The last 2 weeks have been interesting and very busy at times. Since my last post we have done the Hopetoun House International Horse Trials. This was an all weekend event. We took a big team of birds - 11 in total and I also had an extra person helping me - so there was 3 of us in total at it. A big thank you to Jo and Becky. I said in my last entry that it was great venue, well on the Sunday it was even better due to the cross country course going round 3 sides of the area where we were doing our static and flying displays. The birds all took it in their stride on the Sunday even though there was horses galloping past them for most of Sunday afternoon.
The displays went well. We had to do 2 flying displays each day. All the birds flew well. I put Bob (Gyr x Saker) into the display on Saturday. I was a bit worried about this. Even though he had been flying well at the centre and out on the farm, this was his first flying display and there is always that little bit of doubt at the back of my mind when a bird does it's first display. There was nothing to worry about though as he flew well and looked very good. In fact he looked so good on the Saturday that I flew him on the Sunday as well. The only down side is that I will now not use Bob for hunting crows as he is now part of the display team. The weekend was a long 1 as I was in the centre for 5am to open up, clean the centre and load the van to go through to Hopetoun House for 8.30am. We would finish up at 8pm.While it was a long 2 days with alot of hard work it was great fun and I loved every minute of it. The event was well run and everybody knew what they were doing.
And then July was over.
While July was finishing being very busy, August started quietly with no bookings for the first 2 days. This was great as it allowed me to get things back to normal after the weekend at Hopetoun House. The birds that were at Hopetoun House got a few days to relax and the birds that weren't used were readied for up and coming events. Things this month have been either very busy with 3 or 4 bookings in a day or nothing on. On the 5th Aug we had 2 corporate events to do at 2 different locations. Thankfully the venues were only a few miles apart so it was relatively easy to do. 1 was just outside Balloch and then it was down the road to Cameron House for the next 1 in the walled garden. Once we had finished the 1 in the walled garden we had to set up for a family fun session at our aviaries on the front lawn. So in the end we did 3 bookings in 3 different places. A big thank you to Stephanie who helped me that day.
The last few days have been the exact same either very busy or very quiet. Saying that now that it has rained for the last 2 days it has been very quiet. I haven't been able to fly the birds for myself due to the rain. The falcons haven't flown in a week due to work and weather which is not great. I have also been trying to fly Bella the new Barn Owl, but it has been difficult to get any consistency with her due to work and the weather. Jo has been a big help by flying her after she has finished work for the day. Bella has been a little bit skittish recently. Some days she has been very good but other days she can be spooked by cars coming into the car park which she has seen loads of time but some days it just spooks her. I am not sure what her problem is but hopefully by trying to fly her everyday we will get it sorted. Saying that she hasn't flown the last 2 days due to the rain but then again nothing has flown over the last 2 days. All I have been doing is cancelling bookings.
The only thing that I have been able to do over the last 2 days was a photo shoot for Glasgow Warriors rugby club. They are playing the Newcastle Falcons this Friday and wanted some pictures of some of the players standing with a few falcons for promotional purposes. The rain eased to a drizzle so we were able to get the photo shoot done. Good luck to the Warriors for the match this Friday.
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| Rory Pitman with Gigha (Peregrine) and Chris Fusaro with Bob (Gyr x Saker) |
While the weather and bookings have been making it difficult to work with the birds the 1 thing that doesn't stop is the constant rotation of birds (who's flying and who is being given a break to moult). The bird I am most excited about at the moment is Lobey (Turkmanian Eagle Owl). Lobey
To give you a bit of background on Lobey. He was the first bird I ever owned and he has proved to be real star. Always reliable around the centre, at Cameron House and corporate events. He is a bit of a character and I do need to watch him when he is flying as he is entered and has caught 7 rabbits, 1 hedgehog and chased most things that move even though he hasn't been trained or encouraged to hunt. I am looking forward to him being back on line. He will be replacing Duffy (Bengal Eagle Owl) who has been flying for a year now.
Lobey has about 2oz to loose in weight and then he should be good to go.
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| Lobey in action |
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