Well I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
Life in the center has been quiet. There hasn't been that many bookings but I suspect that has something to do with the weather. All last week it was below 0C so not the type of weather that makes people want to go outside. Also the roads have been icy or covered in slush. All in all the type of weather that makes people want to stay in doors.
The center still has a good covering of snow and ice even though the temperature has managed to get above freezing for the last couple of days and all the snow and ice has started to melt. It has been great not having to de-frost pad locks just to get in to the center and also lock up at the end of the day. The only thing is everything is so damp. The place has been covered in fog for the last 2 days and nothing is drying. Alot of the birds are looking a bit damp and I never feel they fly well when they are like this. You can see it on the end of their tail feathers and wing feathers. Hopefully we can get some dry weather with a little bit of sun to try and dry things out or a breeze to to do it. We shall wait and see. The weather is 1 of those things I try not to stress about as there is nothing that can be done to stop it. All you can do is deal with it.
We did have 1 booking on Boxing Day. We were over at Cameron House to do a demonstration for the guests. We had a good number of people turn up even though it was snowing for a while and we were able to give everybody who wanted a shot of flying a bird a chance to do so. Alba (Barn Owl) was the stand out bird. I only started to fly her again the other week after 4 months off and with the weather and it being quiet she has only flown once in the last 2 weeks. When we were doing the demonstration there was a lady in a wheel chair who asked if she could fly her and Alba was perfect. Landing perfectly on the glove. Saying that the other 2 birds that we flew - Lobey (Turkmanian Eagle Owl) and Oran (Harris Hawk) were both great as well. We are back at Cameron House on New Years Day to do another demonstration for the guests who are staying for New Year.
I have brought Artemis's weight down again and rather than have her flying to the lure (which keeps getting lost in the snow) I have been asking her to fly to the T perches on the front field. She has been doing ok but some days she doesn't seem that keen so she may also have to come down a bit to make her that bit more keen. Hopefully in the next day or 2 I can start flying her back to the lure. This though will help her fitness.
At the the moment I just want the festive period to be over. Nothing really happens. The phone is quiet everybody is off. The good thing is the beginning of January is actually looking quite busy - well for January anyway. It is never the busiest of months for bookings. I do have 2 bits of ground to go and look at after the New Year. The people who the ground have said that I may be able to hunt on them after we meet. All I need to do is get out there and see if the ground is ok. I always get quite excited about exploring new bits of ground for hunting. I am never quite sure what I am going to find. I will let you know how it goes and what they were like once I have seen them if the owners say yes.
I did have some sad news on the 22nd December. I had to have Fatty (Ferret) put to sleep. She hadn't been the most steady on her feet over the last few weeks but she was getting about the hutch until recently where I had noticed that she couldn't walk on several occasions and seemed a lot more sleepy. I spoke to Jo who is vet and she had noticed the same. We decided that as she was struggling to get about the hutch the time had come for her to be put to sleep. It was no real surprise as her sister Patch had died 6 weeks ago. They were over 8 1/2 years old and for ferrets that is old but it was still sad though. It is kind of the end of an era. Patch and Fatty were with me from the start.
On the plus side the Winter Solstice has been and gone so the days should start to get longer now. Have a great New Year and spare a thought for those who will be working over the New Year period.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Monday, 20 December 2010
More cold weather
I don't have much to tell about the last week.
The centre is quiet with bookings at this time of year. Everybody is focused on Christmas. Normally I try to use this time of year as a time when i can get out to fly the birds for myself. but the weather this year has made that difficult. There hasn't been that much snow falling in the last week but it has been cold. I think the highest it got to was 1C in the last week and it rained only for the skies to clear and the temperature to drop and everything froze so the place was like an ice rink.
It also takes longer to get things done. To get into the centre we are still de-frosting padlocks. Also working in sub zero temperatures does take it out of you. I wear the correct clothing, I keep moving and I stay warm so it is not a problem until I come home and sit down then I feel exhausted.
How I feel is nothing to what the birds are dealing with. We are not flying that many at the moment. I am down to 1 Eagle Owl - Lobey and 2 male Harris Hawks. There are other birds who are only a couple of ounces away from flying weight and I could have them flying within a couple of days notice but when it is like this I don't want to take any real chances with my birds so everybody is given plenty of food if they are not needed. There is no point having birds sitting at flying weight and them doing nothing or flying just for the sake of flying. Saying that there is no bookings between now and Christmas day so Lobey got a rat to eat and Pele got some rabbit today. So that leaves Oran the other Harris Hawk.
At the beginning of last week I was quite busy with 5 bookings in 3 days. We had a couple of hawk walks over at Cameron House with Pele and Oran. Then there has been nothing for the last 4 days. Until today where we had another Hawk Walk at Cameron House. Oran was on form and flying about looking for things to catch. He was chasing crows and pheasants. He didn't come that close to catching anything as he is not that fit but it was entertaining for the guests to watch and to see him putting in a bit more effort.
I do have a couple of displays coming up over the festive period at Cameron House - Boxing Day and New Years Day with a few bookings in centre so I will be spending this week getting birds ready for that. Slowly bringing weights down so I am not putting the bird under to much pressure with the cold weather. When the weather is like this I don't want reduce the birds food by too much too quickly. You want to be doing it gradually. The last thing you want is for the bird to basically go hypothermic and die on you because you didn't give it enough food so it doesn't have enough energy to keep itself warm in this weather.
The only bird whose weight is being brought down (slowly) is Artemis. I have got her down to 6lb14oz so we are getting close. I will start flying her to the lure again trying to build up her fitness and get her back into a routine. Hopefully it stays dry with no snow so I can try and get her going again.
One more thing Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for reading Strathblane Falconry's blog
The centre is quiet with bookings at this time of year. Everybody is focused on Christmas. Normally I try to use this time of year as a time when i can get out to fly the birds for myself. but the weather this year has made that difficult. There hasn't been that much snow falling in the last week but it has been cold. I think the highest it got to was 1C in the last week and it rained only for the skies to clear and the temperature to drop and everything froze so the place was like an ice rink.
It also takes longer to get things done. To get into the centre we are still de-frosting padlocks. Also working in sub zero temperatures does take it out of you. I wear the correct clothing, I keep moving and I stay warm so it is not a problem until I come home and sit down then I feel exhausted.
How I feel is nothing to what the birds are dealing with. We are not flying that many at the moment. I am down to 1 Eagle Owl - Lobey and 2 male Harris Hawks. There are other birds who are only a couple of ounces away from flying weight and I could have them flying within a couple of days notice but when it is like this I don't want to take any real chances with my birds so everybody is given plenty of food if they are not needed. There is no point having birds sitting at flying weight and them doing nothing or flying just for the sake of flying. Saying that there is no bookings between now and Christmas day so Lobey got a rat to eat and Pele got some rabbit today. So that leaves Oran the other Harris Hawk.
At the beginning of last week I was quite busy with 5 bookings in 3 days. We had a couple of hawk walks over at Cameron House with Pele and Oran. Then there has been nothing for the last 4 days. Until today where we had another Hawk Walk at Cameron House. Oran was on form and flying about looking for things to catch. He was chasing crows and pheasants. He didn't come that close to catching anything as he is not that fit but it was entertaining for the guests to watch and to see him putting in a bit more effort.
I do have a couple of displays coming up over the festive period at Cameron House - Boxing Day and New Years Day with a few bookings in centre so I will be spending this week getting birds ready for that. Slowly bringing weights down so I am not putting the bird under to much pressure with the cold weather. When the weather is like this I don't want reduce the birds food by too much too quickly. You want to be doing it gradually. The last thing you want is for the bird to basically go hypothermic and die on you because you didn't give it enough food so it doesn't have enough energy to keep itself warm in this weather.
The only bird whose weight is being brought down (slowly) is Artemis. I have got her down to 6lb14oz so we are getting close. I will start flying her to the lure again trying to build up her fitness and get her back into a routine. Hopefully it stays dry with no snow so I can try and get her going again.
One more thing Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for reading Strathblane Falconry's blog
Monday, 13 December 2010
A cold week
Well after the snow we had the big freeze. When I opened up on the morning on Tuesday morning it was -12C. It took me a while to get the centre opened up. Something to do with the fact the pad locks were all frozen. It is great fun getting stuck to cold metal as I unlocked the centre. All the birds were ok and the day started like a few other days recently - clearing snow.
The week has been quiet with only 1 booking . Then again it is not really surprising as the weather would put a lot of people off - snow and sub zero temperatures - from going out to fly birds of prey. Not to mention a potential fuel shortage at 1 point in the Glasgow area. It was a bit like the week before for me. Making sure the birds have got plenty of food and cleaning the centre. The most challenging thing was the alarm going off twice in 1 night due to the snow - once at mid night and again at 3am.
The only thing that did worry me was the fact the birds food was running low and I was unable to go and collect more due to the snow. Not helping was the fact that the last half mile of where I need to go and collect the food was along a dirt track in 3inches of snow. My old Volvo estate was not going to make it. Help was at hand though. My friend Brian was driving up from England and he has a 4 wheel drive so he stopped off picked up 10 boxes or 2500 chicks - food shortage over. I have another 3000 chicks being delivered this week. The food shortage is well and truly over.
On Friday there was a bit of a thaw which was great as it cleared a lot of the snow from the centre. I was running out of place to pile it when I was clearing it
On Sunday we did a 1 hour session and it was great to get back to flying birds of prey again. When you run a falconry bird of prey business it is not all standing about and flying birds of prey. Over the last few weeks a lot of time has been spent clearing snow for example. So on Sunday to have a booking was great. The people flew Oran (Male Harris Hawk) and Lobey. Lobey was his usual reliable self. Oran was great also. This was the first time I had used him for a booking in the last 6 months as he had been having a moult. He only flew free on the Friday (2 days before hand) after deciding to jump to the glove in the aviary and allow me to weigh him. On Thursday he was a complete nightmare balling his feet up and refusing to stand on the scales to be weighed and screaming at me. On Friday he was like ok lets do it. Oran can be like that. He can be a bit grumpy refusing to do anything when you bring his weight down to start flying him and then something seems to click and he is brilliant and is always very reliable. None of the other Harris Hawks behave like this. With the rest you can see them getting hungry and more sociable. Not Oran. With him it no chance of doing anything 1 day and then the next day he is perfect. He is doing doing the next 2 bookings tomorrow and Wednesday. The booking on Wednesday is at Cameron House.
Even though it is still freezing and there is some snow on the ground I am trying to get things back to normal to where I was before the snow arrived. This means back to work with Artemis. She is on a diet. As I haven't been flying her over the last 2 weeks I allowed her weight creep up so she is over 7lb and I need to get her back down to 6lb12oz. Hopefully in the next week I will be close to getting her back to where I was before with her. Hopefully we don't have to much more snow to slow things up.
The coming week starts with a few bookings and then goes quiet but there are things needing to be done. I need to make more jesses for the birds. This is the leather straps that are attached to the birds anklets so you can hold on to it. Several of the Harris Hawks need their beaks coped. Becky who is a 3rd year vet student is hopefully coming to help me with this as it will allow her some hands on experience. Also if the snow stays away I am hoping to get out and look at 2 farms that I have asked if it is ok to fly the birds on them. I should hopefully hear if it is ok in the next day or 2. On the whole another steady week snow permitting.
The week has been quiet with only 1 booking . Then again it is not really surprising as the weather would put a lot of people off - snow and sub zero temperatures - from going out to fly birds of prey. Not to mention a potential fuel shortage at 1 point in the Glasgow area. It was a bit like the week before for me. Making sure the birds have got plenty of food and cleaning the centre. The most challenging thing was the alarm going off twice in 1 night due to the snow - once at mid night and again at 3am.
The only thing that did worry me was the fact the birds food was running low and I was unable to go and collect more due to the snow. Not helping was the fact that the last half mile of where I need to go and collect the food was along a dirt track in 3inches of snow. My old Volvo estate was not going to make it. Help was at hand though. My friend Brian was driving up from England and he has a 4 wheel drive so he stopped off picked up 10 boxes or 2500 chicks - food shortage over. I have another 3000 chicks being delivered this week. The food shortage is well and truly over.
On Friday there was a bit of a thaw which was great as it cleared a lot of the snow from the centre. I was running out of place to pile it when I was clearing it
On Sunday we did a 1 hour session and it was great to get back to flying birds of prey again. When you run a falconry bird of prey business it is not all standing about and flying birds of prey. Over the last few weeks a lot of time has been spent clearing snow for example. So on Sunday to have a booking was great. The people flew Oran (Male Harris Hawk) and Lobey. Lobey was his usual reliable self. Oran was great also. This was the first time I had used him for a booking in the last 6 months as he had been having a moult. He only flew free on the Friday (2 days before hand) after deciding to jump to the glove in the aviary and allow me to weigh him. On Thursday he was a complete nightmare balling his feet up and refusing to stand on the scales to be weighed and screaming at me. On Friday he was like ok lets do it. Oran can be like that. He can be a bit grumpy refusing to do anything when you bring his weight down to start flying him and then something seems to click and he is brilliant and is always very reliable. None of the other Harris Hawks behave like this. With the rest you can see them getting hungry and more sociable. Not Oran. With him it no chance of doing anything 1 day and then the next day he is perfect. He is doing doing the next 2 bookings tomorrow and Wednesday. The booking on Wednesday is at Cameron House.
Even though it is still freezing and there is some snow on the ground I am trying to get things back to normal to where I was before the snow arrived. This means back to work with Artemis. She is on a diet. As I haven't been flying her over the last 2 weeks I allowed her weight creep up so she is over 7lb and I need to get her back down to 6lb12oz. Hopefully in the next week I will be close to getting her back to where I was before with her. Hopefully we don't have to much more snow to slow things up.
The coming week starts with a few bookings and then goes quiet but there are things needing to be done. I need to make more jesses for the birds. This is the leather straps that are attached to the birds anklets so you can hold on to it. Several of the Harris Hawks need their beaks coped. Becky who is a 3rd year vet student is hopefully coming to help me with this as it will allow her some hands on experience. Also if the snow stays away I am hoping to get out and look at 2 farms that I have asked if it is ok to fly the birds on them. I should hopefully hear if it is ok in the next day or 2. On the whole another steady week snow permitting.
Monday, 6 December 2010
more snow
Well this week started the same as last week finished - with snow.
In my last post I mentioned how the Monday was spent clearing snow. Well Tuesday started the exact same way - clearing snow. On the Monday it was 7 inches deep on Tuesday it was only 4inches. Not as deep but it still had to be cleared. This week has been a bit uneventful if you forget about the weather. No booking and no birds being flown. We did have bookings but they were cancelled due to the weather.
As I said last week just because there is snow or it is cold it is not an excuse to stop the normal routine. Even though temperatures have been below 0C all week. The warmest it got this week was 0C. It does not mean that the routine can stop.
The good news was that we did get few days that were clear and bright so I could get the birds out front to be fed and let them get a bit of sun on their backs in the areas that I cleared of snow which I am sure they appreciated. The biggest challenge is that everything just takes that bit longer or there are things that you don't normally need to do but they do when it is below freezing - locks may be frozen, ferret water bottles need to be defrosted, waiting for the kettle to boil and breaking ice to get water for cleaning or clearing snow.
As none of the birds are being flown I have taken the weights up of the birds that are flying. Once again while the main food for the birds is day old cockerel chicks, I have been using up alot of other food types - pigeon, quail, rat, duck neck, mice and sausages(beef heart, chicken and duck) . There tends to be more eating in these other foods and most tend to be a lot richer than chicks so the birds get more out of it.
We did have 1 booking go ahead and this was a 1 hour session on the Sunday (yesterday). Pele and Lobey were used and both looked good.
While it has been tough on the birds in the centre with the cold this nothing compared with the what the wild birds are dealing with. On Sunday I got a call to say that a local farmer had found a wild barn owl on the floor of his sheep shed and could I do anything. Myself and Jo went to collect it. The farmer handed over the barn owl in a box saying it was not standing - this is not good. It normally means it is very low and has little or no energy. In other words it is at deaths door. We got it back to the centre. Jo gave it a warm glucose solution to try and boost it's energy levels. We put it in a box and kept it warm and quiet. Unfortunately it died a short time later even though a vet (Jo) started treating it with in 10mins of us picking it up. When we were giving it the glucose solution I could feel its keel (breast bone) very clearly so the bird hadn't been eating that much or nothing at all for a few days. It is always sad but it is natures way. Weather like this makes the margins of survival even tighter for birds of prey in the wild.
Today (Monday) was a complete shambles. When I got up the snow was on and coming down heavily. The roads in Glasgow spent most of the day grid locked. It took me 2 attempts to get to the centre. I gave up on the first attempt when I hit a hill where all the traffic was all stationary. On my second attempt a few hours later I did contemplate walking the 8 miles to the centre but decided against it when I noticed that the traffic was moving. I eventually got out to the centre. I couldn't get up the hotel drive way so I just parked the car at the entrance and walked the last 1/4 mile. The snow is over a foot now in the centre so tomorrow I will be back to clearing snow. 1 thing I will say is - thankfully the snow has been no where as bad as some places where they have had a couple of feet of snow.
In my last post I mentioned how the Monday was spent clearing snow. Well Tuesday started the exact same way - clearing snow. On the Monday it was 7 inches deep on Tuesday it was only 4inches. Not as deep but it still had to be cleared. This week has been a bit uneventful if you forget about the weather. No booking and no birds being flown. We did have bookings but they were cancelled due to the weather.
As I said last week just because there is snow or it is cold it is not an excuse to stop the normal routine. Even though temperatures have been below 0C all week. The warmest it got this week was 0C. It does not mean that the routine can stop.
The good news was that we did get few days that were clear and bright so I could get the birds out front to be fed and let them get a bit of sun on their backs in the areas that I cleared of snow which I am sure they appreciated. The biggest challenge is that everything just takes that bit longer or there are things that you don't normally need to do but they do when it is below freezing - locks may be frozen, ferret water bottles need to be defrosted, waiting for the kettle to boil and breaking ice to get water for cleaning or clearing snow.
As none of the birds are being flown I have taken the weights up of the birds that are flying. Once again while the main food for the birds is day old cockerel chicks, I have been using up alot of other food types - pigeon, quail, rat, duck neck, mice and sausages(beef heart, chicken and duck) . There tends to be more eating in these other foods and most tend to be a lot richer than chicks so the birds get more out of it.
We did have 1 booking go ahead and this was a 1 hour session on the Sunday (yesterday). Pele and Lobey were used and both looked good.
While it has been tough on the birds in the centre with the cold this nothing compared with the what the wild birds are dealing with. On Sunday I got a call to say that a local farmer had found a wild barn owl on the floor of his sheep shed and could I do anything. Myself and Jo went to collect it. The farmer handed over the barn owl in a box saying it was not standing - this is not good. It normally means it is very low and has little or no energy. In other words it is at deaths door. We got it back to the centre. Jo gave it a warm glucose solution to try and boost it's energy levels. We put it in a box and kept it warm and quiet. Unfortunately it died a short time later even though a vet (Jo) started treating it with in 10mins of us picking it up. When we were giving it the glucose solution I could feel its keel (breast bone) very clearly so the bird hadn't been eating that much or nothing at all for a few days. It is always sad but it is natures way. Weather like this makes the margins of survival even tighter for birds of prey in the wild.
Today (Monday) was a complete shambles. When I got up the snow was on and coming down heavily. The roads in Glasgow spent most of the day grid locked. It took me 2 attempts to get to the centre. I gave up on the first attempt when I hit a hill where all the traffic was all stationary. On my second attempt a few hours later I did contemplate walking the 8 miles to the centre but decided against it when I noticed that the traffic was moving. I eventually got out to the centre. I couldn't get up the hotel drive way so I just parked the car at the entrance and walked the last 1/4 mile. The snow is over a foot now in the centre so tomorrow I will be back to clearing snow. 1 thing I will say is - thankfully the snow has been no where as bad as some places where they have had a couple of feet of snow.
Path and doorways cleared |
The water supply |
Monday, 29 November 2010
Snow
It has been an up and down week with bookings - either fully booked or nothing.
On Tuesday I was at a school - Balmuidy Primary. The P3 class were studying The Owl Who Is Afraid Of The Dark. When I do a school visit I take 4 owls - Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, White Faced Scops Owl and European Eagle Owl (2 native, 1 small and 1 big). The Barn Owl flies in the hall. Dylan was once again asked to fly but I suspect this was his last school visit as Alba is almost at weight. It was then back to the centre to clean pens and aviaries and then load up and go to Cameron House for a hawk walk which Pele was used for. I took Artemis as well and did a bit more flying on the front lawn. People were stopping to watch from there cars. She was looking good coming 60m to the food I dropped for her.
On Wednesday there was nothing booked so I took Amber out and flew her for myself. She was very good. She was really alert looking for things to chase. I was hoping to see a few pheasants where we were but no luck. Instead she went for a crow which she missed. The crow wasn't too happy about this and started giving her a hard time. She didn't seem to fussed about it.The other thing we saw a few of was woodcock. They are really hard to spot only breaking cover last minute and are really fast when they get going. She came really close to 2 of them but she stands no chance in level flight against them. The day finished empty handed but that wasn't the point. It was just a chance to get out in to the countryside and fly a bird.
On Thursday I had a small corporate event to do at Cameron House. Two 30 minute demonstrations with handling and flying for about 20 people in each session. The people attending were from all over Europe and their English was perfect. I always feel a bit embarrassed at how good people from other parts of Europe at speaking English. They all seemed to enjoy it and I got some good feed back from them. Pele - Harris Hawk and Lobey - Turkmanian Eagle Owl did the flying both were good.
Friday was in the centre chasing up people by phone and answering e mails. In other words running a business. I also decided looking at the weather and that some parts of the country seem to be getting covered with snow that I had better get an order in as I have about 2 weeks left. I didn't want to run my food supply right down which is what i do in the summer and find that I can't go and get any more due to snow. I am collecting food on Tuesday as long as it doesn't snow any more. I also took it as an opportunity to get things sorted for the cold temperatures that were forecasted. Just making sure things were ready.
On Saturday I awoke to find the place covered in snow. This wasn't that surprising when I got up as the centre alarm went off at 1am when I was sleeping and called me. When I was driving out to the centre to deal with it, it called me again. The roads were white and I had to walk up the drive way of the hotel as I couldn't get up the drive way. I got back to bed for 2.30am. An interesting start to Saturday. We had a half day booked on Saturday afternoon. It was cold but the sun was shining so it was quite pleasant until the sun dropped behind the trees and the temperature dropped. Once the half day was finished everything that had been flying was fed up as it was going to be a cold one on Saturday night -5C. Mice, pigeon, sausages, rat were all used as well as chicks. When we have cold weather like that I don't like to muck about. I like to give the birds loads of food to make it as easy for them as possible. Midge the White Faced Scops Owl has been moved out of the centre due to the cold and is now staying at my mum and dads to make it a bit easier for him.
Sunday was a complete loss with it snowing for most of the day. It was a case of checking that all the birds were OK and feeding with a bit of cleaning.
Today though Monday it had stopped snowing and the sun was shining so it was all go to clear 7inches of snow from the path and doorways so we can get into the aviaries and get birds out. We also had to clear snow from parts of the front lawn so birds can be tethered out and be fed. I did all this and Jo did the cleaning. After about 4 hours everything was sorted.
Scops Owl who is from Africa and very small. He is brought indoors. Then there are other who are prone to getting wing tip oedema (frost bite of the wing). I think I mentioned this in a previous post but the Lanner Falcon, Lugger Falcon and Harris Hawks are all quite prone to this. I try and keep them quiet and dry. The thing is life in the centre still carries on. The centre needs cleaned, the birds and the ferrets need fed. Just because there is snow on the road or it is -5C or below and the water supply has frozen doesn't mean you don't have to be there or that the cleaning can stop. I have to be there. In some ways even more so. It is business as usual.
The only down side of the snow is that it has brought the flying of Artemis to a halt. Artemis won't fly to the glove. I have tried and she won't do it. She will fly to a lure. The only thing is that when you drop a lure onto 7 inches of powder snow it disappears. I will need to try and work something out.
On Tuesday I was at a school - Balmuidy Primary. The P3 class were studying The Owl Who Is Afraid Of The Dark. When I do a school visit I take 4 owls - Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, White Faced Scops Owl and European Eagle Owl (2 native, 1 small and 1 big). The Barn Owl flies in the hall. Dylan was once again asked to fly but I suspect this was his last school visit as Alba is almost at weight. It was then back to the centre to clean pens and aviaries and then load up and go to Cameron House for a hawk walk which Pele was used for. I took Artemis as well and did a bit more flying on the front lawn. People were stopping to watch from there cars. She was looking good coming 60m to the food I dropped for her.
On Wednesday there was nothing booked so I took Amber out and flew her for myself. She was very good. She was really alert looking for things to chase. I was hoping to see a few pheasants where we were but no luck. Instead she went for a crow which she missed. The crow wasn't too happy about this and started giving her a hard time. She didn't seem to fussed about it.The other thing we saw a few of was woodcock. They are really hard to spot only breaking cover last minute and are really fast when they get going. She came really close to 2 of them but she stands no chance in level flight against them. The day finished empty handed but that wasn't the point. It was just a chance to get out in to the countryside and fly a bird.
Amber chasing a crow through the trees |
Still chasing |
The crow getting away |
Friday was in the centre chasing up people by phone and answering e mails. In other words running a business. I also decided looking at the weather and that some parts of the country seem to be getting covered with snow that I had better get an order in as I have about 2 weeks left. I didn't want to run my food supply right down which is what i do in the summer and find that I can't go and get any more due to snow. I am collecting food on Tuesday as long as it doesn't snow any more. I also took it as an opportunity to get things sorted for the cold temperatures that were forecasted. Just making sure things were ready.
On Saturday I awoke to find the place covered in snow. This wasn't that surprising when I got up as the centre alarm went off at 1am when I was sleeping and called me. When I was driving out to the centre to deal with it, it called me again. The roads were white and I had to walk up the drive way of the hotel as I couldn't get up the drive way. I got back to bed for 2.30am. An interesting start to Saturday. We had a half day booked on Saturday afternoon. It was cold but the sun was shining so it was quite pleasant until the sun dropped behind the trees and the temperature dropped. Once the half day was finished everything that had been flying was fed up as it was going to be a cold one on Saturday night -5C. Mice, pigeon, sausages, rat were all used as well as chicks. When we have cold weather like that I don't like to muck about. I like to give the birds loads of food to make it as easy for them as possible. Midge the White Faced Scops Owl has been moved out of the centre due to the cold and is now staying at my mum and dads to make it a bit easier for him.
Sunday was a complete loss with it snowing for most of the day. It was a case of checking that all the birds were OK and feeding with a bit of cleaning.
Today though Monday it had stopped snowing and the sun was shining so it was all go to clear 7inches of snow from the path and doorways so we can get into the aviaries and get birds out. We also had to clear snow from parts of the front lawn so birds can be tethered out and be fed. I did all this and Jo did the cleaning. After about 4 hours everything was sorted.
Scops Owl who is from Africa and very small. He is brought indoors. Then there are other who are prone to getting wing tip oedema (frost bite of the wing). I think I mentioned this in a previous post but the Lanner Falcon, Lugger Falcon and Harris Hawks are all quite prone to this. I try and keep them quiet and dry. The thing is life in the centre still carries on. The centre needs cleaned, the birds and the ferrets need fed. Just because there is snow on the road or it is -5C or below and the water supply has frozen doesn't mean you don't have to be there or that the cleaning can stop. I have to be there. In some ways even more so. It is business as usual.
The centre this morning |
Artemis on her perch |
Birds in the areas that have been cleared for them |
The only down side of the snow is that it has brought the flying of Artemis to a halt. Artemis won't fly to the glove. I have tried and she won't do it. She will fly to a lure. The only thing is that when you drop a lure onto 7 inches of powder snow it disappears. I will need to try and work something out.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Last minute
As I said in my last post the coming week had a bit of a variety in the bookings I had this week.
I picked up 2 last minute bookings on the Monday and the Wednesday for hawk walks at Cameron House on top of the booking on Tuesday at Cameron House. The call for each 1 came through in the mornings of Monday and Wednesday and I was able to do it in the afternoon. Very last minute. Pele the Harris hawk did both. The 1 on the Monday was uneventful but on Wednesday it was quite windy. This wasn't a problem for Pele. He is 8 years old and lets say he has been round the block a few times so knows how to deal with the wind. It just makes him a bit more exciting to fly. He was soaring at 1 point above to roof of Cameron House and looking good. I shouted at him and he swooped down to the clients glove making it all look very easy. He is a great little bird to work with. Always very steady and fairly easy going.
Thursday was spent sorting out things in the centre and getting ready for the Festive season. Not very falconry related I know but as i said in my last post it is not all about flying birds of prey.
I had been looking forward to Friday as it was a bit of mixed bag with 2 bookings. Both were repeat bookings. the first 1 in the morning is 1 that i have been doing for about the last 4 or 5 years. It is at Glasgow University. I am asked along to fly a bird for the 2nd year Zoology students in their introductory lecture on birds. It is normally a Barn Owl as it has to fly in the lecture theatre. Dylan has done all of them and has always been quite reliable. He had a good day with his eye site. I think the the lecture being so bright helped as he never missed the glove when I called him in. Either that or he was having a good day with it. It was then straight back to the centre to clean the aviaries, feed the birds and then do some work with Artemis. Once I had done all that it was time to get ready for the second booking. A company bought all the tickets for opening night of the new Harry Potter film at a Glasgow cinema for the their clients and families and they wanted to have an owl to welcome every one. I normally use Corrie for this type of work for 2 reasons. 1 As he is a European Eagle Owl he is big so he is impressive and he has seems to have a bit of a presence about him. 2 He is very steady - he has been known to fall a sleep at things like this.
When I do work like the event at the cinema I am very strict about what I will and won't be doing with the bird. For example the bird stays on my glove and is not used for handling. Also no one is allowed to touch the the bird. I have a zero touch policy. If they want pictures with the bird then people can stand next to it while I am holding the bird and they can have their picture taken. I also limit the time to 1 hour that the bird is on display. When I do things like this I am always trying to make it as easy and stress free for the bird as possible. When I see people standing there with a selection of owls charging for photos as the poor thing is passed about with people stroking and touching it for hours on end with a donation bucket for the upkeep of the owls I always feel quite upset and uneasy by it. Owls can very expressive with their facial features and body language. This may sound odd but it is true. I have looked at pictures on line of people stroking owls and I can by the owls body language tell that it is stressed. I have never done this type of work and I don't plan to. My attitude if you want to run a business involving birds of prey then fine but if the business plan to run it is based on how many photos you can sell of people holding a bird then don't bother. Also if you need donations to help pay for the up keep of a bird then you can't afford it so don't get a bird. Anyway rant over. This is not what my blog is for.
Things are moving along with Artemis very slowly. As with the previous week weather and bookings restrict the time I can put into her but things are moving slowly. She is getting more steady. I had her coming about 60m to the lure. She was straight off which was great. I introduced the dummy bunny lure for her to chase but she was a bit unsure about it but she got the idea and chased it. She is a lot more vocal because she is hungry and she is a bit imprinted on me but the good thing is she is showing no aggression towards me. She can a bit of a handful when she has food but once she has eaten it she settles down. I have been trying to fly her in other place when I and where I can. I had her over at Cameron House with me today doing a bit on the front lawn. I still don't have a tail mount on her for telemetry but that will be going on soon once I feel she is in more of a routine and bit more reliable .
The coming week has filled up a bit. Tomorrow I am running about with a school visit in Bishopbriggs and then over to Cameron House. Wednesday is quiet so I will try and get some me time with the birds in other words I will do some work with Artemis and fly Amber. Thursday is a corporate event - I don't tend to get many at this time of year and it only came through today so a bit last minute but who cares. Friday is quiet and Saturday is booked up. A bit of a up and down week.
I picked up 2 last minute bookings on the Monday and the Wednesday for hawk walks at Cameron House on top of the booking on Tuesday at Cameron House. The call for each 1 came through in the mornings of Monday and Wednesday and I was able to do it in the afternoon. Very last minute. Pele the Harris hawk did both. The 1 on the Monday was uneventful but on Wednesday it was quite windy. This wasn't a problem for Pele. He is 8 years old and lets say he has been round the block a few times so knows how to deal with the wind. It just makes him a bit more exciting to fly. He was soaring at 1 point above to roof of Cameron House and looking good. I shouted at him and he swooped down to the clients glove making it all look very easy. He is a great little bird to work with. Always very steady and fairly easy going.
Thursday was spent sorting out things in the centre and getting ready for the Festive season. Not very falconry related I know but as i said in my last post it is not all about flying birds of prey.
I had been looking forward to Friday as it was a bit of mixed bag with 2 bookings. Both were repeat bookings. the first 1 in the morning is 1 that i have been doing for about the last 4 or 5 years. It is at Glasgow University. I am asked along to fly a bird for the 2nd year Zoology students in their introductory lecture on birds. It is normally a Barn Owl as it has to fly in the lecture theatre. Dylan has done all of them and has always been quite reliable. He had a good day with his eye site. I think the the lecture being so bright helped as he never missed the glove when I called him in. Either that or he was having a good day with it. It was then straight back to the centre to clean the aviaries, feed the birds and then do some work with Artemis. Once I had done all that it was time to get ready for the second booking. A company bought all the tickets for opening night of the new Harry Potter film at a Glasgow cinema for the their clients and families and they wanted to have an owl to welcome every one. I normally use Corrie for this type of work for 2 reasons. 1 As he is a European Eagle Owl he is big so he is impressive and he has seems to have a bit of a presence about him. 2 He is very steady - he has been known to fall a sleep at things like this.
When I do work like the event at the cinema I am very strict about what I will and won't be doing with the bird. For example the bird stays on my glove and is not used for handling. Also no one is allowed to touch the the bird. I have a zero touch policy. If they want pictures with the bird then people can stand next to it while I am holding the bird and they can have their picture taken. I also limit the time to 1 hour that the bird is on display. When I do things like this I am always trying to make it as easy and stress free for the bird as possible. When I see people standing there with a selection of owls charging for photos as the poor thing is passed about with people stroking and touching it for hours on end with a donation bucket for the upkeep of the owls I always feel quite upset and uneasy by it. Owls can very expressive with their facial features and body language. This may sound odd but it is true. I have looked at pictures on line of people stroking owls and I can by the owls body language tell that it is stressed. I have never done this type of work and I don't plan to. My attitude if you want to run a business involving birds of prey then fine but if the business plan to run it is based on how many photos you can sell of people holding a bird then don't bother. Also if you need donations to help pay for the up keep of a bird then you can't afford it so don't get a bird. Anyway rant over. This is not what my blog is for.
Corrie European Eagle Owl |
Things are moving along with Artemis very slowly. As with the previous week weather and bookings restrict the time I can put into her but things are moving slowly. She is getting more steady. I had her coming about 60m to the lure. She was straight off which was great. I introduced the dummy bunny lure for her to chase but she was a bit unsure about it but she got the idea and chased it. She is a lot more vocal because she is hungry and she is a bit imprinted on me but the good thing is she is showing no aggression towards me. She can a bit of a handful when she has food but once she has eaten it she settles down. I have been trying to fly her in other place when I and where I can. I had her over at Cameron House with me today doing a bit on the front lawn. I still don't have a tail mount on her for telemetry but that will be going on soon once I feel she is in more of a routine and bit more reliable .
Getting ready to grab lure |
Got it |
Hooded afterwards |
Monday, 15 November 2010
Rain and stuff to do
The title kind of sums up the last week.
I haven't been able to do a lot over the last week due to the weather - rain. The week hasn't been that busy with bookings and the weather makes it hard to get any consistency when it comes to training or working with the birds.
It was 1 of those weeks where even though there are not many bookings I am still busy. Some people think when you run a bird of prey centre all you do is fly birds of prey. I did when I first started doing this full time but I soon learned that it is not like that. Especially if you own / run a bird of prey centre. For example Tuesday last week was spent cleaning the centre, feeding birds, having a meeting with someone about promotions, speaking to Jim the IT guy who hosts my web site as he was getting a new lap top for me (the last 1 died), speaking with Jimmy who does all the electrical work and services the alarm in the centre and then going to meet another Jim who takes care of my car as it had broken down on the Sunday. It's quite handy that a lot of the people who I rely on to help me keep things working for me are called Jim. It makes it easy to remember names. There was no time to fly anything.
On Wednesday there was a booking and on Thursday and Friday it rained and things were fully booked over the weekend.
As you can see it is not all about flying birds. When you look after animals of any kind there is the cleaning and feeding that is the 1 constant and it has to be done. This is the less glamorous side of working with animals but is very important that it is done. Just because it is raining or it is cold does not mean that the cleaning can stop or you can't be bothered.
The training of Artemis has taken a slight alteration. I was trying to get her to fly to the glove but she didn't seem to confident with it. We would get to about 10m and be ok. Anything over 10m and then she wouldn't do it. She would however fly past me to a piece of food dropped on the ground so I am back flying her to the lure and it is going well. She is coming straight off to the lure from 30m away. Next step is to start flying her free which is always a bit scary.
I am not a big fan of eagles. don't get me wrong they are stunning and very impressive but a lot of hard work. All birds of prey are hard work to try and get the best from them but eagles more so. It is not just the fitness and time you need to put in but the responsibility of flying an eagle. Artemis is a Steppe Eagle and no where near as powerful as a Golden Eagle but she is still a large powerful bird of prey. It is not like taking a Harris Hawk out. There are place i can go to fly her. Away from right of ways and public roads. I will try and get some pictures of her flying for the blog.
The coming week is not like last week. There is a random selection of bookings to make a very interesting and fun week. There is a couple of hawk walks, some promotional work, a trip to Glasgow University and the weekend is fully booked
I haven't been able to do a lot over the last week due to the weather - rain. The week hasn't been that busy with bookings and the weather makes it hard to get any consistency when it comes to training or working with the birds.
It was 1 of those weeks where even though there are not many bookings I am still busy. Some people think when you run a bird of prey centre all you do is fly birds of prey. I did when I first started doing this full time but I soon learned that it is not like that. Especially if you own / run a bird of prey centre. For example Tuesday last week was spent cleaning the centre, feeding birds, having a meeting with someone about promotions, speaking to Jim the IT guy who hosts my web site as he was getting a new lap top for me (the last 1 died), speaking with Jimmy who does all the electrical work and services the alarm in the centre and then going to meet another Jim who takes care of my car as it had broken down on the Sunday. It's quite handy that a lot of the people who I rely on to help me keep things working for me are called Jim. It makes it easy to remember names. There was no time to fly anything.
On Wednesday there was a booking and on Thursday and Friday it rained and things were fully booked over the weekend.
As you can see it is not all about flying birds. When you look after animals of any kind there is the cleaning and feeding that is the 1 constant and it has to be done. This is the less glamorous side of working with animals but is very important that it is done. Just because it is raining or it is cold does not mean that the cleaning can stop or you can't be bothered.
The training of Artemis has taken a slight alteration. I was trying to get her to fly to the glove but she didn't seem to confident with it. We would get to about 10m and be ok. Anything over 10m and then she wouldn't do it. She would however fly past me to a piece of food dropped on the ground so I am back flying her to the lure and it is going well. She is coming straight off to the lure from 30m away. Next step is to start flying her free which is always a bit scary.
I am not a big fan of eagles. don't get me wrong they are stunning and very impressive but a lot of hard work. All birds of prey are hard work to try and get the best from them but eagles more so. It is not just the fitness and time you need to put in but the responsibility of flying an eagle. Artemis is a Steppe Eagle and no where near as powerful as a Golden Eagle but she is still a large powerful bird of prey. It is not like taking a Harris Hawk out. There are place i can go to fly her. Away from right of ways and public roads. I will try and get some pictures of her flying for the blog.
The coming week is not like last week. There is a random selection of bookings to make a very interesting and fun week. There is a couple of hawk walks, some promotional work, a trip to Glasgow University and the weekend is fully booked
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Sad news
Unfortunately we had some bad news this week. Patch 1 of the ferrets passed away. It was not unexpected due to her age. She was over 8years old and they say the average life expectancy for a ferret is 8 years. Patch and her sister Fatty had been with me from when I started my business. She was a great working ferret when you put her down a rabbit warren. Very easy to handle as she would never bite. I am expecting Fatty her sister to pass away in the next few weeks as I got the two of them together. RIP Patch.
I forgot to mention in last weeks blog that on Tuesday 2nd November I had my 6 monthly vet inspection. This is different to the 1 i had at the end of August. That inspection was by the council vet. This 1 was by the vet that i use if the birds are unwell or have an injury. It is part of my zoo licence conditions that he visits the centre every 6 months to check on the birds, ferrets and the centre. He goes round the centre and i just mention how all the birds and ferrets are doing. It is a chance for him to check anything that has been to see the him in the last 6 months. We had a chat about Artemis the Steppe Eagle and what we can do to try and stop her from laying an egg next year -implant or medication? Not sure on that 1 yet. We checked on Patch and Fatty the 2 elderly ferrets and commented on how well and lively Patch looked. She passed away 48 hours later. We also had a look at Dylan the Barn Owl. I have noticed for a while that he sometimes misjudges his landing on the glove when called (some days he is worse than others) and he always used to land perfectly. Also he sometimes seems to struggle to find food if it has been left in his aviary. I spoke to the vet about this 18 months ago and he checked his eyes and said they were fine. I had noticed that he seemed to be getting worse and really struggles some days. I asked the vet to check his eyes again. This time he said he could see pigmentation of the retina which basically means that Dylan is going blind. The vet couldn't tell me how long he has got and there is nothing that can be done for him. He probably doesn't even realise that he is going blind due to the nature of it. I have decided to get Alba the other barn owl flying again and only use Dylan as back up over the winter. I will get another young barn owl in the spring to replace Dylan. As to what I do with Dylan. I will probably retire him. It is unfair to ask him to keep flying in bookings with his eyesight failing. I do realise that at some point I will have to make a decision to have him put down when his eyesight starts to get really bad and he can't find the food or see perches in his aviary. I feel I owe Dylan a lot. He was another original member of the team and worked really hard for me doing all sorts in the first few years when i started the business and trying to get established. He was a bit of a handful at the start but settled down and was always very reliable.
On a more positive note the inspection went very well and the vet was happy with everything and everyone in the centre.
In my last post I said i was going to try and get out and fly Amber for myself as it was quiet. I did manage to get out with her but only on 1 day. I had 2 free days to fly her and it rained on 1 of them so there was no chance to go out. I did get a few hours on the other day. She had a half chance at a rabbit and followed on well for the time that we were out.
I also had another school visit this week. Slightly different talk to the normal ones - owls or birds of prey. This 1 was on flight and to a P6 class. I normally have to do the talks to P3 or P4. I took Gigha the Peregrine, Kyle the Buzzard, Corrie the European Eagle Owl and Dylan. I flew Dylan in the school hall and he was great. His eyesight seems to have good days and bad at the moment. More good than bad but as I said i don't know for how much longer. I also make a point of calling a lot more when he is flying so he knows where I am.
The weekend was spent doing bookings. Pele a Harris Hawk took the opportunity to catch another rabbit at Cameron House when we were doing a booking over there. So there was some more good news.
Hope the coming week brings better news than last week.
I forgot to mention in last weeks blog that on Tuesday 2nd November I had my 6 monthly vet inspection. This is different to the 1 i had at the end of August. That inspection was by the council vet. This 1 was by the vet that i use if the birds are unwell or have an injury. It is part of my zoo licence conditions that he visits the centre every 6 months to check on the birds, ferrets and the centre. He goes round the centre and i just mention how all the birds and ferrets are doing. It is a chance for him to check anything that has been to see the him in the last 6 months. We had a chat about Artemis the Steppe Eagle and what we can do to try and stop her from laying an egg next year -implant or medication? Not sure on that 1 yet. We checked on Patch and Fatty the 2 elderly ferrets and commented on how well and lively Patch looked. She passed away 48 hours later. We also had a look at Dylan the Barn Owl. I have noticed for a while that he sometimes misjudges his landing on the glove when called (some days he is worse than others) and he always used to land perfectly. Also he sometimes seems to struggle to find food if it has been left in his aviary. I spoke to the vet about this 18 months ago and he checked his eyes and said they were fine. I had noticed that he seemed to be getting worse and really struggles some days. I asked the vet to check his eyes again. This time he said he could see pigmentation of the retina which basically means that Dylan is going blind. The vet couldn't tell me how long he has got and there is nothing that can be done for him. He probably doesn't even realise that he is going blind due to the nature of it. I have decided to get Alba the other barn owl flying again and only use Dylan as back up over the winter. I will get another young barn owl in the spring to replace Dylan. As to what I do with Dylan. I will probably retire him. It is unfair to ask him to keep flying in bookings with his eyesight failing. I do realise that at some point I will have to make a decision to have him put down when his eyesight starts to get really bad and he can't find the food or see perches in his aviary. I feel I owe Dylan a lot. He was another original member of the team and worked really hard for me doing all sorts in the first few years when i started the business and trying to get established. He was a bit of a handful at the start but settled down and was always very reliable.
On a more positive note the inspection went very well and the vet was happy with everything and everyone in the centre.
In my last post I said i was going to try and get out and fly Amber for myself as it was quiet. I did manage to get out with her but only on 1 day. I had 2 free days to fly her and it rained on 1 of them so there was no chance to go out. I did get a few hours on the other day. She had a half chance at a rabbit and followed on well for the time that we were out.
I also had another school visit this week. Slightly different talk to the normal ones - owls or birds of prey. This 1 was on flight and to a P6 class. I normally have to do the talks to P3 or P4. I took Gigha the Peregrine, Kyle the Buzzard, Corrie the European Eagle Owl and Dylan. I flew Dylan in the school hall and he was great. His eyesight seems to have good days and bad at the moment. More good than bad but as I said i don't know for how much longer. I also make a point of calling a lot more when he is flying so he knows where I am.
The weekend was spent doing bookings. Pele a Harris Hawk took the opportunity to catch another rabbit at Cameron House when we were doing a booking over there. So there was some more good news.
Hope the coming week brings better news than last week.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Number 7
I feel I should start with the stand out moment of the week.
On Sunday we had a group of 3 people in for a half day session. The sun was shining and it was a very relaxing day. Jerry the Tawny Owl had flown well to everyone. Next up was an eagle owl so I picked Lobey to do it. To give you a bit of back ground information on Lobey. He is the only owl in the centre who is entered. This means he has hunted and caught things. He went through a spell where he was chasing almost anything that moved from Robins to Black Headed Gulls to Gray Squirrels to the autumn leaves as they fell out the trees. During all this he caught 6 rabbits and a hedgehog. He then seemed to settle down and not show a lot of interest with only the odd attempt to catch something. I have had to watch him over the years and he has a bell on him just in case he does go after something and disappears so I can hear him in the trees. I have also flown him with a transmitter on as well. He hasn't shown any real interest in going for anything for the last few years until Sunday afternoon. He was about half way through the session and he saw a rabbit. Now you know when Lobey has seen something that has caught his interest. You will see him stand still and stare, he also stops calling, next he seems to tense up you can see all his feathers being pulled tight round him, then he moves his head from side to side or up and down. At this point he is working out what he is going to do. This can all take seconds. He did all this on Sunday. The next thing I know he is off the persons glove and aiming for a rabbit he had spotted. The rabbit didn't even move until Lobey hit it. It didn't have a clue he was going for it and that is with him wearing a bell. Eagle Owls have a real turn of speed on them when that big wing span is put to work. The rabbit didn't stand a chance against him. The people were ok with it and accepted it was just 1 of those things. It wasn't planned it was just bad timing by the rabbit to come out when Lobey was about. So he is now on 7 rabbits and 1 hedgehog. I would like to point out that Lobey has never been trained or encouraged to hunt. He has spotted things and thought I can catch that.
A lot of people in the falconry world go about how difficult it is to get eagle owls to hunt and I am sure it is for some owls but Lobey has always had a bit of get up and go about him which has made him good fun to work with and a little unpredictable if he sees something. He started to watch things as soon as I started to fly him and started to chase things not long after he was flying free. He is 8 years old and with the life expectancy of an eagle owl (anything from 30 to 40 years in captivity) I am sure he will add to his total.
Now back to the rest of the week. It has been a bit of a blur. On Monday we did a Hawk Walk for a father and son. They enjoyed it so much the Dad called me back later on Monday afternoon to book a Family Fun Session for him, his son, wife and daughter on the Tuesday. Tuesday was full on with 3 1 hour booking back to back and it rained all day but we got everything done. Pele was the stand out bird yet again as he did all 3 bookings the middle 1 being a Hawk Walk in the rain.
Wednesday was also full on with 3 bookings. The first 1 was at the centre, the 2nd 1 was at Cameron House and then it was back to the centre for the 3rd booking. So there was a bit of running about.
Thursday was a school visit and a talk on owls at Strathblane Primary. I was looking forward to doing this as i always enjoy school visits and I thought great a booking in the morning just down the road and then straight back to the centre and the afternoon is mine. That was the plan until I clipped a kerb leaving the school and got a puncture so the afternoon was spent going to the garage to get a new tyre. Not what I had planned and the less said about Friday the better. Wash out springs to mind with the amount of rain we had on Friday so I got nothing flown.
Saturday and Sunday were busy with 3 bookings on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. A busy week.
I love it when things are like this. The birds all generally fly well as weeks like this are not uncommon during the summer so the birds are all very much in a routine. I don't like to see lots of birds sitting around the centre not being used. I want to see them flying. This what they are supposed to be doing.
With this week looking a bit quieter I have promised myself some time hunting with Amber my female Harris Hawk and I may get a little bit of time to do some falconry. This is 1 of the benefits of your hobby being your job. I am not really expecting to catch anything with her but I just love being out in the countryside flying her watching her go about her business. We shall see if I get the time. Most times the phone rings and it is back to work. I will let you know in my next post
On Sunday we had a group of 3 people in for a half day session. The sun was shining and it was a very relaxing day. Jerry the Tawny Owl had flown well to everyone. Next up was an eagle owl so I picked Lobey to do it. To give you a bit of back ground information on Lobey. He is the only owl in the centre who is entered. This means he has hunted and caught things. He went through a spell where he was chasing almost anything that moved from Robins to Black Headed Gulls to Gray Squirrels to the autumn leaves as they fell out the trees. During all this he caught 6 rabbits and a hedgehog. He then seemed to settle down and not show a lot of interest with only the odd attempt to catch something. I have had to watch him over the years and he has a bell on him just in case he does go after something and disappears so I can hear him in the trees. I have also flown him with a transmitter on as well. He hasn't shown any real interest in going for anything for the last few years until Sunday afternoon. He was about half way through the session and he saw a rabbit. Now you know when Lobey has seen something that has caught his interest. You will see him stand still and stare, he also stops calling, next he seems to tense up you can see all his feathers being pulled tight round him, then he moves his head from side to side or up and down. At this point he is working out what he is going to do. This can all take seconds. He did all this on Sunday. The next thing I know he is off the persons glove and aiming for a rabbit he had spotted. The rabbit didn't even move until Lobey hit it. It didn't have a clue he was going for it and that is with him wearing a bell. Eagle Owls have a real turn of speed on them when that big wing span is put to work. The rabbit didn't stand a chance against him. The people were ok with it and accepted it was just 1 of those things. It wasn't planned it was just bad timing by the rabbit to come out when Lobey was about. So he is now on 7 rabbits and 1 hedgehog. I would like to point out that Lobey has never been trained or encouraged to hunt. He has spotted things and thought I can catch that.
A lot of people in the falconry world go about how difficult it is to get eagle owls to hunt and I am sure it is for some owls but Lobey has always had a bit of get up and go about him which has made him good fun to work with and a little unpredictable if he sees something. He started to watch things as soon as I started to fly him and started to chase things not long after he was flying free. He is 8 years old and with the life expectancy of an eagle owl (anything from 30 to 40 years in captivity) I am sure he will add to his total.
Now back to the rest of the week. It has been a bit of a blur. On Monday we did a Hawk Walk for a father and son. They enjoyed it so much the Dad called me back later on Monday afternoon to book a Family Fun Session for him, his son, wife and daughter on the Tuesday. Tuesday was full on with 3 1 hour booking back to back and it rained all day but we got everything done. Pele was the stand out bird yet again as he did all 3 bookings the middle 1 being a Hawk Walk in the rain.
Wednesday was also full on with 3 bookings. The first 1 was at the centre, the 2nd 1 was at Cameron House and then it was back to the centre for the 3rd booking. So there was a bit of running about.
Thursday was a school visit and a talk on owls at Strathblane Primary. I was looking forward to doing this as i always enjoy school visits and I thought great a booking in the morning just down the road and then straight back to the centre and the afternoon is mine. That was the plan until I clipped a kerb leaving the school and got a puncture so the afternoon was spent going to the garage to get a new tyre. Not what I had planned and the less said about Friday the better. Wash out springs to mind with the amount of rain we had on Friday so I got nothing flown.
Saturday and Sunday were busy with 3 bookings on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. A busy week.
I love it when things are like this. The birds all generally fly well as weeks like this are not uncommon during the summer so the birds are all very much in a routine. I don't like to see lots of birds sitting around the centre not being used. I want to see them flying. This what they are supposed to be doing.
With this week looking a bit quieter I have promised myself some time hunting with Amber my female Harris Hawk and I may get a little bit of time to do some falconry. This is 1 of the benefits of your hobby being your job. I am not really expecting to catch anything with her but I just love being out in the countryside flying her watching her go about her business. We shall see if I get the time. Most times the phone rings and it is back to work. I will let you know in my next post
Monday, 25 October 2010
Winter is here
In my last post i mentioned that it looked like winter was here. Well it is official. We have had 2 nights of frost and I have looked out the thermals for work. I don't do bad weather - there is no such thing, just the wrong clothing. While we have had frost at night the days the been bright and sunny which has been great. The birds are taking the change in the weather in there stride and even though it has been frosty it is not cold enough to cause any serious problems.
There hasn't been a lot happening in the centre over the last week. There have been bookings most days but it has not been that busy. No big bookings and we haven't really been travelling about to do any events at different locations. The last week has been between the Scottish half term holiday week and the English half term holiday week. It has almost been a lull in bookings.
The coming week on the other hand looked reasonably quiet at 9am this morning with nothing booked for today tomorrow or Wednesday morning. That changed by 11am this morning. We picked up a hawk walk, 2 more bookings tomorrow and 1 on Wednesday morning. It is safe to say I am nearly fully booked this week but I was kind of half expecting it to do this. I also have my first school visit of the new school year on Thursday. The school visits are always good fun and a real change to the routine
The birds are all flying well so while the coming week is busy there shouldn't be any real challenges. 1 more busy week and then things will quieten down a bit. November tends to quieten down for the birds so I will reduce the number of birds flying a bit more but it can be very busy for me with the run in for Christmas.
Even though things are busy in the centre I try not to let this stop me working with the birds and improving the team. I have been bringing Artemis the Steppe Eagle's weight down. Now I would like to point out that
I am not a big fan of eagles. Don't get me wrong they are stunning but they are hard work. Every thing about them is hard work. They are big heavy strong and that can be just the eagles personality. You are also have to be really careful where you fly them. They will not think twice about taking cats and dogs so there is a real responsibility in flying an eagle. In the past I have always flown Artemis to the lure dropped on the ground but this year I am trying to get her to fly to the glove which is hard work as I have never asked her to do this before and she sometimes struggles to land on the glove and doesn't seem that sure what she is meant to do. Once I have her flying a bit more confidently I will introduce the dummy bunny and get her chasing this to build up her fitness a bit
There hasn't been a lot happening in the centre over the last week. There have been bookings most days but it has not been that busy. No big bookings and we haven't really been travelling about to do any events at different locations. The last week has been between the Scottish half term holiday week and the English half term holiday week. It has almost been a lull in bookings.
The coming week on the other hand looked reasonably quiet at 9am this morning with nothing booked for today tomorrow or Wednesday morning. That changed by 11am this morning. We picked up a hawk walk, 2 more bookings tomorrow and 1 on Wednesday morning. It is safe to say I am nearly fully booked this week but I was kind of half expecting it to do this. I also have my first school visit of the new school year on Thursday. The school visits are always good fun and a real change to the routine
The birds are all flying well so while the coming week is busy there shouldn't be any real challenges. 1 more busy week and then things will quieten down a bit. November tends to quieten down for the birds so I will reduce the number of birds flying a bit more but it can be very busy for me with the run in for Christmas.
Even though things are busy in the centre I try not to let this stop me working with the birds and improving the team. I have been bringing Artemis the Steppe Eagle's weight down. Now I would like to point out that
I am not a big fan of eagles. Don't get me wrong they are stunning but they are hard work. Every thing about them is hard work. They are big heavy strong and that can be just the eagles personality. You are also have to be really careful where you fly them. They will not think twice about taking cats and dogs so there is a real responsibility in flying an eagle. In the past I have always flown Artemis to the lure dropped on the ground but this year I am trying to get her to fly to the glove which is hard work as I have never asked her to do this before and she sometimes struggles to land on the glove and doesn't seem that sure what she is meant to do. Once I have her flying a bit more confidently I will introduce the dummy bunny and get her chasing this to build up her fitness a bit
Getting weighed |
Going back to T perch |
Coming to glove |
Monday, 18 October 2010
Good news
The good news first. Pele has recovered from his broken talon. While it hasn't healed in the fact that the talon hasn't grown back he is using it. Even better he caught a rabbit today at Cameron House.
Things have been steady over the last week. Tuesday was busy with 3 hawk walks back to back at Cameron House. Mardy did 2 and he was great. Flew really well for 2 hours.
On Wednesday i was meant to take some people out hunting but they didn't show so went out myself with Amber to check on a bit a ground that i have permission to hunt on. It was not good. A few years ago it was over run with rabbits but over the last 5 years there has been a steady decline in the rabbit numbers to the point where i would say there is none. This is not unique in this area. I have permission to fly else where and i have noticed the same there as well. Other falconers in the area have said the same on ground that they have permission on. I need to find some new land that i am allowed to fly on. There were a few pheasants about and Amber was unlucky with them coming close to catching 2 of them.
On Thursday it was St Phillips Secure Unit. Like i said in my last entry, it is always an experience going there. I have no idea as to why these boys are there. I know some are there for 3 - 4 years so they have done something wrong. I am never that comfortable when i am there and it is not dealing with the boys who stay there. It's the fact that where ever i go the door is always locked behind me. First of all i drive my car into a loading bay and the gates are locked. The a door is opened into a games hall and once i am in the door is locked. I never feel that comfortable being locked in a room that i can't get out. I guess most people are like that.
The on going saga that is Bob has stopped for the time being. There was a few days last week where I knew I was going to be struggling to fly him so i gave him half a pigeon to eat. He was delighted. I didn't need to feed him for 3 days after he ate the half pigeon. He also dropped 3 feathers so I have decided to let him moult and tidy himself up.
The weekend bookings passed with out incident unlike today. As I said at the beginning of the post Pele caught a rabbit. I was at Cameron House and the person out was someone from the sales team. I said I would take them on a hawk walk so they knew what it was all about and could tell guests about it. We were walking through the grounds and Pele drops out of a tree and goes behind some bushes and has nailed a rabbit. The person from the sales team was ok about it. At the end of the day it was a good incident.
Winter is now starting to show that it is almost here even though it is only mid October. They were mentioning on the weather this evening that there could be frost tomorrow night. I will need to start restricting when the birds can have baths as the last thing you want is the bird to have a bath late afternoon or early evening and then for there to be a frost. Some of the birds are prone to getting a condition called wing tip edema which is frost bite like the Harris hawks, the Lanner and the Lugger. As the seasons change the routine in the centre changes. The two go hand in hand.
The coming week is fairly quiet so a chance to relax a bit myself. The last 6 months have been full on and next week may be busy due to the English schools being off on holiday and then I need to start preparing for the Christmas rush of gift vouchers as presents. This doesn't impact on the birds but it does mean i am on the phone and e mail answering enquiries. The days are short and the weather can be rubbish so i can be limited as to when i can fly the birds. Over November and December the number of birds flown is reduced to it's lowest level in the year. I don't like birds sitting about at weight and not flying. I don't think this is healthy for them. So we only have about a third of the birds flying at this time of the year. The rest are given extra food and rested over the worst of the winter.
Everything i do i am always thinking about the birds welfare and health. This is why i won't do certain types of work with birds. Namely allowing people to come and hold a bird and charge for a photo at a gala day or car boot sale and the bird spends all day getting passed about and not allowed to settle. Out at the centre it is different. You are welcome to take as many photos as you want and you WON'T be charged. The handling only last for a few minutes or the birds are flying and choosing to come to the person. Rant over.
Things have been steady over the last week. Tuesday was busy with 3 hawk walks back to back at Cameron House. Mardy did 2 and he was great. Flew really well for 2 hours.
On Wednesday i was meant to take some people out hunting but they didn't show so went out myself with Amber to check on a bit a ground that i have permission to hunt on. It was not good. A few years ago it was over run with rabbits but over the last 5 years there has been a steady decline in the rabbit numbers to the point where i would say there is none. This is not unique in this area. I have permission to fly else where and i have noticed the same there as well. Other falconers in the area have said the same on ground that they have permission on. I need to find some new land that i am allowed to fly on. There were a few pheasants about and Amber was unlucky with them coming close to catching 2 of them.
On Thursday it was St Phillips Secure Unit. Like i said in my last entry, it is always an experience going there. I have no idea as to why these boys are there. I know some are there for 3 - 4 years so they have done something wrong. I am never that comfortable when i am there and it is not dealing with the boys who stay there. It's the fact that where ever i go the door is always locked behind me. First of all i drive my car into a loading bay and the gates are locked. The a door is opened into a games hall and once i am in the door is locked. I never feel that comfortable being locked in a room that i can't get out. I guess most people are like that.
The on going saga that is Bob has stopped for the time being. There was a few days last week where I knew I was going to be struggling to fly him so i gave him half a pigeon to eat. He was delighted. I didn't need to feed him for 3 days after he ate the half pigeon. He also dropped 3 feathers so I have decided to let him moult and tidy himself up.
The weekend bookings passed with out incident unlike today. As I said at the beginning of the post Pele caught a rabbit. I was at Cameron House and the person out was someone from the sales team. I said I would take them on a hawk walk so they knew what it was all about and could tell guests about it. We were walking through the grounds and Pele drops out of a tree and goes behind some bushes and has nailed a rabbit. The person from the sales team was ok about it. At the end of the day it was a good incident.
Winter is now starting to show that it is almost here even though it is only mid October. They were mentioning on the weather this evening that there could be frost tomorrow night. I will need to start restricting when the birds can have baths as the last thing you want is the bird to have a bath late afternoon or early evening and then for there to be a frost. Some of the birds are prone to getting a condition called wing tip edema which is frost bite like the Harris hawks, the Lanner and the Lugger. As the seasons change the routine in the centre changes. The two go hand in hand.
The coming week is fairly quiet so a chance to relax a bit myself. The last 6 months have been full on and next week may be busy due to the English schools being off on holiday and then I need to start preparing for the Christmas rush of gift vouchers as presents. This doesn't impact on the birds but it does mean i am on the phone and e mail answering enquiries. The days are short and the weather can be rubbish so i can be limited as to when i can fly the birds. Over November and December the number of birds flown is reduced to it's lowest level in the year. I don't like birds sitting about at weight and not flying. I don't think this is healthy for them. So we only have about a third of the birds flying at this time of the year. The rest are given extra food and rested over the worst of the winter.
Everything i do i am always thinking about the birds welfare and health. This is why i won't do certain types of work with birds. Namely allowing people to come and hold a bird and charge for a photo at a gala day or car boot sale and the bird spends all day getting passed about and not allowed to settle. Out at the centre it is different. You are welcome to take as many photos as you want and you WON'T be charged. The handling only last for a few minutes or the birds are flying and choosing to come to the person. Rant over.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Mid October
A quiet week last week with 1 booking each day on Monday to Thursday. On Friday we had no bookings. I had to do business stuff and enter the real world on Friday - I had to see the accountant. At least the birds got a day off. Saturday and Sunday we had 3 bookings each day. 2 of the bookings were away at Cameron House on Sunday so that meant for a bit of a hectic day with loading the car and driving. Once again I can't thank Jo enough for dealing with the centre and generally being there dealing with all the little things while I am rushing about doing bookings. It was a busy week by the end even though it didn't look like that when I posted my last entry to the blog at the beginning of the week.
The only down side last week was Pele. He has been a star over the last few weeks but he had a bit of bad luck last week. I had him out hunting on Tuesday 5th October and we had only been out for about 30 mins. Things were looking ok when we flushed a rabbit and he went for it. he looked like he just missed it and he flew up in to a tree. He then was very slow to follow on which is not like him. I went to call him in and when he came in I noticed he had broke a talon. It wasn't bad but it had exposed some of the talon quick and was bleeding steadily. He wasn't happy. It would of been quite sore and tender. A bit like tearing a nail to far down. By the time I got him back to the centre it had stopped bleeding. Jo looked at it later in the day and thought it best that he got some anti-biotics to make sure there was no infection so it was off to the vet. There doesn't seem to be any sign of infection so it looks ok. The talon will grow back and he is still flying.
The strangest thing I saw in the last week was 3 House Martins on Saturday 10th October. I thought they had all flown south as I haven't seen any for 2 weeks but here were 3. Saying that I haven't seen them in the last 2 days so they have probably headed south by now. I hope so for their sake.
I have started flying Bob the Gyr x Saker again. He does well some days and I think ok he is improving only for a day or 2 later he seems to take a step back. The end of this week is not as busy as it has been so I will try and fly him away from the centre and see how he goes. This is the problem of getting birds that are second hand. I always say "No body sells a good bird". If you have a good bird you want to keep it.
I didn't put any pictures of our visit to Mar Hall in the blog last week so I have put some in this week.
This week is not too busy. 3 bookings tomorrow - Tuesday 12th October . Wednesday is spent taking people out hunting all day and Thursday will be spent doing talks on falconry to some boys in a secure unit. A bit of a contradiction. Wednesday the great outdoors and freedom. Thursday locked up. An interesting week in someways.
I have done several talks at the secure unit over the years and I always come away realising how lucky I have been. It is always a bit of an experience. Then again that is what I love about doing this for a living.Each day can bring a new challenge or opportunity or experience.
The only down side last week was Pele. He has been a star over the last few weeks but he had a bit of bad luck last week. I had him out hunting on Tuesday 5th October and we had only been out for about 30 mins. Things were looking ok when we flushed a rabbit and he went for it. he looked like he just missed it and he flew up in to a tree. He then was very slow to follow on which is not like him. I went to call him in and when he came in I noticed he had broke a talon. It wasn't bad but it had exposed some of the talon quick and was bleeding steadily. He wasn't happy. It would of been quite sore and tender. A bit like tearing a nail to far down. By the time I got him back to the centre it had stopped bleeding. Jo looked at it later in the day and thought it best that he got some anti-biotics to make sure there was no infection so it was off to the vet. There doesn't seem to be any sign of infection so it looks ok. The talon will grow back and he is still flying.
The strangest thing I saw in the last week was 3 House Martins on Saturday 10th October. I thought they had all flown south as I haven't seen any for 2 weeks but here were 3. Saying that I haven't seen them in the last 2 days so they have probably headed south by now. I hope so for their sake.
I have started flying Bob the Gyr x Saker again. He does well some days and I think ok he is improving only for a day or 2 later he seems to take a step back. The end of this week is not as busy as it has been so I will try and fly him away from the centre and see how he goes. This is the problem of getting birds that are second hand. I always say "No body sells a good bird". If you have a good bird you want to keep it.
The birds don't have baths as they were only out for 45 mins before we started flying and they all had to be put back in their travel boxes for safety |
Pele in action at Mar Hall |
This week is not too busy. 3 bookings tomorrow - Tuesday 12th October . Wednesday is spent taking people out hunting all day and Thursday will be spent doing talks on falconry to some boys in a secure unit. A bit of a contradiction. Wednesday the great outdoors and freedom. Thursday locked up. An interesting week in someways.
I have done several talks at the secure unit over the years and I always come away realising how lucky I have been. It is always a bit of an experience. Then again that is what I love about doing this for a living.Each day can bring a new challenge or opportunity or experience.
Monday, 4 October 2010
What a week
Well in my last post I mentioned that I had a very busy week coming up and I would let the blog know how it went. Even though the weather was very wet at times we got everything done.
It went well.The birds all flew well apart from Lobey the Turkmanian eagle Owl at the 4 group rotational corporate event at Lennoxlove on Wednesday but it was raining very heavily when I asked him to fly and I don't think he was that impressed. Duffy the Bengal Eagle Owl stepped into the breach and was a star. Lobey is normally very good at these events but as I said it was raining heavily. The stand out bird of the week has to be Pele the Harris Hawk. There was 3 bookings where the rain was heavy when he was flying but we still got booking done and he was great in all of them. At Lennoxlove Castle he was great flying up on to the roof of the castle and then coming back to the glove at a steep angle. He looked fantastic.
Pele is the oldest Harris Hawk in the centre and 1 of the originals as I got him when I opened up the centre. While he is 8 years old he has only spent just over 3 years in the centre. He was very vocal so loaned him to Gail who used to help me in the centre.She flew him and hunted with him and caught all sorts. He is not related in any way to the other 4 Harris Hawks and this can be seen in his personality in that he is a bit more laid back than the others. He has got quieter over the years and doesn't shout anywhere near as much as he used to. Hopefully it will keep going that way.
While things were busy and the weather wasn't great I still found time to fly Gigha the Peregrine. He has stopped sitting and is now starting to fly with a bit of real speed. There is nothing like stooping (flying) a Peregrine to the lure when it has a decent level of fitness. The sitting is annoying but I know that he will pass through it and stop. It is just a matter of keep going with him.
As for Bob. I decided that I would give him a bit of time off. I have been working / flying him for a good few weeks now and I knew I was going to be struggling to find time to fly him last week so I have taken his weight up and I will start flying him again in the next day or 2 as long as the weather isn't to bad.
Today we had an event at Mar Hall Hotel near Erskine. I have never been there before so last Friday I went down to do a site inspection. I always like to go and look at a venue before I fly the birds there if I can. It is not always possible but it is always good to know what you are getting into and how you are going to do things on the day. It makes things look a lot more professional. I can't stand turning up and I am not organised and before you know it looks like amateur time. It just causes stress which is not good. One of things I learnt when I worked in hotels - first impressions count. It is not just all about the birds it is about me and the birds. We both have to be on top of our game.
Anyway back to Mar Hall. I went to look at it on Friday in the rain. Lovely setting over looking the Clyde. The first thing I noticed apart from the location was rabbits. This is not a problem but it can make the session a little bit more exciting and unpredictable with the birds going after the rabbits. I decided not to fly Lobey the Turkmanian Eagle Owl at it. He has caught 6 rabbits and a hedgehog over the years and has previous for chasing almost everything else that moves. The last thing I needed was on my first booking at Mar Hall was Lobey cruising about the grounds of Mar Hall on a mission to demonstrate falconry to the guests even though he is an owl and the hunting with owls is not falconry. I took Duffy the Bengal eagle Owl instead. I knew there was potential of the Harris Hawks going for and catching something but that's just the way it is with them. The session went well and when it came to flying the Harris Hawk - Pele - the grounds men had started to cut the grass sot he rabbits had gone to cover so it was all uneventful in the end. The guests said they had a brilliant time so I was happy.
This week things are not as busy but there is still things booked in on 6 days so lots to think about but it is all at the centre so an easier week.
It went well.The birds all flew well apart from Lobey the Turkmanian eagle Owl at the 4 group rotational corporate event at Lennoxlove on Wednesday but it was raining very heavily when I asked him to fly and I don't think he was that impressed. Duffy the Bengal Eagle Owl stepped into the breach and was a star. Lobey is normally very good at these events but as I said it was raining heavily. The stand out bird of the week has to be Pele the Harris Hawk. There was 3 bookings where the rain was heavy when he was flying but we still got booking done and he was great in all of them. At Lennoxlove Castle he was great flying up on to the roof of the castle and then coming back to the glove at a steep angle. He looked fantastic.
Pele is the oldest Harris Hawk in the centre and 1 of the originals as I got him when I opened up the centre. While he is 8 years old he has only spent just over 3 years in the centre. He was very vocal so loaned him to Gail who used to help me in the centre.She flew him and hunted with him and caught all sorts. He is not related in any way to the other 4 Harris Hawks and this can be seen in his personality in that he is a bit more laid back than the others. He has got quieter over the years and doesn't shout anywhere near as much as he used to. Hopefully it will keep going that way.
While things were busy and the weather wasn't great I still found time to fly Gigha the Peregrine. He has stopped sitting and is now starting to fly with a bit of real speed. There is nothing like stooping (flying) a Peregrine to the lure when it has a decent level of fitness. The sitting is annoying but I know that he will pass through it and stop. It is just a matter of keep going with him.
As for Bob. I decided that I would give him a bit of time off. I have been working / flying him for a good few weeks now and I knew I was going to be struggling to find time to fly him last week so I have taken his weight up and I will start flying him again in the next day or 2 as long as the weather isn't to bad.
Today we had an event at Mar Hall Hotel near Erskine. I have never been there before so last Friday I went down to do a site inspection. I always like to go and look at a venue before I fly the birds there if I can. It is not always possible but it is always good to know what you are getting into and how you are going to do things on the day. It makes things look a lot more professional. I can't stand turning up and I am not organised and before you know it looks like amateur time. It just causes stress which is not good. One of things I learnt when I worked in hotels - first impressions count. It is not just all about the birds it is about me and the birds. We both have to be on top of our game.
Anyway back to Mar Hall. I went to look at it on Friday in the rain. Lovely setting over looking the Clyde. The first thing I noticed apart from the location was rabbits. This is not a problem but it can make the session a little bit more exciting and unpredictable with the birds going after the rabbits. I decided not to fly Lobey the Turkmanian Eagle Owl at it. He has caught 6 rabbits and a hedgehog over the years and has previous for chasing almost everything else that moves. The last thing I needed was on my first booking at Mar Hall was Lobey cruising about the grounds of Mar Hall on a mission to demonstrate falconry to the guests even though he is an owl and the hunting with owls is not falconry. I took Duffy the Bengal eagle Owl instead. I knew there was potential of the Harris Hawks going for and catching something but that's just the way it is with them. The session went well and when it came to flying the Harris Hawk - Pele - the grounds men had started to cut the grass sot he rabbits had gone to cover so it was all uneventful in the end. The guests said they had a brilliant time so I was happy.
This week things are not as busy but there is still things booked in on 6 days so lots to think about but it is all at the centre so an easier week.
Monday, 27 September 2010
End of the month
Well another month is almost finished. September has gone very fast or is going very fast.
Last week started quietly with nothing really happening on Monday to Wednesday but from Thursday to Sunday things were very busy with events. Monday to Wednesday was spent cleaning the centre, doing a few odd jobs around the centre that always seemed to be needing done and flying the birds.
The birds are all doing ok. Gigha the peregrine seems to of come off the boil a bit as he has stared sitting which you don't want falcons doing when you fly them to the lure but he has done this before and comes through it and stops it. Bob is Bob. He is still very up and down but his fitness at long last seems to be improving and I can see that he is getting faster and stronger now which is great. Amber is doing ok. Pele is going great as well. All the other birds that are flying are all just getting on with it and doing things to the usual high standard.
While last week started off very quiet and became busy this week is going to very busy from the start. I am fully booked every day this week with things going on in the centre and things to do out on the road. We have a large corporate event on Wednesday through in Edinburgh. I always get a bit of a buzz at these events. I love doing them. Tuesday and Thursday I will be in the centre, Friday is a site inspection for a event I am doing the following week and the weekend I am all over the place doing 5 bookings with 2 in the centre and 3 out on the road at a different location. I am feeling confident about this week which is going to be a bit full on. One of the benefits of having a small team of birds is that I can spend a lot more time working with them individually so hopefully I can get them to a good level of fitness and ability with regular flying. It also means when I have a week like what is coming up I have a lot of confidence in the birds because of the time I put into them. In a weeks time I will telling the blog how I got on.
On a sad note I was called out to a wild barn owl this morning that had been hit by a car. Jo had a look at it but there was nothing that could be done as it had broken a wing badly and the bird was fading fast due to shock so there may of been other injuries that we couldn't see or find. Unfortunately it passed away before we could do anything. It is always difficult with wild birds that have been injured. The stress can be enough to kill them at times. If you can stabilize them I then feel you need to ask the question of how long will it take it to recover from the injury and to get it back into the wild. If you are talking weeks and months the best thing maybe to put it to sleep. It is not a simple case of nursing the bird back to health and releasing it back into the wild. For example a buzzard that injures a wing and needs to be rested so the wing can heal will loose fitness. If you release the bird back in to the wild and it is not fit as in it does not have the fitness to hunt and catch food is going to find it very hard to survive and will probably die. To get it back to a reasonably good level of fitness you are going to have to fly it like a falconry bird build it's fitness back up and ultimately hack it back to the wild this is going to take a lot of effort and time. I feel that the longer a wild bird spends in captivity being treated for an injury or illness the less likely it is to survive in the wild for any length of time when it is released. Saying that if (and I am) called out to help a wild bird of prey I will always go and see what I can do for it.
Last week started quietly with nothing really happening on Monday to Wednesday but from Thursday to Sunday things were very busy with events. Monday to Wednesday was spent cleaning the centre, doing a few odd jobs around the centre that always seemed to be needing done and flying the birds.
The birds are all doing ok. Gigha the peregrine seems to of come off the boil a bit as he has stared sitting which you don't want falcons doing when you fly them to the lure but he has done this before and comes through it and stops it. Bob is Bob. He is still very up and down but his fitness at long last seems to be improving and I can see that he is getting faster and stronger now which is great. Amber is doing ok. Pele is going great as well. All the other birds that are flying are all just getting on with it and doing things to the usual high standard.
While last week started off very quiet and became busy this week is going to very busy from the start. I am fully booked every day this week with things going on in the centre and things to do out on the road. We have a large corporate event on Wednesday through in Edinburgh. I always get a bit of a buzz at these events. I love doing them. Tuesday and Thursday I will be in the centre, Friday is a site inspection for a event I am doing the following week and the weekend I am all over the place doing 5 bookings with 2 in the centre and 3 out on the road at a different location. I am feeling confident about this week which is going to be a bit full on. One of the benefits of having a small team of birds is that I can spend a lot more time working with them individually so hopefully I can get them to a good level of fitness and ability with regular flying. It also means when I have a week like what is coming up I have a lot of confidence in the birds because of the time I put into them. In a weeks time I will telling the blog how I got on.
On a sad note I was called out to a wild barn owl this morning that had been hit by a car. Jo had a look at it but there was nothing that could be done as it had broken a wing badly and the bird was fading fast due to shock so there may of been other injuries that we couldn't see or find. Unfortunately it passed away before we could do anything. It is always difficult with wild birds that have been injured. The stress can be enough to kill them at times. If you can stabilize them I then feel you need to ask the question of how long will it take it to recover from the injury and to get it back into the wild. If you are talking weeks and months the best thing maybe to put it to sleep. It is not a simple case of nursing the bird back to health and releasing it back into the wild. For example a buzzard that injures a wing and needs to be rested so the wing can heal will loose fitness. If you release the bird back in to the wild and it is not fit as in it does not have the fitness to hunt and catch food is going to find it very hard to survive and will probably die. To get it back to a reasonably good level of fitness you are going to have to fly it like a falconry bird build it's fitness back up and ultimately hack it back to the wild this is going to take a lot of effort and time. I feel that the longer a wild bird spends in captivity being treated for an injury or illness the less likely it is to survive in the wild for any length of time when it is released. Saying that if (and I am) called out to help a wild bird of prey I will always go and see what I can do for it.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
A steady week
It always amazes me when I think I have a quiet week and i will say ok I will get this that and the next thing done and at the end of the week I have only done half of it and I am left wondering where the week went.
There wasn't much in the diary this week.
Monday 13th was a complete wash out with the rain and nothing was flown.
On Tuesday we were back out on the road with a booking over at Cameron House which went well. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was spent in the centre cleaning and flying the birds which was great. Amber the female Harris Hawk was a bit hit and miss - some days she was great and others a bit wayward. She is starting to show the attitude that I have grown to respect when in and around her aviary. She can be a bit grumpy. Gigha the Peregrine is going great guns. Looking good and fast but his fitness is still not great but he will get fitter and he is still great fun. He will get there he always does. Bob is Bob. He is doing ok. I have changed the lure that I fly him to to see if that will make any difference. I have made a lure using crow wings. I tried it out today but no difference but it was his first day so we shall see.
I have finished up with Brel. He will now be given a break and allowed to have a moult. He is looking a little bit worn shall we say. He has worked hard all year for me and did his last event for this season yesterday a large family day in Edinburgh and was his usual reliable self. Today I left him out on the front lawn with a pigeon and he was delighted. I gave him the whole pigeon. I didn't expect him to finish it but I wanted him to eat his fill which he did. I did have to watch as there was a wild buzzard hanging about trying to come in and rob him of it. This has only happened twice in the past and both times it has been Brel who the buzzard has been trying to steal food off. I should point out that the pigeon was bred for human consumption and was not a feral pigeon. I wouldn't feed those to my bird as they carry to many parasites and diseases.
Brel after he had eaten his fill of pigeon out in the rain. I don't think he was to impressed with me taking his picture. You can see the large crop on his chest. The crop is where a raptor hold the food before it goes to the stomach. It's a bit like an internal elastic bag. I won't feed Brel till he has digested the pigeon which could take 2 days.
Now that i have finished with Brel for the season Pele comes back. Pele is another male Harris Hawk and a really lovely bird to work with. I use him for all sorts of things activity days, hawk walks, corporate events small demonstrations and hunting. He is one of the original team and I got him when I first set up the centre. He does have 1 bad habit and that is he can be a bit vocal but he does seem to getting a bit better each year. He is quite laid back and not as moody as the other Harris hawks but then again he is in no way related to them. He is a great bird to work with and very reliable. I loaned him out to Gail who used to help me in the centre for about 5 years so while he has been about for 8 years I have really only had him for 3 of them. All he did with Gail was hunt. I stopped flying him in March this year on a bit a of a low note in the fact that he broke a wing but he has made a full recovery thankfully
Alba the Barn Owl has also been allowed to moult after doing the corporate event yesterday where she was a star and flew brilliantly to loads of children along with Duffy the Bengal who after a slow start was also good and flew to lots of children. When we got back I gave Alba 3 mice. She will now be allowed to moult and I will start flying her in February.
I feel the summer has now gone. The swifts and swallows are long gone ans the house martins numbers seem to dropping daily I still see the odd one but I didn't see any today but the weather was very wet at times so not the best. While I said back in August it felt like the summer was over I feel it is now as these birds leave in advance of the coming cold winter. Here's hoping this winter was like last year - really cold and dry rather the usual wet mild winters that we normally get where i am always feeling cold and damp.
There wasn't much in the diary this week.
Monday 13th was a complete wash out with the rain and nothing was flown.
On Tuesday we were back out on the road with a booking over at Cameron House which went well. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was spent in the centre cleaning and flying the birds which was great. Amber the female Harris Hawk was a bit hit and miss - some days she was great and others a bit wayward. She is starting to show the attitude that I have grown to respect when in and around her aviary. She can be a bit grumpy. Gigha the Peregrine is going great guns. Looking good and fast but his fitness is still not great but he will get fitter and he is still great fun. He will get there he always does. Bob is Bob. He is doing ok. I have changed the lure that I fly him to to see if that will make any difference. I have made a lure using crow wings. I tried it out today but no difference but it was his first day so we shall see.
I have finished up with Brel. He will now be given a break and allowed to have a moult. He is looking a little bit worn shall we say. He has worked hard all year for me and did his last event for this season yesterday a large family day in Edinburgh and was his usual reliable self. Today I left him out on the front lawn with a pigeon and he was delighted. I gave him the whole pigeon. I didn't expect him to finish it but I wanted him to eat his fill which he did. I did have to watch as there was a wild buzzard hanging about trying to come in and rob him of it. This has only happened twice in the past and both times it has been Brel who the buzzard has been trying to steal food off. I should point out that the pigeon was bred for human consumption and was not a feral pigeon. I wouldn't feed those to my bird as they carry to many parasites and diseases.
Brel after he had eaten his fill of pigeon out in the rain. I don't think he was to impressed with me taking his picture. You can see the large crop on his chest. The crop is where a raptor hold the food before it goes to the stomach. It's a bit like an internal elastic bag. I won't feed Brel till he has digested the pigeon which could take 2 days.
Now that i have finished with Brel for the season Pele comes back. Pele is another male Harris Hawk and a really lovely bird to work with. I use him for all sorts of things activity days, hawk walks, corporate events small demonstrations and hunting. He is one of the original team and I got him when I first set up the centre. He does have 1 bad habit and that is he can be a bit vocal but he does seem to getting a bit better each year. He is quite laid back and not as moody as the other Harris hawks but then again he is in no way related to them. He is a great bird to work with and very reliable. I loaned him out to Gail who used to help me in the centre for about 5 years so while he has been about for 8 years I have really only had him for 3 of them. All he did with Gail was hunt. I stopped flying him in March this year on a bit a of a low note in the fact that he broke a wing but he has made a full recovery thankfully
Pele flying to the glove |
Alba the Barn Owl has also been allowed to moult after doing the corporate event yesterday where she was a star and flew brilliantly to loads of children along with Duffy the Bengal who after a slow start was also good and flew to lots of children. When we got back I gave Alba 3 mice. She will now be allowed to moult and I will start flying her in February.
I feel the summer has now gone. The swifts and swallows are long gone ans the house martins numbers seem to dropping daily I still see the odd one but I didn't see any today but the weather was very wet at times so not the best. While I said back in August it felt like the summer was over I feel it is now as these birds leave in advance of the coming cold winter. Here's hoping this winter was like last year - really cold and dry rather the usual wet mild winters that we normally get where i am always feeling cold and damp.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Flying
Well September is still a bit quiet but it has it's moments.
Last Monday we were at Cameron House doing a hawk walk using Mardy (male Harris Hawk) when he was thinking about creating 1 of his incidents if you like. To give you a bit of background information on Mardy. He is 1 of the most up for it Harris hawks to try and catch something. When we first got him and were training him on the creance (long line) he was trying to catch things. Well, he had a moment on Monday. He thought it would be a great idea to try and catch a juvenile herring gull on the front lawn of the hotel. Thankfully he missed.
The hawk walk on Thursday using Mardy passed with out incident.
The birds that we have started flying again after their moult are all doing well. Amber (female Harris Hawk) is now flying free. We are now working on her fitness. Dylan (Barn Owl) is still a little way ward but seems to be doing ok. Saying that we have a big event in Edinburgh on Saturday so I will use Albe the other Barn Owl as she seems a bit more reliable.
I have also been flying Gigha (Peregrine Falcon) so we have a falcon flying. He is doing well and looking great even though I haven't flown him in over 2 months. I will probably use him for the event this coming Saturday as Bob is still a bit of the mark. He is getting better and little bit calmer in his pen.
Bob is improving but he just makes everything hard work and awkward. I am still not sure when he was last flown but the worst case would be 4 years ago. That's a long time. His fitness seems to be taking forever to improve. It is quiet this week so hopefully we should be able to fly him on a regular basis but the weather is not great so that may go against us.
Last Monday we were at Cameron House doing a hawk walk using Mardy (male Harris Hawk) when he was thinking about creating 1 of his incidents if you like. To give you a bit of background information on Mardy. He is 1 of the most up for it Harris hawks to try and catch something. When we first got him and were training him on the creance (long line) he was trying to catch things. Well, he had a moment on Monday. He thought it would be a great idea to try and catch a juvenile herring gull on the front lawn of the hotel. Thankfully he missed.
The hawk walk on Thursday using Mardy passed with out incident.
The birds that we have started flying again after their moult are all doing well. Amber (female Harris Hawk) is now flying free. We are now working on her fitness. Dylan (Barn Owl) is still a little way ward but seems to be doing ok. Saying that we have a big event in Edinburgh on Saturday so I will use Albe the other Barn Owl as she seems a bit more reliable.
I have also been flying Gigha (Peregrine Falcon) so we have a falcon flying. He is doing well and looking great even though I haven't flown him in over 2 months. I will probably use him for the event this coming Saturday as Bob is still a bit of the mark. He is getting better and little bit calmer in his pen.
Bob is improving but he just makes everything hard work and awkward. I am still not sure when he was last flown but the worst case would be 4 years ago. That's a long time. His fitness seems to be taking forever to improve. It is quiet this week so hopefully we should be able to fly him on a regular basis but the weather is not great so that may go against us.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
New month
What a change a new month makes. We were flat out over August with a lot of events out on the road and bookings at the centre. We are now in September and the diary has gone quiet. Saying that we were fully booked today and we also picked up a big corporate event for a week on Saturday, so the bookings are still coming which is great.
As i have said before while it is quiet with bookings that doesn't mean we are quiet in the centre. Amber a female Harris Hawk is getting ever closer to her flying weight. We are bringing down Pele's weight down as well as we get him ready to start flying again. Plus we have the other birds to work with. Bob the GyrXSaker is an on going project if you like. Some days he seems to be making progress and other days he seems to be going backwards.
Dylan a Barn Owl flew free the on sat for the first time in 6 months and seems to be doing ok but every so often his aim seems a bit out and he misses perches. We will need to keep an eye on him.
While i am saying that there is always plenty to do in the centre one thing can restrict things and that is the weather. The weekend there was great - warm and sunny. Monday was ok - dry. Tuesday morning (today) it was pouring. At least the sun came out in the afternoon. We still managed to get the booking done that were booked in for today even if the morning one was in the rain.
Hopefully the weather will improve for the weekend. Saturday is fully booked with bookings at the centre and Jo is at the Milngavie Book Festival so busy as normal.
As i have said before while it is quiet with bookings that doesn't mean we are quiet in the centre. Amber a female Harris Hawk is getting ever closer to her flying weight. We are bringing down Pele's weight down as well as we get him ready to start flying again. Plus we have the other birds to work with. Bob the GyrXSaker is an on going project if you like. Some days he seems to be making progress and other days he seems to be going backwards.
Dylan a Barn Owl flew free the on sat for the first time in 6 months and seems to be doing ok but every so often his aim seems a bit out and he misses perches. We will need to keep an eye on him.
While i am saying that there is always plenty to do in the centre one thing can restrict things and that is the weather. The weekend there was great - warm and sunny. Monday was ok - dry. Tuesday morning (today) it was pouring. At least the sun came out in the afternoon. We still managed to get the booking done that were booked in for today even if the morning one was in the rain.
Hopefully the weather will improve for the weekend. Saturday is fully booked with bookings at the centre and Jo is at the Milngavie Book Festival so busy as normal.
Monday, 30 August 2010
Hopeton House and Canal Festival
After a quiet start to the week once we got the food run out of the way and we even managed to get a day off on Tuesday (that's my day off for the month) and on Wednesday we had no bookings. This allowed me to go out to a farm where i like to fly the falcons and fly Bob and Uist. Both looked good especially Uist.
After the quiet start it was back to normal. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were out doing events with very early starts on Saturday and Sunday. All good fun. Brel a male Harris Hawk was once again a star. He did 6 events in 4 days and never put a wing wrong and never let me down. The big event was on Saturday where we were doing a big corporate event on the back lawn of Hopeton House near Edinburgh. Brel did a great flight from the roof of Hopeton House to the middle of the main arena to a member of the publics' glove. It was windy and Alba the Barn Owl was struggling a bit and got blown away at one point but we got her back quickly and she was able to carry on. Uist the Lugger Falcon was a bit of a disappointment even though it was good conditions for him.
We had the inspection in between a half day session in the morning and a family fun session in the afternoon so a busy day in the centre.
Lobey, the Turkmanian Eagle Owl appeared in the Hello magazine in the readers wedding section.
After the quiet start it was back to normal. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were out doing events with very early starts on Saturday and Sunday. All good fun. Brel a male Harris Hawk was once again a star. He did 6 events in 4 days and never put a wing wrong and never let me down. The big event was on Saturday where we were doing a big corporate event on the back lawn of Hopeton House near Edinburgh. Brel did a great flight from the roof of Hopeton House to the middle of the main arena to a member of the publics' glove. It was windy and Alba the Barn Owl was struggling a bit and got blown away at one point but we got her back quickly and she was able to carry on. Uist the Lugger Falcon was a bit of a disappointment even though it was good conditions for him.
Most of the other events were at Cameron House with the birds all flying well there. Jo was at the Canal Festival in Kirkintilloch on Sunday with 4 birds doing a static. Jo and the birds got a lot of positive feed back. Alot of the interest was in Luca, Jo's Northern Hawk Owl. A lot of people seemed very impressed that we don't allow touching of the birds as we don't want to stress them out and that we are always thinking about the birds' welfare rather than making a few quid. I don't run Strathblane Falconry with the sole object of making as much money as possible (don't tell my accountant i said that). I run Strathblane Falconry so i can get to work with birds of prey on a daily basis. I am not very comfortable with the whole take a stand somewhere and charge for photos with birds being stroked and constantly getting passed about from person to person with a donation box out front. Birds are for flying not standing somewhere and charging for photos. Others may disagree with this but i am doing what i feel is best for my birds.
Today we had out annual inspection from the council vet. I always look forward to these as i am always confident that the systems we have in place at Strathblane Falconry for the up keep of the birds meet if not exceed the standards set out in the Zoo Licensing Act of 1981. Saying that the centre looked at it's best today in the sun. The vet was very happy with things and will be saying that in his report to the council.
We had the inspection in between a half day session in the morning and a family fun session in the afternoon so a busy day in the centre.
Lobey, the Turkmanian Eagle Owl appeared in the Hello magazine in the readers wedding section.
Monday, 23 August 2010
Food run & autumn
I mentioned in my last post that autumn was here well i feel it is well and truly here. There other night i noticed how short the day was and how early it was when getting dark. The thing is i always looked on August as a summer month. This year i am thinking autumn is here. Seasons come and go.
Things at the centre have been busy as usual. In the last week we have been out on the road doing demonstrations and flying sessions on 6 days. A lot of running about but great fun. Even though there has been a lot of bookings away from the centre the centre still has to be cleaned and birds that are not being used still have to be looked after. Cleaning and feeding still has to be done and birds still need to be flown. Jo has been a massive help and over the last few days i have had Thomas another vet student on EMS placement to help me. Thank you to both of you.
The event that sticks out over the last week was the demonstration for a wedding down near Ayr. Lovely location out in the Ayrshire countryside the birds all flew well and we got a lot of good feed back. It was on a farm and there is a possibility that i may be allowed back to fly the birds at rabbits as there seems to be a lot on certain parts of the farm. I had better get Amber going.
Talking of Amber. Her training is going well. I asked her to jump to the glove the other day in her aviary which she did. This was the first time in 6 months that she has come to me for food so she is getting closer to her flying weight which is great. Hopefully i will have her flying in a week or so. I always get excited when i get a bird flying again after it's moult. It's hard to explain. It is like meeting a close friend who you haven't seen in ages and you are catching up with each other
Today was a long day as i had to go and collect the food for the centre. I have to do this every 3-4 months. 30 boxes of chicks, 60 quail, 1kg mice, 3kg rat, 2kg of duck neck, 1kg of sausages and 12 pigeons. It is normally quite simple. Drive 1 hour, collect food, drive 1 hour back and load food into the freezer. 4 hours and it is all over. Simple. Not today. Drove 1hour and picked up food (so far so good). Started to drive back and the car broke down and i had to call the RAC. Thankfully they got is started again and i got up the road and the food hadn't de frosted. I was well impressed with the RAC. After they had got the car going again they followed me up the road for a bit to make sure things were ok. Just as they were about to leave the car lost power again. Once again they got it going and once again followed to make sure it was ok. Thankfully there was no more problems this time. Plugs and leads are being replaced tomorrow. What should of been 3 hours running about turned in to 7 hours of driving and brake downs. Thank you RAC for all your help.
Things at the centre have been busy as usual. In the last week we have been out on the road doing demonstrations and flying sessions on 6 days. A lot of running about but great fun. Even though there has been a lot of bookings away from the centre the centre still has to be cleaned and birds that are not being used still have to be looked after. Cleaning and feeding still has to be done and birds still need to be flown. Jo has been a massive help and over the last few days i have had Thomas another vet student on EMS placement to help me. Thank you to both of you.
The event that sticks out over the last week was the demonstration for a wedding down near Ayr. Lovely location out in the Ayrshire countryside the birds all flew well and we got a lot of good feed back. It was on a farm and there is a possibility that i may be allowed back to fly the birds at rabbits as there seems to be a lot on certain parts of the farm. I had better get Amber going.
Talking of Amber. Her training is going well. I asked her to jump to the glove the other day in her aviary which she did. This was the first time in 6 months that she has come to me for food so she is getting closer to her flying weight which is great. Hopefully i will have her flying in a week or so. I always get excited when i get a bird flying again after it's moult. It's hard to explain. It is like meeting a close friend who you haven't seen in ages and you are catching up with each other
Today was a long day as i had to go and collect the food for the centre. I have to do this every 3-4 months. 30 boxes of chicks, 60 quail, 1kg mice, 3kg rat, 2kg of duck neck, 1kg of sausages and 12 pigeons. It is normally quite simple. Drive 1 hour, collect food, drive 1 hour back and load food into the freezer. 4 hours and it is all over. Simple. Not today. Drove 1hour and picked up food (so far so good). Started to drive back and the car broke down and i had to call the RAC. Thankfully they got is started again and i got up the road and the food hadn't de frosted. I was well impressed with the RAC. After they had got the car going again they followed me up the road for a bit to make sure things were ok. Just as they were about to leave the car lost power again. Once again they got it going and once again followed to make sure it was ok. Thankfully there was no more problems this time. Plugs and leads are being replaced tomorrow. What should of been 3 hours running about turned in to 7 hours of driving and brake downs. Thank you RAC for all your help.
Monday, 16 August 2010
the leaves are turning
It's kind of sad. We are in the middle of August and i have started to notice that the leaves are starting to change colour. I guess autumn is just around the corner which is a little bit depressing but at the same time it is a time of change and that is 1 thing i do love about my job that i am out in the great out doors if you like and i get to see the seasons come and go.
It is the time of year when i start to think about other things in the centre. The hunting season mainly. I am already starting to prepare for it by bringing Amber's my female Harris Hawks weight down. I should hopefully have her flying by the end of the month. Once i get her flying i will start to get Pele a male Harris Hawk going. Both these birds have had the summer off for the moult (drop old feathers and grown new ones). I hope the rabbit numbers are up on last year. For the last few years there has been a steady decline and it has been more and more difficult to see a rabbit never mind catch 1. Each year i keep saying hopefully things will pick up. I don't think it is Myxomatosis. There has been some of that about but i have not seen a lot of signs of it. We shall see what the coming season brings.
As i am getting these 2 birds ready I will also be getting Jerry the Tawny Owl ready to start flying in activity days. He has also been rested over the summer and has finished his moult.
Jerry the tawny owl |
Monday, 9 August 2010
Cameron House and Inveraray castle
Saturday was a busy day. We had started with 3 booking and by the end we had done 4 as we picked up 1 more that day. There was a lot of running about with it. The first and third were at the centre and the second and forth were at Cameron House so there was alot of driving - 2 hours to be exact. I would like to say a big thank you to Jo (my girlfriend) and Alix (vet student) who looked after the centre for me on Saturday while i was dealing with the booking and driving back and forth to Cameron House. I have to admit i love days like Saturday where things are really busy and there is a lot of running about.
On Sunday we had a booking that I have been looking forward to for a while. It was at 1 those locations that i get really excited about going to. We had to do a demonstration at Inveraray Castle. What a venue. The castle and grounds are stunning. The sun was shining as well which made it all the better. The birds flew well. Brel a Harris Hawk put in his usual good performance. Duffy the Bengal Eagle Owl was also flying and once again was brilliant. He is going to be a good addition to the team.
Duffy in action
Even though we have been busy with bookings we are still flying and working with other birds in the centre. At the moment we are bringing Amber's weight down. It is getting to that time when I start to think about the coming season and i can start hunting again. Amber in the past has only been used for hunting but this year i am going to use her in activity days at the centre as well so that she is doing more flying to improve her overall fitness and her manners as she can be a bit stubborn at times. Once we get her going it will be time to get Pele a male Harris Hawk and Jerry a tawny owl going as well. Dylan a Barn Owl will also be flying soon and this means that Alba the other Barn Owl will be given a rest and a chance to moult out for 6 months. As you can see we are always rotating the team so that the birds are not working constantly and are given a break from doing events and bookings at the centre.
On Sunday we had a booking that I have been looking forward to for a while. It was at 1 those locations that i get really excited about going to. We had to do a demonstration at Inveraray Castle. What a venue. The castle and grounds are stunning. The sun was shining as well which made it all the better. The birds flew well. Brel a Harris Hawk put in his usual good performance. Duffy the Bengal Eagle Owl was also flying and once again was brilliant. He is going to be a good addition to the team.
Duffy in action
Even though we have been busy with bookings we are still flying and working with other birds in the centre. At the moment we are bringing Amber's weight down. It is getting to that time when I start to think about the coming season and i can start hunting again. Amber in the past has only been used for hunting but this year i am going to use her in activity days at the centre as well so that she is doing more flying to improve her overall fitness and her manners as she can be a bit stubborn at times. Once we get her going it will be time to get Pele a male Harris Hawk and Jerry a tawny owl going as well. Dylan a Barn Owl will also be flying soon and this means that Alba the other Barn Owl will be given a rest and a chance to moult out for 6 months. As you can see we are always rotating the team so that the birds are not working constantly and are given a break from doing events and bookings at the centre.
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