Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1879 posts
Jun 30, 2010
9:54 AM
|
I flew my young cock's today a little early and they worked real well. They stayed up over two hours in a mild wind but all kitted except for four very young that dropped out after a half hour.
That went so well, I flew the young hens. They climbed to about 250 feet and then from no where came six Coopers. Two males, two large females and what were most likely two juveniles all circling over and around my kit. The kit busted to the four corners and started to climb as individuals. All of them climbed far above the hawks and stayed up 1000 feet plus. I could barely see them with my binoculars. They never did come together as a kit but dropped in one or two at a time after the hawks moved on. Every bird home safe! :)
Just thought I would share.
Take care my friends
Thom
|
Tony Chavarria
Site Publisher
4126 posts
Jun 30, 2010
10:34 AM
|
WHEW! Close one! I don't have to tell you to keep your birds in for a couple days at least, Right?
----------
FLY ON!
Tony Chavarria
The highest form of ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
|
Raul Carreiro
45 posts
Jun 30, 2010
10:55 AM
|
Hi Thom, close call there huh buddy! I am happy all your birds are safe. As you know I am fortunate to not have bop problems
Take care ,
Raul.
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1880 posts
Jun 30, 2010
11:28 AM
|
Tony, If there is anything I have learned it's how to avoid the sky sharks. So...thanks but no you don't have to tell me! :)
Raul, You have clear skies, clean out the garage I'm moving! Me, my birds, my lovely bride and the crazy dog! :)
Take care, gentlemen
Thom
|
Raul Carreiro
48 posts
Jun 30, 2010
11:53 AM
|
Thom Ill get started on the garage building one that is Lol! What color do you want the interior to be and how big of a dog house shall I build for the crazy dog Lol?
Take care ,
Raul.
|
JDA
GOLD MEMBER
884 posts
Jun 30, 2010
12:49 PM
|
Thom....Glad to see you came out on top with the sharks with wings, I ended up loosing two mealy bar birds one Ruby one Patrick.Feathers everywhere, my yard neighbor's yard and roofs.NO More Flying for me for a while.JDA
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1882 posts
Jun 30, 2010
12:51 PM
|
Raul, The crazy dog lives in the house! I tried to tell her that fair is fair and my birds would like a room of their own. As you know, I'm building a new kit box! :) Here is a picture of the crazy one. Gunner is my wife's dog and she is training him to bird hunt. He is eleven months old and a Weimaraner, a good dog everything being considered, heck he likes me. :)
Take care my friend, you truly are a gentleman!
Thom
|
donnie james
1050 posts
Jun 30, 2010
1:08 PM
|
hey thom,
i'm glad you didn't loose any thing bop's been hitting me every once in while i stock 3 birds and i'm down to 13 and i change my fly days now to keep the bop's off so they wouldn't so much
----------
Donny James
"Fly The Best And Cull The Rest"
"Saying One Thing;Doing Its Another"
"Keep Your Head Planted In The Sky And Wings Spanned Wide"
1996 Piedmont Roller Club Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Portsmouth Roller Club Participation Award System Recipient 1994 '96 '97 And 2000
2001 Limestone,Ohio Sportsman's Club Lifetime Member Recipient
2002Portsmouth Roller Club Certified Judge
2004Portsmouth Roller Club Lifetime Member Recipient
"Miss Portsmouth"NBRC/90/J311 Rusty Dun Check Self Hen First Bird To Get Certified In Portsmouth Roller Club History With A Score Of 53 Judge By Joe Roe The 1993 World Cup Winner And John Bender The 1994 World Cup Winner
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1884 posts
Jun 30, 2010
1:46 PM
|
Hey Donny, That is good advice! I change up my fly times and days also. I hope you are feeling better my friend. Stay out of the loft! :)
Take care, Donny
Hey Joe, I hate it that you have lost so many. I had a bad time with Mr Cooper for two years running. Lost the best bird I ever raised and I was thinking of stocking him the day he was taken. :( Hard lesson to learn but he was exciting to watch! He just took my breath, every time he would ball up and crank a good one. I should have listened to that little nagging voice, (no not her) the one living in my head! :)
Take care my friend
Thom
|
spinner jim
1091 posts
Jun 30, 2010
2:38 PM
|
Hello Guys , tell me do these coopers dive and grab your birds out of the air as do these Peregrines we have trouble with over here , they say it is a speed of over two hundred miles an hour and terrible to watch as an owner ,i hate the things with all my heart, you seem to have too many coopers by all accounts ,what a menace all these bops are.
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1885 posts
Jun 30, 2010
2:52 PM
|
Hi Jim, A Cooper will hide in the trees and ambush the birds off of the loft or when they come in to land. That is their mode of choice but they also will attack in the air. I had a young bird taken and used to train the juveniles with. The female crabbed but did not kill the bird, she carried it up above her young and dropped it for them to catch and kill. I'm sixty three years old and I stood in my yard and cried like a baby. I also share your hatred.
Take care
Thom
|
Hifly11
93 posts
Jun 30, 2010
3:52 PM
|
Hi Thom, I have been flying all spring and until this week I have had no BOP problems. And this week The coopers and sharpies have moved in and are chasing my rollers all over the sky. But I have not lost any.I will be locked down for a few days. take care Budd
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1886 posts
Jun 30, 2010
4:19 PM
|
Budd, If you can change your fly times as well. I fly early morning, mid-day, late afternoon and early evening but never the same two days in a row. When it gets really bad I decrease the number of birds I fly in a kit, even to the point of only flying three to six birds. Get ready to laugh then do as I suggest! Please! Place a few old C.D.'s on your kit box, Coopers and maybe all hawks do not like shiny and they will break off an attack when the encounter something shiny! :) If the attacks are coming from a tree close by, tie two C.D.'s together with a three or four foot string and chuck them up into the tree. It will keep the sky sharks from using that tree. If it does not work, you lose nothing but if it does, one bird saved makes looking silly worth while!
Take care
Thom
|
donnie james
1051 posts
Jun 30, 2010
4:23 PM
|
hay thom,
i use to go in the breeding and feel my breeders but i'm going to stay out i'm have an infaction in body be cause i went to my doctor monday because i think my power port is infacted because theres a blood blester under the cut mark and the doctor said it was infacted and its had to come out so send made apportment with the doctor who put it in and he said that it might not be infacted so it called my doctor monday and she left her office so came back and told me to check though the er and he try to fit me in the same day surgry and i done and set in the er for a couple hours and they moved me to same surgry and finely can out and look at it again he called my doctor again they agree to do some blood work to see if that power port was infacted and they lady that flush it once a month told my mom that she will call tonight and tell mom how the blood work was and friday for sure they will know if the power port was in infacted or not ...................p.s. my doctor told me to stay out of the breeding loft and don't go in there and she was very pissed at me and i thought she was going to give me a new a** hole p.s.s. i going to the doctor who put it in next week and get the officle word on it.
----------
Donny James
"Fly The Best And Cull The Rest"
"Saying One Thing;Doing Its Another"
"Keep Your Head Planted In The Sky And Wings Spanned Wide"
1996 Piedmont Roller Club Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Portsmouth Roller Club Participation Award System Recipient 1994 '96 '97 And 2000
2001 Limestone,Ohio Sportsman's Club Lifetime Member Recipient
2002Portsmouth Roller Club Certified Judge
2004Portsmouth Roller Club Lifetime Member Recipient
"Miss Portsmouth"NBRC/90/J311 Rusty Dun Check Self Hen First Bird To Get Certified In Portsmouth Roller Club History With A Score Of 53 Judge By Joe Roe The 1993 World Cup Winner And John Bender The 1994 World Cup Winner
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1887 posts
Jun 30, 2010
4:39 PM
|
I hope she tore you a new and more wonderful place, Donny! If you are looking for sympathy, forget it!! I want you around for a very long time, so do as she tells you! OR, I will get in the car and come find you my friend! :)
Donny, I know it's hard. I could not be as brave as you. Please try to be good! :) I will keep you in my mind, heart and prayers.
Your friend
Thom
|
donnie james
1054 posts
Jun 30, 2010
7:40 PM
|
hay thom,
i'm NOT any sympathy i thought i would tell you whats going on in my life and now i wish i never posted my last post i guess i was wrong for doing that only thing i can say is life sucks at times and i have to do what i need to do to keep on living
Donny James
"Fly The Best And Cull The Rest"
"Saying One Thing;Doing Its Another"
"Keep Your Head Planted In The Sky And Wings Spanned Wide"
1996 Piedmont Roller Club Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Portsmouth Roller Club Participation Award System Recipient 1994 '96 '97 And 2000
2001 Limestone,Ohio Sportsman's Club Lifetime Member Recipient
2002Portsmouth Roller Club Certified Judge
2004Portsmouth Roller Club Lifetime Member Recipient
"Miss Portsmouth"NBRC/90/J311 Rusty Dun Check Self Hen First Bird To Get Certified In Portsmouth Roller Club History With A Score Of 53 Judge By Joe Roe The 1993 World Cup Winner And John Bender The 1994 World Cup Winner
|
Steve S.
107 posts
Jun 30, 2010
7:44 PM
|
Hey Tom,
Nice dog...My old boxer is named gunner, lol
looks like an old gunny sgt. lol
Tom I have stood on my daughters back steps on 25th and watched the commies go out to feed by the state garage and lucasville bottoms and they go out about between 7 and 9 am and return around 4 in the pm in mass groups.
John Bender also noticed this and flew mid-day to avoid the sharks when he lived a the Clay overpass as they feed on the commies at the times stated.
I bet your safe time would be around 12-3 pm.
Good luck with the kits I plan on seeing some goodens out there sometime.
Steve
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1888 posts
Jul 01, 2010
5:14 AM
|
Hey Donny, I'm sorry I fussed at you and I do care about what is happening in your life. I just want you to be around so I can talk to a friend. I know you were not looking for sympathy, you are one of the bravest people I have ever known! I could not go through what you have, I just could not. Please don't stop talking to me or be mad. It's your life and your decesion on how to live it. I'll keep my big ole mouth shut, I promise!
Still friends?
Thom
Last Edited by on Jul 01, 2010 7:54 AM
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1889 posts
Jul 01, 2010
5:20 AM
|
Hey Steve, You are welcome anytime. I had a resident Cooper family living about 100 yards from my kit box last year, they tore me up. The big storm came through and blew them out. So far this year, I have not lost any. :) I also have watched the feral pigeons go through but the hawks don't seem to bother them much. I think it's because the rollers just go round and round in the same patch of sky and that makes them easy targets.
Come see me sometime
Take care
Thom
|
Pogohawk
171 posts
Jul 01, 2010
8:48 AM
|
Hey Thom, I've always thought that perhaps BOP are attracted to our rollers because of the way they fly. I have raised many flying breeds of pigeons but rollers seem to come under attack more often then any other breed I've had. I've always thought that they might seem injured or weak to BOP because of their slow flying and rolling. It seems to me that good kits will wait on each other to set up for the break. At this point they are very vulnerable as they are slowing down for one another. Just my thoughts.
Ty
"Forever a student of the sport"
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1890 posts
Jul 01, 2010
9:02 AM
|
Hey Ty, Thank you for the your name. I also think you are exactly right. The hardest working bird's are the ones that always seem to come under attack. That also fits with a wounded bird scenario. Cooper's attack from ambush 90% of the time for me. I have found that an orange kit box flag will not only scatter the kit but startle the B.O.P. and a little screaming helps. The neighbors are used to it now and will join in! :)
Take care my friend
Thom
|
Pogohawk
172 posts
Jul 01, 2010
9:39 AM
|
I also get hit by Cooper's, smart little devils the way the hide in a tree and just wait for the kit to get low. Being a falconer I can appreciate their tactics. I'll try that orange flag idea, I typically send up a bottle rocket before I put the kit out and it has spooked hawks away a few times. I've also used your CD idea and that also helps, sometimes I'll lay one of those cheep full body mirrors from Wal-mart on top of the kit box. (Knock on wood) I haven't lost a bird in over two months. Best of luck with yours!
Ty
"Forever a student of the sport"
|
Hifly11
94 posts
Jul 01, 2010
10:39 AM
|
thanks for the tip Thom, I will email you later. Budd
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1892 posts
Jul 01, 2010
10:50 AM
|
Ty, Do you leave it on the box while the birds are landing? I have a few solar blankets that my wife received at her Marathons. I bet they would work also.
Budd, I will look forward to your email.
Take care
Thom
|
wannaroll
212 posts
Jul 01, 2010
11:20 AM
|
Commies (ferel pigeons) don't eat as good as our rollers do and they are much faster on the wing. BOP's will go after whatever is the easiest prey and unfortunately our rollers are quite tasty to them and fly slow in comparison. I also believe due to the fly patterns in a relatively small area it's kinda like dangling a steak bone over an old hound dog.
----------
Dave - Hesperia, CA.
(San Bernardino Mountain Spinners)
|
Pogohawk
173 posts
Jul 01, 2010
11:39 AM
|
Thom, it takes the birds awhile to get used to but they will eventually land around and even on it. I prefer to pull it off as they are coming down to keep it clean. I'm sure those blankets would work fine. I got the idea when I was looking at Jedds products. They sell what they call a hawk globe. The BOP supposedly catches its reflection in the mirror and see's it as a threat and will leave. I've noticed that when a hawk catches a glimpse of my mirror they get out of there. But if my rollers have gotten used to it I'm sure it won't take long for the BOP to as well.
Great looking pup by the way. I've got a smaller English Springer that really get those birds too. I wish mine had a coat like yours.
Last Edited by on Jul 01, 2010 11:42 AM
|
Oldfart
GOLD MEMBER
1893 posts
Jul 01, 2010
11:58 AM
|
Thanks Ty, I'll give it a try. Anything that works is worthwhile in my book! Gunner's bird prey drive is so high he will point any bird, song birds, my rollers, and I keep a small pen of pheasants which keep him busy! :) His first outing at a field day training camp, he out performed the trainers dog! he not only found all of his birds but he also found an escapee from a previous session. All in a driving, pouring rain! :) Our problem is no birds to hunt where I live. A few grouse is all we have within 100 miles.
Dave, I think you nailed it!
Take care
Thom
|
