Falconry Displays

Archive for July, 2026

Found this photo on my wife’s desk of me – looking a lot younger! from some time ago in the 90s at an event for ‘Calor Gas ‘- their balloon is in the background.

Duke is sitting on my fist – on of my own gloves (very much a thing of the past!) – looking pretty cool. He was falcon of a lifetime – as I have said before – no bird of mine has ever come close to matching him. A lot of falcons would not like a balloon swirling around in the background with the whooshing sounds of hot air rushing in to inflate the balloon. For Duke he would circle the balloon and use its lift off the top to get additional height!

I do remember this day for another reason my other falcon Peggy – another great flier – decided to disappear and I found her a couple of hours later – using my telemetry – on a Moorhen she had caught. On her day she was a deadly falcon and nothing was beyond her powers – she was great fun – but as the years passed she became less reliable as a demo falcon. But she was so popular with clients for her waiting and stooping flight which was incredible. I was repeatedly asked if was she coming to their next event. She lived to 25 years the last few in retirement with Tizzy Hodson of Tiger airways  – who flew her everyday around Staverton Airport.

Also at the Calor Gas event that day was John Whiteley’s Sheep Dog display. We both won arena awards at the ‘Showmans Show’ one year.  We got to know many performers on our travels and we were always to happy to meet up  and exchange news. Long may it continue. We need young people to come into these activities and take them forward. Nothing can beat training a falcon or dog or to go fishing – they are a good way to help with mental health issues and to connect with nature and wildlife in a different way to just watching it.

Normally I do not remember events having done so many but this one did. No idea who took the photo.

I continue to fly the two falcon here everyday. The lanneret ‘Frank’  is so stylish but our Peregrine ‘Sprite’ has not been flying too great. He is not so good in a stiff breeze surprisingly because peregrines with their extra power usually are. I felt his weight has dropped too low and he was weak in flight. This weight loss or conditioning adjustment was intentional as I was experimenting to try and get the ‘best’ out of him. I had tried this when I was working with pretty much the same results. So for him to fly well he needs to be flown in high condition and so I have started pushing his weight up again. This is 20 grams either way – has I said in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained  falcon and hawk’ subtle changes of condition can make all the difference. It can bring on the hunting condition in a bird that is not chasing or conversely rein in a hawk that is self hunting with the falconer  becoming a passenger while chasing the bird about.

We have a wonderful holiday break at St.Davids, Wales during the recent very hot spell. Luckily for us it was cooler on the Pembrokeshire coast and we really enjoyed our few days exploring the area. In the evenings we would wander down to the Cathedral to sit on one of the benches that over looked it and sat in the evening sun watching the swifts chasing each other about. Something heard less and less now in other parts of the UK. Here is a picture of that scene.

Our two falcons left at home were looked after by our son including caring for the dog. She spent most of the time lying on the tiled floor trying to keep cool.

Both the falcons Frank the lanneret and Sprite the peregrine were lofted – making them so much easier to look after by the non specialist carer. Much of my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ is about the flexibility of the loft and its construction and lots else besides including looking after birds in hot weather.

The weathering loft is a 2 for 1 structure. I have always had a very collegiate approach to falconry and so nothing I say is prescriptive in the book. It is just my take on how I have done things over the years with much repetition and refinement of technique and husbandry. The book is for sale pretty much everywhere Amazon, Waterstones and Coch y bonddu books.

I will sign off for now.