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Saturday 21 September 2013
Lady Macbeth by Tansy Rollin
A couple of photos taken by Tamsin Rollins at the North Devon Show earlier this year.
Trip Advisor etc.
Here at North Devon Hawk Walks (www.NorthDevonHawkWalks.co.uk ) The birds have nearly finished their moult and have only a few gaps in their wings where new feathers are not yet fully grown. Every year they drop all their feathers ( not all at the same time), and new ones grow down. There is a definite system, with the outer feathers falling first, then those closer to the body. If I find one feather on the floor on Monday, then I know that on Wednesday I'll find the mirror image feather from the other wing or side of the tail. Regular as clockwork.
The Harris Hawks have done very well this season, with the customers really enjoying their flying displays. It's a shame that most people want to go out in the summer, because it's when there is a strong wind blowing that these birds are at their most spectacular. I was training a new young hawk, Hero, that I've been loaned for a couple of years, the other day. I got him to fly towards me from a tree, then threw up a piece of meat about twenty feet into the air. The strong wind meant that it was easy for him to keep airborne and to travel at speed, so he was regularly catching his "prey", getting lots of exercise, honing his flying skills and providing a spectacle for a couple of motorists who stopped to see what was going on. My birds and I are a regular sight outside Withypool on Exmoor, and one year I put up a sign on the side of the road, because I was afraid of drivers cruising past looking at the hawks and not noticing that the road bent to the right. I had visions of them plowing straight off the road and down the valley.
Somebody recommended that North Devon Hawk Walks go on www.tripadvisor.co.uk I was surprised to learn that a lot of people use TA to search for activities like my Hawk Walks. We've now got 19 reviews, all "Excellent", which means that the hawks are officially the best attraction in South Molton, Devon.
Hopefully I'll be taking the gang out hunting soon. It's nearly pheasant season, and the undergrowth is dying back so the rabbit holes will be visible. More exercise for the hawks, and free food too.
The Harris Hawks have done very well this season, with the customers really enjoying their flying displays. It's a shame that most people want to go out in the summer, because it's when there is a strong wind blowing that these birds are at their most spectacular. I was training a new young hawk, Hero, that I've been loaned for a couple of years, the other day. I got him to fly towards me from a tree, then threw up a piece of meat about twenty feet into the air. The strong wind meant that it was easy for him to keep airborne and to travel at speed, so he was regularly catching his "prey", getting lots of exercise, honing his flying skills and providing a spectacle for a couple of motorists who stopped to see what was going on. My birds and I are a regular sight outside Withypool on Exmoor, and one year I put up a sign on the side of the road, because I was afraid of drivers cruising past looking at the hawks and not noticing that the road bent to the right. I had visions of them plowing straight off the road and down the valley.
Somebody recommended that North Devon Hawk Walks go on www.tripadvisor.co.uk I was surprised to learn that a lot of people use TA to search for activities like my Hawk Walks. We've now got 19 reviews, all "Excellent", which means that the hawks are officially the best attraction in South Molton, Devon.
Hopefully I'll be taking the gang out hunting soon. It's nearly pheasant season, and the undergrowth is dying back so the rabbit holes will be visible. More exercise for the hawks, and free food too.
Look closely at the photo of Lady Macbeth above, and you'll see the photographer reflected in her eye.
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