News for Autumn 2022

I am sorry to say that I am not going to be available for the 2023 season.

May 2022.

Slightly bereft on new blogs this year for a number reasons notably a medical issue which has slowed me down a bit. This means I will not be taking any more bookings this summer  and I will review things in the Autumn when hopefully I am patched up. I want to thank all those who have helped me out.

Spring is here and the swallows have been noticeably late back this year – whether it was cold in Europe that held them up or just depleted numbers. Anyway just great to see them – they are wonderful little birds.

Our own birds are well – a slightly different season for them this year.

I will sign off with a spring photo taken down at a local field on my phone.

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! everybody. I have not written a newsletter for a while. It is just this whole Covid thing.

Anyway we have decided to keep going for another season and are beginning to confirm bookings with regular customers. At some point Covid will end for the summer months at least and confidence in booking will grow again. Lets hope so.

At home we continue to fly the birds and a welcome return of our male Peregrine ‘Sprite’ who had a late moult last autumn because of summer flying – he is looking amazing compact and fast in flight. It is great to have him back! I will sign of with a picture of him taken yesterday down at the flying ground.

News 29/10/21

Well the event season is over and despite everything we were quite busy and hopefully a cautious return of confidence bodes well for next year.

The good news from our point of view is that ‘Frank’ our male Lanner Falcon bred in 2019 has really come on and I am very hopeful that he will become another reliable falcon for our falconry and birds of prey displays. He is lovely tame bird and I have probably put more work into his training than any falcon since the early 90’s! that is lock down for you – I had the time to really develop him.

His contemporary falcon ‘Troy’ who is a hybrid falcon a cross between a Lanner and a Peregrine falcon completely missed last year and it will be much harder to bring him into the arena and sit on static display at shows. He is a wonderful flier really exciting so I am going to do all that I can to get ready.

He has recently finished is first moult and is looking very smart. So I will sign off with a picture of him taken yesterday.

The other news is that ‘Meadow’ our young Barn Owl hatched last summer is now fully trained and in following blogs I will write more on him – but he is going really well.

September update.

Where has time gone – it is now September. Well some news. We have been a quite busy towards the end of the Summer with a number of bookings. A good mixture of events and the feeling of a return to normal – or new normal.

It is quite strange to have the feeling of momentum again. Unfortunately ‘Bo’ our old Eagle Owl has finally retired as her age – 33 years old – has finally caught up with her. She will be a big miss as her personality, experience and flying ability are irreplaceable.

I have been looking for another Eagle Owl for sometime but covid has slowed the search down in more ways than one. Anyhow we have a new owl and we have called him ‘Meadow’. He is ten week old Barn Owl and has proved very popular at events. He has been hand reared and so very tame. His training will start shortly and I am really looking forward to getting him flying free. I will report back on his progress and will sign off with a photo of him.

July update – falconry displays by Michael Davie.

Well we have been going through a hot spell of weather – which has been different!

Things are slowly picking up for us now in terms of bookings – a long way off from where we were – but our old clients have taken pity on us and invited us back – I jest for course!

I think for small business’s at the moment it is just about survival – getting through what has been a tough time all round.

The birds having been doing well and young ‘Frank’ male Lanner falcon has had his first taste of event work at Thornbury Castle. He was doing well until on his third outing he went over the Castle walls and got disorientated and wandered off. He did not go too far and I picked him up sitting on a nearby school – he had been attracted by the playing field which reminded him of a place where he may find me!

Anyway I tracked him down using the radio tracking equipment. As soon as he saw me he came belting back to the lure. He was happy to see me and was chirping – which I liked very much because often birds can be fearful and difficult to reclaim if they has been spooked.

We returned to our Tudor group somewhat crestfallen but happy.

He has since been flown down at the Castle and all went well – so that is good news.

I would like to sign off with a picture of him but I do not have a recent one so I will leave the falconry news blog with a picture of some orchids in the hay meadow. I was so pleased to have seen them as I thought there were not going to be any this year.

June 2021

Summer here at last!

We have had two successful weekends firstly at Stoner Park and then Blenheim Palace. Stoner Park was cool but mainly dry and the bank holiday weekend at Blenheim was just perfect. I got slightly sunburnt during the arena flying display when a microphone headset made it difficult to wear my Tudor Hat.

Both events went well and were well attended. All the birds flew well. I must mention ‘Bo’ our Eagle Owl who defies her age and flies quite beautifully.

With ‘Frank’ our young male Lanner Falcon who came as a day tripper being very tame and relaxed on static I was sorely tempted to fly him in the arena for the first time. I did not do it but instead settled to fly him at Blenheim beyond the ‘haha’ a little way from the arena but with a busy background of people. Something like show conditions. He did very well.

I was going to fly him yesterday at a suitable event in the Forest of Dean but it rained – next time I hope! He will continue to be flown at home each day. As I said in an earlier blog entry he has missed a year of training and so the slope is going to be a little steeper for him. But I think he will turn out really well.

Spring has been late this year but rain and sun the grass has grown long and the meadows set aside for hay making are looking really lovely just about now. I will sign off with a picture I took today out with the dog.

May 11th – update.

Well the weather is a little warmer now after the coldest spring on record. Leaves are very late in showing and the swallows have only just returned to where I exercise the birds. I saw my first swifts yesterday and first house martin today.

We are preparing for the limited numbers of events we do have with some trepidation with a team containing two many untried birds because of the pandemic.  But I will do my best and see what happens. I am minded now firmly to event preparation.

Anyway we are flying ‘Sprite’ our Peregrine again. He was supposed to be going to another falconer on permanent loan – to fly for pleasure. He did not quite work out due to covid and so he remains with us. So he is flying again and for him it needs the right event – plenty of open space – but first he needs to get fit. He is such a clever flier and feels he can do a better job flying at me rather than the lure! which is a bit hairy. Some birds are like this and you just learn how to dance out of the way.

Here a picture of him from yesterday after just having caught the lure down at the field.

2nd April 2021 – update.

We have has some lovely weather recently with some warm days and light winds – just great for flying. ‘Pete’ our Kestrel is really coming on well in the absence of ‘Leah’ he will do some of the arena flying this year – so I have pushed his fitness up and he flying really well – vertical stoops and all.

Having had such an extended break it will be both strange and challenging to restart – but restart we will. Not having the opportunity to restock and retrain I have asked ‘Bo’ our Eagle Owl to do another season – though a gentler one in terms of flying. However with a light program of retraining and plenty of food – she has laid an egg! in her aviary.

When she was a lot younger she would lays eggs every year. Of course they are not fertile. What I would do was to let her sit on a clutch for 30 days and then pull them. This would stop her recycling. If you take away each egg as it is laid then the bird will just keep laying another egg to replace the one she had lost. This is nature.

With all year round flying she had not come into advancing breeding condition for years – with covid everything has changed. Anyway I will leave her with this one egg – she has not laid another one yet. One egg is remarkable for a bird that is 33 years old! I will report back when I blog next.

Suffice to say we open for business!

I leave you with a picture of Madam who helps me train the birds and keeps them used to dogs. She has just caught a tennis ball – a picture entitled ‘Your Grace’.

 

 

 

Getting the team going – March update.

Well along with others in the event industry we are all sitting on our hands waiting for the lockdown to lift and shows etc. to start again. After an initial burst of enthusiasm after the roadmap out of lockdown things has gone back into a holding position.

We are committed to keep going and until we know for sure if our business still exists. So the good news is that the falcon truck went through its MOT. I normally feel quite stressed out about it as we normally have bookings at this time of year and having the van off the road for repairs is a real headache. No such problem this year. At least I did not have to ride home from the garage on my bike!

The other thing is that we are getting all our birds ready. ‘Frank’ our 2019 Lanneret has moulted through and is now flying again. He is a lovely bird and hopefully has a great future with us – so a very important member of the team.

Anyway I will sign off with a picture taken on my mobile phone down at the flying field yesterday. It was take one handed and I didn’t have time to clean the lens. I just wanted to catch the moment.