DAY 303: AMAZING HEADGEAR

PHOTO BY TIM LAMAN - King of Saxony Bird of Paradise. 

I found a website which features 'Amazing Birds' - & this one is truly amazing and decorative - also what I would call very elegant, reminding me of a high class society lady's cocktail headgear!

Apparently, this bird of paradise has been provided with special muscles which let it swing each antenna-like head feather through a 180-degree arc - when trying to impress a female.  It caused me to wonder where it keeps its head feathers when it's just being normal!!  Perhaps you can suggest something......??

DAY 302: THE HUNTER, THE FALCON & THE HORSE

The hunter gently pulls off the falcon's hood. The bird's gaze swivels from one end of the horizon to the other, stopping momentarily to spy the hare in the distance. With a shout, "Hah!" the hunter releases the falcon. It ascends with two flaps of its 5-foot wingspan, then swoops downward in a blink-of-an-eye glide that ends with the bird's 3-inch talons clutching the rabbit's head.

Later, at the top of a lone hillock, the hunter, Ablykhan Zbasov, explains what tethers him to a sport practiced by his forefathers 3,000 years ago, a casualty of the Soviet era now gradually making its way back to the Kazakh plains.

"When you hunt with a rifle, this is not interesting," says Zbasov, 30, his boyish face reddened by a bracing steppe wind. "But when you have the bird and your horse with you, you feel united with nature. It's really beautiful. You never forget the bird's grasp of your wrist, how powerful it is."

(Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan website)

DAY 301: FALCONRY IS AN ART

 

Falconry is an art. It requires long hours, constant devotion, finesse, subtlety and skill. The falconer must train a bird of prey to fly free, hunt for a human being and then accept a return to captivity.

Falconers must devote time to their birds each and every day, 365 days a year.

It is not for everyone. It is not a suitable pastime for children.

In addition, it takes a thick skin. Animal-rights activists and some environmentalists condemn falconers; some hunters claim falcons interfere with "their" hunting; and many falconers have lost a bird to inept or ill-intentioned hunters.

DAY 300: THE FALCON HUNTER

Hunting may be a sport to some, but to most people around the world it is a way of life.           If you don't hunt, you don't eat. One great way to hunt with minimal effort is Falconry. Why spend lots of effort when you can train a falcon to do it all for you, then return the catch.

In the USA, hunters get together in lodges, discuss tactics, setup cameras, figure out ways to get more animals to come into their zone, then go out and kill as many as possible in as short a period as possible. 

In poorer countries, this is not the case. Hunters are often poor, are forced to hunt in vast tracts of land, and rarely trust their friends not to steal their catch.

Kazakhstan is a land where hunting with Falcons and Eagles is still popular. Since this is strange to the western world, a large tourist industry has been built on encouraging people to come view the hunt, or even participate in it. Westerners can participate actively or passively in the hunt, and depending on how much they spend they can also be given a falcon or eagle of their own for the hunt.

(From www.mizozo)

DAY 299: FALCONRY

Photo: participants of Salburun festival in Bokombaevo village of Issyk Kul Province in Kazakhstan.

"Historically, Falconry was widely practiced by Kazakhs and Mongols, as well as in the Mesopotamian region. There are few hunters quite as adept at catching its prey like a great bird, and the Falcon represents the ideal size for most. Eagles play a large part too, but eagles require a much stronger man with a much stronger will. The larger the bird, the more dominant it becomes, and so Falcons played a much larger part in history.

Today, Kazakhstan has revived their Falconry practice by holding various competitions. 

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Prizes include big screen TVs, electronics and other reasonably small prizes, but the show is quite impressive to tourists. Some tourists go so far as hire a guide, complete with bird for an entire day of hunting."

Quite a way to spend about $5000 in one day!

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DAY 298: THE POLAR OWL

The Polar Owl is the biggest bird in the Arctic. 
Females are larger than males. They have a body length of 55-65 cms, a wingspan of 150-160 cms; and a weight of 1.5-2 kgs.

Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue.

Hmmm, I wondered if that last sentence really contained truth, so I googled it and found the following answer: 

"This ludicrous myth was spread via an email chain letter, notorious for misinformation & general silliness. The idea behind most of them is to see how many of your friends are gullible enough to forward them without checking to see if they are true, then having a good laugh.

Not only can birds see blue but some varieties of birds can see into the UV spectrum, allowing them to detect colors that humans cannot perceive.

Owls are nocturnal and have poorer color vision than their diurnal counterparts like harks or eagles.

The reason bluebirds, blue jays, blue herons, blue parrots & all sorts of other blue-plumaged birds attract mates with their blue feathers is because birds CAN see blue." 

DAY 297: WAXWING BANTER

Meet the Waxwing - 

This beautiful bird is unable to split the berries it finds, and so swallows them whole instead. 

Waxwings can eat so many berries in one day that they double in weight.       That's a lot of berries.

Convert it into the type of food we eat - I know lots of people who could double their weight in one day, but then we should rather do some 'banting'!!