OT..but anyone missing a Harris Hawk ?!

[fiacha]

sitting at my desk sulking over another late evening in work, when something blasts past my third floor window. i look out into the garden, but can't see anything. there's just a jingling noise like bells coming from the bushes below. assuming that one of the brewery cats has taken up base jumping, i go back to work.

another shape outside the window and next thing I know I'm staring straight at a bloody big Harris Hawk. After climbing out from under the desk, i'm treated to 5 minutes of him sitting on the window ledge glaring at me.

a stunning bird to see at all, let alone from 3 feet away. he's sporting a full set of falconry gear, so he's obviously decided not to go back to his "owner".

just done a bit of googling, and apparently he's been around this part of Dublin for a couple of years. Nice to see him doing so well in the wild.

I've also tracked down some photo's taken of him just across the river from here last week . http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/gallery/gallery37.html

this has made my week and I still have the long weekend to look forward to !

 

[BorderReiver]

It'll probably fly home when it gets hungry

 

[match]

Hmm - seems a bit strange, I understood it that Harris Hawks were 'pack' birds that tended to hunt in groups, and this was one of the things that made them excellent as falconry birds, since they looked on the falconer as part of their 'family'.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[hootchi]

You're right. I've used them aswell and they work very well with dogs.

 

[Aelfred]

Not the only loose harris hawk. I've seen one trailing cords and jingling over Brighton. I can't imagine anybody would fly one right over the town. So I think it's moved into to enjoy the bounteous supply of pigeons and starlings.

 

[Stuart]

nope not mine, my harris hawks sitting in the garden

looking at the pictures he doesnt have a bell on his feet so it must be on his tail feathers, he will be molting out his feathers over the coming months (mine started last month) the middle two tail feathers will go first along with the bell attached to them.

so he will stop jingling in a few weeks

luckally it looks like he is wearing flying jesses (leather straps on his feet) rather than muse jesses, the muse jesses has slits cut into them for attaching a swivel and line, if he escaped wearing these he could get them tangled in branches (or more commonly TV arials) which would leave him trapped.

its very unusuall to lose a harris for any length of time due to there 'pack' instinct mine has gone walkabout twice, both times returning to the house after a day or so.

if you leave out a chick (available from reptile food suppliers etc) its unlikly he will pass it up.

give your local hawking center a call and let them know where it is