Doc, Day 12

Day 12, 453g

Doc was a little slow to fly in the back yard yesterday. He eventually made a 20' flight then another from 15' much quicker.

I hooded him up and took him back inside and introduced him to the lure on his shelf perch. He ate what was left of a quail wing with some meat on it. I gave him a few tidbits on the lure.

He still has the terrible habbit of not regaining the fist on his own after a bate. I have to put him back on the fist after every bate. He's still a little nervous and doesn't like to be touched but he's getting calmer every day. He also doesn't sit well on his shelf for very long. I'm keeping him hooded at night and when I'm not home.

Passage Peregrine

Ok, I'm going to do my best to blog the training and hunting with my new bird. I was lucky enough to trap a tiercel passage peregrine in Maryland. For the first time since 1970 the USFWS allowed the capture of 36 passage peregrines for falconry this year.

Florida did not get their rules in place in time to participate this season so I was left with applying for non-resident take in one of the state that were participating. I applied to 5 different states and was only selected by Maryland. So, it was off to Maryland.

Diana and I drove the 15 hours all through the night to get there first thing in the morning to trap. And we were lucky enough to find a tiercel that came down to a ring-necked dove in a noose harness.

Doc was trapped at 500g on Oct 11th. He ate on the glove the first night back at the hotel in a dimly lit room.

He was hoping to the glove on the 17th and made his first flights outside 20' yesterday.

Making a Dho-gazza net

A few years ago I started making my own Dho-gazza nets. I looked around on the internet for years trying to find information but it was very scarce. And it's really something that you need to see to fully understand.

I finally learned how from my friend Jimmy Walker on one of his visits to Florida. Once I saw it done it was just a matter of practice. I've tried to explain it to a few people but I think this video series will make it much easier. It's not the most professional video but I hope it helps (just ignore the barking dog & screaming parrot).

If you want to make your own nets I recommend starting with the net making kit from Jann's Netcraft http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

One Step Closer

I spoke at a FWC commission meeting yesterday when a draft management plan was presented to FWC commissioners. The draft plan was approved by the commissioners with very little input. A final plan will now be drafted and hopefully approved at the June meeting.

I hope we'll be trapping peregrines in 2010.


For immediate release: April 15, 2009Contact:
Patricia Behnke, 850-251-2130

The world’s fastest bird is also resilient

The peregrine falcon is famous for its steep downward plunge, and that’s exactly what its population did during the past century when DDT usage in the United States nearly wiped them out. However, when the peregrine dives, it also rises with its prey, and that’s what has happened to its numbers in recent years. To keep those numbers soaring, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) directed staff to finalize a management plan for peregrine falcons Wednesday at the Commission meeting in Tallahassee.

The FWC decided in June 2008 to remove the peregrine falcon from the state’s endangered species list. However, before delisting can occur, the Commission must approve a management plan. The final plan will come before the Commission for approval at the June meeting in Crystal River. The Commission also directed staff to bring a rule for delisting the species to the June meeting as well. “The peregrine falcon is a success story showing what wise conservation practices can accomplish for a species,” said Robin Boughton, the FWC’s peregrine falcon management plan leader. “This draft plan offers management strategies for the peregrine’s continued success.”

As a result of pesticide regulations and captive breeding-and-release efforts, the peregrine falcon made a dramatic comeback from precipitously low numbers in the 1970s. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the species in 1999. Peregrine populations dropped from about 20,000 birds prior to the 1940s to 650 birds in 1965. Of the two subspecies of peregrine falcon that breed in the United States, there are now at least 1,900 breeding pairs.

The peregrine is known as the world’s fastest bird, averaging 25-34 mph during normal flight and reaching speeds in excess of 150 mph during dives for prey, which include doves and ducks.

Shad Fishing the St. Johns

For years I have wanted to fly fish the shad run on the St. Johns river. Every winter shad migrate back to their spawning grounds and fly fishermen line the banks to greet them.

The past few years the shad run has been very slow and we never had a chance to give it a try. Last year I met a new falconer, John Reed, that lives on the St. Johns and he emailed last week to say "The Shad are running".

Walt and I spent all week tying up tiny flies and jigs and headed out for our first shad fishing adventure on Sunday. The water in the St. Johns was very low and "Puzzle Lake" earned it's name, I ran the boat a ground a few times.

We first stopped a few hundred yards down stream. Walt got distracted by large bass swirling near shore and he played with those while I tried my hand at shad fishing.

It's much more like fishing for trout in a stream. You cast upstream and bring the fly down at a natural speed, twitching slightly as it floats. It didn't take long for me to land my first shad. We ended up landing 12 shad by noon.

Merlin Release

The end of the season is drawing near. Black Mamba, the suspected black merlin, had a great season catching nearly 65 sparrows this season, caching all but 4 or 5.

She cached the first sparrow she caught and continued that trend the whole season usually not even eating the head off of her victim.

I left her in the field on Saturday and Diana went back out Sunday while I was off fishing. While Diana was putting on her vest and gathering up some food Mamba came flying overhead.

She gave her a quail breast and took a few photos with her phone through her binoculars.

(Caching is a behavior in merlins. When they catch a bird they will take it to a stump, bush or thick grass and hide the bird without eating it. They will usually eat the head and hide, "cache" the rest and then return to hunt for more birds.)

Offshore 2009

February is not supposed to be a time for trolling the Gulf Stream for big Dolphin (Mahi Mahi) but I don't think you'll be able to convice me and Spence of that any longer.

Spence let his merlin go in Jan so I think he's been sitting around the house getting the fishing flu a bit early this year. He talked me into an early season offshore trip this past Sunday. We left the port at 5:30am and ran an hour and a half through the dark to get to a spot we hoped would produce a Wahoo.

We got there as the sun had cleared the horizon and started to fast troll over some bottom structure. The Wahoo did not show so we continued out to the gulf stream. For over an hour we didn't see any signs of life, no flying fish, no weeds, no bait, just deep blue water as far as you could see.

We decided to troll for another hour and then head closer to shore to fish for king fish. Ten minutes later a 30lb bull dolphin slammed one of our ballyhoo and burst out of the water. I finally landed the fish 20min later.

In the next three hours we landed three more nice dolphin and a skipjack tuna and we lost three other dolphin.

The 2009 Offshore fishing season is off to a great start!!!!!