As the year starts

We've had a great start to the year,with out a doubt the big achievement has been the work we've done with Rosie , the rather bad tempered ( I'm being understated here ) Bald Eagle who is now a regular part of our falconry days.

Several new plans are taking shape for 2012 including greater use of Bovey castle for the hospitality side ( so much nicer than eating in a cold barn, sharing a table with Danny) , and hopefully my new friend Lance will be getting more involved in things as the year progresses

2500 displays at Bovey Castle

We were doing a tot up yesterday and worked out that, give or take a couple, Saturdays display at Bovey Castle would be our 2500th display there.

We've had a very good relationship[ with Bovey Castle over the years, started in November 2003 when Chris mount called and asked us if we would be able to do displays until they had their own in place.

I said of course pleased to help and we started just before Easter 2004 when the Hotel opened

Nearly seven years later we are  still in there practically every day, and run experiences for a lot of their clients, and of course, we are now working on Artemis, the Bovey Castle eagle.

It's a relationship  that works very well for both sides, and one we hope will run for years to come

Artemis' first display

Well Artemis too part in her first flying display today, performing (in a very limited fashion) in the breafast time display at Bovey Castle this morning

Her manners are still lovely, and as training progress she is going to be a stunning adition to the displays at the hotel and give a great oppertunity to clients wishing to spend time working with an Eagle

The lawnmower's today,

we have now cancelled our bookings pre Christmas a sss we are inacesable

Shazza's progress

She settled well yesterday and is even better today, hooding needs a quick hand, but is manageable.

She went into Bovey Castle today to look round and behaved perfectly, without baiting once, even posing inside for a couple of photo's.

The dogs are a permanent fixture while she's being manned, but  Danny gets a bit over excited, I think he assumes I've got a BIG Harris' for him to go hunting  with

The Eagle has landed

The newest adddition to the team, A young Lady we are working  with for Bovey Castle Hotel

Artemis (Sharon to her friends) is a Golden/Steppe eagle hybrid and will be seen frequently on Dartmoor as her training progress

Waiting for a rabbit to bolt,

Agravane,Gawain and Horrible hector a few days ago, back when we still had sunshine

Todays hunting group

Exploring the swamp with Horrible Hector, Agravane and Gawain

Merlin surveying his audiance at Bovey Castle this morning

The big old owl

I was talking to  someone yesterday about how much abuse Merlin, our Euraisian eagle owl gets from me during the course of a year, as apparently I can be  quite rude about him (I'd say honest was more appropriate) and we started trying to  tot up how much he's actually done in the 10 years that I've had him .
Even at a conservative estimate the figures were quite amazing, he's done getting on for 4000 public displays, flown to around 6000 individuals, appeared on TV at least 6 times,  done 4 radio interviews.
No wonder with  all  this he has managed to embarrass me in more places and in front of more people than  all my other birds put  together

We're moving

After a lot of persuading we are taking out the lease on a new 60acre site with room Indoor flying s so we can do our introductions in practically any weather, better hawk accomadation, and better facilities for clients to make the Falconry experiences we do even more memorable.
We will be able to offering pub lunches as part of our day experiences (to give clients better defrosting in cold weather), adding to the hunting team to make our hunting days really unique, and adding even more variety on the Falconry experience and Falconry day.
The move won't be happening till after Easter so in the mean time it is business as usual (obviously with a lot of plotting and planning)

Old Friends

It was so nice to see a couple of old friends, Robin and Ali Tuke, with there sons Charles and Richard

I've known Robin since his days at Exeter university, and in the early days of Dartmoor Hawking when we used to do the falconry at Kelso show we'd land on him and Ali for the duration.
They run a fantastic business selling their Aberdeen Angus beef (Which is the best beef I have ever had)
For any one who likes top quality beef take a look at their website Hardiesmill

A view from Puddaven

Looking at the fantastic sky this evening it made me really appreciate the beautiful part of the world we live in.

Crow hawking is running down as with the snow most of the crows have rolled off the more into the agricultural land at the edges, so only Morguasse is still in action for a few final days.
We're in quite exciting times now as we are discussing planning permission for a new venture which is going to be a huge bonus on what we already have going on at Dartmoor Hawking, among other things making the hunting days even more exciting,  possibly making the experience days better (though we'd be the first to admit they are very hard to improve on ) a great improvement for the evening with owl sesions (which are turning out to be very popular) and making expansion of the business easier (Have no fears we're not opening to the public) as we're growing nearly faster than we can keep up at the moment.
Last year, apart from a couple of minor blips was a great one for us, this year is looking even better.
we never like to rest on our laurels, we think what we offer is already excellent, but excellence can always be improved on

Letter from America

I had a lovely email from a couple from America who came out with me a couple of years ago, and with Marks permission I'm copying it here, it's really made my Christmas:

Hi Martin,

Sometimes you have a profound effect on someone's life, and you might never hear about it.  That's sad.
Here's an instance where your kindness enriched someone's lives, thousands of miles away.

We flew with you one day about 2 years ago.  Attached is a picture from that day, of Cindy, me, Mark and Grumpy.
Also attached is our Christmas card this year, Cindy, me and Roxy.

Roxy is a beautiful red tail that we trapped January 19 of last year.  She's been an incredible companion.  We have done
everything except catch the elusive cotton tail.  Hopefully, that will happen soon.
I was just overdue in getting a note off to you, thanking you for starting us on this falconry journey, and for being such a
nice friend one week long ago at Bovey.

Mark Choate

Boxing day Jollies

 Boxing day is one of the busiest days of the year for us here, and this year was no exception.
It started with our daily display at Bovey Castle Hotel to a good size audience, Strait from there to Gidleigh Park Hotel, Our first Christmas display from them Gladamir decided that flying next to the river teign was to scary for words (but Christmas displays would not be the same without one of the large owls letting me down), everyone else behaved perfectly.
Back home for a bite to eat when I spotted a pair of magpies in our end field so I grabbed Mordred and had a very nice flight, with the magpie finally besting us in my neighbours sheep.
Back to Bovey castle to drop off the ferret racing team, then on to the Two Bridges Hotel right in the middle of the Moor. Yet again every one behaved well, despite the heavens opening on us (See Agravane doing his verp p***** off soggy Harris' on a lamppost impression)

Luckily it did not last long.
I was winding up there when I noticed that somehow Morguasse had got herself on the cadge (don't no how, Honest) so it seemed to good a chance to miss as I had to go back via some of my best crow hawking ground.
She had a nice flight catching her crow in a nice sheltered spot, so I joined her with a cup of coffee,and we relaxed, listening to the Mid Devon Hounds in the distance.
I may be Bah Humbug about Christmas, but Boxing day has to be one of my favorite days.

A good weekend

Having dug out  all my thermals we've had a really good weekend here, we had snow in sunshine for yesterdays display at Bovey Castle, making it a very festive one  (along with my Bah Humbug Christmas hat, thanks to Ffyona at Galloway Falconry )
 Myself, Max  and Mordred took a very well known couple out for a bit of snipe hawking, Mordred missed the first two and caught the third after  very good solid points from Max (and luckily they were holding well to point for once).
In the afternoon Georgies Cousin Charlotte helped exercise Charlie and did really well with him

A hawk walk this morning followed by a belting (unintentional)flight at a crow from the flying field by Morwenna made for a very enjoyable day today

A full team

Well we filled our vacancy for a display falconer to join our team today(welcome aboard Neil) which is great news as we now have a full team People wise, and with  the arrival of a young Feruginous hawk and a replacement for Sebille next summer will have our full compliment hawk wise.
Talking about the Hawk team Charlie our Male Peregrine saker got his moment of glory today, he normally only does display and private group work, but I finished up a bit early today with only him left to exercise so decided to slip out and see if he fancied a play. I found a single which did not hang around for long enough to let him get a look in (being a display falcon he's not very focused at times like this). Anyhow a quick driv on and I slipped him at a flock, this time he powered into them, and I saw a spectacular stoop , he did not reappear so I walked in to find him sat proudly on................... a piece of silage bag

A few thoughts

Well I've been stuck in all day sorting out accounts, and as always at times like this my brain drifts off to anywhere except the job in hand, and looking at tthe diary I realised that apart from an odd space on things we already have going we are completely booked up until the 10th of January, the busiest Christmas season we have had. Richard Lammin, came over the other day to discuss the work we had in,and where he'd be able to help out, and he started telling us about some of the going's on when he lived in Basingstoke,  this was quite an eye opener for someone like me who's always lived the quiet rural life,some of it was very funny ..

For those of you who have met richard I found this great photo of him from when he was helping us out a couple of years ago, with Annous and Borris

A light hearted day

Well after yesterdays upset it was cheering to have such a change in the weather. Typically with the weather come good I had no clients in so sloped off for a bit with Mordred,Morguasse and Morwenna. to see what we could find..
Morwenna and I managed to make a complete hash of her first slip with me fumbling the hood. and when I did get it off she missed the slip and took off after a flock of rooks in the distance.
I retrieved her from this and found a lovely slip for Morguasse Who was beaten to cover after a hard flight by a very good crow.
Then I spotted the perfect slip at a magpie for Mordred in a loveley open area, no cover for a long way in any direction, he took the slip perfectly, the magpie took one look at him and shot down a rabbit hole.
I was running out of daylight by then so headed for home, nothing in the bag but a really pleasant afternoon with well mannered Falcons, and what a change to be out in shirtsleeves

Highs and Lows

Today was one of those days that started of really well, working out details off some work i will be doing with the BBC, quite a challanging project to say the least, which left me buzzing away with ideas, and on a real high.
Unfortunatley I was exercising Sebille later this morning and she took off after a crow she sighted at the top end of the farm. She did not return so I jumped into the truck and tracked her down, to find her dead on a lane where she had been run over.
Accidents are always a possibility every time I let one of my birds go, but they are incredibly rare and all efforts are made to make every thing as safe as possible for them, When it does go wrong it's devastating, , but the only way of putting them at no risk would be to leave them sat at home never flown.

A bit of time on the farm

With yet another miserable day forecast i postponed the falconry day we had in (good call), so put my time to good use, and slipped out with gawain to catch a rabbit so I had a carcass to use with Bors, our potential hunting owl. That took 5 minutes and a walk of at least 30 yards from the hawk barn.
With a bit more time to spare Aly and I spent a hectic aftermoom starting on the endless task of tidying some of the hedges om the farm, and now I have the joyous job of pulling black thorns out of various bits of me :-)

A fun afternooon

Having not been needed at Bovey Castle this morning I took the luxury of a lie in and did not get up till 8am, half way through the day by my standards.Any how I used the morning to catch up on something my solicitor had been working on for me and one of those conversations with the Inland revenue so thought I deserved a little playtime this afternoon anbd slipped out with Morguasse , Sebille and Mordred.
The two Girls both flew well, with Morguasse cathing her crow in the air after a nice flight, and Sebille lost hers in a flock of sheep when the flight slid off the moor.
Great fun with Mordred (aided by Danny) as we rat hunted a magpie up and down a gorse bank, before it made good it's escape when he slipped out of position. Next year I'm hoping to fly a cast of male Prairie/Barberies at magpies as my magpie hawking has been some of the best fun I've had this Autumn. No photo's as I'd left the Camera at home

Plans

Due to yet another day of fantastic weather I postponed the group I had booked in for an introduction, so I gave everyone a good work out (crow hawking on a sunday is no fun, far to many ramblers getting in the way even in this weather) and thought Danny, Gawain and I could go and have a wander round the swamp, our 15 acre marsh and see how it was as I had not been out there properly since early summer.

I'm hoping to put in a couple more flight ponds next year, they make a fantastic sight for wildlife as well as hopefully becoming a stopping point for the wild duck population in the area, The one we put in last year has been a great sucess, already gathering a fantastic dragonfly poulation.(Danny would like to add no Ducks there today)

Danny put 2 pheasants and a rabbit out of the same patch of Brambles, ( Gawain knowing it was a Sunday decided the rabbit was the best option for my supper), and this started me thinking on how much we don't use this area for clients. Unfortunately for 3/4 of the year if you dont have wellies you would not want to go very far into it, but the addition of a couple of small bridges would make it a lovely place to go into with the better equipped, The hawking in there is great fun, therre is a good population of wild Pheasants, always a few rabbits, and snipe galore.

So plans for any free time when the weather is a bit better is to open this area up and make more use of it as an area for clients to enjoy

The one that got away

Well I had one of the most visually stunning flights I've seen this season,
I'd gone down to the foxhound kennels to pick a few box's of chicks they had in their freezer room and by some funny chance Morguasse had stowed away in the back of the car (Aly still does not believe she put herself there).
Thinking it would be a waste not to take advantage of her presence I detored back via one of my favorite spots over the west dart valley. The river was still very high but a good strong wind was blowing from the river to me so not any real chance of a flight going across.
Anyhow I had a lovely slip at a crow about 150 yards out and she took it beutifully, but rather than trying to head back down wind to cover it was determined for some reason to go across the river, She fetched it as it go there, turned it but rather than coming back over my head it started climbing back out over the river.

Morguasse turned it 6 times, getting higher and higher, till it had worked itself into a position where it was ready to dive for cover when she was out of position, and it just beat her to a tiny patch of gorse on the other side of the river. Nothing I could do to help so I called her back, raised my hat to the crow and headed for home

A bit of a soaking

I sloped off with Sebille this after noon, found a nice slip for her, in bright sunshine.
She caught her crow about 500 yards away after a nice flight.
I started to walk over to where she was, with that little smug feeling you get when things go right When the heavens opened,by the time I'd picked her up I was soaked through, wellies sloshing with the amount of water that had run into them,
By the time we got back to the car all feelings of smugness had been washed away (actually sebille was still very pleased with herself).
The joys of Hawking on dartmoor

Wildlife

We're very lucky here with the fantastic amount of Wildlife we have on the farm here, this was brought back to me as I walked Sunny up the drive to turn him out this morning and bumped into 3 roe deer coming the other way, A mature female Peregrine flew over as I walked back (an immature one came and mobbed Galahad as he was doing the daily display at Bovey castle this morning as well).
Our bog area is mannaged pureley for wild life and is a site of international importance for the Marsh fritilery and other butterflies,and we had hobbies hunting over it during tthe summer we have Ravens nesting at one end of the farm , buzzards at the other, two pairs of sparrowhawks, and last month we saw a goshawk passing through.
All in all it's not a bad place to work

The joys of wind

Flying fit  Falcons in strong winds is one of the real joys of working with birds of prey from the unbelievable dorn wind stoopps of Morguasse and Morwenna to the delicate manoeuvring of Little Faye as she hovers overhead.

Any how Anyhow due to meetings with solicitors over problems we've been having recently I was not planning to get out in anger today, but when I took Mordred out to exercise him I saw a flock of Jackdaws messing around across the valley, not in ideal country (by any stretch of the imagination), but I was bored and am easily lead astray, so I slipped down to the boundary hedge and slipped him. Chaos erupted and with Jackdaws going every where and I lost track of where he was very quickly.

I scrambled over the hedge (which took a couple of minutes) accompanied by the ever present Danny and spoted him waiting on at about 70' above the next hedge.
In goes Danny and after a quick rumage around out comes a jackdaw, He missed on the first stoop but then nabbed it as it turned to go down wind.

Not classical falconry but great fun, and I even remembered to take a photo

A little bragg

I was going to have a rant about the weather, in the last week we have cancelled 2 experience days, 2 hunting days, and 2 introductions, and I was feelin g a little bit sorry for myself, but then I had a look back through my diary, and actually we've had the busiest Autumn period we've ever had, and we still look to have at least five sesions a week booked in between now and Christmas (and if you want to make a  a booking over the Cjristmas period I would suggest you get in soon as the diary is filling up rapidly), so instead I decided to feel slightly (well very )smug instead and look at how well things have been going.
Even allowing for a very poor summer where we missed out on a lot of tourist work due to the weather we've averaged more than 16 people a week through here over the year, and are set to be just short of 600 offsite displays,
We are up to a full compliment of 18 birds all of whom have been fantastically reliable (except a little blip from Morwenna and Agravanes 3 week summer Holiday behind Houndtor)and a real joy to work with.
 We now have full family involvement as Aly is working full time with me, and Georgie is in charge of day to day management of the ferret racing team (our new venture), and are lucky to have the great skills of Richard Lammin back helping us out when needs be.
We've re introduced owl  session by popular request, and in a few weeks time will be in a position to take clients out to see Bors, our hunting owl in action,
My own falconry has been great to with some fantastic flights from Sebille and Morguasse at crows, and a huge amount of fun hunting magpies with Mordred, and have been adding these to the team on hunting days to make things even more exciting.
So at the moment weather may be putting a damper on business but all in all things here at Dartmoor Hawking are great, and getting better all the time

Wind

Unfortunately the strength of wind's we've had has meant quite a few cancelled days, novice handlers+ hawks +_ strong winds do not make for a happy combination,
On the other hand flying on my own with fit experienced hawks can be some of the most exciting falconry available, slope soaring with harris', one of the best ways to see what one of these hawks can do,.
Crow hawking in good open country will give some of the most exciting flights you'll see (but do double check your telemetry first)
Wind may be bad for business but iit is by no means the end of the world