Slow start

It is a bit scary to think we have entered the second half of the year. The first half of the year has flown in. The second half has now started and the first few days have been quiet. This is partly my fault as I have taken 2 days off. The first 2 full days I have taken off this year. It was meant to be Friday to Sunday as I was going to T in the Park but I ended up having to work Saturday so I only got 2 days off.

With me taking some time off this means that the birds are going to get some time off as well.  On my day before T in the Park started most of the birds in the centre were given as much as they wanted to eat with lots of pigeon, quail, rat, mice and duck neck being used up with chicks only being given to the birds who would be flying on Saturday at the demonstration but don't worry they were all given a good feed after the demonstration with more quail, rat and mice being used up. I feel it does the birds good to have a few days off every now and then just to sit and relax. The birds work hard doing sessions and displays and I am sure they appreciate getting a few days off. My attitude is a lot of birds of prey in the wild don't fly for food everyday. For example if a Peregrine kills and eats a pigeon it is not going to hunt the next day. It will sit about for a day or 2 digesting the food. Birds of prey in the wild will gorge themselves so they don't have to go hunting everyday. In falconry it can be a bit un natural because we may want the bird to fly/hunt every day which is something it wouldn't do in the wild unless it had young to feed. There are other reasons why birds of prey in the wild will fly for example to find a mate, to find a territory, to escape predation and some birds of prey migrate. In captivity it is all to do with food - hunger. A few days of feeling full and well fed in some ways would be quite relaxing for them.

With all this extra food the birds have been getting the last 2 days have been spent getting the birds ready to fly again. Monday was spent weighing the birds and seeing who needed to loose weight. Tueasday I flew Bob (Gyr x Saker) and he was ok in his usual style as was Uist (Lugger Falcon). Sanda (Lanner Falcon) on the other hand was rubbish but her weight was a bit heavy. Today we flew all the falcons and they were all in good form with Gigha (Peregrine Tiercel) in great form. He was just picking his moments to come in and attack the lure flying with real determination. Oran (Harris Hawk) and Bella (Barn Owl) on the other hand need alittle bit of work put into them to get them back into the routine.This though was why I made sure I had no bookings in the days after T in the Park.

I do love flying Gigha (Peregrine Tiercel) to the lure. He is great fun to fly. It is just the sheer speed when he is fit that he comes in at to attack the lure. I don't know what speed he is doing but it's quick. He may not be the biggest. Sanda (Lanner Falcon) is 4oz heavier and a wing span that must be twice the size of his and Bob (Gyr x Saker) is 12oz heavier  and look about half again as big as Gigha but when Gigha leaves the glove you can hear the power and when he grips on to the glove and flaps his wings you can feel the power and strength that he has. I love working with birds of prey but when I pick up Gigha to fly him I always get a feeling of anticipation, a little flutter of excitement in my stomach as I walk out on to the field to fly him.

The run up to T in the Park was steady with a few booking and the rain causing a few problems that we managed to deal with. Thankfully though the weather did hold for the corporate event at Dundas Castle where the sun shone and everyone had a great time. I was a little bit worried about Brel (Harris Hawk) after the demonstration at Chatelherault where he wasn't at his best but at Dundas he was his usual reliable self and flew brilliantly in a 7 group rotational event. This is where I will have 7 groups come 1 after another, with each group staying for say 20 mins to learn a little bit about falconry hold a bird and fly a bird and then they move on to their next activity. These events are hard work as you are always watching the clock as you don't want to run over as this could mess up the whole event yet you are trying to give everyone a chance to fly a bird. Brel is great at them as he just gets on with it and he was back on form for this 1.

Now that i have had a few days to get things back up and running again it is time to look at the next few days. Demonstrations at wedding are the order of the day for the next 3 days. 2 of the demonstrations are off site. The first 1 is at a hotel  out near Falkirk, the second 1 is in St Andrews at St Salvators Quad and the third 1 is at Strathblane Country House where we are based. Now that may sound a lot but there is also a hawk walk over at Cameron House tomorrow once we get back from the 1st wedding demonstration, before the third wedding demonstration I have a 1 hour family fun session in the morning and a half day session in the afternoon. Once I have got through the next 3 days it is off to Kelso on Sunday to do a demonstration at a highland games. The next couple of days are busy to say the least. After a few days off and a more gentle pace about the centre it is good to get back into the routine and working with the birds again.

The other good news is I have a car again which I get on Friday. Just in time for going through to St Andrews and then down to Kelso. A big thankyou to my friend Brian for lending me his van and keeping me on the road.

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