I feel I should start with the stand out moment of the week.
On Sunday we had a group of 3 people in for a half day session. The sun was shining and it was a very relaxing day. Jerry the Tawny Owl had flown well to everyone. Next up was an eagle owl so I picked Lobey to do it. To give you a bit of back ground information on Lobey. He is the only owl in the centre who is entered. This means he has hunted and caught things. He went through a spell where he was chasing almost anything that moved from Robins to Black Headed Gulls to Gray Squirrels to the autumn leaves as they fell out the trees. During all this he caught 6 rabbits and a hedgehog. He then seemed to settle down and not show a lot of interest with only the odd attempt to catch something. I have had to watch him over the years and he has a bell on him just in case he does go after something and disappears so I can hear him in the trees. I have also flown him with a transmitter on as well. He hasn't shown any real interest in going for anything for the last few years until Sunday afternoon. He was about half way through the session and he saw a rabbit. Now you know when Lobey has seen something that has caught his interest. You will see him stand still and stare, he also stops calling, next he seems to tense up you can see all his feathers being pulled tight round him, then he moves his head from side to side or up and down. At this point he is working out what he is going to do. This can all take seconds. He did all this on Sunday. The next thing I know he is off the persons glove and aiming for a rabbit he had spotted. The rabbit didn't even move until Lobey hit it. It didn't have a clue he was going for it and that is with him wearing a bell. Eagle Owls have a real turn of speed on them when that big wing span is put to work. The rabbit didn't stand a chance against him. The people were ok with it and accepted it was just 1 of those things. It wasn't planned it was just bad timing by the rabbit to come out when Lobey was about. So he is now on 7 rabbits and 1 hedgehog. I would like to point out that Lobey has never been trained or encouraged to hunt. He has spotted things and thought I can catch that.
A lot of people in the falconry world go about how difficult it is to get eagle owls to hunt and I am sure it is for some owls but Lobey has always had a bit of get up and go about him which has made him good fun to work with and a little unpredictable if he sees something. He started to watch things as soon as I started to fly him and started to chase things not long after he was flying free. He is 8 years old and with the life expectancy of an eagle owl (anything from 30 to 40 years in captivity) I am sure he will add to his total.
Now back to the rest of the week. It has been a bit of a blur. On Monday we did a Hawk Walk for a father and son. They enjoyed it so much the Dad called me back later on Monday afternoon to book a Family Fun Session for him, his son, wife and daughter on the Tuesday. Tuesday was full on with 3 1 hour booking back to back and it rained all day but we got everything done. Pele was the stand out bird yet again as he did all 3 bookings the middle 1 being a Hawk Walk in the rain.
Wednesday was also full on with 3 bookings. The first 1 was at the centre, the 2nd 1 was at Cameron House and then it was back to the centre for the 3rd booking. So there was a bit of running about.
Thursday was a school visit and a talk on owls at Strathblane Primary. I was looking forward to doing this as i always enjoy school visits and I thought great a booking in the morning just down the road and then straight back to the centre and the afternoon is mine. That was the plan until I clipped a kerb leaving the school and got a puncture so the afternoon was spent going to the garage to get a new tyre. Not what I had planned and the less said about Friday the better. Wash out springs to mind with the amount of rain we had on Friday so I got nothing flown.
Saturday and Sunday were busy with 3 bookings on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. A busy week.
I love it when things are like this. The birds all generally fly well as weeks like this are not uncommon during the summer so the birds are all very much in a routine. I don't like to see lots of birds sitting around the centre not being used. I want to see them flying. This what they are supposed to be doing.
With this week looking a bit quieter I have promised myself some time hunting with Amber my female Harris Hawk and I may get a little bit of time to do some falconry. This is 1 of the benefits of your hobby being your job. I am not really expecting to catch anything with her but I just love being out in the countryside flying her watching her go about her business. We shall see if I get the time. Most times the phone rings and it is back to work. I will let you know in my next post
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