Falconry Displays

One of the problems of driving around in a van with your name on its side – it tends to get noticed! My falconry van was for one moment sold to another falconer – when it became clear I could no longer continue – and the next moment it was not. A change of mind from his end. Actually I am glad I have still have it.

It is useful because when people see the van parked in a gateway within the local area – they know who it is. They probably say “he has probably lost a bird again!” I have to defend myself there – because this is rarely the case.

As a result of the signage I often get calls regarding the plight of a local raptor or a lost falconers bird like that peregrine  I picked up a couple of months ago. In my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ I bang on about the importance of ID tags in reclaiming lost birds. It is a low cost plastic tag with a telephone number on one side and the word reward on the other. So it means one phone call and the bird is back. Ring numbers are difficult to trace or indeed often difficult to read. So a small plastic pet tag attached with a bewit is a low cost solution to a big problem of finding the owner.

Yesterday I had a call on my landline from a lady who said they had an injured tawny owl in their back garden. Apparently there had been a calamitous amount of noise at 4.00am that morning as two tawny owls battled it out over territory – they assumed this is what happened – which resulted in our owl coming off worst.

Would I come over and help? They were nervous about picking it up as it hopped about in their garden. The local wildlife rescue centre had said they would take it in but were unable to come out and pick it up. So this is where I came in.

You see the skill of the falconer can be useful. Half an hour later I was picking the bird up – a net not required and I briefly checked it over and put it in a box. See photo below.

Apart from being battered and bruised particularly around the eyes it did not look too bad. How old the bird was is difficult to tell with owls because they do not have a significant plumage change from juvenile to adult. It may have a been a bird of the year trying to establish a territory.

I said to them to ask the wildlife centre that once the owl had recovered – assuming it would – that they could have it back to be released. The rescue centre may have their own protocol regarding this and may feel it better to release elsewhere. The main thing is that it is released to have a second chance.

It made me feel useful and I was happy to help.

They contacted me later – thanked me – and said they had taken the owl to the rescue centre and it was now in safe in hands.