Falconry Displays

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.