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This is a young goshawk.
A few 100 years ago she was the equivalent of ocado the perfect predator to put food
on the table.
Hares, rabbits, pheasants.
She was a vital part of any kitchen's utensil drawer.
So today we are off to God's larder to see what she can get her talons into and what
we can get our teeth into.
Today we are going to be going out and seeing if we can get a few bits and bobs for the
pot.
We are hoping for may be a rabbit and hopefully a pheasant or two.
We have got Jordan out with us today as well flying his red tail.
Jordan is my apprentice.
He came, or he started coming down and we got him doing all the mucky jobs, clearing
out and doing all the normal things we get apprentices to do for a year.
At the beginning of this season he started off with his red tail.
For a ginger he is definitely not doing to bad.
He has worked out quite well.
He is turning into quite a good little falconer.
I say little he is actually huge.
Have you seen the size of the boy's hands.
Relevant.
I don't know.
Girls beware.
Anyway we have got Jordan is out with us with his red tail.
We are going to give Jordan first dibs to try and catch a rabbit, but a lot of people
don't bother flying red tails off the fist at pheasants and feathered game, but she has
done very, very well so far on feathered game.
So if we do get a slip on a pheasant hopefully we will get one for Jordan.
We will see if his red tail can perform on those as well.
Roy's issues with red heads and men with big hands coming to the fore there.
Where were we, oh yes falconry.
Another essential part of the shopping trip is ferrets.
Roy has brought along a few bright albino flavours.
With young birds it is best to have these amazing feisty little creatures looking as
unlike a rabbit as possible.
The first set of burrows is tricky to manage as there has been some hedge trimming so we
move on.
Now many people start their falconry career with a harris hawk, but Roy commends a red
tail as a starter bird for Jordan.
It will be a bit more work but there are some long term benefits.
I think it is a shame that apprentices don't start off their falconry careers with birds
like red tails, because they are little bit more difficult and take a little more understanding
that the harris hawk.
So for an entry level bird, your first bird you can learn and gauge a lot more from them.
That is with all of them.
A lot of people will buy a new bird and then move straight on after a year or two to something
else.
Whereas they are all fantastic birds and they will all last you a good 15 to 20 years of
a hunting career.
We have more success at the next spot.
But the fences are a real problem in this part of the world and the rabbits are neatly
evading the wire which could easily kill or end the career of a bird.
Unfortunately when you are flying here in this area of the country we are hounded by
fences and fences are something you have to be very mindful of and very aware of because
your hawk can get badly damaged on them.
I was hoping the rabbits were just going to come out or maybe go across to that hedgerow
over there, but they are just weaving their way down.
So we have just got to be a little bit careful with this earth.
We will lift the ferrets up and move on.
Moving across the fields, Roy's other shopping assistant Atos looks like he's on point..
It could be our first pheasant flight so we all get into position.
The hen bird flies along the ditch and manages to find cover... and the goshawk runs out
of room.
Roy feels it's a case of a fast pheasant and a young gos with a confidence issue... but
on we go and Jordan's red tail gets more of a dive than a flight - incredibly the bird
is strong enough to keep hold of a bouncing bunny with a very sharp toe.
That is the advantage with a red tail, they are so robust and so strong, she had hold
of that with one leg, but she stopped it from running down the hole.
But hopefully we will get some better flights.
Well at least we won't starve - there's a rabbit in the bag and moments later there's
another opportunity for the gos - she's a gnat's earlobe away from making contact...before
a second dive - nice effort but still not off the board yet!
Atos once more smells a nervous pheasant and we're away again - but this super fast gos
needs a bit more practise on these flying feasts.
Our last chance falls to Jordan - with so many holes from where a fleet-of-foot rabbit
will dart, running for its life, it's pretty hard, especially when there's a small tree
in the way - the head start means the red tail has too much ground to make - but it's
still a spectacle.
Not quite the day we were looking for.
Unfortunately only a couple of pheasants kicked up there.
So we have got a few invites towards the end of the season on a few shoots so we will get
on there and see if we can do a little bit better than that.
It was the first time this hawk has been flown on pheasants and the first time she has seen
pheasants.
She flew one reasonably well, but obviously the first time you show them, they are not
overly confident and then taking a young hawk out at this time of the season the pheasants
are all very fit rather than starting at the beginning.
I am just getting my excuses in quick here.
Obviously we had a very short one with Jordan's bird and it was just the luck of the bolts,
because we obviously had a couple of fantastic bolts that went right across the open field
for us, but it was just a combination of being in the wrong spot and not seeing them.
I think the moral of the story for that one is must try harder.
It is a really exciting way to spend an afternoon even if you have just got one rabbit to show
for it.
Roy is now determined to put on a show before the end of the season.
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