ringing up and attain her own pitch. I wondered if Leo had ever thought this in the early days of his heron hawking career. He replied that in the early days, when first chasing herons, many falcons fly straight at them and simple try smash and grab tactics and nearly always end up losing the heron. Those that are worth the trouble of persevering with, quite a number are not, soon learn that height advantage is the key to success and accordingly initially concentrate on ringing to get some height. The really switched on falcons go a little way downwind to ring up and this prevents the heron from turning downwind and making an easy escape before the falcon is in a position to do anything about it. Obviously this is a tactic you cannot teach the falcon, it comes from within and it must be assumed that those that figure this out are probably those that would survive admirably in the wild.
With falconer, falcon and spectator all rested it was time to see if we could get another decent slip, preferably this time a kite free one. After some three quarters of an hour we found another good set up and the same tactics as employed earlier were put into effect. This particular heron was fishing a water filled ditch between two very large fields and the only available cover were a few very sparse trees some considerable distance away and the only water was the ditch itself. So it would appear that the heron had no choice but to ring and then fly in order to evade the attentions of the falcon. Eventually the heron took to the air and the falcon, very much in her own time, set off a little downwind to start ringing up. Heron and falcon rang up independently for what seemed like an age and then the falcon showed one and all that she thought she had sufficient height by starting to pump across to the heron. The heron at this point lost its nerve and plummeted back down trying to reach the ditch it had only vacated a few minutes earlier. This was a foolish and exceedingly costly decision as it literally passed under the falcon in its attempts to reach what it considered safety. The falcon stooped hit the heron fair and square in the back. As the heron struggled to regain its composure in flight the falcon threw up and stooped again, this time binding to the head of the heron. Both falcon and heron tumbled earthwards and landed somewhat unceremoniously in a heap beside the ditch, the sanctuary the heron had misguidedly thought it could reach. The heron was quickly despatched and the falcon fed up on her kill. The flight was very disappointing in its ending, particularly so when compared to the promise showed by the first. However the heron had called the tune and paid the price for making a wrong decision.
Day two of my all too short hawking trip saw us set out mid morning looking for a decent slip. We found herons without too much problem but in situations that were far from ideal for slipping in anything like the hope of producing a sporting contest. There was always water at hand for the herons to bale into if pressed hard or there were white herons mixed in with the greys. Perseverance was the order of the day and after almost one and a half hours we had our fist slip. We had come across a solitary grey heron hunting in the middle of a very large expanse of grassland, presumably looking for rodents and frogs. Just about everything seemed right and so we parked the vehicle, made ready the falcon and walked towards the heron making as much noise as possible. The heron took to the air and we continued shouting and waving arms to ensure it really did feel threatened. The large grey bird circled a couple of times, gaining height as it did so, and then set of with deliberate wing beats driving itself into the wind and rising gradually as it did so. Once the heron was well and truly into its stride the falcon was unhooded and allowed to take in the tableau in front of her. She had a good look round, roused and then took to the air. Immediately the signs were good. The falcon started to ring up and concentrated on this and not in trying to close the gap to the heron. The hard flying continued until the falcon was a decent height and then she started to pump towards the heron, which by now was some considerable distance away and must have been wondering if he was under threat at all. He was very soon to know that indeed he was and a very real threat. The falcon continued to fly hard into the wind and closed the gap as well as gaining height over the heron as she did so. Quite a way before the falcon could be on the terms she would have liked the heron switched on to the danger it was in and started to ring also. So a really testing aerial contest began with both falcon and heron striving to be uppermost. Eventually the heron decided discretion may be the better part of valour and turned downwind and dropped like a stone at the same time. The falcon reacted and stooped at the heron and the heron managed to evade the first stoop with what, I should think from so far below, looked like inches to spare. At this point several crows joined in the melee and their attentions towards the falcon certainly distracted the falcon somewhat. The melee of heron, falcon and crows drew another onlooker in the form of a haggard peregrine falcon and whilst the Corvids and falcons checked each other out this allowed the heron to make good its escape. So no kill and only one stoop but what a thoroughly fantastic display of flying powers and tactics by both combatants. This had been really excellent falconry in the truest sense of the word. A kill doesn’t have to be the end result for there to have been first class sport. The falcon was taken down to the lure and we all took some time to get our breath and thoughts back.
Our next slip was over almost as soon as it started. We slipped in the normal way at a heron that had been standing in a very small stream between two fields. A good set up that promised the good chance of a ringing flight. However a second heron, unseen by us and one that hadn’t reacted to our shouting, got up a couple of hundred yards off to one side and the falcon checked at it. Needless to say, as is nearly always the case on such occasions the result was that neither heron was put under any pressure and once again the falcon was taken back down to the lure. Normally two flights a day is it for the falcon but this last was a very brief half hearted affair so it was decided to give her forty minutes or so and then look for one last flight that day.
We were in luck and did get one final slip that day. The circumstances looked very promising indeed and the heron was given ample opportunity to get up and fully into its stride before the falcon was unhooded and slipped. The falcon started to ring immediately and this heron reacted by doing exactly the same. Leo and I just stood and watched as the falcon and heron, separated by about a quarter of a mile or so, both did their best to out fly each other and maintain top position. This ringing contest went on for what seemed a long time but in reality probably wasn’t. It was hard to see from below who was holding the upper hand. It is always so easy to think it is the falcon because of her small size in comparison to the heron. When they ring separately it is even harder to tell and we only know when the falcon has well and truly gained the upper hand when it switches from ringing to a pumping flight to get across the sky and get on real terms with the heron. When the heron realised the falcon was now heading towards it he too broke off from his ringing flight ad started to pump into the wind. The falcon still managed to overhaul the heron and soon was in a position to put in the first stoop. Contact was made and the heron tumbled briefly before regaining its composure. However the falcon had thrown up to a position whereby it could almost immediately stop again and this time the stoop harder contact and the heron cart wheeled in the sky for a few seconds before sorting itself out and regaining its flying composure. Again the falcon had thrown up to a decent position and stoop as soon as the heron was flying straight again. This time the falcon bound to the heron by the head instead of giving a glancing blow at the end of the stoop. Both hawk and heron tumbled to the ground in a mass of legs and wings and Leo got in quickly and despatched the heron. A very fitting flight to end the day on.
Over the next few days I enjoyed some more flying of this quality and all too soon the trip was at an end. One thing is for sure I had been fortunate enough to witness some truly excellent flights and some first class falconry that in this day and age is very difficult to practice due to restrictions of access to sufficiently open enough land that holds sufficient numbers of herons to make this particular flight possible. I feel privileged not only to have enjoyed such flights for two seasons now but also the fact that I have already received an invitation to go again next season. I most certainly, god willing, be there.
I would just like to mention a couple of observations, purely personal, regarding heron hawking and feldeggi lanners. The first concerns the supposed very real danger, both in flight and any subsequent struggle on the ground, of the heron spearing the falcon with its bill. In all the flights I was fortunate enough to witness, a very considerable number over the two trips, not once did I see a heron even turn its bill towards the falcon when they were in the air. When it came to any struggles on the ground, these were few and far between as the falcon made a point of binding to the head of the heron before they tumbled earthwards. On the three separate occasions where the two birds hit the ground without the falcon seriously locked on to the head of the heron it seemed to me that the heron tried to grab the wing of the falcon and literally shake it off. On one occasion a heron did manage to achieve exactly that and the falcon was out of action for a couple of days with what must have been a very sore wing or at the very least a sprain. Not once did I witness an attempt on the part of heron t spear the falcon. Undoubtedly in days of old when heron hawking was practiced far more widely than it is now the spearing of a falcon may well have happened on occasion and, as with so many things, the number of times such a dramatic incident actually occurred became greatly exaggerated with time.
My other observation concerns the feldeggi lanner itself. I have only ever flown one feldeggi myself and that was way back in the very early nineteen seventies and the feldeggi in question was a haggard female. I remember she dwarfed a normal lanner and would take rooks with consummate ease. However the reason she stands out in my memory is not that she was so large but that she was so aggressive towards quarry. A sheer joy to fly and she was eventually lost flying rooks on the Austrian/Hungarian border when she managed to chase and kill on the Hungarian side of the fence. The iron curtain was still very much a realistic deterrent to people leaving the eastern bloc in those days and accordingly the border guards would not let me in to retrieve my falcon. No telemetry in those distant days and so up early and lure swinging from the highest spot the next morning was the only option. All to no avail as my lovely feldeggi was lost and never seen by me again.
“Frederick” the male feldeggi, brother to “Isabella” also is an exceedingly good rook hawk and again the logical thinking would be that he is far too small to be efficient at flying such a quarry. Nothing is further from the truth and he is very successful and has no problem not only catching rooks but also is extremely efficient in despatching them.
My doubts as to the effectiveness of such a choice were completely allayed with the very first flight we engaged in. A heron was spotted out in the open feeding by a small brook. It was sufficiently far from any large expanse of water to be considered a worthwhile proposition and accordingly the falcon was readied. We then stepped from the vehicle and struck the braces on the hood of the falcon and then proceeded to shout and generally make a noise so that the heron took to the air. It was allowed to get well and truly into its stride and with every deep beat of its wings was opening u and ever increasing gap between ourselves and it. When it was flying well and had gained some decent height only then was the hood removed from the falcon. She immediately spotted the heron but did not launch herself instantly. Instead she took a good look around, roused and then left the fist.
The falcon climbed rapidly in quite tight circles and the heron having spotted a potential adversary was doing the same although this ringing in harmony was probably taking place at approximately a quarter of a mile apart. Once the falcon had gained, quite literally, the upper hand it started to make its way across to the heron. Only to aware it had lost its initial advantage the heron decided to take off in a straight line as fast as it could and believe me that is great deal faster than most people would give such a large bird credit for. The fight continued for some while until the falcon was almost upon the heron at which point the large bird turned down wind and passed almost under the falcon in its efforts to put some air space between itself and its would be attacker. However the falcon put in a short false stoop which made the heron drop rapidly some twenty to thirty feet. To be honest it was difficult to tell exactly in all the excitement. The heron levelled out and again the falcon false stooped causing the heron to drop some more height very rapidly. Then the falcon stooped for real, hit the heron and after a short throw up bound to it. The two combatants tumbled earthwards eventually landing in a flail of legs and feathers some hundred and fifty yards or so away from us. Leo was very quickly on the scene to help the falcon and my first taste of heron hawking 21st century style had left me almost speechless with the magnificence of it. A sporting flight, true spectacle, bravery required on the part of the falcon and discretion as to what is a sporting slip or not by the falconer. I was assuredly hooked on this flight and wanted to see as much as possible during my all too brief stay. When my stay had come to an end Leo said that he would make a point of inviting me over again to join him the following season for some more of this truly excellent sport.
Accordingly when invited to join him again this year for the last week of the season I jumped at the chance and soon had booked my flight. Apparently the feldeggi lanner falcon “Isabella” was flying as well as ever and was accounting for a large number of herons. It has to be said that in the area of southern Germany where this hawking takes place there are very large numbers of herons. The only problem from a falconry point of view is that the number of grey herons is staying approximately the same but the numbers of white herons are exploding and their numbers are swelled each year by birds that have migrated from Russia. So often you find the two species feeding together and this makes a flight impossible as the whites are heavily protected all year round and the greys can only be hunted for the limited period. The window for hunting the greys happens to coincide with the influx of the whites in ever increasing numbers. So although there are still plenty of greys getting flights at them is becoming increasingly difficult.
Having been collected from the airport it was back to Leo’s office for a quick cup of coffee and whilst i changed into clothing more suitable to hawking than travelling the falcon was readied and loaded into the car. Socialising and catching up could wait till later, we were here to go hawking. The weather was quite kind to us in that it was bright and breezy with just a few, relatively light, rain showers. We drove for approximately an hour and on reaching the flying ground a telemetry transmitter was fitted to the falcon and filed jesses replace the mews ones. Now we sought a decent slip and one that would be a fair contest. It didn’t take too long to find a grey heron fishing a small brook in some very decent open countryside with the nearest lake or river some considerable distance away. We pulled up downwind of the heron and got out of the vehicle and walked towards it. Walking directly towards it we got somewhat closer to it than the heron was comfortable with, the large bird eventually lifted into the air and lazily made off upwind. As it did so we shouted and yelled to give the large bird the added incentive to leave the area. The heron responded by circling twice and increasing its height quite considerably by doing so. Only then was the falcon unhooded and allowed to take stock of the situation. “Isabella” spotted the heron immediately and bobbed her head once or twice but then had a really good look around, roused, looked at the heron one more time and then took to the air.
“Isabella” flew some distance downwind and then started to ring up, mounting very quickly and with seemingly very little effort at all. All the time the falcon was ringing up the heron was doing the same thing but in bigger, far more expansive circles. This display of ringing separately but in some form of uncohesive harmony continued for several minutes. Watching from underneath and with the two participants so far apart it was difficult to tell who, if anybody, was managing to get the upper hand. This was resolved for us when “Isabella” stopped ringing and powered across the sky directly towards the heron. The heron had obviously spotted the change in the flight pattern of the falcon and now broke off from ringing and drove directly into the wind as hard as it could. The falcon closed the gap between the two of them a lot faster than I would have given credit for and once she had fetched the heron it was clear to see she was considerably higher than her intended quarry. There then followed two false stoops on the part of the falcon that sent the heron lower and with each throw up the falcon increased the height between them. Just as things were looking like the final telling stoop was about to be delivered a kite came from nowhere and started to harass the falcon. Now we all know a kite can’t possibly pose a serious threat to the falcon but obviously the irritant tactics put the falcon off of her stroke and as a result of constantly shifting from the attentions of the pest the heron managed to make good its escape. What was shaping up to be a fabulous stoop and interesting culmination of the flight had been ruined by, what has to be begrudgingly classed as a first class flying display, the kite. “Isabella” was taken down to the lure and we could only ponder on what might have been. Never mind, a break for lunch, give the falcon a chance to rest, and then look for another flight in the afternoon.
Over lunch Leo and I discussed the fact that to the uninitiated in this flight it would be all too easy to think the falcon has refused the flight when she goes off a little downwind from the heron to start ringing up and attain her own pitch. I wondered if Leo had ever thought this in the early days of his heron hawking career. He replied that in the early days, when first chasing herons, many falcons fly straight at them and simple try smash and grab tactics and nearly always end up losing the heron. Those that are worth the trouble of persevering with, quite a number are not, soon learn that height advantage is the key to success and accordingly initially concentrate on ringing to get some height. The really switched on falcons go a little way downwind to ring up and this prevents the heron from turning downwind and making an easy escape before the falcon is in a position to do anything about it. Obviously this is a tactic you cannot teach the falcon, it comes from within and it must be assumed that those that figure this out are probably those that would survive admirably in the wild.
With falconer, falcon and spectator all rested it was time to see if we could get another decent slip, preferably this time a kite free one. After some three quarters of an hour we found another good set up and the same tactics as employed earlier were put into effect. This particular heron was fishing a water filled ditch between two very large fields and the only available cover were a few very sparse trees some considerable distance away and the only water was the ditch itself. So it would appear that the heron had no choice but to ring and then fly in order to evade the attentions of the falcon. Eventually the heron took to the air and the falcon, very much in her own time, set off a little downwind to start ringing up. Heron and falcon rang up independently for what seemed like an age and then the falcon showed one and all that she thought she had sufficient height by starting to pump across to the heron. The heron at this point lost its nerve and plummeted back down trying to reach the ditch it had only vacated a few minutes earlier. This was a foolish and exceedingly costly decision as it literally passed under the falcon in its attempts to reach what it considered safety. The falcon stooped hit the heron fair and square in the back. As the heron struggled to regain its composure in flight the falcon threw up and stooped again, this time binding to the head of the heron. Both falcon and heron tumbled earthwards and landed somewhat unceremoniously in a heap beside the ditch, the sanctuary the heron had misguidedly thought it could reach. The heron was quickly despatched and the falcon fed up on her kill. The flight was very disappointing in its ending, particularly so when compared to the promise showed by the first. However the heron had called the tune and paid the price for making a wrong decision.
Day two of my all too short hawking trip saw us set out mid morning looking for a decent slip. We found herons without too much problem but in situations that were far from ideal for slipping in anything like the hope of producing a sporting contest. There was always water at hand for the herons to bale into if pressed hard or there were white herons mixed in with the greys. Perseverance was the order of the day and after almost one and a half hours we had our fist slip. We had come across a solitary grey heron hunting in the middle of a very large expanse of grassland, presumably looking for rodents and frogs. Just about everything seemed right and so we parked the vehicle, made ready the falcon and walked towards the heron making as much noise as possible. The heron took to the air and we continued shouting and waving arms to ensure it really did feel threatened. The large grey bird circled a couple of times, gaining height as it did so, and then set of with deliberate wing beats driving itself into the wind and rising gradually as it did so. Once the heron was well and truly into its stride the falcon was unhooded and allowed to take in the tableau in front of her. She had a good look round, roused and then took to the air. Immediately the signs were good. The falcon started to ring up and concentrated on this and not in trying to close the gap to the heron. The hard flying continued until the falcon was a decent height and then she started to pump towards the heron, which by now was some considerable distance away and must have been wondering if he was under threat at all. He was very soon to know that indeed he was and a very real threat. The falcon continued to fly hard into the wind and closed the gap as well as gaining height over the heron as she did so. Quite a way before the falcon could be on the terms she would have liked the heron switched on to the danger it was in and started to ring also. So a really testing aerial contest began with both falcon and heron striving to be uppermost. Eventually the heron decided discretion may be the better part of valour and turned downwind and dropped like a stone at the same time. The falcon reacted and stooped at the heron and the heron managed to evade the first stoop with what, I should think from so far below, looked like inches to spare. At this point several crows joined in the melee and their attentions towards the falcon certainly distracted the falcon somewhat. The melee of heron, falcon and crows drew another onlooker in the form of a haggard peregrine falcon and whilst the Corvids and falcons checked each other out this allowed the heron to make good its escape. So no kill and only one stoop but what a thoroughly fantastic display of flying powers and tactics by both combatants. This had been really excellent falconry in the truest sense of the word. A kill doesn’t have to be the end result for there to have been first class sport. The falcon was taken down to the lure and we all took some time to get our breath and thoughts back.
Our next slip was over almost as soon as it started. We slipped in the normal way at a heron that had been standing in a very small stream between two fields. A good set up that promised the good chance of a ringing flight. However a second heron, unseen by us and one that hadn’t reacted to our shouting, got up a couple of hundred yards off to one side and the falcon checked at it. Needless to say, as is nearly always the case on such occasions the result was that neither heron was put under any pressure and once again the falcon was taken back down to the lure. Normally two flights a day is it for the falcon but this last was a very brief half hearted affair so it was decided to give her forty minutes or so and then look for one last flight that day.
We were in luck and did get one final slip that day. The circumstances looked very promising indeed and the heron was given ample opportunity to get up and fully into its stride before the falcon was unhooded and slipped. The falcon started to ring immediately and this heron reacted by doing exactly the same. Leo and I just stood and watched as the falcon and heron, separated by about a quarter of a mile or so, both did their best to out fly each other and maintain top position. This ringing contest went on for what seemed a long time but in reality probably wasn’t. It was hard to see from below who was holding the upper hand. It is always so easy to think it is the falcon because of her small size in comparison to the heron. When they ring separately it is even harder to tell and we only know when the falcon has well and truly gained the upper hand when it switches from ringing to a pumping flight to get across the sky and get on real terms with the heron. When the heron realised the falcon was now heading towards it he too broke off from his ringing flight ad started to pump into the wind. The falcon still managed to overhaul the heron and soon was in a position to put in the first stoop. Contact was made and the heron tumbled briefly before regaining its composure. However the falcon had thrown up to a position whereby it could almost immediately stop again and this time the stoop harder contact and the heron cart wheeled in the sky for a few seconds before sorting itself out and regaining its flying composure. Again the falcon had thrown up to a decent position and stoop as soon as the heron was flying straight again. This time the falcon bound to the heron by the head instead of giving a glancing blow at the end of the stoop. Both hawk and heron tumbled to the ground in a mass of legs and wings and Leo got in quickly and despatched the heron. A very fitting flight to end the day on.
Over the next few days I enjoyed some more flying of this quality and all too soon the trip was at an end. One thing is for sure I had been fortunate enough to witness some truly excellent flights and some first class falconry that in this day and age is very difficult to practice due to restrictions of access to sufficiently open enough land that holds sufficient numbers of herons to make this particular flight possible. I feel privileged not only to have enjoyed such flights for two seasons now but also the fact that I have already received an invitation to go again next season. I most certainly, god willing, be there.
I would just like to mention a couple of observations, purely personal, regarding heron hawking and feldeggi lanners. The first concerns the supposed very real danger, both in flight and any subsequent struggle on the ground, of the heron spearing the falcon with its bill. In all the flights I was fortunate enough to witness, a very considerable number over the two trips, not once did I see a heron even turn its bill towards the falcon when they were in the air. When it came to any struggles on the ground, these were few and far between as the falcon made a point of binding to the head of the heron before they tumbled earthwards. On the three separate occasions where the two birds hit the ground without the falcon seriously locked on to the head of the heron it seemed to me that the heron tried to grab the wing of the falcon and literally shake it off. On one occasion a heron did manage to achieve exactly that and the falcon was out of action for a couple of days with what must have been a very sore wing or at the very least a sprain. Not once did I witness an attempt on the part of heron t spear the falcon. Undoubtedly in days of old when heron hawking was practiced far more widely than it is now the spearing of a falcon may well have happened on occasion and, as with so many things, the number of times such a dramatic incident actually occurred became greatly exaggerated with time.
My other observation concerns the feldeggi lanner itself. I have only ever flown one feldeggi myself and that was way back in the very early nineteen seventies and the feldeggi in question was a haggard female. I remember she dwarfed a normal lanner and would take rooks with consummate ease. However the reason she stands out in my memory is not that she was so large but that she was so aggressive towards quarry. A sheer joy to fly and she was eventually lost flying rooks on the Austrian/Hungarian border when she managed to chase and kill on the Hungarian side of the fence. The iron curtain was still very much a realistic deterrent to people leaving the eastern bloc in those days and accordingly the border guards would not let me in to retrieve my falcon. No telemetry in those distant days and so up early and lure swinging from the highest spot the next morning was the only option. All to no avail as my lovely feldeggi was lost and never seen by me again.
“Frederick” the male feldeggi, brother to “Isabella” also is an exceedingly good rook hawk and again the logical thinking would be that he is far too small to be efficient at flying such a quarry. Nothing is further from the truth and he is very successful and has no problem not only catching rooks but also is extremely efficient in despatching them.
