Falconry Displays

The section on foot care in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ is the one single section that is probably the most important in the message it conveys. Bumblefoot prevention at all costs. The list of preventative measures including making sure gloves do not become so hard and brittle through ageing that birds can no longer open their feet and grip the glove properly. Birds in these circumstances can end up sitting back on their own talons and puncturing the undersides of their feet and so risking the ingress of infection resulting in bumblefoot.

Thankfully gloves are not that expensive which makes changing one that is aging not prohibitively expensive – as they once were. Some of the lightweight falcon gloves that I use – that give you an excellent connection with the bird – can be bought for as little as £10 – which is amazing – and they are excellent gloves.

Some news now.

Our local stream has now stopped flowing and apart from some pools of water here and there the stream bed itself is dry. I have not seen conditions like this since 1976 – which became far worst with water rationing and so on. Let’s hope it rains before we get to that stage again. I have never seen so many butterflies and other insects flying about – to repeat myself from a previous blog – suggesting the significance of a dry spring. The stream as it is now.

Where I walk the dog, I often see a buzzard. I know it is the same one because it is missing its two central tail feathers – known as deck feathers – because it is moulting. I found the buzzard on the ground today feeding on something it had caught, and I watched it through a hedge. It is quite amazing that a small area of land of a just a few acres can be so productive in terms of prey.  I saw a buzzard it may have been the same bird catch a small rabbit or rat near this area some weeks ago. They are often underestimated particularly by falconers – they have a different mindset to similar sized raptors like goshawks and Harris hawks– but nonetheless they are resourceful and at times powerful hunters. Anything from a worm to a seagull. I think the buzzard I saw today was a female – she was an impressive size. I took a photo of her with my mobile phone as she flew by. She did not go far but across the field and up into a tree. This is her patch.