Falconry Displays

Archive for October, 2020

After Stoner Park which went amazingly well for us – the one flower in the dark forest of Covid 19 – I decided to retire ‘Leah’ one of older Lanner Falcons. She will be 18 in the new year and her best times are behind her. We have been through this period with other birds in the past and I know the signs of declining powers. So Stoner was her last flight. Suffice to say she has been a brilliant bird and a wonderful flyer. I was concerned about how to look after her as she has never been a great aviary bird – this was never an issue as she was flown everyday. Anyhow after feeding on the fist everyday to manage the transition period I have moved her into a loft. So far so good as she seems fine and has an opportunity to choose where she roosts and during the day she is able to look out of the window – which falcons love – and feed at leisure. It is nice see her relaxed enjoying her retirement.

The other birds are doing well. Troy our new Peregrine/Lanner is flying really well – it would have been beneficial to have introduced him to events throughout the summer but as I discussed in the last blog that has not been possible.

I have also introduced a feed back page on the website. This will be hopefully a useful addition allowing event organisers to reconnect with comments on what ‘is out there’ when shows resume.

I will sign off with a picture of Leah and me at Blenheim – Thanks Leah for the great years you have given us.

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Well our display at Stoner Park went well with good crowds on each day. Numbers were restricted to 2000 per day and there was plenty of room for families to socially distance with the use of painted circles on the grass.  It was a little like putting your towel on a sunbed around the pool early in the morning when on holiday. But there was plenty of room for everyone and since the arena was on a slope there was no problem in being able to see the arena activities.

Considering this is our first outing since February and we were not the well oiled end of season machine we did ok. I put a lot of effort in prepping the birds and one begins to realise the extent of ones knowledge after a break and then a restart. The birds were magnificent and I have to mention ‘Bo’ our Eagle Owl who I had retired earlier in the year before Covid and having failed because of lockdown to get a baby replacement owl ‘Bo’ came out for her swansong and did a great job – it was wonderful just to see her fly. She was greatly appreciated of course by everyone.

I think people were just so ready to enjoy themselves and the space of Stoner Park and the entertainment. All the other birds did well. ‘Pippa’ one of our Lanner Falcons  flew twice daily – she is just great.

We took out young falcon ‘Troy’ just as a day tripper and together we viewed the crowd around the arena watching the Jousting while he was distracted feeding on the fist. He has a long way to go but I w

as satisfied after two days that we had made some progress.

I will sign off with a photo of the static display set up or as one visitor described as our campsite!