luis
249 posts
Mar 28, 2007
12:27 AM
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I had an interesting and revealing day.Let my kit out early in the day(nice,clear and sunny).The kit flew for about 45 min. and refused to trap!Well no big deal i thought.As it turned out, a very big deal!It started getting cloudy(ugly cloudy),it started raining and the birds rather than trap took to the air!It got windy as hell and looking through my sliding door in the backyard all i could think was bye,bye birds.I could see them from time to time battling the winds and again i thought,these guys are history!
Well oddly enough after flying about another 25 or 30 min in strong gusts and rain they managed to land on the electric wires above my house.They were clinging to those wires for dear life.The winds were really strong!It stopped raining and cleared up and the darn birds still did not come in.Next thing i know they're up again!Two peregrine falcons were after them.Battling the strong winds again and the hawks they went high up and vanished!I thought,Oh crap that's it!Well about 20 min later i saw them coming down.Right about now i'm thinking to myself ,man this is to much!!Those guys were flapping in the wind like paper!
Eventually after fighting the wind for another 15 min or so they managed to land and trapped.I think they were fryed.Like i said interesting and revealing day.I learned i have some very strong birds with great flying and homing ability(i had some very,very young birds out)Unfortunately my managerial skills still leave a lot to be desired!Will have to keep working on this.
Reflecting on todays events,i wasn't to proud of myself but damned proud of my birds!!
Last Edited by on Mar 28, 2007 12:33 AM
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C.J.
1036 posts
Mar 28, 2007
4:28 AM
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Interesting story. You got lucky THIS TIME.
C.J.
Site Moderator
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classicpony
164 posts
Mar 28, 2007
5:31 AM
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Luis,
Interesting story about a storm coming in an what it can do to the birds. Thanks for sharing it with us. Informative!!
Jim
@thebirdhouse
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Santandercol
917 posts
Mar 28, 2007
6:20 AM
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Luis,
Sounds like they are over fed a bit,eh?Were you by any chance praying to the Roller Gawds??Either that or you're just super lucky!!
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Kelly
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luis
251 posts
Mar 28, 2007
9:57 AM
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Kelly i was prepping myself.I thought for sure they would be lost!I think the fact that they were fed up played a role in them not wanting to trap and their ability to fly that long in those conditions.
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J_Star
832 posts
Mar 29, 2007
8:23 AM
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Interesting story but been there done that. What appears to be is the birds knew the weather was changing but they liked the climate and the air current up there and continued on flying. When they came down, they refused to trap so that they can use the rain for bathing and cooling down. The first time it scared the crap out me fearing I was going to lose my kit. The second time was less dramatic for me. They fend for themselves when they are up in the air. The last thing I want is dumb rollers.
Jay
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2007 8:25 AM
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Electric-man
192 posts
Mar 29, 2007
8:58 AM
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Same story here, Tues. I flew my birds, 10 min into the fly, dark clouds and high winds! They went super high and went with the wind. 20 min later, here they came fighting their way back, acted like they were having the time of their lives. The wind dissapeared and the rained turned light for about 20 more min and they flew low and got their baths. Soon as it was over they trapped in and spent the rest of the day grooming and preening their feathers. Don't think I will make a habbit of it though, pretty gut wrenching when that big wind pushes them out of site in a matter of seconds! Luckily, it was a small storm!
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longarm
98 posts
Mar 29, 2007
6:18 PM
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I have to ask do you guys train your birds to work in heavy winds? I am forced by location to fly in 40-50 mph winds regularly through the spring and in the summer I am always raceing the tail of one thunder storm and the front of another so my bird must learn the wind. I am just wondering if they had been worked in the wind if that contibuted to their ability to make it back in a harder situation. c.j.
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luis
260 posts
Mar 29, 2007
8:42 PM
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Not me C.J!I don't make it a habit of flying the birds in wind.As some have stated and i believe it to be true,the birds pick up bad habits!Not that mine don't have some bad habits,but i don't want to add any to the list.I really think i got lucky for the winds were ridiculous!My patio set got thrown around and that's a big heavy patio set!
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gotspin7
63 posts
Mar 30, 2007
4:58 AM
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Luis, you got real lucky brother! keep them flying!
Sal
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J_Star
835 posts
Mar 30, 2007
5:00 AM
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Longarm,
The answer is yes and no (lol). You don't want to fly young birds kit in a windy day. You sure will lose a few. Old bird kit is another story thou. I fly them once in a great while in a windy day so that they learn to behave accordingly and manage the wind (Not extremely windy). They always come back without any loses. On occasion also, I fly my older birds when a young hawk around (Never with full grown hawk). The birds pick up on maneuvers and how to out fly the hawk. This is the just the way I do things.
Jay
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luis
262 posts
Mar 30, 2007
10:56 AM
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Hey Jay my birds get plenty of practice on evading hawks!Every time a fly a Hawk shows up.I have resident Red tails nesting in the trees in front of my house.They are huge trees wich serve the purpose for the hawks.I also have plenty of Coopers and the ocasional peregrine hits.These are the ones i hate for they could tear up quite a few before they grab one,and they don't quit until they do!!
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longarm
99 posts
Mar 31, 2007
6:37 PM
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That is intetresting I am curios what types of bad habits you see develop in wind. I see birds fly a hard pattern when the wind is up but they seem to enjoy being able to fly a softer pattern when the wind is down. I also see much better breaks when the wind is at 5 versus 50 mph. c.j.
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