Falconry at the Landesgartenschau

Harris Hawk

Last weekend M and I drove to the Landesgartenschau in Überlingen on Lake Constance, not because we like flowers all that much, and certainly not because we like crowds. We are members of the VDF-BW (Verband Deutscher Falkner –Baden-Württemberg) and although we don’t have our own bird yet, we offered to serve as unofficial photographers for the event.

The Verband had 10 or so Falknerinnen and Falkner at their booth plus six raptors and two owls. There were four Harris Hawks (amerikanische Wüstenbussarde), two Saker falcons, a barn owl (Schleiereule) and a snowy owl (Schneeeule). The Falkner answered questions posed by curious and captivated onlookers who wanted to know what kind of birds these were, how long their lifespan is, how much the birds weigh, what it involves to become a Falkner, and what the birds and owls eat. The children were especially curious about the Schneeeule, who looked like Harry Potter’s Hedwig (who, by the way, was a male, just like Hedwig). Several lucky children were allowed to hold a Harris Hawk on a borrowed Falknerhandschuh (falconer’s glove) and their faces beamed like at Christmastime.

Verbandsvorsitzender Joachim Ehni and three additional members, each with an owl or raptor on the arm, gave a presentation on a nearby stage three times that day, telling the attentive audience about the raptors and owls, sharing some stories and explaining how the Beizjagd (hunting with birds of prey) works.

Ehni shared a story about sending one of his young hawks after several crows, when all of a sudden a whole hidden flock took to the skies! The young Greif went for one crow, changed her mind upon seeing the overwhelming number – like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock – and flew straight back into the car! When Ehni got there the hawk looked at him as if to say, “Schließ die Tür, Kumpel, und weg hier! Es ist scheißgefährlich da draußen!“ (“Close the door, Mate, let’s git!! It’s dangerous out there!”)

This is Hekate, the Harris Hawk who's teaching M and me
how to be good falconers.

Wouldn't you love to be able to look behind you by just turning your head? So does every teacher who has ever taught children. Raptors have 14 neck vertebrae compared to our 7, which allows them to turn their heads about 270°.

I’ll let this be a photo-heavy post since that’s what we were there for!

One leg ring is her ID and hatch year, and the other
is her falconer's telephone number in case she gets lost
(and found by another falconer).

Answering questions about falconry and the Schleiereule (barn owl)

Ayla, Harris Hawk
perched on a Sprenkel

Sakerfalke (light coloring)

Sakerfalke (dark coloring)
wearing a Haube because she's more relaxed
when she doesn't see anything that gets her excited.

Schneeeule (snowy owl)

This is a Harris Hawk Terzel (male).
A Terzel is about 1/3 smaller than a female.

A lot of teaching and learning went on that day.

The Verband is grateful for the donations guests put into the collection box. The money is used, for instance, to fund food and medical help for sick or injured wild raptors that are cared for by Verband members.

What questions do you have about falconry or these lovely owls and birds of prey?

Minding Others' Business

Something interesting (to me) happened today. Many expats have complained about Germans’ (and Dutch as well as some other Europeans’) tendency to “mind other people’s business,” that is telling total strangers what they should or should not be doing. A common one in Germany is crossing a street when the Ampelmännchen is red. You’re setting a bad example to children who might see you, so don’t do it. And if you do do it and someone sees you, you’re likely to get scolded. Another one is sitting on cold surfaces (like stone) in the winter because that supposedly causes bladder infections. Now, I’ll admit, when I’ve heard expats tell about experiences like this, I’ve sometimes thought, “Come on, is there something missing from your story? I mean, why would a total stranger publicly scold you like a child for doing something that doesn't affect him or her?” Ok, a stranger definitely did tell me I shouldn’t be sitting on the cold steps of M’s office one winter’s day while I was waiting for him, but I'm sure she was just considering my health.

This (someone minding my business) happened to me today. What on earth was I doing wrong? I was taking a walk with earphones in, listening to music.

Read on for the rest of the story.

One of my semi-regular walks is past the edge of our village, across some fields, through a forest to the neighboring village where there is a fabulous bakery. I always listening to music until I get to the forest, and while in the forest I ditch my music in favor of the symphony of nature. Then I usually listen to music again rather than the man-made noises of the village. On the way back, same thing – no earphones in the woods, but when I get to the field, I put them back in again.

This is the beginning of the forest between villages.
I used to walk straight here, until I learned the path to the right
leads into a longer unpaved forest path, traveled by fewer people.

This morning as I rounded a corner to head along the fields, I noticed a father and son standing near the last house (farm) on the way out of the village, talking to the farmer. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, I gave a nod and added a pleasant expression (not quite a smile). The farmer half-shouted at me, “Ja, gude Morga!” I hesitated and said, "Morgen!" while taking out my earphones, and he said, “Schmeiß das Ding weg!” (“Get rid of that thing!”)

Now, I could have felt offended, I could have ignored him, I could have told him he should mind his own business, or I could have said at age 52 I’ll damn well decide for myself whether I’m going to listen to music or not while I'm walking alone. But I didn’t do any of those things, because on some level I agree with him. I think it’s a pity that so many people go through their days with things stuck in their ears listening to everything but the sounds of where they are: Parents walking babies in strollers talking on the phone to someone else rather than interacting with their child, people walking their dogs paying more attention to their smartphones than their pet, people alone on trains or buses closing themselves off from the rest of the world by listening to music so loud other people in the compartment have to hear it, too, at least the bass drum beat. Those of you living in the city, I can’t blame you for trying to dull the cacophonous roar that is big city noise – I mean those of us who live where it’s relatively quiet.

Near the scene of my crime is this beautifully artistic door
that I'm tempted to photograph in every season.
This is not an inhabited house, it's the back of a garage, I think.

Back to Bauer Mecke. So how did I respond? Rather than being annoyed or crabbing back in English, I said in German, “As soon as I’m in the forest, the earphones are gone.” He crossed his arms and stomped, and said, “Well, good.” Then I think he started to complain to the father about people who constantly wear earphones, but his words faded quickly enough as I trekked on and stuck the earphones back in.

Another common expat gripe is that Germans are rude, or at least not friendly. By US-American standards what he did was rude. You shouldn’t go around telling strangers how they should spend their time. I could have been listening to a book on tape, hearing questions and answers for the Jägerprüfung, or learning German. I have all those things on my very old-fashioned MP3 player, and listening to any of that gives me a break from my tinnitus. I was actually listening to Disney’s “Tarzan” in German, and I assure you listening to and learning music in a foreign language helps you learn it, including grammar!

I don't share many expat complaints about Germans (and I don't know any Dutch people). I'm just chalking this incident up to "Yeah, it's happened to me, too." I just find it interesting that I've seen this complaint quite a few times in expat groups, have questioned it (seriously, why would he make her business his when no one's life, safety, or property is in danger?), and then it happens to me. That serves as a reminder to me not to question or doubt others' experiences.

P.S. I was going to mention the German quirk involving drafts, but a British blogger in Bavaria I follow just wrote about this and saved me the time. Here's the link.

Reverence for Life

Not long after I moved to Germany during a visit in Wisconsin I was introduced to Dr. Hans-Udo Jüttner, who has since become a friend. He was on the brink of a project for which he needed some assistance, namely transcribing the nearly 400-page hand-written Tagebuch (diary) he wrote in 1962-1963 while working with Dr. Albert Schweitzer in his hospital in Lambarene, Gabon, Africa. He'd written this Tagebuch mainly in German, with occasional English and some French, French being the official language of the country. Gabon was occupied by France in 1885, became a French territory in 1910, and gained its independence in 1960, just two years before Udo arrived there.

Udo needed his Tagebuch in electronic form because he wanted to see about getting parts of it published. 

Through my years of teaching in Wisconsin I had come across many unique styles of handwriting, which I sometimes had to decipher in order to grade homework and tests. I expected the English and German would be no problem, but I do not know a word of French! Udo gave me a copy of the first pages of his Tagebuch, and on the way home in the airplane, I had a look. 

What an honor and a privilege to be trusted with this man's personal diary of a time and place I knew very little about. It did not take me long to decide I would like very much to be part of this project. 

I'd heard of Dr. Schweitzer of course, but I did not know much about him. During the next several months while I transcribed the Tagebuch, I also ordered and read some biographies about Dr. Schweitzer and explored the hospital's website. Schweitzer certainly led a fascinating life but was also a controversial figure in some respects, which didn't surprise me by this time.

Statue of Dr. Albert Schweitzer
in Gunsbach, France

I finished my part of the project in March of 2014, and I was giddy with excitement to hear from Udo in mid-July 2021 that his book has recently been published! After picking it up at our local bookshop, I opened and started reading it while walking back to my car, not being able to wait until I got home. It is available directly from the German publisher, at this point only in German. 

Udo's Tagebuch is a personal look behind the scenes of the work done in Schweitzer's hospital in Lambarene, not only the medical work of the hospital and the leprosy village, but especially the Alltag (everyday life) in a jungle setting. There was, among the responsibilities, the manual work of building and improving the structures, managing the various animals living in the complex, treating the patients and providing for them and their families' food. He also tells of the constant stream of visitors from all over the world arriving daily in the hospital, alone or in large groups - reporters, globetrotters, Nobel Prize winners, tourists, and famous as well as lesser-known donors and admirers. They were all welcome to share the daily meals with Schweitzer and his staff on the banks of the Ogowe river in Lambarene.

The medical care patients received was provided free-of-charge, but those and their family members who were able were required to help out with various tasks and chores around the complex. Udo was in charge of working with and managing these groups of workers for his first three months in Lambarene.

Udo also includes a letter he wrote to his former teacher at the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Marl-Hüls, in which he describes life in general at the hospital and the organization and schedule of work days. This wasn't in the original diary I transcribed, and I poured over this like every other part that was new to me: the foreword, the final thoughts, the notes, the photos and captions.

What makes a Tagebuch most enjoyable are the personal observations and thoughts of the writer. Udo shares his joys and satisfaction of projects well done, frustrations, questions, hopes, and feelings about Dr. Schweitzer, who was a role model for Udo, though not infallible. He also explains how he came to spend those 16 months in Lambarene and how reading Schweitzer's biography when he was a teenager inspired him to pursue a medical career.

Udo has long been an active hobby-photographer, and the photos in the book were taken by or of him. Dr. Schweitzer did not like to pose for photos, so those of him tend to be candid shots, which I find wonderfully authentic. It was especially nice for me to see photographs of my friend back when he was the age my son is now!

Udo und ich in Esslingen

I feel truly fortunate to have been introduced to Udo and invited to participate in this transcription project! He did need to edit and cut parts because the original would have been too long for most readers (the final version is 172 pages), and I think I'm glad I wasn't involved in that part because I would have had a hard time cutting anything! 

One example of this involves birthdays. Dr. Schweitzer made the birthdays of his co-workers special by celebrating them at the evening meal with a speech, songs, gifts, togetherness and Gemütlichkeit. While transcribing, each time I came to the point where Udo said it was someone's birthday, I found myself thinking, "Oh good! What is he going to say this time?!" But these birthday celebrations weren't important for the purpose of Udo's book, and therefore it's understandable that he and his editor decided to cut most of them. The reader still gets a taste of how birthdays were celebrated in Lambarene when Udo briefly describes his own birthday on...well, read the Tagebuch and find out for yourself! 😊

I was truly sorry when I came to the end of his Tagebuch and wished there were a sequel. There is, of course, just not in published diary form. After his 16 months in Lambarene, Udo returned to Germany but then spent five years at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S. for his medical training in radiology, met his dear wife Joan, and after a brief return to Germany decided to pursue his medical career in the U.S. His extensive travel adventures include climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for his 60th birthday, trekking to the Mt. Everest base camp when he turned 70, and returning to Nepal for his 80th birthday to the Rukmani Secondary School he helped found and continues to support in a remote Himalayan village. My dad (74 at the time) joined him on this trip, which also included a trek in the Himalayas in the direction of Gokyo-Ri.

Udo and Dad (Nepal, 2016)

I think when most of us come into the autumn years of our life, we want to look back to a life well lived. It's not the hours spent at work that come back to us for reflection, but the adventures we pursued, the people we encountered who made a lasting impression on us, the lives we hope we impacted, and the good we did. Albert Schweitzer's lifelong philosophy was "Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben" (reverence for life), and to me that encourages us to live our best life and do what we can to make this a better world despite our imperfections. I hope Udo knows the depth of the impression he has made on me, how much I have learned from him and from reading about his adventures and his time in Lambarene, and that I am glad to call him my friend.

Udo in Nepal (2016)

Falconry Update, July 2021

Since it has been a while, I thought I would post an update of how things in our falconry world are progressing.

We have a new falconer-mentor, who has a lovely Harris Hawk named Hekate. The two of them have been teaching me some of the basics, and while I have a long way to go before I'd feel comfortable with my own hawk, I have been learning a lot! I'm grateful to my first Lehrprinz (with the Habicht/Goshawk), but I don't think that was going well for any of us. I did learn without a doubt that a Habicht is not the right bird for us, at least not yet. The Habicht tends to be a nervous bird, and adding to that my own nervousness...not the right combination. That was important to learn as well.

Before I met my mentor and Hekate, I was not entirely sure what direction I wanted to pursue with falconry. Going for hawk walks, as we've done during falconry afternoons in Scotland and here in Germany and with Ronja the Sakerfalke, definitely. Daily training, surely. Hunting with the bird, maybe but I wasn't sure. Since learning more about the Krähenjagd (crow hunting) I can say that I'm eager to head in that direction and continue working with my mentor and Hekate.

Hekate is in the Mauser (molting) right now, which generally lasts from March into August. This is "down time" for her and her training exercises are limited to very short flights on a Lockschnur (creance) and some exercises in her Voliere. Her Falknerin spends time with her every day and weighs her most days, and she's a very personable bird. M and I have been partial to Harris Hawks ever since meeting Albus in Scotland. They are sociable birds who actually like to spend time with their falconer, unlike the Habicht, who'd rather be left the hell alone.

She has her moods, for sure. Like the day I brought our beautiful new wooden Sprenkel (perch) for her to sit on so I could take a photo and send it to the Drechsler who made it for us for his website. That little experiment started with her giving it the side eye and ended with her hanging upside down from her falconer's glove, clearly saying, "Just kill me now. I'm not sitting on that thing!"

Here's the Sprenkel without Hekate,
but with a bottle of wine with a falcon label.

I've also seen her have a bath on a hot day, which looked like the slow-motion birdie version of twerking. Not very elegant, but entirely adorable.

Just like Ronja enjoys her "Baum-to-go" walks, Hekate enjoyed a windy day out for a "hawk walk." Since M and I were both there that day, we got some photos.

Her look is clearly saying, "Lift me higher, Woman!"

"That's more like it!!"

Recently  my mentor took me out in her car to demonstrate the kind of driving we do for hunting crows. Holy cats! This will take some practice! Crow hunting is done here from a car. The bird sits on the passenger's glove and everyone keeps a look-out for crows standing in fields not far from the road. At just the right moment, the passenger lowers the window and "throws" the hawk out, and the hawk picks out and attacks a crow. Immediately after the hawk is out, the driver slams on the brakes* and pulls off the road, the passenger jumps out and runs to the hawk to help finish off the crow if necessary or bag it if the hawk has already taken care of it. The hawk returns to the glove, they both return to the car, and it's off again to the next opportunity.

*She has already made sure there's no vehicle behind her and no oncoming truck!

You can't do this on foot because the crows will be long gone before you can get the hawk close enough to be successful. They're smart, too, and learn which cars the falconer and hawk travel in, so it does no good to hunt the same area again too soon. Crows can cause a lot of damage to farmers' crops, so farmers are generally pleased to have an active falconer nearby.

Hekate's favorite nibbly is mice. Even when she's not entirely in the mood to come down from her perch, land on the glove and be weighed, she can generally be tempted do so for a warm and squishy (deceased) mouse. Nomnom.

M and I also visited Ronja and her Mensch together not long ago and had a really nice day! He was able to see why I was really leaning toward wanting a Sakerfalke after spending a few hours with Ronja. We look forward to seeing them again.

In the mean time I/we continue to work with Hekate and my mentor each week, and we are trying to get the building of the Voliere settled. We need to apply for a Baugenehmigung (building permit), which requires filling out a bunch of documents and providing a drawing of all four sides of the Voliere. That's proving to be an intimidating expense and an enormous pain in the ass. 

I am looking forward to crow season and every step of learning leading up to the first time I assist Hekate! In a future post I'll provide some information about Harris Hawks, why we've decided that's the bird for us, and why we want a Terzel (male). I will also be able to provide more information about the Krähenjagd after I've been out a few times.

Until then...

Email subscriptions

Greetings to my readers!

I've been remiss in notifying you that Feedburner (the program that has handled email subscriptions to my blog) will no longer function within Blogger. I have switched to follow.it in order to keep offering email subscriptions.

This means that yet again, if you want to keep receiving my blog posts by email, you will need to click on "Get new posts by email" and enter your email address. On a PC that is in the upper right of the screen. I don't know where to find it on a tablet or smartphone, but perhaps someone who does can add that to the comments section of this post.

Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland

I'm including a favorite photo for your efforts. Enjoy! 

And although my blogging has slowed down signifcantly, I plan to post a falconry update soon.

Until then, stay healthy! (Well, stay healthy after that also!)

~ Ami