ultimate broadwinging!!!

i had the pleasure of seeing a fantastic bird flown on wednesday afternoon. the bird is a female redtailed hawk and she belongs to a good friend of mine.

the bird is called "yuma" she flies at just under 3lb. and she is a parent reared first year bird. she was left in an aviary until December as her breeder was due to sell her in spain. but the deal fell through and my mate john bought her.

now i like redtails. its oft said that god loves a tryer and for what its worth i certainly do! i have nothing but fond memories of my old female red and some of the overly large game she regularly caught.

so i was interested in seeing my friends bird flown.

we walked to the flying ground with the bird hooded and then my mate casted his bird off. i was expecting his bird to lift up into a tree but instead she went in a low glide until she faced the wind at which point she becan to climb in a series of ever growing circles she carried on gaining height until she was about 500/600 ft i find it difficult to gauge such heights but basically her wingspan looked to be about 2mm wide!!

i stood in awe watching this redtail being flown to the zenith of its ability it suddenly made goshawking look very mundane and easily achieved!!

after a few moments of watching the bird almost dot out in a blue sky. the lure was produced and the bird went into a steep dive. and was recovered.

my friend is going to attempt to fly his bird at flushed pheasants from a waiting on position next season.

cant wait!!!

u sure it was a red? lol now that would be some lump of a bird from a 500ft stoop!!! if it will wait on then i assume this should be possible and would love to see that, il eagerly await pics

ben this is what broadwings do naturally. and something they and eagles do better than any other birds

theres a reason they have a short train and that particular wing conformation.

the bird didnt stoop as a falcon would but dived legs outstretched spilling air the way an eagle does.

im gonna bring a camera with me next time.

Sounds great mate......

would have been good to get a Hare up at the time..

Stu Bailey wrote:Sounds great mate......

would have been good to get a Hare up at the time..

if only stu...

that would be amazing mate!