The sun is shining

Last week has been quite busy. Tuesday was the only quiet day and that was only due to the fact that my car had to go in for a service so I was kind of grounded. It just meant that I planned to spend the day in the centre and do all those little jobs that need done and fly some of the birds in the hotel grounds. In the end the heavens opened I got soaked  and I couldn't fly anything or do any work out side so I went home not very productive.

Wednesday was better and busy. The day started off with a half day session in the centre and it was dry which was great after the previous 2 days. I try not to get to worked up about the weather as there is nothing I can do about it. I just find it frustrating when I plan to do something and then find I can't. Back to Wednesday. We had 2 ladies out who had a great time. Once they were finished it was then a case of load up the car and do a hawk walk over at Cameron House. Once that was done it was back to the centre to finish cleaning everything and feed the last of the birds.

On Thursday I had plans of going out hunting with Amber before my hunting season finished. While the game bird season is finished you can still hunt rabbit as they are classed as vermin. I normally finish up for the middle of March so still 2 weeks to go. As I have said before I have been  using Amber a lot in activity days at the centre and I have been flying her myself in the grounds of the hotel and she has been great so I was looking forward to getting out to fly her. That all changed when Cameron House phoned and asked if I could do a family fun session for a family group at 10.30am. Now a Family Fun Session last 1hour but it doesn't take 1 hour. For example It takes me 45 mins to load the car, 30 mins to drive to Cameron House, 30 mins to unload the car and set up at Cameron House, I like to be ready 15mins before the start time in case the guests turn up early, Family Fun Session 1 hour, 20 mins to load up, 30mins to drive back and 30 mins to unload. Event time 4hrs and 20 mins. As you can see it takes a bit of time. I am always happy to have a booking. If I wasn't I wouldn't take it but I don't want people thinking well the booking was only 1 hour he should have plenty of time to get everything done in the day. The group only consisted of 3 adults so everybody was able to get plenty of time with the birds. Sometimes with a large group the session can feel very rushed. By the time I got back to the centre it was time to finish the cleaning and feeding and get things ready for Friday.  

Friday was back over at Cameron House but I had a 9am start and it was a 2hr30min training session as part of a large corporate event. 9am start at Cameron House means I was up at 5am. That was bit of a shock to the system. The event went well. I then had just over an hour to fill in so I decided to try and do something with Artemis. I have been trying to keep Artemis's training going but it has been difficult with weather and work commitments to keep any consistency going. She was however quite good on Friday flying 30m on the creance to the glove. I finished up with her and got ready for my afternoon booking at Cameron House which started a bit late. It was then back to the centre to do the cleaning and feeding. It was a long day.It is starting to get a bit of a routine that the cleaning is done at the end of the day but at least it is done on a daily basis.
Saturday was thankfully spent in the centre so it was a bit more easy going even though we were fully booked. As it was nice day we were able to give some of the birds baths in the morning. This also allowed me a bit more time to work with Artemis and I had her flying 50m to the glove. Hopefully this week as it is dry I can make some real progress and think about flying her free as she gets more into a routine. It has been hard going with her with the weather being a real problem limiting the time and opportunities I can work with her.

Sunday was another long day as we back over at Cameron House for their Wedding Fair. We had a lot on interest in the birds and a couple of tentative enquiries which was great. We shall see if they come to anything. While we were there Jo flew Pele on her own for the first time and he was perfect. he would also fly to other people for her, something he won't do for Gail. It is good to know that Pele will work for Jo so it felt like quite a productive day.

Today it was once again back over to Cameron House this time to fly a bird for a promotional film on Cameron House. I used Pele as he had flown well the day before and once again he was no problem even though it started 15mins late and he spent that time sitting in a tree he didn't mess about or wander off. I think he was just happy to be sitting in the sun after a frosty night.

The coming week is looking busy with once again a good variety of bookings. With a full day session on Wednesday and half day sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, a school visit on Friday, at Cameron House late on Wednesday afternoon and on Sunday so quite busy on the whole and that is before we look at Saturday. On Saturday we have a student vet training day where we will have 2 groups of 20 students in to learn about birds of prey. It should be a fun day and I am looking forward to it. It is the first time we have done anything like this. We decided to do it because alot of the vet students that come out on placements tell us that they get no real experience or information on birds of prey during their studies.

I should also point out that I have made a decision on what falcon to get as I couldn't seem to find anyone breeding Lugger Falcons. I phoned someone up to ask about Saker Falcons only to be told that he doesn't breed them any more so I asked what else he bred and he said that he bred Prairie Falcons. I have never worked with 1 before but I have always liked the sound of them and from what I have read they are smart, quick, hard hitting when they strike the lure or quarry and bad tempered. I can't wait. I am also getting another Barn owl to replace Dylan as he is going blind and there is nothing the vets can do for him.  



Artemis in action



Sanda and Bob having a bath



food run

The week started with a trip to Andrew's to get more food for the birds. After the trouble I had the last time and the limited amount of food for the birds that I got I was keen to get everything stocked up. I couldn't believe it when on the day before I was due to go and collect the food it started to snow. This is what messed everything up the last time. The problem being while most of the journey is motorway and dead easy. The last 1/2 mile is down a dirt track and if there is snow I am stuffed in my Volvo. Thankfully it had melted by the time I set off.

30 boxes of 250  day old cockerel chicks
22 pigeons
30 quail
2 kg of duck neck
3 kg of rats
1 kg of mice

That is the food supply for Strathblane Falconry over the next 3 months. While the main food the birds get is the chicks because they are cheap and easy to use I do try and give the birds other types of food where and  when I can. As I have said before there are other benefits than just the nutritional ones. We have already used up 4 pigeons which I wasn't planning to do so quick but my hand was forced because I left them sitting out over night and they defrosted so a lot of the birds got pigeon in the last week.

I also traded a box of chicks for 4 deers heads. Now this may sound a bit gruesome but I give the heads to Artemis and she loves them. You can give a rat to and eagle owl and it is delighted and the eagle owl will guard it and slowly eat the rat. You give 1 to Artemis she will just pick it up and swallow it in 2 or 3 gulps. It is the same with quail. A deers head on the other hand well she needs to work at that. There is no danger of her swallowing that in 2 or 3 gulps. If you give her 2 days and she is hungry enough she will strip it clean and she will have to work hard for her meal. I look on it as enrichment for her. There is a fair bit of eating on them for Artemis and that big beak and her powerful feet have to work hard.

The last week has been a bit quiet with bookings mid week. To be honest there was none Wednesday to Friday but that is February for you. The weekends though are getting busier and are we are almost fully booked most weekends. It always starts in mid February. It always starts with the weekends and then you see the weekdays fill up as well as the weather get better.

While it has been quiet mid week I have been struggling to get things done with the birds and round the centre. The basics always get done - cleaning the centre daily. That's just a given. The weather has not been that good over the last few days with heavy rain and sleet showers. Also I have had things to do in the real world. The real world is everything I have to do that is not connected with the centre. This has also impacted on my time and what I can do with the birds and around the centre.

Back to life in the centre. The weekend was quite busy. On Saturday morning I had a hawk walk over at Cameron House. It was 1 of those mornings where I look at the weather and think to myself - no chance. It was rain and sleet but I loaded up the car and headed over to Cameron House. As I headed over the rain and sleet started to ease and I thought I might just get this booking done. By the time I got to Cameron House the rain had eased to a light drizzle and I thought ok I should get this done. By the time I met up with the guests it had stopped and the hawk walk was done with out to much fuss other that Oran cruising about the grounds of Cameron House with a determination to catch something - which he didn't but he did put in 1 or 2 attempts. I couldn't see what he was going for but as these attempts happened in woods behind the hotel I suspect it was gray squirrels again.

Once I had finished it was straight back to the centre put some of the birds out on the grass in front off the centre, feed them and then start a half day session that was booked in for the afternoon. I put Amber into the afternoon session to see how she would go. At this time of the year Amber (Harris Hawk) has had  previous for being a bit unreliable. She has other things on her mind - finding a mate and when she sees any of the male Harris Hawks she starts displaying to them. I have been flying her most days and she has been very good and on her day is brilliant with some of the flights she will make through the woods showing how agile she can be to get to the glove for her food reward. I will hopefully be able to get her out this week and go hunting with her.

On Sunday I had a full hunting day booked. The person who was going out is planning to get a bird of his own in the near future but due to work and family commitments he has put it on the back burner till he has more time. I only wish more people who decide to get a bird of prey took the same attitude. A lot of people  rush into it thinking they are ready or have time only to find they are not ready and don't have time. This is really unfair on the bird as it sometimes ends up neglected as the owner doesn't have time for it or moved on.

I decided to use Pele and Oran for the hunting day. Pele would be used in the morning and Oran would be used in the afternoon. I would also be using Tiff and Minnie the ferrets as well to try and bolt rabbits from the warrens. At this time of year I always find that the hunting can be hard going in the fact that the rabbits have been thinned out by the winter (especially this winter with it being so cold) and the rabbits that are left are the fittest, the strongest and the quickest. Tiff bolted 1 from a warren and Pele came close but missed with rabbit running up the hill past the client. In the afternoon we didn't have any better luck. Oran spotted 1 and crashed in on it only to get himself stuck in the bramble bush where the rabbit had been hiding so he couldn't chase after it. We then walked another 1 up and Oran was at it straight away. He just missed and made a second attempt to catch it. He tried to catch it with his talons grabbing the rabbits backside but he didn't have a good grip and was unable to hold it and the rabbit got away. We had nothing to show for the hunting day which is the way it goes sometimes but we got back to the centre with 2 birds and 2 ferrets. Nothing lost and nothing injured.

Today it was back to Cameron House for a family fun session. This time the sleet and the rain didn't ease up and i had to do the session indoors. Thankfully the hotel's leisure club has a gym hall where they do all the fitness classes. This was empty so we used that. For some of the birds that I had with me today doing an event indoors is no big deal. Alba (Barn Owl) for example flies indoors at schools visits all the time. Duffy (Bengal Eagle Owl) on the other hand has never flown indoors and was a star. He wasn't to sure to start with but after the first few flights he didn't care. Artemis (Steppe Eagle) on the other hand wasn't to sure. I didn't try and fly her indoors. I brought her in for handling. Everyone in the group said they enjoyed it and I think they were grateful that they didn't have to stand out in the sleet and the rain. I know I was.

The coming week is a bit up and down. Tuesday and Thursday have no bookings so I am hoping to get out and fly  Amber on Thursday - weather permitting. On Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I am fully booked with Friday be the busiest. It will be an early start on Friday. I have a corporate event that starts at 9am at Cameron House. It will mean a 5am start for me to get up and get everything packed and ready for the event. Once that corporate event is done I have an hour or 2 to get things ready for a family fun session also at Cameron House. I love days like this. I get to meet new people and share my enthusiasm for falconry and birds of prey with them. The other good thing is that the corporate events company who booked me are English based and were up in Scotland last year and needed someone to do falconry for them. My name was put forward by a Scottish based corporate events company. The English event company must of been happy with what I did for them as they have now asked me to do this event for them.

While the last week has been fairly busy with bookings there is all the other stuff that still needs done and thought about. I have stared to bring the weights down of Sanda (Lanner Falcon), Uist (Lugger Falcon), Brel and Mardy (both Harris Hawks) for the coming display season. Our first big display is in the middle of April and while that may seem ages away it takes time to get the weight off the birds to get them to their flying weights and then work on their fitness so they have a good level of fitness for the demonstrations. I am also looking for a a new display falcon. My preferred choice is a Lugger but no body seems to be breeding them anymore. Alot of falconers don't like them as they are quite bad tempered - Uist is - but in my opinion they are great and reliable display falcon with a bit of get up and go. If I can't find someone who is breeding Luggers then I will need to look at something else. My second choice would be a Saker or may be a Peregrine x Lanner. I can hopefully get something sorted out soon. Here are some pictures of my Lugger Falcon who on a good day is called Uist and when he bites me which he is always trying to do he has been called most things under the sun.

Uist giving that Lugger look. This was taken in his first year so he has juvenile plumage

Jo flying Uist to the Lure

Uist

Some hunting

It is now mid February. The days are getting longer but it is still raining and there is still snow about. Oh well it's business as usual at Strathblane Falconry.

The weather has been up and down over the last week and as usual it has had some impact on what I can or can't do. The joys of working out doors.

On the Tuesday it was clear dry and the sun came out for a bit which was great and I was able to take Pele out hunting with my friend Nick. Pele did ok. We saw a few rabbits and Pele was willing to give chase and try and catch them. He was a bit unlucky as he never seemed to be in a good position when the rabbits broke cover. Even though we didn't catch anything it was great fun to get out and watch the bird go through it's paces. We were in a small wood which is great for flying Harris Hawks in some ways as the bird can follow on through the trees watching you and anything else that may move making it easier for the birds to spot things to try and catch. The only thing that can go against the bird is that if it sees anything and tries to catch it it does have to work hard flying through the branches and round the trees but it is great to watch.

Wednesday and Thursday it was back to work. Wednesday was spent in the centre while Thursday we were off to do a school visit on the south side of Glasgow. The kids at the school were doing a project on birds of prey. I took along Sanda - Lanner Falcon, Kyle - Common Buzzard, Corrie - European Eagle Owl and Alba - Barn Owl. Corrie seemed to be the favourite even though he didn't have to fly or do anything other than sit on my arm. I think it is just his size that the kids love. Alba was great as well flying about a very small games hall. School visits are something that I always enjoy doing. The kids can be great fun with some of their answers to my questions.

Sanda Lanner Falcon

Corrie European Eagle Owl

The weekend was almost fully booked with 2 bookings each day. The best part was they were all different types of bookings. Saturday started in the centre with a half day session. When that finished it was case of loading up Oran and going over to Cameron House for a hawk walk.  On Sunday the morning was  a bit wet but it had eased off by the time the birthday party had turned up. It has been a while since I have had a group of kids in for a birthday party. The birthday party was very straight forward in the fact there was only 4 kids plus parents and grand parents so a small group. Daniel who's birthday it was very knowledgeable in the fact that he correctly identified Sanda as being a Lanner Falcon. I was very impressed. Not bad for someone who has just turned 8 years old. It was then out into the hotel grounds to allow them tom fly some of the birds. When I do birthday parties at the centre I always like to stress to the kids that they need to be quiet and respect the birds so they don't scare them - no shouting, no screaming, no running and no trying to touch the birds. Birds of prey are for flying not for stroking. I have seen pictures on line of so called kids parties where owls are brought along for everyone to stroke and pat. Where 3 or 4 kids/people are all stroking the bird. I am not comfortable with that and I am pretty sure the birds are not comfortable with it either. It is 1 thing to take a bird somewhere strange and ask it to sit on it's owners glove while they do a talk on it. It is something else to take a bird of prey somewhere and let let a whole group of people sit and stroke, pat and prod the poor bird. That has to be stressful for the bird. I will finish there on that topic. I said at the start when I was going to keep a blog that it was not for ranting. It is just I always try and do the best for my birds. After the party I had a few hours to finish cleaning the centre before the next booking arrived. The next booking consisted of 20 brownies who were on a owl themed weekend. Once again the rules were read out and all 20 brownies were given the opportunity to hold or fly an owl.

Today it was back over to Cameron House. I had to look in at the hotel to speak to someone and while I was waiting in the hotel reception area I got speaking to a guest who was interested in a doing a hawk walk this afternoon. So it was a quick dash back to the centre grab a  Harris Hawk - Oran and straight back to Cameron House. The hawk walk was eventful. Oran has been doing most of the work at Cameron House recently. He is very reliable and is great fun to fly. I also feel he is starting to feel quite good and confident about himself. Any half chance and he has been going for it. Crows and magpies better to be alert when he is about because he is when he sees them. Last week he went and grabbed a goose that was twice his size. He let it go quite quickly though when 2 of it's pals came running over to help it. Today after chasing crows it was squirrels that he turned his attention to. He must of got hold of 1 because he flew behind some bushes and I knew he was going for something. I shouted for him and after a few seconds later he re appeared chasing a squirrel. I didn't think at first he had caught anything as he was only out of sight for a few seconds but a short while later I noticed some blood on his legs and he had 3 or 4 very small wounds. I am not sure what caused them as in was it a squirrel or thorns crashing into the bushes after something. When I got him back to the centre I washed the wounds with pevodine and water and put a anti septic gel on the wounds. I will also get some anti biotics for him as well once Jo (who is a qualified vet) has checked him over. If the wounds were caused be a sqirrel bite then I need to be careful as squirrels have alot of bacteria on their teeth and wounds more often than not turn septic if they are not treated. I don't like my birds going for squirrels. There is nothing cute and fluffy about a grey squirrel. They are a tough opponent for a Harris Hawk. I have heard of birds that have had tendons in their feet severed and toes severed due to squirrel bites. The last squirrel we came up against was also caught by Oran. He jumped off it when I grabbed it and the squirrel turned on me biting so hard that it's teeth went through 2 layers of leather of my falconry glove and into my finger. As I said there is  nothing cute and fluffy about the gray squirrel. 

Tomorrow is a bit more mundane - The food run. This is where I go and collect the birds food for the next 3 months.

Rain Rain go away

Since my last post on my blog I feel as though I have been rained on every day. This is not the case but it sure feels like it.

On Wednesday I came in to work and it was raining heavily. It was 1 of those days where I think there is no point putting the birds out who get fed out front. They are just going to get soaked and that won't be very comfortable for them. Even though it is comfortably above 0C and there is no chance of frost bite but it is still cold and that can't be very comfortable for them. The other thing I have noticed is that when we have heavy rain the birds are a lot quieter. They tend not to jump about or call unlike when it is dry or warm. It's as if they are saying don't look at me I don't want to sit out in that. As it was I left them all in so none got soaked.

While the decision to put birds out on the front lawn was a small decision, what to do about the 2 bookings I had at Cameron House that afternoon wasn't. The weather was rubbish. It was just heavy rain with no signs that it was going to stop any time soon. I nearly phoned up the guests and said it is not happening but I decided not to. Instead I loaded up the car with the birds that I needed and headed off to Cameron House. More in hope that anything. As I was driving I noticed that the rain was easing and by the time I got to Cameron House it had stopped which was great so I was able to get both bookings done. When I was leaving the rain was coming back on and that night the weather was wild with high winds and heavy rain.

I also had a booking on the Thursday morning which I was lucky again with the weather as it stayed dry and then rained in the afternoon. It did mean that the afternoon was just cleaning and feeding at the centre. Friday was just a total right off. It chucked it down all day. I went to the centre cleaned and fed everything and went home. I arranged for someone to lock up later that afternoon so at least the birds weren't just locked away again once I left.

On Saturday the place felt as though it was recovering after the heavy rain on Friday. Gail was out to fly Pele (male Harris Hawk). Gail used to help me a lot in the centre when I was first getting it up and running. She used to come out clean, scrub, feed and listen to me sometimes rant about things. She would also help me with events and still does when she has time. During all this I lent her Pele to fly. I should point out Pele is a great Harris Hawk, very calm and always very reliable but he does have 1 bad habit - he shouts and in the past it has been constant. These days he tends to shout every so often. This can be a problem with Harris Hawks. Some seem to be more prone to it than others and there does seem to be a variety of causes from not feeding the bird enough and taking it's weight too low and for too long or maybe too much of a routine with it's flying. Anyway I lent Pele to Gail and she had him for about 6 years off and on. She used him for hunting and they became a great team catching all sorts. Pele eventually came back to the centre and has been great doing everything from demonstrations to activity days to hunting days to corporate work. A great all round bird. The thing is he also has another bad habit which doesn't cause me any problems but it does for Gail. She was showing him off to a friend and she tried to get Pele to fly to her friend and he won't do it. If Gail is working with him he only wants to fly to her. No one else. I had to step in and he did flew to Gail's friend with out any fuss for me. The thing is he hardly ever sees Gail these days. Maybe twice in the last 6 months and she hasn't been out flying him for ages but he still remembers who she is which I find quite impressive. That was the morning and then it was back out on the road to do another booking at Cameron House.

Sunday was 1 of those days where I feel that I can almost feel the place coming alive with milder weather. It was dry. The morning was taken up with a booking and then the afternoon was spent working in the centre. I was able to fly Amber. I will hopefully get her out over the coming weeks depending on bookings and weather. I was also able to put a bit more time in with Artemis but it is slow going. With all the rain we had over the last week I was unable to do anything with her. Saturday I did some work at Cameron House with her and on Sunday back at the centre. She is refusing to fly any real distance to the glove again but is coming good distances to the lure. The only problem being that when she lands on the ground for the lure she is getting soaked because the ground is so wet. At the moments she is soaked again and I need to try and get her dry before I can do anything else. Oh the challenges.

The coming week is quiet at the moment with not alot.

Tomorrow the sun is to shine, it is meant to be dry and I have no bookings so I am taking Pele out to have some fun.

I will finish up with a sign that spring is getting closer

Month 2

Well we  are into the second month of 2011. The festive period seems a long time ago. Looking back at January it was quite good as January's go for bookings. I had a fair number of bookings which was great and I was able to catch up with friends and have time to fly some of the birds for myself. The last week has been a bit steady with bookings. On  Wednesday I was fully booked doing a hawk walk over at Cameron House and straight back to the centre for a half day session.

Thursday was spent in the centre. This was mainly due to my car needing to go in to the garage as it was making a strange noise which seemed to be coming from 1 of the wheels. Probably hit a pot hole. The roads are a mess at the moment due to the cold winter. Some of the pot holes are not really pot holes. They are more like craters or pits. Anyway the car is fixed and I am mobile again.

On Friday I was asked to do a ring delivery.  James phoned me up and asked if he could book a hawk walk  and for the hawk to deliver the ring. I met James before to collect the ring and attached it Oran's (male Harris Hawks) leg. When James and his girlfriend - Hazel turned up I had Oran flying about so that Hazel wouldn't see the ring tied to Oran's leg with purple ribbon. After a quick introduction I called in Oran to Hazel's gloved hand and took the ring off Oran's leg, handed it to James who went down on 1 knee and he proposed. She said yes. She thought they were staying at Cameron House for his birthday so she didn't have a clue that he was going to propose.

The happy couple with Oran

I have to admit I was quite nervous about doing the ring delivery. This was a big deal for James and I didn't want to be the 1 to mess things up with the bird flying off or something. As it was everything went to plan.

Saturday was a lot easier. I went to visit a farm which I had been given permission to fly on. I was meant to go out and look at it last week but it was raining so I couldn't get out then. On Saturday I finally made it out. There wasn't a lot out. Pele (male Harris Hawk) came close twice in catching pheasants. The flights were quite short. He didn't chase the pheasants it was more a case of him crashing into the undergrowth and trying to grab them. I didn't see all of the farm as I was a bit pushed for time so I am going to back later and hopefully see the rest of it then.

I didn't want to get back to late the centre on Saturday as I am still working with Artemis. Work and the weather has really made things difficult to keep some consistency going with her but we made some progress. She flew 30m to the glove which was great so hopefully we can keep things going forward. After thinking she wouldn't fly to the glove and I would fly her to the lure I thought I would give it another shot and she did it. I finished Saturday on a real high.

Sunday and Monday it was back to work. I had 2 Family Fun sessions on Sunday and a demonstration for a VIP group at Cameron House on Monday which went well even though it was raining a bit, they were an hour late and instead of 30 mins it was cut to 20 mins. It sometimes happens like that.

Today wasn't good though. It was 1 of those days where I find it really hard to stay motivated. The weather was the type I hate. I don't really mind the weather. I can deal with the cold - well a dry cold but I hate and find it very hard to deal with what happened today which was hail and sleet showers. When it is like that you are just going to get wet and cold and I find it hard to stay motivated. I can't fly any of the birds when the weather is like that. It is just a case of  cleaning the centre and feeding everything and going home. On the plus we don't tend to get to many days like that.

While today was a bit of an early finish on the whole I have noticed that working day is starting to get a bit longer now as the days are getting a  bit longer. That's they way it goes. Mid winter my day usually finishes about 4pm but as the days get longer so does the working day so by mid summer it is about 7pm when I finish more often than not. At the moment I am finding that I am now finishing closer to 5pm rather than 4pm. I have also noticed that the snow drops are coming through but they have not started to flower yet.

I will finish off this weeks entry with a picture my friend Jim took of me with 1 of his falcons after it caught  duck when we flying it last week