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

Work wise things have been steady and the birds have all been flying well apart from Bob. Who had been doing ok up until Friday evening when i flew him and he was nice enough to fly behind some trees and get lost so that i needed to go and look for him. Just what i needed at the end of a 11hour day - a 30 minute walk to locate a lost falcon. As soon as i caught up with him he came straight to me. I think he was quite happy to see me as he was getting a hard time off 3 wild buzzards. I flew him again today (Monday) and he was perfect as he flew about trying to get height and he is starting to look fitter. All i need to do mow is find time to take him out flying away from the centre so i can start to push him a bit more.