Falconry Displays

Well it has finally happened. It is raining! It is a welcome relief with some sadness too as summer ends. Apart from the drought it has been a wonderful summer and although we are expected to see these more frequently with climate change – a worry for all – it should not preclude us from enjoying the warm weather where we can. Eating outside in the evening.

Despite the rain the brooks and streams are still bone dry and it is quite a stretch in the imagination to picture them full again. I will report back on that. A French friend from the south of France told me how shocked she was to see England – parched and yellow – from the plane as she flew in. England is supposed to be green!

Back to the falconry. of our two falcons Sprite our tiercel has been flying really well – plenty of pace and now quite fit. As I have discussed before he is some kind of imprint and I have found it hard over the years to find his ideal flying weight. It does not matter so much now because I am no longer doing events – but I have continued to experiment with his conditioning. He needs to be flown in the highest condition possible but it does make him high spirited and at times tricky to handle. You have to adapt to accommodate this and I mention this in my book ‘Falconry – aspects of care of the trained falcon and hawk’ in the section on hooding.

With Sprite I use a heavier weighted lure stick because – again I mention this in the book – because peregrines are so powerful and will just keep going with a lure attached to a lighter lure stick. I noticed the cotton line was wearing a little thin so I replaced in the week. Following the steps I set out in the book. See below.

A broken lure could be a disaster. The cotton lure lines are nice to use – less finger burn than nylon cord –  but less durable.