Day 39:

Just thought I would post an update on Chapal's daily weighing. To have a far better understanding of the condition of a falconry bird daily weight is taken and a record kept for future reference.

Today Chapal weighs 659 grams, including bells and jesses.

A triple-beam scale is used which is accurate to 1/2 gram. Because of a tiercel's size accurate and small incremented measurement units are more valuable than ounces and pounds.

Day 38:

So the jesses are on and Chapal is learning to use a portable block perch.


The only areas with much down is the crown and the uppertail coverts.


The primaries and rectrices still have a few inches to grow which should be complete near the end of this week.


Chapal still can't dismember food yet so lure training will start in a few days.

Day 35:

Chapal has continued to grow in his contour and flight feathers. But there is a ways to go yet. Particularly the primaries, secondaries and rectries.

He has become increasingly active as his co-ordination and agility have been developing to make use of those new feathers.

He is very brave or reckless in his aproach to his "ledge" which is about 4' above the floor. He bails out regularly and as a result often is found in secluded areas of the house.

Bells have been "installed" in an attempt to aid in locating the wanderer.

Jesses will follow in the next few days to a

void his short flights to possible trouble.

The second mew has been framed in and will soon be complete. It will be modified to house Chapal the tiercel Peregrine.



By placing a secure external door on this end of the hallway a secure second enclosure will have been created to "catch" any escapees while the mew is being entered.


The meeting of the two roof lines will secure the upper portion of the hallway making a suitable place for much of the falconry equipment and

management tools.


This design also allows for possible future mews to be placed beside these thus saving materials and cost while providing a safe and secure structure for housing most species of falconry bird as each chamber can be modified for the various species.

Scirocco is now 7 weeks old and has been coming along nicely in his training. He has been fitted with jesses and bells as well as an i.d. tag and will be banded by Fish and Wildlife this coming Tuesday.

He has taken quite nicely to his introduction to being perched in the yard on a bow perch and baths quite regularly.

There still is some plumage development to happen and down on head, abdomen and legs to be replaced with contour feathers.

Here he is seen resting relaxed on one foot.

Day 26:

The plumage is coming in quickly now as Chapal is about halfway to fledging age.

At 25 days of age:

Chapal, my tiercel Peregrine is definitely showing signs of flight feather growth as well as some pin feathers that will later become the contour feathers on the back.

Chapal is showing some of his human imprinting by starting to bow and vocalize toward me. Now the trick is to minimize the vocalizing to prevent him from becoming a "screamer" each time he sees me.

At 22 days of age:

My new Peregrine tiercel has arrived and will be spending a few weeks with me in the house while his mews is being completed.

He was hatched on June 20, 2008 and is a pure Anatums sub-species and should weigh between 500-600 gr. at flying weight.

I have placed a temporary "nest" in the mews to help the hawklets feel at home while they continue to develop to brancher ages.

Each day I am more convinced Scirroco is male and the other hawklet is female. The latter has a distinctively larger head, longer and thicker toes and tarsus as well as outweigh Scirroco by almost 8 oz.

Well, the mew is nearly finished. Just a few finishing touches before added the Redtail hawklets.

The entrance door is equipped with a one way glass viewing window which allows viewing of the interior yet prevents stress by the viewed hawk. A lock is added for security as well as an interior catch to keep the door closed which catching up the hawk

The perches are designed to duplicate limbs of trees found in the wild but also keep the hawks away from the walls and windows. This greatly reduces the risk of plumage damage, especially to the flight feathers while giving the hawk an opportunity to enjoy the sun while viewing the countryside.

The gravel floor is to help ease of cleaning and reduce risks from waste and unconsumed food.

I attempt to place two windows in a mew. The choice of placement is to gain benefits from the sun yet minimize drafts that sap the birds energy. I want to also create situations where the bird(s) can get out of the direct sun, rain, snow or drafts from a window. So you want circulation of air during hot days but not drafts during cold days.

One of the two windows of this mew is placed to get morning sun and the other afternoon/evening sun.

Scirroco continues to grow, gain weight and feather development. He has used several different voicalizations. Soft peeps, A louder nervous peeping and a softer version of the Redtail territorial scream.

The yet un-named hawklet is more nervous and uses the aggressive/territorial scream more often than Scirroco. This hawklets further along in feather development and shows the more common head plumage development.

Mew #1 is almost complete with entrance door to be installed, food chute and entrance door for hallway which will act as second (backup/security) door.

Mew #2 has the front wall which also forms the left wall of hallway up and timbers laid out to show foundation. I use conduit galvanized pipe for window bars. It is very secure and weatherproof.

The bars must be close enough together so the raptor can not get their head and then a shoulder through the openings. If they can they are free. Not desirable.

Well, sometimes life literally thrusts opportunities or birds in your face and you have to choose what's best for both. Scirroco has a new best friend as of yesterday.

New development is often created at the expense of wildlife. Cranbrook is experiencing a growth spurt as a result of increased human population and the greater disposable income enjoyed by a good economy of B.C. and Alberta. The Columbia Valley (Cranbrook is at the southern end) has become a recreational playground for Albertans for many years now and is currently embracing the recreational economic benefits of golf. There is a new course being created on the outskirts of the city along the St. Mary's river. It is being claimed by the course developers that 2 RT hawklets were found on the ground Friday, June 27, 2008 as a result of falling out of their nest tree.

The birds were retrieved by a local mammal rehabber and moved to their facility. As some of you are aware I had my newly constructed mews inspected (a regulation of falconry) by a local biologist with our Fish and Wildlife office. During that visit the situation with these hawklets was relaid to me and the biologist asked me if I would mind visiting the facility and consider accepting one of the hawklets as the second bird of my capture permit of 2008. When I visited the hawklets they were a little older than was suggested and one had a scabbed injury on it's left side of the face, behind the mouth/gape and below the ear. Both birds were alert and showed a expected level of fear which is good. Though it was not my 1st choice but one made out of consideration for the big picture welfare of the younger, slightly injured hawklet I chose to accept the bird and raise it as a falconry/education bird and possible mate for Scirroco (although this is the last of a long list of considerations and neither birds gender has been confirmed. They may both be males and hopefully both are not females). So the Redtail population in Scirroco's territory has doubled. The fun and science has expanded.

The new (yet un-named) hawklet is possibly 4-5 days older than Scirroco, the size comparisons are very similar with the toes possibly being a little thicker and the weight slightly greater. The new bird is much more cautious and defensive but a few days of exposure to me will lessen that greatly. The bird won't eat on its own at this time. More likely a result of fear than anything else and has a softer version in it's repertoire of vocalizations, something Scirroco has yet to reveal.