The other day I was out with my two year old female Harris Hawk. While waiting for the rain to stop I sat in the jeep listening to the radio before the usual ceremony of putting on my wellies and jacket. The landscape was quite undulating with a steep drop off to the left, and as Joe Duffy’s phone lines opened and the callers complained about whatever was on the agenda that day, I noticed a raven and a hooded-crow Continue reading
Red Kites in Wicklow
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 Continue reading
Brittany
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 Continue reading
Falconry chat
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. Continue reading
soaring
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, Continue reading
autumn
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. Continue reading
display
I had a very enjoyable day yesterday with ten of my hawks, the kids and a couple of helpers, in an estate where the house and gardens are open to the public. Usually they get 40 to 50 people in on a Sunday but with the help of a large sign outside and a notice in the paper advertising the event we mananged to draw 450 people last week and in my estimation well over 600 yesterday. The hawks and falcons behaved impecably and neither them or the kids bit anyone. Continue reading
Welcome to Woodlands
Hello and welcome to Woodlands Falconry Blog.
I have never done a blog before so looking forward to putting my inane thoughts and day to day falconry adventures down on paper, well I know it’s not paper and adventure might be too strong a word, but please feel free to drop by every so often and by all means leave a comment, not just about the blog but about the site in general. As I write this the site is not by any means finished so there will be a lot more interesting stuff going on there.
There will also be a forum soon, open to everyone for “any” falconry or raptor related subject, so that should be interesting too.
Interesting days ahead I think!
Tom
Alice- A female Sparrowhawk
Alice - sparrowhawk
As I am writing this I am also looking out the window at Alice in her aviary, sitting as usual next to her mate in an open fronted pen, surveying as only a queen can, over what she knows to be her territory. She is nine years old this year, and looks out over the scratching chickens and watches the children and dogs play with disinterest. Further along the row of aviaries are other hawks and falcons I have hunted with over the same distant hills and fields, but none of them can claim to own the view as she can.
Alice was taken Continue reading
The burden of weight
When I was a beginner I knew everything. Now as I learn more about falconry I realise just how little I do know. Falconry, I read, had not changed in thousands of years. I enjoyed reading about the different aspects of falconry such as rook hawking, game hawking, flying merlins and sparrowhawks and each one I mentally ticked off as something that I would master with time. Images of a trained sparrowhawk bursting through a flock of feeding pigeons, or a ringing flight with falcon and prey disappearing into the clouds kept me awake many a night. So that was my plan, get all the equipment, a good food supply, not forgetting the bird and the rest will fall into place. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Falconry, hawk, Hunting, Tuition
Tagged Falconry, Hunting, weight control
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