Very Busy

Where do i start. Since my last post things have been a bit manic. Quite a few early starts but a lot of good events.

The big 1 was the highland games at Chatelherault near Hamilton. The rain stayed away so there were a lot of people at it. We had to do 2 * 20 minute displays and the birds flew well. Sanda the Lanner Falcon was great and put in a good shift. I have had her from the start and is 8 years old this year. She is a lovely bird to work with.

There was also a static demonstration in Port Glasgow on Saturday 26th that Jo did which went well and got a lot of good feed back from people who saw the birds.

We also had several bookings at Cameron House over the last few days which we did with Oran a male Harris Hawk. He is a great bird to work with as he is very responsive and reliable. The highlight was when he landed on a hedgehog that he had found. He also went for a  gray squirrel which was a bit of a worry. He has caught 1 before but i don't like my birds going after squirrels as they are trouble and the risk of the bird getting injured is high. Mardy who is Orans brother caught 1 and got bitten in the leg where it severed a vein a few years back.

We were out today doing a corporate event in Edinburgh this morning which went well. Sanda who i mentioned earlier was not great due to there being lots of trees at the location which made it difficult and tight for her but Brel a Harris Hawk and Lobey a Turkmenian Eagle Owl flew well to the guests. It was then back to the centre to do a demonstration for a group who were at Strathblane Country House Hotel where we are based.

The only down side was yesterday (Monday 28th) when i decided to fly Gigha my Peregrine Tiercel who decided that he liked the look of the roof at Cameron House and spent the next 20mins flying to various parts of it and refusing to come to the lure. Not sure what the problem was but he was getting a hard time from the oyster catchers. He was a lot better today and back to what i would expect from him.

In some ways i am happy that i only have 1 booking in the next 3 days as it gives the birds a break and a chance to relax. For me it gives me a chance to do all the little jobs that need doing before this weekend when we are at Linlithgow Palace with Historic Scotland. Busy Busy.

Hot day

Well it's another warm day. All the birds are feeling the heat but everyone has had access to water. I always feel sorry for the Eagle Owls when the weather is like this as they seem to feel the heat the most.

We had a half day session on and the birds flew well even though it is hot but there is a breeze blowing which makes it a lot more pleasant out on the field. The centre is a bit of a sun trap.

 

Taz is looking good. Jo got some pictures of him flying with her new SLR camera. Duffy is also doing well and flew in his 2nd booking.

Corrie has started to moult straight away and is dropping loads of feathers. He will probably look a bit scruffy soon as the feathers come out but he will start to look good as new ones come through.

We just have the falcons to fly and that will be us for the day. Tomorrow there is nothing booked but the is a vet student in to start their 7 day EMS placement so i will be showing her round the centre and explaining about the birds. Then the next 4 days are mobbed and we will be out on the road Thurs to Sun doing events which will be great fun.

Anyway i now off to have some fun and fly the falcons

This weekend has been steady so far.

Yesterday we were doing a demonstration for a Girl Guide group over at Auchingillan. W tried to make the session as hands on as possible so lots of them got a chance to hold and fly the birds. All the birds flew well even though it was very hot.

It was straight back to the hotel to do a demonstration for the wedding with Jo was going to do for me but as I made it back on time I did it. It was on the back lawn which we have never really used for demonstrations. Dylan a barn owl was ok but not great and Corrie was ok as well. Mardy though wads great but he flies round there a lot so he was quite comfortable with it.

Yesterday was Corries last event for the next few months. I won't be working with him for the next couple of months so he can have a moult and a break which he needs as his feather are looking a bit worn. He will be given as much food as he wants and really allowed to chill out. Once we had finished the demonstration we put him back in his aviary and gave him a rat which he loves.

We have not bee flying the falcons this weekend due to the heat and to give them a few days off. They all got quail yesterday. They were all looking good with large crops (this is where they hold the food before it goes to there stomach). We should be able to start working with some tomorrow - maybe.

This week is a bit up and down with bookings. We are out on the road a few times. The main thing that we have to work on is to make sure the birds are ready for a large event we are doing at Chatelherault near Hamilton next Sunday. Before we do the event at Chatelherault we have to get through the rest of the week - there are 3 sessions at Cameron House, 1 half day session at the centre, 1 school visit, a static display for the Comet festival at Gourock, a full day session in the centre and a demonstration for a wedding. On the whole quite a busy week.

I had better get back to work as i have left Jo to do the cleaning.

Welcome to the new blog

We've decided to move the blog to an external site to prevent the blog page on the website from getting too huge. It is also easier for us to add photos to this blog.