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.