Falconry Displays

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It is with sadness that I report the passing peacefully of our old Eagle Owl ‘Bo’ who was 38 years old.

She was held in such reverence in the family as she predates my marriage and my children – she has always been there.

She was a wonderful flier and will always be remembered in the arena at Blenheim Palace gliding over the heads of  children sitting on each side of the jousting rail. A flight of some  50 yards. It was difficult with children running everywhere! after being sent into the arena by their parents – but it was worth it.

Bo was flown almost everywhere and did many many corporate days and even more at Thornbury Castle Hotel – for guests –  which was like a second home to her. She would gladly fly to any body and so was a wonderful asset to have. She did her share of weddings as the ring bearer and particularly memorable was her flight in St Mary’s Church, Thornbury where she flew from a release box down the long aisle and up onto a stage at the end to my fist carrying a ring. It was a vowel renewal for a Canadian Couple and complete surprise for the wife and their children!

She was one of my earliest birds and I bought her from Langley Mill, Nottingham in 1988 with my late brother Tim who drove me up in his mini. I flew Bo right up until 2022 when her powers began to fail – her last 4 years she spent at home in her aviary. She was still laying an egg or two every Spring until a couple of years ago.

She as the title suggests was the last of the 4 Amigos with Peggy a ‘lanner-lugger falcon’ Duke a lanneret and Red a Harris hawk all living into their twenties. They were a superb team and were strengthened a few years later with Waqar a male lugger falcon and together we did many hundreds of events across the whole of the UK.

Bo was a wonderful bird and already much missed. Here she is flying at Blenheim Palace in her prime.

And a picture of her beautiful face.

I have been fretting about the lack of House martins and swifts this year. Only having seen one House martin so far. It is a worry – I forlornly hope they are late back. It is almost the same for swifts although they are always the last to arrive.

Swinging back round to falconry Sprite our peregrine falcon excelled himself today and flew really well – wind was just perfect for him. After he had caught the lure I noticed him looking skywards – looking in the same direction I noticed a wild peregrine coming towards us – having been drawn in by a fellow member of the brethren stooping to the lure. The wild falcon got quite close and slowed right up to almost a standstill by dropping his legs – to act as an additional brake. He stayed around for about 10 minutes which was wonderful to see and slowly slid away to carry on hunting.

I mention this is my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ where wild falcons can often be quite curious. I also say I have never had one join in and stoop to the lure! Most instances pass off without incident but the falconer must have the mindset to call the bird down – just in case.

Changing the subject. Earlier in the week I was asked  to help a friend with his Harris hawk. Apparently the bird – an adult female – had been scratching with its talon the underside of its beak – the chin and neck area – and had removed quite a lot of small feathers. The area also extended to the area above the beak and onto the head.

Harris hawks – again a topic in my book- can do some very odd things – including feather plucking.  This including the above can be included in the list of perplexing problems.

I coped its beak and feet and looked for mites while the bird was cast- another possibility – and then sprayed the bird with Johnsons anti mite spray for mites and other parasites.

It is important if this is a behavioural problem to change the management of the bird to jolt it out of its behaviour. To this end my friend has put the hawk back onto a bow perch and during the day it is brought out into the garden for a complete change of scenery and placed on a high ring perch. I also advised a change of diet in the sense that if you are feeding rats and quail you do not need a vitamin supplement and I would go as far to suggest to reduce the richness of the food when the bird is being rested and for a while feed only deyolked day old chicks. This can help to reduce the octane in the bird. Of course if a Harris hawk is in good feather there is no reason not to fly it all year round.

It is early days – too soon to say – lets hope it helps with a change of manage and spraying for parasites.

The next step would be a veterinary visit and have a scrape taken to check for a fungal condition or something else.

On a lighter note here is a picture of Sprite when I first got him in early 2015. He came from another falconer who had partially trained him. First year birds were called ‘red hawks’ by trappers in bygone days – you can see from his colouration why. Of course Sprite is a captive bred falcon

Well May has arrived and the first half at least are the best 2 weeks of the year. I saw a party of 4 swifts yesterday – on their way to somewhere – it was wonderful to see them.  In the evening we took the ‘on loan’ sports car down to Wainlodes on the River Severn and were delighted to see so many Sand Martins.

In fact a couple of years ago a pair nested in the lock gates where the River Chelt enters the main river. Today I saw our first House Martins of the year back in the village. They nest under the eves of the village pub. Their – sadly – numbers have greatly diminished over the years and to see that they have returned for another year is uplifting. It is lack of insects which I feel is their main problem – we can help with nesting sites but the lack of insects is a culmination of many factors affecting them here and across their entire range.

At this time of year as a schoolboy I used to ride out to the Falconry Centre in the hope of going out hawking in the evening with Paul the head falconer. The were the best days and we had some wonderful hawking. It was worth the long ride home in the dark stopping off in Newent to buy fish and chips – what could be better! I learnt so much and was lucky enough to have my own birds at home to practise on.

And this is what  my book shows – ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk‘ 50 years of knowledge and joy. Of that 35 years as a professional falconer and now that I am retired as an amateur again. My friend Graham Watkins the gundog trainer who kindly wrote the introduction to my book is similar to me in that we both have a love of what we do which goes beyond retirement. With my book I hope the reader can use it to enjoy their falconry and create their own stories..

Below is a picture of Sprite our peregrine falcon still hooded after flying – while I changed his bath water and further below from earlier in the week Frank our lanneret on the sock lure after flying. I flew him in a different place today and he was just amazing – really stylish. As I have said before it is a good thing for trained birds to be familiar with flying in different places. This is essential for display work but also if any bird is lost it will not be disorientated and fazed by finding itself in an unfamiliar setting. It will be much easier for the falconer to call it down. Anyway here are those photos.

The weather has been almost perfect for the past few days – warm and spring like – but with a cold breeze from the north in the shade. We had a couple of fully fledged young robins in the garden still being being fed by their parents. On seeing them you really realise far how Spring has already progressed.

Below are some photographs of Sprite our peregrine tiercel – sitting out on the lawn – in the sun -well I cleaned out his weathering. Just as I put him out a wild peregrine flew overhead – which was exciting and both falcons including my lanneret ‘Frank’ started calling to him. You can see Sprite has a full crop after just being flown.

He is lofted for much of the year but the weathering is always there – if needed – for when I need to rest or deep clean the loft.

This is why in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ I present a dual purpose structure called the ‘weathering loft’ to give the falconer options of management without needing to have two structures – which would mean extra cost, space for siting them and the fact that one or other structure will not be in use at any one time. So a two in one structure makes a lot of sense.

I have used the standard weathering loft which is presented in the book – with plans to follow, material with quantities – here for many years for a range of birds including the rehab of a wild buzzard. After six weeks of rest and recovery in the loft it was released in perfect feather condition – which is testament to the loft design.

It is a good solution for many of the husbandry issues that crop up in modern day bird of prey management.

The book can be obtained from Amazon, Coch y Bonddu books, Waterstones and many other outlets.

Well we are practically in mid April – best time of the year. Things are happening so fast in the countryside. We have seen a number of swallows the first group of 3 passed through on the 6th of April heading northwest – I think as I recall I may have seen a single swallow or sand martin  pass through a couple of days earlier.

Our swallows where I fly the birds are also back – great to see them hawking insects over the sports ground – but it is still quite cold – slightly different from Africa! It looks like our buzzards are back – the nest has new green material added and I saw an adult bird pitch into a tree. They are very quiet when nesting and one can never be quite certain they are there until you see nearly full grown youngsters about to fledge looking down.

I saw saw a lovely male peregrine hunting and Frank my lanneret started calling to him – he has a touch of breeding condition on him.  The male peregrine or  tiercel was hunting for the female peregrine known as the falcon who would now be on or near the nest depending on whether she had finished laying her clutch and started to brood. I also saw a lovely male Sparrowhawk carrying a kill into a copse – no doubt as a gift to the female – they tend to lay in the first week of May – so later.

So plenty has been happening. I have re-read my own book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ and I am really proud of it and thank Choir Press who published the book and everybody who helped to get it out. I think I may have short changed myself on the sections on the development of falcon and hawks. They are more than just comments but extensive notes. But there you go. There would be a couple of things I would add to the book if I were ever to revise it – maybe sometime in the future.

Like all country sports including fishing we need more young people to get involved – which is our future. We all agree with that and great benefit of it for well being and mental health. Things tend to come and go and then circle back – like a falcon – so with restriction on social media coming for young people they may venture out go fishing or fly a bird. It is up to government not to legislate this activities by stealth out of existence.

Anyway here are a few pictures of Spring. Wild Garlic just coming out in the shade by the brook, a bunch of Cowslips under a gate and stock just out. Wonderful!

The Days are longer which is wonderful though at this time of year they often seem to be cold. On occasion you have that warm sun which is so nice and is foretaste of what is to come.

We took the on loan sports car out top Pershore Abbey a couple of weeks ago, The weather was fab and having the car added so much to the outing and the Abbey itself is in the portfolio of the architect’s company my wife works for – so she was keen to see it. In fact several years ago we attended the Medieval fayre in Pershore in the parkland adjacent to the Abbey – we provided the falconry display. The centre of the town is lovely with the Abbey in the middle and with free parking on a Sunday you can’t go wrong.

What made it even better were the wild peregrines nesting on the Abbey on a nesting platform provided by the Abbey. Apparently in a previous tear they had nested in a gutter with disastrous results when it rained. The female had just laid her first egg and both parents spent the afternoon calling to each other. The female or falcon sitting high up on the building above the nest platform and the male or tiercel was sitting right at the top of an adjacent fir tree. They are not great tree sitters as a whole preferring ledges on cliffs or in this case a building. The tiercel took off and disappeared we assumed to go hunting but when we got back – after our walk around the park – he had returned. It was great to see – a real privilege in fact. They have a camera on the falcons with their own you tube channel. Below is  picture of the Abbey with the tree with the tiercel sitting on top.

The last few days Spring has really arrived – although not seen a swallow yet – but the buzzards are displaying to each other and I saw a great dipping display flight by the male while the female sat in a tree. Once he had done enough he joined her in the tree and they mated immediately. This was down at the flying field and on the same day I took a picture of Frank our lanneret on the lure.

He is flying really well. I think he looks really smart. He is also in breeding condition at this times of year as are all birds flown in high condition. Which brings me onto my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ which is still riding high in the Amazon charts. Awesome books sells it for under £26 but I have not have gone through the process of buying the book I do not know if there are any catches – so I cannot recommend it but it is worth looking at.

Here is another picture of the hedgerows in blossom. I thought from a distance the farmer had put sheep in the field. These are lovely old hedgerows and really beautiful. A great year for blossom.

Well Sprite has been flying again for a couple of weeks and it is great to have him back. Every time I fly him I scan the horizon for pigeons – I mentioned this in previous blogs and in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’.

We had some fun and games with him the other day when he suddenly decided to chase a magpie – what followed was very exciting. The magpie made for a picnic table and we had a wonderful few minutes with Sprite stooping backwards and forwards trying to catch it while the magpie dodged in and out of the table. It was such fun and showed just how clever magpies are. Eventually I arrived on the scene and the magpie on seeing Sprite tiring made a run for it and got to the safety of a tree. By which time I managed to get Sprites attention and called him into the lure. He was panting after his exertions and I was so delighted to have him back I called it a day. The whole spectacle was watched my some NHS workers on a conference having a fag/vape break. I was not sure whether they enjoyed it or were horrified! I hope the former.

Sprite had chased a magpie before around a black plastic bin – again the magpie used the bin to dodge the falcon by running around it. ‘Peggy’ my old lanner-lugger falcon from years ago was very adept at catching magpies and she used a different technique relying on her greater manoeuvrability aided by a long tail and steady waiting on. There are a series of photos of her waiting on in my book. She was an f1 hybrid and both her parents were wild caught. I think  I talked about her interesting back story in a blog many years ago – I will try and find it. This was back in 1986. She was an exceptional falcon.

So I am currently flying Frank our lanneret and Sprite our peregrine. Now that I am retired it keeps my hand in and of course I still enjoy it very much. I think it is important because at some point I would like to update my book – but not for some years.

I still go through the motions of record keeping – old habits die hard but still very useful. Here are the record of the two falcon weights over the last week. The peregrine being the heavier falcon.

The weather has been quite wonderful the last few days which makes all the difference. Walking the dog has been joyous with the warmth of the sun on our backs. I noticed one of the fields had been properly ploughed which you do not see so much these days. They seem to just break up the surface and then drill. It maintains the soil structure. The crop for the last two years have been maize so I guess this deep ploughing is to prepare the ground for another crop.  Here is a photo of the field from this morning.

Height offers birds security – you can see this in the loft environment where birds seem to be calm and relaxed on the higher perches – particularly as they look out of the loft window.

Above picture of my lofted peregrine ‘Sprite’ from my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’

You can walk right under a pylon with a wild peregrine high up on a spa looking down – sitting fluffed up on one foot – the picture of contentment – perfectly relaxed with its mortal enemy 100 feet below.

In the trained setting you can see something similar with the use – outside of the loft – of the high perch. They are really quite remarkable. Harris hawks seem to love them but in fact they can be used for most birds including falcons.

I first saw one been used for a goshawk but when I spent a morning with a falconry friend with her Harris hawk sitting out on the lawn on a high perch. It was perfectly happy and did not move all morning. She had a bath next to her which she could easily and safely descend down to it with the use of a standard leash length on a light weight but very strong plastic ring. So a long leash with associated dangers is not necessary.

I have not mentioned high perches in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ because I have never used one – but I was very impressed with what I saw and felt confident to recommend it to another falconry friend. Of course they are weather dependent and cannot be used if too hot or it is raining and should not be used as a substitute for proper housing for birds.

Also birds cannot be left unattended even though they are safer from dogs and cats than if on a low block or bow perch- but clearly not completely.

They learn – particularly Harris hawks –  to use the perch very quickly a there is a premium in height in the bird of prey mentality. Here are a couple of pictures of the high perch in use – this was her first day! as I said I recommended that her falconer might consider one to solve a problem that he was experiencing in the lofting arrangements for this bird. They could also be used as an example of management change to jolt a Harris hawk out of an episode of feather plucking. I talk about this in my book.

Thinking about my book the section on casting I hope people will find useful. I used to help the head falconer when a bird needed to be cast. Many years later on visiting him he was using a casting jacket mainly because he was working on his own.

I have continued using an assistant and a T towel but on occasion I have used a casting jacket – I do have one.

The important point is that the bird has to be cast first before it can be laid onto the casting jacket and that is the bit I cover including how to cast a bird off your own fist – which you will need to do with an unhooded bird if you are on your own. It also underlines the usefulness of the hood.

I have tried to represent in the book what I do and of course new methods and ideas do come along – including the use of the loft which represents along with its construction a major part of my book.

The book is on sale practically everywhere on the internet – Amazon, Waterstones and others- or in person from Cochy Y Bonddu books who stock it.

I was going to write a news blog on one of the lovely Spring days we have  had recently . As it turns out it is another wet and windy day when I seem to have the time – with no birds flying – and of course an inclination to do it.

Well the news is that Sprite our peregrine is flying again which is great. I check the field is free of pigeons before I fly him. He has that peregrine mantra of ‘See pigeon must chase pigeon’ so I make sure – as best I can – there are none in sight.

With the new long range transmitter that I have recently bought it is little extra insurance if he goes tearing off – chasing – and does not return a few minutes later. I talk about the dangers of falcons chasing pigeons in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ – things do not change. Here is a picture of him sitting on the lure – taken a couple of days ago. He is now 12 years old.

We saw a wonderful wild peregrine the other day hunting. Gliding at the typical peregrine height of a couple of hundred feet in a straight line upwind at some distance target. We watched it gather pace which developed into a long slanting stoop as it engaged its – for us an unseen – target.

Normally you see birds ‘skying up’ with the falcon somewhere lost for a moment in the crowd – having missed its target – but on this occasion we did not see that. We assumed the falcon may have killed and was at that point on the ground with its prey.

Anyway wonderful to see.

Well I have to blog today as it is March 1st and theoretically the end of winter. It is relief that it will soon be behind us and we can look forward to warmer weather and longer days.  Had a lovely walk this morning with the dog – she also felt the joys of Spring and for an old dog she was remarkably active. I took a picture of the daffodils along the brook – the snow drops having largely come to an end – so quickly it seems. This was the brook that ran dry last summer – sadly there are no trout in it.

My new transmitter arrived – pictured below with the receiver. As I said in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ to keep the costs down – which is important – you can buy a new transmitter for an old receiver and this is what I have done. I lost a transmitter on Jarvis and it needed replacing if I want to fly Sprite our peregrine. He has been known to range away and so the right transmitter with sufficient power is important. Use of telemetry these days for welfare reasons is essential. I grew up in a time when it was not available and as I say in the book we knew nothing different. We would not have that feeling while looking for a lost bird that perhaps we should have bought a telemetry set after all!

Sprite is looking great see below. I do fly him all year round but while on holiday in November he was rested with more food and he started moulting very heavily as if making up for lost time. So I left him to it and with bad weather after Christmas I have only just got him out of the loft to weigh him. Apart from the outer 1st primary – which we will have to wait till next moult to be replaced – he has moulted completely through. I look forward to flying him starting tomorrow. The tip of his beak will need to be shortened – it is too long – but otherwise it has largely kept its shape after coping it sometime ago.

By the way my book is still available and hopefully those folk who have bought it have found it useful. It can be found almost everywhere on the internet including Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble in America and other outlets too.  In the UK ‘Coch – Y – Bonddu Books’ actually stock it – if anybody is out that way and wants to drop in.  My book was mentioned in the comments section in ‘The Spectator’ in reference to the film ‘H is for Hawk’. That was pleasing.