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 |
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