 |
| Ready for the show! |
Andy is a very personable Scot who lives close to Dunrobin Castle and runs their Falconry presentation. He also does rescue for injured birds of prey. There were 6 different species of birds in their aviaries, but he only showed us three. The first bird he brought out was "Elm" a Harris's Hawk. Since we have these nest in our front yard in Tucson, it was very interesting to see him.
 |
| Throwing a lure for the bird to catch. |
Andy uses his birds to actually hunt pheasant and other birds. He also has 4 hunting dogs, who not only flush out the prey, but then stand guard around the Falcon or Hawk, once they have their catch on the ground, so a bigger bird of prey won't go after them.
 |
| The Gryfalcon showing his wings. |
 |
| Close up of Peregine Falcon. |
 |
| He traded the lure for a real chicken leg, feathers and all. Notice how his wings are spread to hide his kill. |
The presentation lasted about 45 minutes. Watching the birds swoop to catch the lures or land on Andy's gloved hand to take a treat was amazing. We were very close to the action, and the Falcon swooped right over our heads. Cue the ooos and ahhhs.
 |
| Elm waiting for his turn to show off. |
No comments:
Post a Comment