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 |
No comments:
Post a Comment