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

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.