The big day for Bob the kestrel

Absolutely delighted to announce that Bob is now free flying! We had our first day free at one of our lovely flying permissions at the back of Cranleigh golf course.

Bob was an absolute star, he flew to the fist for a bechin (small amount of food), then flew back to his training perch of his own accord and turned straight back round facing me, waiting for the lure. As soon as the lure was out and swinging he flew straight over, hovered low above the lure until I rewarded him by dropping the lure to the floor. He had half his food on the lure, before politely jumping straight up to the fist for the remainder of it. We then enjoyed some time sat in the field, Bob all fluffy and content to be with me.

Now the fun really begins. I'll be slowly introducing passes to the lure (where he follows it through but it's pulled away just before he can grab it) to allow him to build up his fitness and flight skills which will build on his length of free flight time. I also hope to start encouraging him to fly of his own free will for a duration of time before the lure/reward comes out. It's my aim to allow him to develop his skills naturally by just letting him fly and not pushing anything, teaching him to enjoy his time on the wing prior to focussing on chasing the lure which is essentially a simulated hunt. Hopefully he catches on to the hovering behaviour which is what I'd really like to reliably bring out of him!