There has been 2 early starts, with 2 late finishes, loading and unloading of cars, lots of talking to members of the public with 3 demonstrations at 3 different locations in 2 days. I would like to point out that I am not complaining. I love it when it is like this. There is a real pressure and buzz. The events have all been going well with a lot of good positive feed back.
There is not much to tell about the run up to last weekend. I had 2 hawk walks to do over at Cameron House on the Thursday that went well with Mardy and Pele (both Harris Hawks) flying well. Saying that Mardy did go off on 1 of the hawk walks but he came back quickly. I suspect it was just Mardy being Mardy. As I have said before he is 1 of the most up for it Harris Hawks I think I have worked with in the fact that he is always looking for something to catch. He always keeps me on my toes.
The weekend was very busy but all good. It was our 6th year at the Agricultural Show so we must be doing something right to keep on getting asked back. It starts with a static display and then we do a 30 min flying display in the main arena and then we get the birds back out for another static display. The flying display went very well with Alba (Barn Owl) Brel (Harris Hawk) flying really well and Uist (Lugger Falcon) being in great form using the wind to get height and speed to swoop down at me swinging the lure. He didn't grab his tail so he put in a good shift. The birds were all looking good during the static display. Where the birds sit at this show is great. We are right next to the main arena so we get lots of people stopping to look at the birds. The birds were all on great form. The back of the static area is gorse bushes, there are no people there, and the birds were watching the local mouse population run about in the gorse. Brel spent a good 20mins staring into the gorse and Artemis (Steppe Eagle) was at it as well trying to catch them, Corrie (European Eagle Owl) spent most of the static display sleeping with the odd rouse (shaking of his feathers) to get comfortable, Taz (Kestrel) sunbathed in between the showers and Bod (Gyr x Saker) put alot of effort into preening. This was great to see as it showed once again the birds were not stressed by the event as they were displaying signs of natural behaviour. It also meant that we could point this out to the public and once again try inform as many people as possible that you shouldn't stroke birds of prey.
Sunday was more of the same with a visit to a Brownie camp. This was our 3rd visit to this group which was great. We did an hour there and then it was load up the car and head over to Mugdock Castle to take over the static display that Jo was doing and and do the flying display. Once again alot of time on Sunday afternoon was spent talking about the birds welfare and why we don't allow handling or touching as they would find this stressful.
The baby Bran Owl is still living in the flat with me and Jo. It is getting big. It's tail is also just starting to come through and there is what looks like a dark stripe across it. With the size and the fact there is a dark stripe on the tail we think it will be female. In the the bird of prey world the female is always bigger than the male and the female Barn Owl is meant to have dark stripes across it's tail. If it is a female we are going with Bella as a name.
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| Bella preening. You can see the new feather coming through in the wing |
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| Spud takes his baby sitting very seriously |
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| Bella the Barn Owl |
The next 6 days are very busy. I have 2 corporate events to do, a highland games where we are doing 2 flying demonstrations, 3 hawk walks at Cameron House, 1 scout group visiting the centre and 1 demonstration at a wedding at the hotel. On top of that I have my 6 monthly vet inspection by the vet that I use which is part of the terms and conditions of my zoo licence and I have someone coming out to speak to me about getting a bird of prey. A good week with a good variety of bookings at a good variety of venues.
I am looking forward to the 6 monthly vet inspection as I am always confident. The way I run the centre has always passed any inspection and I have always had good feedback from the people making the inspections of the centre.
BrelBrel on numerous occasions in the blog but I feel I need to mention him again. For 6 months I will barely talk about him in the blog. Over the autumn and winter I don't fly him. He sits on his perch and is generally a bit grumpy and anti social while I allow him to moult. If someone other than me picks him up a bit grumpy becomes very grumpy but come the spring he is brought back down to flying weight, he is flown, his fitness improves and he is back. No matter where we are, if I have to do a flying demonstration I want Brel to be part of it. He floats about and will fly to anybody I ask him to. At this time of year when the big events are coming thick and fast Brel is flying at them all. The only thing is if someone other than me picks him up off his perch he will be grumpy no matter how hungry he is. I am the only person who handles him. He is a star and a big player in the team who flies at the big events or venues and there have been a few over the years.
Anyway time to go. I need my sleep as I get ready for another hectic week at Strathblane Falconry. While for some so called falconry companies it is all about charging to have your photo taken holding a bird of prey or hugging or stroking an owl whilst rattling a tin for donations at Strathblane Falconry we are about flying birds of prey and promoting the welfare of the birds through good husbandry and management.
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