Wednesday, 29 June 2011

1st rabbit and rain

Late once again with the blog but it is getting done now.

The end of June is upon us and when I look back the main memory is rain. There was a lot. Several booking were cancelled  due to it which was not good but that's 1 of those things when you work outdoors.

The weather hasn't been the only bad news. Last Thursday my the trusty Volvo came to the end  of the road.  When it starts blowing lots of blue smoke that's the end. I am now actively looking for a new car. A big thank you to Brian for lending me his van so I can get to work.

The last 2 weeks have been steady even with the rain making it difficult.

A highlight was doing a hawk walk at Cameron House for Brain Jackman who is a travel journalist for the Daily Telegraph. He also got  the first wildscreen award for the script for the wildlife film Osprey and he has a real passion for nature/wildlife. I felt the pressure was on. Things got off to a brilliant start as I was explaining what was going to happen when I spotted a Osprey flying overhead which I pointed out to him and his wife. I looked on it as a good sign for the hawk walk. Oran (Harris Hawk) was brilliant and both Brian Jackman and his wife were very impressed and seemed to have a great time.

The following day was a bit different. We were off to do a demonstration at a school sports day. I have never had to do a display at 1 of those before but it went well and the birds flew well. Bookings like that are great because they are totally different to what I would do normally so they really change the routine of the day.

The next big incident was Oran catching his first rabbit last Thursday. This I would like to point was not planned but when a Harris Hawk sees an opportunity to catch something it tends to be game on. We were coming out of the woods behind Cameron House Hotel and I thought Oran had gone on ahead and was heading back to the aviaries as he does. We were just about to walk in that direction when I heard a quiet squeal somewhere behind me and I knew straight away Oran wasn't ahead but behind us. I doubled back and he was sitting on a rabbit that he had caught. This is his first rabbit and I was proud of him (a special moment) even if we hadn't been trying to catch it.

Since then things have been busy which is great but it does make finding time to work with some the birds difficult. It is always a challenge at this time of year. The diary is busy with booking but I still need to find time to work and fly some of the birds myself. Over the last weekend it was just too busy. On Saturday we had 4 bookings. I did 3 and Jo did a demonstration for the wedding at Strathblane Country House Hotel where we are based. I spent the morning in the centre and the afternoon over at Cameron House where we had 2 hawk walks booked. Oran did both and spent  the afternoon looking like he was a mission to catch his 2nd rabbit. With it being so busy some of the birds were given a well earned weekend off.

Sunday was was busy with a highland games at Chatelherault just outside Hamilton. I was a bit worried about this event. The concern was the weather and would it stay dry. Thankfully it did and we were able to get the demonstrations done and we had good numbers come and watch and look at the birds when they we doing the static display. The only down side Brel (Harris Hawk) who is normally very reliable at these type of events was not that responsive. Sometimes he was great but at other he was a bit reluctant to come to the glove. Not sure what his problem was. Hopefully it was a 1 off.

While things have been steady with bookings and the rain has made it a bit difficult to get things done with the birds we have still been flying and working with the birds with 13 out of the 19 birds we have flying in bookings or in training.This is 1 of the things I like about a small team of birds to work with. Yes it sounds great to say I've got 50 or 60 birds but how many are being flown at any 1 time and how many are sitting about as there is no time to fly them. With a small team you can more time into them individually and also spend more time flying them. The days at the moment usually finish with the falcons being flown. All them are doing ok. Sanda (Lanner Falcon) and Uist (Lugger Falcon) have been there usual reliable selves, Gigha (Peregrine) is now flying again and looking great and then there is Bob(Gyr x Saker), he is flying and will come into and attack the lure every so often when being flown but other times he is just flying about. I am hopefully going to get him onto a farm that I can fly on which doesn't have a lot of trees on it so hopefully I can push him a bit more and see what he does.

We are making slow progress with Bella the young Barn Owl but today she made real progress flying close on 30m to the glove and being quick when called. I am hoping to have her flying free in the next week or so which will be great. Up until today it has been slow going but it is like she has worked out what is expected of her and she is doing it. Hopefully we will get the same tomorrow.

The coming week is steady. We have a corporate event at the beginning of next week with should be good fun over at Dundas Castle - a venue that we are at on a regular basis. It is also game fair weekend. This is for all those interested in hunting, shooting, fishing, falconry and country pursuits. I treat it a bit like a trade fair. it is where I can get work wear and equipment for the birds. On the shopping list this year are a hood for Sanda, a few nobel bells for putting on the birds, a new falconry bag, maybe a new glove, mole skins, jumper, a pair of walking boots and maybe 1 or 2 things that take my fancy.

458

No comments:

Post a Comment