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
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