Cold again

I had planned to have a productive week and it just hasn't quite worked out like that.

Tuesday was going to be a day of maintenance in the centre and making new jesses for some of the birds. I got into the centre and was getting ready to start putting some of the birds out front to feed them when the phone goes. Someone who worked at Balfron High School  which is about 20 mins drive from the centre had spotted what they said was a European Eagle Owl sitting in a tree next to the school and asked if I had lost 1. I hadn't and I didn't know anyone that had but I would go out and have a look to make sure it was a European Eagle Owl. Sure enough there was a European Eagle Owl sitting in a tree. It wasn't difficult to find as there was a few crows giving it a hard time which it didn't seem to concerned about. I whistled at it showed it some food and while it looked at me that was about as much of a reaction as I got. I spoke to the person in school who had called me and a few of the owners of the surrounding houses and left a few business cards so they could contact me if they had any concerns. I was able to confirm that it was a captive bird because as I was talking to someone it decided to walk along the branch it was sitting on to get more into the sun and I saw that it was wearing anklets. I asked about and was able to find out from another falconry centre that they knew who had lost it and they informed the owners. The bird has seemingly been free since before Christmas and had covered a fair  distance in that time. I don't know how the bird got free or if it has been re-captured. That was Tuesday kind of taken care off.

I had no sooner got the water back on in the centre and it was off again as the temperature dropped and the place turned into an ice rink but at least it was dry. I had a booking at the centre on the Wednesday the first 1 of the new year. It was just a Family Fun Session for a group of adults.

Thursday I finally was able finish the maintenance work which was great. I was replacing some of the netting on the aviary doors with doweling. The netting is ok for the eagle owls but the Harris Hawks grab it and there tails are forced through it breaking feathers (not good). Most of the aviary doors are now a mixture of netting on the lower section with doweling on the top. I don't like using welded mesh apart for the barn owls due to the fact if the birds hit it with any force they cut their feet. Barn owls seem to be ok but they don't tend to hit it with any real force or not enough to injure themselves. I never like it when I see welded mesh being used on aviaries where raptors or medium to large owls are being kept. I feel that a cheap option has been taken and 1 which risks injuring the bird.

On Friday I had planned to go out and do some hunting but I felt the start of a cold coming on and didn't feel great. I decided to take it easy as I was meant to meet up with a friend on Monday evening who I loaning Gigha my male Peregrine to for breeding and then on Tuesday we were going to out duck hawking with his Peregrines which are probably some of the best falcons in the country and I didn't want to cancel due to being unwell.

Saturday I had things to do in the real world so not alot was achieved at Strathblane Falconry that day. My cold was steadily getting worse.

Sunday was spent doing a Interactive Day for 2 gentlemen. 1 of whom was thinking about getting a bird. I was able to advise him of a few things to think about if he wanted a bird like - why? As soon as someone tells me they want a bird I am always very wary. I want to know why. I will then have a chat with them to see if I think they are suitable and if they have thought it through. I can't stop people from getting a bird of prey but I can try and advise and discourage if I think it necessary. This is not me trying to stop everyone from having a bird. To give you  a few examples. I had a guy come to me a few years ago saying he wanted to take up falconry. At first he seemed like he had thought about it and wasn't rushing in until I asked him where do you plan to keep it and he said in a box over night as he lived in a flat. I am not sure where he was going to keep it during the day but I said not through me. 1 of the other that stands out was somebody phoned me  to ask what's the cheapest you can get a Harris Hawk for. If you are going to do it on the cheap don't bother as you will probably end up loosing or killing the bird. The guy who came out on Sunday was going about it in the correct way.

Gigha off. I am not to hopeful that the breeding will be successful as this will be Gigha's  first attempt but he is a good age at 6 years old so he is at least mature. We shall wait and see. I will know by April hopefully.