… Website, Blog, Forum …
Welcome to Woodlandsfalconry.com
This is an Irish site dedicated to falconry and all things raptor related in Ireland today.
The menu on the left will give you good navigation throughout the site and I hope there is something there for everyone.
The articles were written by Tommy Byrne and were first published in the Irish Hawking Club newsletter and Journals and there was sufficient interest for the republishing of them here. I hope you enjoy reading them and obviously they will be added to in the future.
This Blog is the author’s inane thoughts and mental ramblings on everyday stuff that affects an Irish Falconer today. Feel free to leave a comment or peruse the picture galleries.
The Forum is for everyone and anyone, so please feel free to throw your Tuppence worth in and get a view or two on absolutely anything related to birds of prey, from plain ol’ Birdwatching to in-depth Falconry. The forum is fully moderated, so by all means let’s use it to learn from each other, and equally as important… let’s just enjoy it!
The Gallery is a collection of photos taken by Tommy Byrne, John Griffin and one or two more contributors and for your viewing pleasure will be constantly kept updated.
About Woodlands Falconry
Tommy Byrne has kept birds all his life. Like the old rat/human scenario, as he was growing up he was never more than five yards from a bird at any given time!! In his own words he has kept everything from Appezellers to Zebra Finches and some strange birds in between. Who else do you know that had an injured Lapwing walking to heel like a dog, or a hand-reared a Cuckoo that needed constant stuffing with earthworms ‘til he was fit to burst (The Cuckoo, not the Human).
Since his first encounter with an injured kestrel in his teenage years he has kept, flown and hunted with many types of hawks and falcons over the years, including Goshawks, the diminutive Sparrowhawk, and the African Black Sparrowhawk. He has also flown Prairie Falcons, Peregrines and such rarities as a Hobby Falcon. He was the first to breed falcons by Artificial Insemination in the Republic of Ireland and has a relationship with his breeding birds that is almost…… immoral!
Once he had a barn owl so tame it followed him around the garden and silently landed on his head each evening, but another time he had an eagle owl that gripped his gloved hand so tight it took him nearly an hour to get the wretched beast loose. In his own words
“I hope never to be an expert on raptors or ever stop learning about them, as that insinuates knowing enough. The truth is there is always more to learn.”
As you can probably imagine, life just never has a dull moment when it revolves around the care and flying of these most beautiful of birds.
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