In the world of wildlife filmmaking, there are occasions when we all get together and talk about future projects. One of these events happens at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. Back in 2005 I had my chance ‘pitch’ with boss man Fred Kaufman, Executive Producer of NATURE. Given the competition, the number of people and ideas that he has to listen to, these pitches are vital.  I ordered a salad. We sat on a bar stool. I banged on about the white wolves, and the largest of the falcons, the gyrs, these two stunning white characters on a dramatic stage.   He just kept quiet and ate, glancing up occasionally. As he didn’t interrupt me with a question, I continued to pitch, getting more and more excited as I painted the picture of the island, the noises, the elements, and how we would bring to NATURE’s screen a real jewel of a film. As I ended the pitch I picked up a leaf of salad and crunched it and heard him say the words… ‘Fergus, I like it.’ Believe me, that’s rare in this business! So, we were on! Hey, Fred!

Back in 2005, I was researching logistical issues for working on Ellesmere in Northern Canada and kept on coming across the name of a remarkable solo arctic explorer, called Jim McNeill. He was, quite surprisingly, another Brit — and soon after we met for the first time — I realized that this man and his outfit ICE WARRIOR were going to be intrinsic to working in the remote corners of Ellesmere Island. Jim had done it all before — alone. He had encountered wolves in various parts, and had wonderful photographs to whet my appetite even more. He knew when and how the ice would behave, which vehicles could move with what, how aircraft could land and where — it was all straightforward to him. He was soon a crucial part of my team, and together we started planning.

Crew members load an ATV into the plane on Ellesmere Island

We did a fantastic arctic survival course with him near Reading and he was even able to provide a blizzard for us. Elements of the course included navigation, orientation and first aid. Though I was a soldier once, as was Jim, his expertise was second to none. Jim was able to highlight all the areas that would be a health and safety concern. His emergency plan would be vital to ensure that in the event of an accident on Ellesmere, a victim would get out alive…

This was a two-phase plan. Phase One, the recce, involved Jim McNeill and Assistant Producer, Harry Hoskyns-Abrahall. They would identify the wolf activity area before cameraman Mark Smith was flown out to join them for Phase Two.

– Fergus Beeley, Producer of White Falcon, White Wolf

The following are entries from the field diary of professional explorer Jim McNeill, written during the expedition on Ellesmere Island in preparation for the filming of White Falcon, White Wolf.

Photos © Mark Smith, 2007

Gyrfalcons are the world’s largest and most powerful falcons.  Yet even for them, the pressure is on.  Last summer this pair’s two chicks died of starvation.  Will the conditions be right this summer?  Will their best efforts be enough to keep this year’s chicks healthy?  Filmed in HD from a ledge adjacent to the nesting site, White Falcon, White Wolf provides an intimate portrait of this magnificent species.

Meanwhile, the pack of Arctic wolves wait with great anticipation for a sign that new pups have been born to their breeding female, who has spent a great deal of time in her den. When the pups arrive, the young wolf daughter will need to grow up. For now, however, she tends to let her curiosity get the best of her. Musk ox, snowy owls, Arctic hares and Arctic foxes round out the cast, as they too try to make the most of the precious Arctic summer. Buy the DVD. The film premiered October 26, 2008.

Humans have had a unique relationship with raptors, nature’s aerial killing machines, for more than four thousand years, first through the ancient sport of falconry, and, more recently, as scientists and engineers have turned to these mighty birds — from golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, and turkey vultures, to great gray owls and the peregrine falcon — as the inspiration for the latest in aircraft design. Using the tricks and tactics of raptors as their model, engineers have devised fighter jets with unprecedented maneuverability and stealth.

In Raptor Force, you’ll learn the secrets of these astonishing aerialists, and how they’ve mastered, more than any other type of bird, the art of soaring. And with the help of engineer and falconer Rob MacIntyre’s ingenious miniature television station — a camera, transmitter, and battery small enough to be harnessed onto the backs of raptors — you’ll see for yourself what it’s like to fly with these deadly aces.

Online content for Raptor Force was originally posted February 2007.

To order a copy of Raptor Force, please visit the NATURE Shop.

NATURE’s 27th season premieres October 26 and promises to be one of the series’ most exciting, featuring such locations as the Arctic wilderness, the Drakensberg mountain range in southern Africa, and the wondrous Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. NATURE will also feature what’s in our own “backyard” with an in-depth look at the American bald eagle, as well as a new chapter in the chronicle of the Rockies’ most famous stallion: Cloud. To tantalize your appetite, here’s a sneak peak at three upcoming shows.

Beautifully photographed, White Falcon, White Wolf takes place on the Canadian Arctic’s otherworldly Ellesmere Island, and features an intimate view of the struggles of two families — a pack of white wolves and a family of rare gyrfalcons.

In The Wolf That Changed America, NATURE takes a decidedly different approach by using historical recreations to tell the story of one of America’s earliest conservationists, Ernest Thompson Seton, and his obsession with Lobo — the wolf that changed his life.

Finally, sizzling up the screen is Kilauea: Playing With Fire. Emmy Award-winning cameraman Paul Atkins boldly goes where few would dare — into waters as toasty as 100 degrees Fahrenheit to film lava flows and explosions from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. Caution — this footage is hot!

Here is the full schedule of new episodes coming to NATURE this fall:

• October 26: White Falcon, White Wolf
• November 9: Clever Monkeys
• November 16: American Eagle
• November 23: The Wolf That Changed America

When offered the opportunity to design a one-of-a-kind miniature television station that would be strapped onto the backs of the birds and transmit video of their remarkable flight in real-time, Rob MacIntyre was unable to resist.

Freelance engineer Rob MacIntyre has been fascinated with raptors for more than twenty years. When offered the opportunity to design a one-of-a-kind miniature television station that would be strapped onto the backs of the birds and transmit video of their remarkable flight in real-time, MacIntyre was unable to resist. From his home in Minnesota, MacIntyre talked with us about how he got involved in developing the unique camera and his long-time fascination with raptors.

How did you get involved in this project?

That’s interesting, because I don’t advertise. I make one-of-a-kind type items, and word of mouth is the only way to hear about me; somebody told somebody, and I don’t ask those questions. I listen to the presentation and if it sounds interesting, I’ll do it, and if it doesn’t sound interesting and if I’ve done it before, I won’t do it. I’m not motivated by the same things as other people. I like a challenge. Knowing a little about radio and the birds themselves because I’m a falconer, I realized that there were some limitations that were going to make it very difficult: the radio power supply, transmitting live streaming video, making a harness that the bird will actually wear and still fly. The challenges were pretty extreme.

Did the video turn out as you expected?

Initially, it was exactly what I expected. It was broken up, there was interference. We had major problems with locating it on the bird, as far as the center of gravity. Not very impressive, but it proved that it could be done. We then went through five cameras and processors, blew up a few batteries. It was a challenge. But by the fifth generation we had some pretty impressive results as far as the transmission, the color, the clarity, the resolution. And by the end of the project, the birds basically ignored the harnesses.

It didn’t affect their flight?

I really expected more of a challenge with the camera itself, especially with the peregrine. The peregrine is the fastest animal on the planet. You hear all kinds of numbers but they are capable of speeds in the neighborhood of 250 miles per hour. When I’m driving in my car and I stick my arm out the window, and I move my arm up and down, adjusting the aerodynamics of my hand, I can feel the car pulling somewhat. So if the aerodynamic change of my little teeny hand is affecting a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds, I can imagine what the camera is doing to the peregrine aerodynamics and how it would need to correct at those speeds.

When we were developing this, I remember someone distinctly saying, “Do you think this is going to affect the aerodynamics?” and I just flat out said, “Yes, I know it will.” However, the peregrine falcon is the pinnacle of evolution for flight. This bird has the greatest onboard computer ever developed for flight and it uses it to correct for anything that develops in that flight. Every feather on its body is capable of making a minute correction. So regardless of the aerodynamic changes from the camera, I truly believe this bird is capable of compensating. And in the flight that we saw, it looked like the peregrine wasn’t even affected by the camera.

Could the video be improved?

I liked the end result, but I know it could be better. One issue is that the cameras are taking pictures 30 times per second, and if you are taking a picture 30 times per second, moving at 250 miles per hour, it is something like one picture every 10 meters. Imagine walking through a room and opening your eyes every 10 meters. That blinking, staggering image that you get is essentially what you get from that camera. It looks like fast-motion video, even though it is real time. One way to get a cleaner, smoother, flowing picture, is to use high-speed film, with a high-speed camera, tripling or even quadrupling the camera speeds so you get more frames per second. When you play it back in real time — which would make it slow motion — it will look smooth.

Will you continue to work on it on your own?

I already have. There were some minor changes that I made after the production was over. With each version, the technology got a little better and a little better. The main goal was to make something that the peregrine would be comfortable with. Once that was achieved, the producers were happy, but I was like “Wait a second. We can do better.”

How long have you been involved in falconry?

For almost 20 years. You ask every falconer what falconry is and you’ll get a different definition. Essentially we work with various raptors and train them to basically not fly away from us. You can’t call it befriending; they’re not pets. They’re still wild animals. You just develop a trust relationship. And we go and fly these birds and watch what they do every day in the wild. What is that? Some call it hunting with trained raptors. But you know what? The bird gets food so why should I be called a hunter? I call it bird watching, but just a different level of bird watching.

Why do you do it?

I don’t know why we do it. Falconers — we’re all a bunch of nuts. I think every single one of us is born with a neuron that is not connected correctly, and this is how we stimulate that neuron. For me … I distinctly remember reading Frightful’s Mountain by Jean Craighead George. The book was about the peregrine falcon featured in the movie My Side of the Mountain. That peregrine falcon was the only thing I could think about for years and years. At that time, the peregrine falcon had basically been wiped out east of the Mississippi River, so all it could be was a dream. Then many years ago, I was at the right place at the wrong time, and I ran into someone who had a peregrine falcon and that was it. I could not do anything else. I had to do this. That is my disconnect.

Do you have any raptors?

I have a peregrine falcon right here. She’s the niece of MF1, which was the very first peregrine falcon to return to the Midwest and breed, outside of captivity.

Any others?

No. One of these is so much work that two…. no… I have to have a life, too.

It may be impossible to ever know exactly where and when the practice of falconry — the training of raptors to hunt wild prey for humans — arose.

Some experts place its origins between 4,000 and 6,000 BC in the steppes of Mongolia. Other historians believe that the practice could be even older, with its beginnings in Arabia or the Middle East; in Iran, records have been found of a king using birds of prey who may have lived as much as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Wherever it began, falconry, which was originally used for subsistence and not sport, was well established in both Asia and the Middle East by 2,000 BC, and gradually migrated westward to Greece, Italy, and the rest of Europe.

Peregrine falcon

Beginning in the 6th century and extending through the Middle Ages, the popularity of falconry — or hawking — surged in Europe. It was the sport of royalty for centuries, with the possession of falcons and other birds of prey considered a status symbol. By the 1600s in England, falconry came to be governed by a strict set of customs called the Laws of Ownership, which dictated the birds of prey that were allowed to be flown by citizens of various social ranks. For example, a king could fly a gyrfalcon; a duke, a rock falcon; an earl, a peregrine; a yeoman, a goshawk; and a servant, a kestrel. During the reign of Edward III, 1327-77, stealing a trained raptor was punishable by death.

By the 1800s, however, the sport began to diminish in popularity in Europe, because of the decline of the aristocracy, increased use of firearms to kill animals for food and for sport, and the enclosure and clearing of forest lands for agriculture. In North America, interest in falconry began to rise around the turn of the 20th century, although the first record of falconry dates back to 1622 in New England; farther south, the Spanish Conquistadors noted as early as the 1500s that the Aztecs used trained hawks.

The tradition again surged in popularity in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, during which time the first large falconry association, the Peregrine Club, was established in the United States (it disbanded during World War II). Today, falconry continues to be practiced throughout the world, although it is banned in some countries, such as Australia (where all native raptors are protected by the government and prohibited from being privately owned) and all of the Scandinavian countries, and is tightly regulated in many others. It is estimated that about 10,000 individuals legally practice falconry, with about 5,000 falconers in North America. The North American Falconer’s Association, founded in 1961, currently has more than 2,000 members.