After the sad start to last week it was good to have a busy week.
Tuesday was a sad day. I opened up Amber's aviary in the morning I had to do a double take. I knew it was empty but felt I should open it up as normal. I know it was my mind just playing tricks on me but I could of sworn just for a second there was a female Harris Hawk sitting with 1 foot tucked up looking at me on the perch. There wasn't.
I put Pele in the aviary the next day so it was being used but he started playing up when it comes to flying him so I have taken him out and tethered him again. The aviary is now empty again and the door remains closed.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing half day sessions in the centre. In someways it was good just to stay in the centre. No rushing around - just a couple of days in the centre coming to terms with things.
On Thursday it all changed as we were entering a very busy spell. The first part of Thursday was spent doing a school visit where we had 3 x 1hr talks on birds of prey. We have been visiting this school for several years. It is always good to be asked back for repeat work. I feel it confirms to me that I am doing a good job in offering a quality service. The best part was they provide me with lunch - school dinners. I have to admit they are a lot better than I remember but I suspect the quality of school dinners has moved on since I was at school. Once I had finished there it was straight back to the centre, unload the car, walk the dog, load the the car and go to Cameron House for a hawk walk. I used Pele for this as I thought I would make it easy for myself as he is normally very good but on Thursday he was a bit wayward. I don't know if it was because I put him in an aviary and his routine was all different. I guess time will tell. He was difficult for Jo on the Saturday as well.
Friday morning was spent doing a booking in centre and then cleaning everything. In the afternoon we were back over to Cameron House for a booking.
The weekend was the main event for the week. Saturday, Sunday and Monday was spent at Edinburgh Castle. I have never done any work at Edinburgh Castle but I have a few events for Historic Scotland over the years. It was great fun as I was able to catch up with a few old friends and make some new ones. In between all that we had to do a 4 hour static display with the birds. Saturday was a complete wash out with the rain but we were able to get the birds out for a bit in between the showers but it was a hard shift. The birds spent alot of Saturday sitting in their travel boxes and I got soaked.
Sunday and Monday were alot better as it was dry and the birds could sit out all day. The birds all looked good and it was great see them look so relaxed even though the castle had over 17000 visitors over the 3 days. We always had good numbers of people up looking at the birds and asking questions. The birds all took it in their stride. It was good to see them preening, sleeping, rousing and sun bathing (yes birds can sun bathe) while hundreds of people stopped to look at them. I feel this is because that once we are at the venue we don't allow the public to stroke, prod or touch the birds or my real pet hate - hug an owl. It was also a great opportunity to tell public why they shouldn't stroke the birds because of the stress it causes them, how our birds were all showing signs natural behaviour because they were relaxed and the damage that gets done to the birds feathers through the constant stroking. The only time things got a bit tense was when the local seagulls started to dive bomb us as they didn't appreciate birds of prey being at Edinburgh Castle. I always watch Lobey when this happens as he can get a bit stressed by the sea gulls but it didn't last long. He was a little bit concerned by it but as there was only 3 or 4 sea gulls his concern quickly passed and he went sleep (always a good sign that a bird is relaxed). Artemis on the other hand was all set to tell the sea gulls what for, so when they were dive bombing us she was watching and shouting back at them. Another highlight was Taz shouting at 1 of the local Kestrels who nest on the castle after he spotted it flying overhead.
After 3 days of going back and forth to Edinburgh Castle I really felt it last night. Even though I was exhausted and my legs felt tired and sore this morning I still had to get up and open up the centre and load up the car to go and do a hawk walk at Cameron House with Mardy (male Harris Hawk). Things always tend to be eventful when Mardy is flying. The other 3 Harris Hawks all tend to be a little bit more laid back than Mardy. Pele is the most laid back and quite calculating, Oran is high energy but will always respond if I shout at him and Brel is always focused on me. Mardy
He may of not been at Cameron House for 6 months but he was back this morning and it was like he was on a mission to let the local wildlife population know he was back. He buzzed group of ducks on the loch, tried to sneak up on some jackdaws, flew up above the trees which really upset the seagulls, flew over the top the hotel and in to the woods behind the hotel where he went after something not sure what, I was still trying to catch up with him and he caught a mouse on the front lawn which he carried up into a tree and ate before I could get it off him. An eventful first hawk walk for Mardy on his return to Cameron House. The thing is hawk walks like that are not uncommon when Mardy is about. If it is out there he tends to notice and do something about it. He would be an awesome hunting bird if it wasn't for the fact that he is terrified of horses.
The coming week is steady. I have a corporate event this Monday so I have already stared putting together a team of birds for that. Uist (Lugger Falcon) is back flying after his week off and looking good.
I have also been booked for a very large event at the end of July so I need to star thinking about that. Details to follow on that 1.
I still haven't been able to get the new Barn Owl as the paper work still hasn't turned up. The breeder is going to chase up DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs) who issue the paper work to say that it has been bred in captivity and allows him to sell it.
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Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Monday, 18 April 2011
Amber RIP
I write this post feeling very down. This afternoon I had to have Amber (Harris Hawk) put to sleep. She was almost 7 years old. I had her since October 2004. I found out that she had wing tip oedema. In it's final stage the end section of the wing dies off and then falls off. This is what happened to Amber. Unfortunately the first signs that there is a problem is when the end of the wing drops off normally after about 6 weeks of having the infection. She had shown no signs that there was a problem. The bird sometimes sticks the wing out a bit so the wing is not touching it's side as the infected area is painful. Amber didn't do this. I spoke to Jo about it in her capacity as vet and we decided that the best and kindest thing was to put her to sleep.
No body really knows what causes wing tip oedema. There are a few theories. It tends to be most common between October and April and it may be caused by frost bite but I have spoken to 2 people today about it and they told of cases in May and in July. The advice is when it is cold keep the bird dry, above the frost line and out of draughts. I did this. Another theory is that the bird has a problem with it's blood circulation and there was a blood clot that affected the blood supply to the wing and this lead to wing tip oedema. Harris Hawks are prone to getting wing tip oedema along with Lanner and Lugger Falcons. The way Amber was kept should of made the risk very low. She was always kept free lofted (in an aviary) so she could always move around so she was never sitting near the ground and she could get out of the way from draughts. This should of also reduced any blood circulation problems as she was able to move around and didn't spend long periods sitting still.
At the end of the day she is gone and she will be missed dearly. She wasn't the best Harris Hawk I have ever flown or worked with. She was ok but she was a character and had real personality. If she wasn't happy with me she would let me know and we had a few run ins over the years in her aviary. I always had to watch myself when I went and cleaned her aviary when she was a flying weight. Out in the field if I put the work in with her she was good and flew well but you needed to put the work in with her and she was still prone to being a bit stubborn every now and then. In her time she took rabbit, pheasant, hare, gray squirrel and crow. She even crashed into the bushes once and grabbed a roe deer by mistake. She let go quickly once she realised what she had caught. Her one bad habit out in the field was that she was always catching mice. I bought her so I could hunt hare and she did for a while but she took a few hits from the hares she bound on to and decided that there was easier things to catch like rabbit and for the last few years she has always refused to chase hares. In the last year I had started using her in activity days at the centre. She was always very reliable and always looked great. The only down side was that the centre always had to be locked down when she was flying as she would always fly over the centre looking to see if she could try and kill one of the other birds. Apart from this she was a good bird and will be dearly missed. Amber RIP
At the end of the day I run a business that involves looking after live stock. That's what the birds are livestock they are not pets. I don't have a special relationship with them. I have a working relationship with them. Amber is not the first bird that has died on me but it has been 4 years since the last bird died suddenly and she is the first bird in the 9 years that I have been running Strathblane Falconry to get wing tip oedema. The thing is if you work with live stock as a farmer once told me then at some point you will have to deal with dead stock. It doesn't make it any easier - it still hurts.
Tomorrow is a new day and life goes on. The coming week is thankfully busy so there will be no time to dwell. In the next 7 days we have 11 bookings (4 in the centre, 3 at Cameron House, 1 school visit and the Easter weekend will be spent at Edinburgh Castle) so a busy few days coming up.
I have also got the centre to paint. Which it desperately needs after the winter. I was able to make a start today but there is still loads to be done. My mum and dad said they would give me help with the painting so a big thank you to them. It helps to take the pressure off a bit.
Last week started off reasonably quiet then got very busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was thrown into disarray thanks to Duffy (Bengal Eagle Owl). He was flying in the afternoon in a half day session when he saw the window cleaner walking across the hotel car park carrying a ladder. That was him spooked. He flew off into the trees and spent the next 2.5 hours sitting there. I got him back after I asked him to fly to a hotel guest as he wouldn't fly to me. I have to say he looked great flying down from the tree. He must of been about 30ft up. I need to make a mental note to watch out for ladders when he is flying. It did mean that i was unable to go and collect the van that I needed for Glasgow University Vet School Rodeo. It just meant that I had to do 2 trips to get all the birds and equipment to the venue on Saturday. Thankfully the venue is only 15 mins drive from the centre.
We had 2 flying displays with a static display to do. We had lots of people come up and watch the display with a steady stream of people coming up to look at the birds when they were sitting out. All the birds flew well apart from Uist (Lugger Falcon) in the first flying display. He was going great guns. The weather was ideal (dry, not too warm with a gentle breeze) for him. He was looking great and then he went and grabbed his tail meaning he couldn't turn so he flew off and landed in some bushes. I had to go and look for him but I had him back within 5 mins so no big deal.
Sunday was the wedding fair at hotel (Strathblane Country House) where we are based. I just used Mardy and flew him about the grounds. He was going great. Flying over the top of the hotel and through the tops of the trees.
After a good weekend with events. Things were brought back down today.
338
No body really knows what causes wing tip oedema. There are a few theories. It tends to be most common between October and April and it may be caused by frost bite but I have spoken to 2 people today about it and they told of cases in May and in July. The advice is when it is cold keep the bird dry, above the frost line and out of draughts. I did this. Another theory is that the bird has a problem with it's blood circulation and there was a blood clot that affected the blood supply to the wing and this lead to wing tip oedema. Harris Hawks are prone to getting wing tip oedema along with Lanner and Lugger Falcons. The way Amber was kept should of made the risk very low. She was always kept free lofted (in an aviary) so she could always move around so she was never sitting near the ground and she could get out of the way from draughts. This should of also reduced any blood circulation problems as she was able to move around and didn't spend long periods sitting still.
At the end of the day she is gone and she will be missed dearly. She wasn't the best Harris Hawk I have ever flown or worked with. She was ok but she was a character and had real personality. If she wasn't happy with me she would let me know and we had a few run ins over the years in her aviary. I always had to watch myself when I went and cleaned her aviary when she was a flying weight. Out in the field if I put the work in with her she was good and flew well but you needed to put the work in with her and she was still prone to being a bit stubborn every now and then. In her time she took rabbit, pheasant, hare, gray squirrel and crow. She even crashed into the bushes once and grabbed a roe deer by mistake. She let go quickly once she realised what she had caught. Her one bad habit out in the field was that she was always catching mice. I bought her so I could hunt hare and she did for a while but she took a few hits from the hares she bound on to and decided that there was easier things to catch like rabbit and for the last few years she has always refused to chase hares. In the last year I had started using her in activity days at the centre. She was always very reliable and always looked great. The only down side was that the centre always had to be locked down when she was flying as she would always fly over the centre looking to see if she could try and kill one of the other birds. Apart from this she was a good bird and will be dearly missed. Amber RIP
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| Amber out in the field |
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| Amber in action coming out of the trees |
At the end of the day I run a business that involves looking after live stock. That's what the birds are livestock they are not pets. I don't have a special relationship with them. I have a working relationship with them. Amber is not the first bird that has died on me but it has been 4 years since the last bird died suddenly and she is the first bird in the 9 years that I have been running Strathblane Falconry to get wing tip oedema. The thing is if you work with live stock as a farmer once told me then at some point you will have to deal with dead stock. It doesn't make it any easier - it still hurts.
Tomorrow is a new day and life goes on. The coming week is thankfully busy so there will be no time to dwell. In the next 7 days we have 11 bookings (4 in the centre, 3 at Cameron House, 1 school visit and the Easter weekend will be spent at Edinburgh Castle) so a busy few days coming up.
I have also got the centre to paint. Which it desperately needs after the winter. I was able to make a start today but there is still loads to be done. My mum and dad said they would give me help with the painting so a big thank you to them. It helps to take the pressure off a bit.
Last week started off reasonably quiet then got very busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was thrown into disarray thanks to Duffy (Bengal Eagle Owl). He was flying in the afternoon in a half day session when he saw the window cleaner walking across the hotel car park carrying a ladder. That was him spooked. He flew off into the trees and spent the next 2.5 hours sitting there. I got him back after I asked him to fly to a hotel guest as he wouldn't fly to me. I have to say he looked great flying down from the tree. He must of been about 30ft up. I need to make a mental note to watch out for ladders when he is flying. It did mean that i was unable to go and collect the van that I needed for Glasgow University Vet School Rodeo. It just meant that I had to do 2 trips to get all the birds and equipment to the venue on Saturday. Thankfully the venue is only 15 mins drive from the centre.
We had 2 flying displays with a static display to do. We had lots of people come up and watch the display with a steady stream of people coming up to look at the birds when they were sitting out. All the birds flew well apart from Uist (Lugger Falcon) in the first flying display. He was going great guns. The weather was ideal (dry, not too warm with a gentle breeze) for him. He was looking great and then he went and grabbed his tail meaning he couldn't turn so he flew off and landed in some bushes. I had to go and look for him but I had him back within 5 mins so no big deal.
Sunday was the wedding fair at hotel (Strathblane Country House) where we are based. I just used Mardy and flew him about the grounds. He was going great. Flying over the top of the hotel and through the tops of the trees.
After a good weekend with events. Things were brought back down today.
338
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Getting busy
Well the last 7 days started off slowly and has finished with me racing about.
The VIP booking last Tuesday went well with all the birds flying well and the clients being impressed. The next 2 days were quiet with no bookings, so it was case of flying birds and cleaning the centre and general pottering about. I feel I have been doing a lot of that recently but it is all changing now.
On Friday things were fully booked with a booking in the morning and another in the afternoon and then flying birds in the early evening. While Friday was busy it was a bit straight forward as it was all in the centre and an easy enough day with all the birds flying well.
The weekend though was far more interesting.
Now I don't take a lot of time off - the odd day here and there with an afternoon off every now and then. Over the weekend I took a few hours off on the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. When you have livestock it is not just a case of working Monday to Friday 9 til 5pm. You have a responsibility to your livestock, if not you are going to end up with dead stock, it's that simple. Taking time off can be a challenge especially if you can't get anyone to cover for you and when you have 20 birds of prey it just can't be anyone that you bring in so at the moment any time off tends to be an afternoon or a few hours here and there. This is how it was on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday morning was spent cleaning the centre and feeding the birds. Then it was off go-karting with my brothers and Dad (it was a Christmas present) for a few hours. Once that was finished it was straight back to the centre grab Oran (male Harris Hawk) and over to do a hawk walk and deliver a ring at Cameron House as Frank was proposing to Katie and Oran was delivering the ring. Once that was done it was straight back to the centre and finish up. Sunday was the same, with the morning spent in the centre and then off to watch the Alba Cup Final with my Dad in Perth. Then it was back to the centre and spend a couple of hours finishing up and getting everything ready for the next day.
My weekends are not always like that. In fact they are hardly ever like that. Even though it was only a few hours each day I feel as though I have had a bit of a break. Next weekend normal service resumes.
The last 2 days have been a bit rushed with both days fully booked and a lot of running about between the centre and Cameron House.
The rest of the week will be spent getting ready for the events that are coming up over the coming weekend. I have at least 1 large event in each of the next 7 weeks with the first 1 being the Glasgow University Vet School Rodeo this coming Saturday. I haven't made up my mind as to which birds will be flying in the 2 demonstrations but Brel (male Harris Hawk), Alba (Barn Owl) and at least 1 falcon will be involved. After that I am not to sure. I have 2 x 30min flying demonstrations to do. I will make up my mind this week while I am getting everything ready. On the Sunday there will be no time to relax as the Strathblane Country House Hotel are having there wedding fair and we are involved in that.
The following weekend (Easter weekend) is even busier as we are at Edinburgh Castle doing talks and displaying the birds on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Jo is also doing a hawk walk at Cameron House on Saturday.
While I have been busy watching football, flying birds, doing bookings, cleaning, go karting, feeding birds, answering the phone and e mails in the last 7 days I have still been able to find time to check up on the progress of the 2 new birds I will be getting this year. First up the Barn Owl. It has hatched and I am waiting for it's Article 10 paper work to turn up so the breeder can sell it to me. Hopefully I will be able to collect it this Thursday and I will be able to start hand rearing it. This Barn Owl is to replace Dylan who is now semi retired as his eye sight is going. Next up is the Prairie Falcon. When I spoke to the breeder he said the female had laid eggs and she was incubating them so I should know hopefully in the next 6 weeks if there is a male Prairie Falcon for me. Fingers crossed.
327
The VIP booking last Tuesday went well with all the birds flying well and the clients being impressed. The next 2 days were quiet with no bookings, so it was case of flying birds and cleaning the centre and general pottering about. I feel I have been doing a lot of that recently but it is all changing now.
On Friday things were fully booked with a booking in the morning and another in the afternoon and then flying birds in the early evening. While Friday was busy it was a bit straight forward as it was all in the centre and an easy enough day with all the birds flying well.
The weekend though was far more interesting.
Now I don't take a lot of time off - the odd day here and there with an afternoon off every now and then. Over the weekend I took a few hours off on the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. When you have livestock it is not just a case of working Monday to Friday 9 til 5pm. You have a responsibility to your livestock, if not you are going to end up with dead stock, it's that simple. Taking time off can be a challenge especially if you can't get anyone to cover for you and when you have 20 birds of prey it just can't be anyone that you bring in so at the moment any time off tends to be an afternoon or a few hours here and there. This is how it was on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday morning was spent cleaning the centre and feeding the birds. Then it was off go-karting with my brothers and Dad (it was a Christmas present) for a few hours. Once that was finished it was straight back to the centre grab Oran (male Harris Hawk) and over to do a hawk walk and deliver a ring at Cameron House as Frank was proposing to Katie and Oran was delivering the ring. Once that was done it was straight back to the centre and finish up. Sunday was the same, with the morning spent in the centre and then off to watch the Alba Cup Final with my Dad in Perth. Then it was back to the centre and spend a couple of hours finishing up and getting everything ready for the next day.
My weekends are not always like that. In fact they are hardly ever like that. Even though it was only a few hours each day I feel as though I have had a bit of a break. Next weekend normal service resumes.
The last 2 days have been a bit rushed with both days fully booked and a lot of running about between the centre and Cameron House.
The rest of the week will be spent getting ready for the events that are coming up over the coming weekend. I have at least 1 large event in each of the next 7 weeks with the first 1 being the Glasgow University Vet School Rodeo this coming Saturday. I haven't made up my mind as to which birds will be flying in the 2 demonstrations but Brel (male Harris Hawk), Alba (Barn Owl) and at least 1 falcon will be involved. After that I am not to sure. I have 2 x 30min flying demonstrations to do. I will make up my mind this week while I am getting everything ready. On the Sunday there will be no time to relax as the Strathblane Country House Hotel are having there wedding fair and we are involved in that.
The following weekend (Easter weekend) is even busier as we are at Edinburgh Castle doing talks and displaying the birds on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Jo is also doing a hawk walk at Cameron House on Saturday.
While I have been busy watching football, flying birds, doing bookings, cleaning, go karting, feeding birds, answering the phone and e mails in the last 7 days I have still been able to find time to check up on the progress of the 2 new birds I will be getting this year. First up the Barn Owl. It has hatched and I am waiting for it's Article 10 paper work to turn up so the breeder can sell it to me. Hopefully I will be able to collect it this Thursday and I will be able to start hand rearing it. This Barn Owl is to replace Dylan who is now semi retired as his eye sight is going. Next up is the Prairie Falcon. When I spoke to the breeder he said the female had laid eggs and she was incubating them so I should know hopefully in the next 6 weeks if there is a male Prairie Falcon for me. Fingers crossed.
327
Monday, 4 April 2011
9 years
At this time of year I always tend to look back. At the beginning of April 2002 Strathblane Falconry was created. We have been going for 9 years. It is a bit scary to look back and think 9 years. It doesn't feel like 9 years. The time has flown in (no pun intended). There has been a lot of good and some bad times over the years and I have some times wondered why do I do it. After all I do tend to work a 7 day week with days in the summer lasting about 10 hours while in the winter I can be working (especially the last 2) in sub zero temperatures but to be honest I wouldn't and don't want to change it. I am very lucky to have this as my living and the birds remind me of that every day.
Anyway back to last week, the present and the start of year 10.
The last week has been a bit quiet. I suspect the calm before the school holidays start in April. This week I had only 3 bookings 2 of which were on Wednesday and the other was there this morning. All of them were at Cameron House. All 3 were hawk walks and were uneventful in the fact Pele and Oran both flew well on Wednesday. Pele in his calculated easy going style and Oran in his high energy (well high energy for a Harris Hawk) style. The lady who flew Pele in the first session on Wednesday was almost brought to tears by Pele flying to her out-stretched arm. She found the whole experience quite emotional. Oran today was on form looking for something to catch in the woods behind the hotel.
The rest of the week has been spent flying birds in between the rain showers. Saying that I have been able to get the birds flown every day apart from this afternoon due to it raining all afternoon. The rain stopped when I was getting ready to finish for the day.
It has been great to be able to get some good quality time in with some of the birds. Brel (male Harris Hawk) has been doing well. His fitness is slowly getting better in the fact that he is flying about half a mile a day. He starts really well and then you can see him slow down but he is getting there. The 2 falcons Sanda (Lanner) and Uist (Lugger) are both going well. I was able to get them out on the farm where I can push them a bit more as it alot more open. On Saturday Jo came out with me and flew Uist. As there was 2 of us we were able to take some pictures as well of the falcons flying.
The only real problem I had was yesterday when I was flying Brel. At 1 point he wasn't for moving out of his
tree. I was going to walk away and try and get him to follow on but something about his body language made me look back. This time he was standing on the ground. When I saw this I was thinking - what's his problem. I walked back to him and I could see he was holding something. This is not good, the last thing you want is the bird finding something it thinks it can eat and then carry up into a tree to eat. What he had in his feet he could carry up into a tree. I slowly walked towards him and got out a large piece of food to get his attention. As soon as he saw the large piece of food on the glove he flew to the glove carrying what he found with him and was thinking about eating. What he had was a mole that had been dead for a while so was very rotten and didn't smell to good. Thankfully I was able to get it off him quickly and hide it. Once it was out of sight we moved on quickly and carried on with flying. It was 1 of the more glamorous moments that you get when working with birds of prey -NOT.
The coming is quite busy. I have a VIP booking tomorrow for a group of French journalists tomorrow. Wednesday I am stuck in the centre as my car is in the garage due to the exhaust coming loose, Thursday morning is booked up, Friday is near enough fully booked and the weekend is a bit nuts. So a busy week. The last 2 weeks have been calm and now I suspect we enter the storm with the diary filling up nicely.
We also picked up another corporate event for the start of May today which was great.
316
Anyway back to last week, the present and the start of year 10.
The last week has been a bit quiet. I suspect the calm before the school holidays start in April. This week I had only 3 bookings 2 of which were on Wednesday and the other was there this morning. All of them were at Cameron House. All 3 were hawk walks and were uneventful in the fact Pele and Oran both flew well on Wednesday. Pele in his calculated easy going style and Oran in his high energy (well high energy for a Harris Hawk) style. The lady who flew Pele in the first session on Wednesday was almost brought to tears by Pele flying to her out-stretched arm. She found the whole experience quite emotional. Oran today was on form looking for something to catch in the woods behind the hotel.
The rest of the week has been spent flying birds in between the rain showers. Saying that I have been able to get the birds flown every day apart from this afternoon due to it raining all afternoon. The rain stopped when I was getting ready to finish for the day.
It has been great to be able to get some good quality time in with some of the birds. Brel (male Harris Hawk) has been doing well. His fitness is slowly getting better in the fact that he is flying about half a mile a day. He starts really well and then you can see him slow down but he is getting there. The 2 falcons Sanda (Lanner) and Uist (Lugger) are both going well. I was able to get them out on the farm where I can push them a bit more as it alot more open. On Saturday Jo came out with me and flew Uist. As there was 2 of us we were able to take some pictures as well of the falcons flying.
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| Sanda swooping in |
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| Sanda turning towards me |
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| Uist coming in to the lure |
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| Uist flying over head |
tree. I was going to walk away and try and get him to follow on but something about his body language made me look back. This time he was standing on the ground. When I saw this I was thinking - what's his problem. I walked back to him and I could see he was holding something. This is not good, the last thing you want is the bird finding something it thinks it can eat and then carry up into a tree to eat. What he had in his feet he could carry up into a tree. I slowly walked towards him and got out a large piece of food to get his attention. As soon as he saw the large piece of food on the glove he flew to the glove carrying what he found with him and was thinking about eating. What he had was a mole that had been dead for a while so was very rotten and didn't smell to good. Thankfully I was able to get it off him quickly and hide it. Once it was out of sight we moved on quickly and carried on with flying. It was 1 of the more glamorous moments that you get when working with birds of prey -NOT.
The coming is quite busy. I have a VIP booking tomorrow for a group of French journalists tomorrow. Wednesday I am stuck in the centre as my car is in the garage due to the exhaust coming loose, Thursday morning is booked up, Friday is near enough fully booked and the weekend is a bit nuts. So a busy week. The last 2 weeks have been calm and now I suspect we enter the storm with the diary filling up nicely.
We also picked up another corporate event for the start of May today which was great.
316
Monday, 28 March 2011
1st Bumble bee
Well it must now be Spring. Stuff the clocks changing. That just meant I got 1 hour less in bed. The big sign for me was the fact I saw my first bumble bee of the year. I also saw what I think was a Osprey. It was at a good height up in the sky and was getting a hard time from several sea gulls which it dwarfed. I struggled to get a good look at it with my binoculars but the markings looked about right. Spring is here. I know this may not be very falconry but 1 of the joys of working outside is you get to see the seasons changing. Spring is a great season as everything comes to life from the snow drops pushing through the frozen ground, to the first bumble bee, migrating birds, buds on the trees bursting open and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face. It is all good. Winter is about dealing with it, Spring is about awakening, Summer is fun and Autumn is all about preparing. That's how I see it.
Back to life at Strathblane Falconry. The last week has been quite steady. The 2 schools went well. Bob (Gyr x Saker) behaved at his first school visit and sat quietly on the glove while I spoke about him. I was a little bit worried about him as he has not been the most steady of birds and was nuts when I got him but he was very good. Alba (Barn Owl) did her stuff and flew round the school halls. The first schools hall was great as it was a big hall and she must of been up 30ft some times and I would call her and she would drop down on the glove. The second school had a small hall but it was ok as it was 1 that she has flown in many times before so I knew what to expect.
The weekend was fully booked. Saturday was very busy. I had an all day session in which lasted 5 hours and then it was straight into a family fun 1 hour session. I was feeling it at the end of Saturday and the birds all flew well. On Sunday we had 3 people out in the morning for a half day session and then I treated myself to the afternoon off. Some of the birds also got the whole day off. It's not a case of all work and no play.
I don't like my guys sitting at fly weight day in day out being hungry. If the bookings are coming in and we are very busy then fair enough they are working but if there are times when I can give a bird a break and little bit of chill out time I will. Over the last week I have been able to do that.
Artemis was the first. I gave her a deers head as a treat and she was delighted and it was a case of close the outer door to her aviary so she could work on it in peace. I am always amazed as to how much she can get out of a deers head. I gave her the deers head on the Wednesday, Thursday I took it off her and didn't feed her as she hadn't cast, Friday she did cast (a cast is what she can't digest and doesn't pass through the gut) and I weighed her - she had put on 4oz in weight. That's alot. A 4oz increase in weight is massive. I was able to do a bit of work on Saturday with her.
Next were the falcons Sanda (Lanner) and Uist (Lugger). Both have been working hard flying and also doing verticals (jumping from a block perch to the glove) to build up their fitness faster. They each got their daily foo of 3 or 4 de yolked chicks and 1/2 a quail on Saturday. Sunday was spent chilling out. and relaxing. Oran was another who was given a chance to relax in the fact that he got a quail to eat on Sunday. When left in the early afternoon he had finished it and was looking very please with himself. I have also been able to give Alba (Barn Owl), Jerry (Tawny Owl) and Luca ( Northern Hawk Owl) mice as well. I have said it many times before but when I give my birds quail, mice or rats or any food other than day old cockerel chicks I always feel good. I get a real kick out of how worked up they get when they food like that. The sad thing is I suspect in a lot of places where birds of prey are kept for commercial purposes food like that is a myth for the birds.
Talking of food. I was given a bag of deer bones by someone who does deer stalking. They will be good tiring for the birds. This is where they will have to work at the bones to get the last of the meat of. It helps to keep their beaks in good order and also enrichment for the birds themselves in the fact they have to work to get their food. There is a fair bit on the bones as the guy who butchered the deer is not a butcher. I will try some of it on the birds over the next week and see how the get on.
The coming week is not to busy so I will take the opportunity to take Sanda and Uistok to fly them on the farm as i have been using this farm for ages and the farmer knows that i know how to conduct myself on his land especially during the lambing season. Also the 2 falcons are not going to do anything to his sheep or lambs. This is totally different to Artemis (Steppe Eagle) being taken out to a farm to fly.
Mardy (male Harris Hawk) flew free on Friday for the first time in 6 months after his moult and was back dealing with clients on Saturday. As he was so good so I have decided to put Amber in for the moult and stopped flying her. Brel the other male Harris Hawk should be flying in the next day or 2 once I have put a bell, tail mount and new flying jesses on him.
The coming week with longer days and hopefully better weather will be all about working with the birds that have been rested over the winter to get them flying and up to a good level of fitness. I really enjoy this time as I get to fly the birds for myself.
304
Back to life at Strathblane Falconry. The last week has been quite steady. The 2 schools went well. Bob (Gyr x Saker) behaved at his first school visit and sat quietly on the glove while I spoke about him. I was a little bit worried about him as he has not been the most steady of birds and was nuts when I got him but he was very good. Alba (Barn Owl) did her stuff and flew round the school halls. The first schools hall was great as it was a big hall and she must of been up 30ft some times and I would call her and she would drop down on the glove. The second school had a small hall but it was ok as it was 1 that she has flown in many times before so I knew what to expect.
The weekend was fully booked. Saturday was very busy. I had an all day session in which lasted 5 hours and then it was straight into a family fun 1 hour session. I was feeling it at the end of Saturday and the birds all flew well. On Sunday we had 3 people out in the morning for a half day session and then I treated myself to the afternoon off. Some of the birds also got the whole day off. It's not a case of all work and no play.
I don't like my guys sitting at fly weight day in day out being hungry. If the bookings are coming in and we are very busy then fair enough they are working but if there are times when I can give a bird a break and little bit of chill out time I will. Over the last week I have been able to do that.
Artemis was the first. I gave her a deers head as a treat and she was delighted and it was a case of close the outer door to her aviary so she could work on it in peace. I am always amazed as to how much she can get out of a deers head. I gave her the deers head on the Wednesday, Thursday I took it off her and didn't feed her as she hadn't cast, Friday she did cast (a cast is what she can't digest and doesn't pass through the gut) and I weighed her - she had put on 4oz in weight. That's alot. A 4oz increase in weight is massive. I was able to do a bit of work on Saturday with her.
Next were the falcons Sanda (Lanner) and Uist (Lugger). Both have been working hard flying and also doing verticals (jumping from a block perch to the glove) to build up their fitness faster. They each got their daily foo of 3 or 4 de yolked chicks and 1/2 a quail on Saturday. Sunday was spent chilling out. and relaxing. Oran was another who was given a chance to relax in the fact that he got a quail to eat on Sunday. When left in the early afternoon he had finished it and was looking very please with himself. I have also been able to give Alba (Barn Owl), Jerry (Tawny Owl) and Luca ( Northern Hawk Owl) mice as well. I have said it many times before but when I give my birds quail, mice or rats or any food other than day old cockerel chicks I always feel good. I get a real kick out of how worked up they get when they food like that. The sad thing is I suspect in a lot of places where birds of prey are kept for commercial purposes food like that is a myth for the birds.
Talking of food. I was given a bag of deer bones by someone who does deer stalking. They will be good tiring for the birds. This is where they will have to work at the bones to get the last of the meat of. It helps to keep their beaks in good order and also enrichment for the birds themselves in the fact they have to work to get their food. There is a fair bit on the bones as the guy who butchered the deer is not a butcher. I will try some of it on the birds over the next week and see how the get on.
The coming week is not to busy so I will take the opportunity to take Sanda and Uistok to fly them on the farm as i have been using this farm for ages and the farmer knows that i know how to conduct myself on his land especially during the lambing season. Also the 2 falcons are not going to do anything to his sheep or lambs. This is totally different to Artemis (Steppe Eagle) being taken out to a farm to fly.
Mardy (male Harris Hawk) flew free on Friday for the first time in 6 months after his moult and was back dealing with clients on Saturday. As he was so good so I have decided to put Amber in for the moult and stopped flying her. Brel the other male Harris Hawk should be flying in the next day or 2 once I have put a bell, tail mount and new flying jesses on him.
The coming week with longer days and hopefully better weather will be all about working with the birds that have been rested over the winter to get them flying and up to a good level of fitness. I really enjoy this time as I get to fly the birds for myself.
304
Monday, 21 March 2011
Strange week
Well after the initial burst of activity doing 6 bookings in 2 days - 2 were at the centre, 3 were at Cameron House and 1 was in Bishopbriggs so there was a fair bit of driving about and loading up of the car with both days turning into 12 hour shifts and then it went all quiet and I had no booking Thurs, Fri, Sat or Sun. The Thursday was great. A nice lazy day where I got to work in the centre with the birds with no rushing about which after the 2 previous days was great. Friday was much the same as Thursday. By Saturday though I was starting to get a bit restless, Sunday I was wanting to do a booking and then today I had 2 bookings so it was back to normal which was great. Having 4 days of no bookings is strange especially over a weekend in March. I normally get a day here and there but 4 days in a row that normally only happens in January. A little bit odd but things are back to normal with the coming week.
While I was a bit restless it was great to be able to work with the birds that I will be flying over the coming months during the spring and summer months and the bookings are still coming in with some very interesting enquiries. At the moment everything is still up in the air but once things confirm I will be able to say more. A venue has made enquiries for 2 events -1 of which will be an evening and the other will be over 2 days. I have done demonstrations at this venue before for other companies but this is the first time that the venue has come to me direct.
The work with the birds has been going well. I will start with the Harris Hawks Brel and Mardy. Brel is almost at flying weight. He has been a lot more sociable in the last few days. Stepping up onto the glove when I am putting him out on the front lawn or putting him away. I should be able to start flying him in the coming week. Mardy is in the same position. Still being a bit grumpy but Mardy has always been like that. By the end of the week 1 or both will be back flying free and it will be a case of just building up fitness. This will mean Amber (female Harris Hawk) will be put in the back aviary for her moult. I should also be able to give Oran a few weeks off but that is something I can think about over the coming week.
Next are the falcons Sanda (Lanner Falcon) and Uist (Lugger Falcon). I mentioned in my last post that we had put their tail mounts on so that we can attach a transmitter when flying them. Well I started flying them free on Wednesday. Both are really unfit but progress can be seen in the 5 days that they have been flying, especially with Sanda. She was using the wind to get height on me today and came in a really fast. this only lasted for about 2 passes to the lure and then she started to tire but it is progress. Uist is moving a bit slower but still looking good for only 5 days of flying.
All it is with Sanda and Uist is time. I just need to find the time each day to fly them and they will get fitter. Fitness is important when working with any bird of prey but with a Harris Hawk you can get away with flying it for a bit on 4 days a week with falcons that just doesn't work. Sanda and Uist will be flown 7 days a week for the next week or 2 to get them to a descent level of fitness then I will cut them to 6 days and that is what I am aiming for each week. 6 days with 1 day of rest. I should point out both of the above pictures were taken last summer
Then there is Artemis. I think we have turned the corner and she is coming straight to the glove. She is coming straight in from 60m. As soon as the glove goes up she has been coming to it. The only disappointing thing is she needs to be flown free and while I can do it at the centre I am a bit limited on space and there really isn't enough space to fly an eagle. I really need to get her out onto 1 of the farms that I have permission to fly on but I can't do that as the lambing season has started and the last thing the farmers want to see is me with an eagle on their land during the lambing season. So I may have to stop with her and start again later in the summer
I will see about Artemis. It has been a long slow process with her. The simple answer looking back at it would be just to strip the weight of her but I didn't want to do that. I am glad I took it slowly with her and now she is looking good. Her manners are not to bad. She can be a bit of a handful on the glove when coming in for food but once she has eaten it she tends to quieten down quite quickly.
for someone wanting to use a voucher they have bought.
The coming week is a mixture of school visits - 1 tomorrow and 1 on Thursday. The 1 tomorrow I am looking forward to as the first talk is on medieval falconry and hunting and the second talk is on birds of prey. The medieval talk is not 1 that I do that often so it is a nice change and I will be taking Bob with me. This will be his first school visit so hopefully he will be on his best behaviour.
Thursdays school visit is also on birds of prey and is a school in the local area and they book me every year which is great. Tomorrows school visit will be the first time I have been at this school.
The weekend is fully booked so it will not be case of getting a bit restless as I have no bookings things will be back to normal.
300
While I was a bit restless it was great to be able to work with the birds that I will be flying over the coming months during the spring and summer months and the bookings are still coming in with some very interesting enquiries. At the moment everything is still up in the air but once things confirm I will be able to say more. A venue has made enquiries for 2 events -1 of which will be an evening and the other will be over 2 days. I have done demonstrations at this venue before for other companies but this is the first time that the venue has come to me direct.
The work with the birds has been going well. I will start with the Harris Hawks Brel and Mardy. Brel is almost at flying weight. He has been a lot more sociable in the last few days. Stepping up onto the glove when I am putting him out on the front lawn or putting him away. I should be able to start flying him in the coming week. Mardy is in the same position. Still being a bit grumpy but Mardy has always been like that. By the end of the week 1 or both will be back flying free and it will be a case of just building up fitness. This will mean Amber (female Harris Hawk) will be put in the back aviary for her moult. I should also be able to give Oran a few weeks off but that is something I can think about over the coming week.
Next are the falcons Sanda (Lanner Falcon) and Uist (Lugger Falcon). I mentioned in my last post that we had put their tail mounts on so that we can attach a transmitter when flying them. Well I started flying them free on Wednesday. Both are really unfit but progress can be seen in the 5 days that they have been flying, especially with Sanda. She was using the wind to get height on me today and came in a really fast. this only lasted for about 2 passes to the lure and then she started to tire but it is progress. Uist is moving a bit slower but still looking good for only 5 days of flying.
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| Sanda Lanner Falcon |
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| Uist Lugger Falcon |
Then there is Artemis. I think we have turned the corner and she is coming straight to the glove. She is coming straight in from 60m. As soon as the glove goes up she has been coming to it. The only disappointing thing is she needs to be flown free and while I can do it at the centre I am a bit limited on space and there really isn't enough space to fly an eagle. I really need to get her out onto 1 of the farms that I have permission to fly on but I can't do that as the lambing season has started and the last thing the farmers want to see is me with an eagle on their land during the lambing season. So I may have to stop with her and start again later in the summer
 | ||
| Artemis coming to the glove |
for someone wanting to use a voucher they have bought.
The coming week is a mixture of school visits - 1 tomorrow and 1 on Thursday. The 1 tomorrow I am looking forward to as the first talk is on medieval falconry and hunting and the second talk is on birds of prey. The medieval talk is not 1 that I do that often so it is a nice change and I will be taking Bob with me. This will be his first school visit so hopefully he will be on his best behaviour.
 |
| Bob |
Thursdays school visit is also on birds of prey and is a school in the local area and they book me every year which is great. Tomorrows school visit will be the first time I have been at this school.
The weekend is fully booked so it will not be case of getting a bit restless as I have no bookings things will be back to normal.
300
Monday, 14 March 2011
The snow is back
Last Monday I was at a meeting and I was speaking to someone and they told me that it was going to snow over the coming week. I totally dismissed it and said no chance. How wrong was I. The snow wasn't that bad and it didn't come to anything but it did snow and on more than 1 day. On Thursday I woke up to find there had been a dusting of snow and on Saturday all the bookings were cancelled due to the snow showers. The hills are still streaked in snow. Hopefully that will be end of the snow.
The weather has been all over the place and so have I. The last week has been steady with 9 bookings spread over 6 days with 5 happening away from the centre. On Saturday the 2 bookings cancelled due to the weather. 1 was booked back in for Sunday and the other has been booked back in for 2 weeks time so no big deal. The week flew by and it all seems a bit of a blur with the bookings coming 1 after another.
The 1 day that does stand out was Thursday. It rained, the hale came on, sleet, strong winds, sun shine and I finished the day locking up the centre with the snow back on. I was still able to get the 2 bookings that I had booked that day done in between all the showers. Thankfully the weather is not like that to often.
In between all the bookings I am still rushing about getting birds ready for the up coming events. Sanda and Uist had their tail mounts put on the other day so that we can attach a transmitter to their tail's when they are flying. The birds are unaware that they are wearing the tail mounts as they are super glued to 1 of their deck feathers (birds have 2 deck feathers. They are the 2 central feathers in their tails). I won't fly my falcons with out a transmitter on. Sanda (Lanner Falcon) and Uist (Lugger Falcon) are both quite reliable in the fact that they tend not to fly off but it is just good practice and management for the bird to wear a transmitter. This is why I bought another Marshals telemetry system earlier in the year. The other thing is that if a falcon decides it is going to fly off for what ever reason then it can go a distance. I have tracked falcons down over a couple of miles away and the only way I was able to find them was due to the fact they were wearing a transmitter. I generally use telemetry on all the bird if I am flying birds off site at a demonstration or an event. There is no excuse to not use it.
Going back to Sanda and Uist. Hopefully I will be flying them free this week at some point as long as the weather stays dry and there is no more snow. Mardy is not that far way from flying as well. I was able to weigh him today and he was about 1lb 7 1/2 oz. he need to below 1lb6oz before I will fly him free so hopefully he will be flying at the end of the week. That just leaves Brel and we are getting him closer to his flying weight. They should all be back flying to a good standard by the time the big events come round.
It looks like there will be quite a few big events in the coming months. The 3 days of events that we were asked to do over the Easter weekend has confirmed which is great. I don't want to say to much but it is a fantastic venue and 1 that I have never done an event at before. There has been an enquiry for 2 days work in October doing a product launch but it is early days on that 1 and I am not sure if it will happen. I am just waiting to see on that 1. I did have to turn down a booking today for a demonstration at a Highland Games as I was already booked up on that day for another event. I always hate turning work away but I work on the simple basis of first come first served. It is a bit of a problem when you are 1 man operation but unfortunately it can't be helped
The coming week is a strange 1. I have 3 booking tomorrow and 3 the next and then nothing for the rest of the week. I suspect that will change and something will book later in the week. If not then I will have loads of time to work with the birds.
295
The weather has been all over the place and so have I. The last week has been steady with 9 bookings spread over 6 days with 5 happening away from the centre. On Saturday the 2 bookings cancelled due to the weather. 1 was booked back in for Sunday and the other has been booked back in for 2 weeks time so no big deal. The week flew by and it all seems a bit of a blur with the bookings coming 1 after another.
The 1 day that does stand out was Thursday. It rained, the hale came on, sleet, strong winds, sun shine and I finished the day locking up the centre with the snow back on. I was still able to get the 2 bookings that I had booked that day done in between all the showers. Thankfully the weather is not like that to often.
In between all the bookings I am still rushing about getting birds ready for the up coming events. Sanda and Uist had their tail mounts put on the other day so that we can attach a transmitter to their tail's when they are flying. The birds are unaware that they are wearing the tail mounts as they are super glued to 1 of their deck feathers (birds have 2 deck feathers. They are the 2 central feathers in their tails). I won't fly my falcons with out a transmitter on. Sanda (Lanner Falcon) and Uist (Lugger Falcon) are both quite reliable in the fact that they tend not to fly off but it is just good practice and management for the bird to wear a transmitter. This is why I bought another Marshals telemetry system earlier in the year. The other thing is that if a falcon decides it is going to fly off for what ever reason then it can go a distance. I have tracked falcons down over a couple of miles away and the only way I was able to find them was due to the fact they were wearing a transmitter. I generally use telemetry on all the bird if I am flying birds off site at a demonstration or an event. There is no excuse to not use it.
Going back to Sanda and Uist. Hopefully I will be flying them free this week at some point as long as the weather stays dry and there is no more snow. Mardy is not that far way from flying as well. I was able to weigh him today and he was about 1lb 7 1/2 oz. he need to below 1lb6oz before I will fly him free so hopefully he will be flying at the end of the week. That just leaves Brel and we are getting him closer to his flying weight. They should all be back flying to a good standard by the time the big events come round.
It looks like there will be quite a few big events in the coming months. The 3 days of events that we were asked to do over the Easter weekend has confirmed which is great. I don't want to say to much but it is a fantastic venue and 1 that I have never done an event at before. There has been an enquiry for 2 days work in October doing a product launch but it is early days on that 1 and I am not sure if it will happen. I am just waiting to see on that 1. I did have to turn down a booking today for a demonstration at a Highland Games as I was already booked up on that day for another event. I always hate turning work away but I work on the simple basis of first come first served. It is a bit of a problem when you are 1 man operation but unfortunately it can't be helped
The coming week is a strange 1. I have 3 booking tomorrow and 3 the next and then nothing for the rest of the week. I suspect that will change and something will book later in the week. If not then I will have loads of time to work with the birds.
295
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