Sunday dawned bright and breezy, no sign of the black rain clouds that have dominated Irish skies of late.  One of my daughters had made it to the Leinster final in cross-country running. Personally I have no interest in organized sport, but seeing as how it involved her galloping around the woods and getting completely covered in muck I said we would make the most of the weather and we loaded up. Her race was over early and as I am not a fan of these events we scarpered as soon as we could and took the longer and more scenic route back through the Wicklow hills.

Being flesh-eaters, my kids have an interest in all things raptor-like and more…

Different people have different ideas of what dog makes the perfect hunter’s companion. For some it’s the hyper-active Springer, a dog that just doesn’t let up and leaves no bush unturned. For others it’s the new world Labrador, a true gunner’s dog and a specialist retriever and if given a chance can be a good all-round hunter too. Many breeds that have been excellent hunters, finders and retrievers of game have sadly disappeared or become so rare in the field that they no more get a mention in working dog tales; Poodles come to mind, once thought to be the smartest of all working breeds, and the King Charles Spaniel, a small French breed, probably (and this is only my opinion) used in French falconry as the sparrow-hawkers companion. The reason more…

I just happened to be out exercising a falcon some weeks back, when I noticed someone watching me from a distance. After the bird had flown and was back up and feeding on the fist, the person approached and commented on how graceful the bird was, and what a pleasure it was to see him being put through his paces.  more…

It is days like today that makes living in Ireland tolerable. After the rain last night, today dawned a beautiful crisp clear morning and a more perfect day for flying falcons would not be possible. There was a good stiff breeze blowing as I gave my Saker falcon his daily exercise; stooping him at the lure to tire him out and build up some muscle. I gave him about five or six minutes of that and he was panting hard as I let him catch the lure.

My Lanner falcon then had her turn on the wing, more…

There is a definite winter feel to the air these days, crisp cold mornings with the last of the leaves giving up their green and slowly turning to brown. Any damaged feathers the birds have not moulted out yet will probably be held on to ‘til next year. My little female hobby which I had great plans flying again this year was extremely slow and only dropped half her tail feathers so she needs a little bit of repair work on her tail if I am going to get her going again. more…