Caroline and Mike have been club members for some time, and Mike has attended field meets with one of their male Harris Hawks, Hamish.

Mike first thought about having a bird of his own when he attended some country fairs when he lived in Surrey.

" I watched several flying demonstrations, and always thought I'd love to have a go" says Mike. Eventually, he and Caroline did a one day " test the water" course, and were advised of a good place to obtain a Harris Hawk should they wish to continue.

"Mike went and got Hamish, our first Harris, straight from the aviary" says Caroline. "Then he went straight to the falconry centre where we did the one day course, and booked in for five days intensive training."

Caroline didn't join Mike on this course, rather she learned from him over a period of time after the event.

During his first year, Hamish took mainly smaller quarry, Moor Hen and young rabbits, but by the end of that season, in February, he had caught his first sizeable rabbit.

A while later , Mike was offered another male Harris. His keeper had apparently had quite a few raptors, and sadly, they were getting sick and dying through bad husbandry.

One of the birds, a male Harris, around 4 / 5 years old, had a broken leg. he was taken to a vet, and the leg was pinned. The bird was then given into Mike and Caroline's care.

That was some five years ago, the pin remains in the bird's leg, and he is doing fine. Mike and Caroline know little of his history, other than his name is Cade, and he has bonded with Mike exclusively.

"The first time we tried to get him to fly to me, he came, settled on the glove, took the food, then set about me!!" says Caroline."He seems to be a strictly one man bird!"

The birds do not share an aviary, but they do fly well together. Says Mike "I've hunted them together a couple of times, before we moved to Northants, but not since. It's nicer for Caroline and I to just take them for a walk outside the village where we live."

Mike hopes that he will be able to fly a falcon one day in the not too distant future.

"The hawks are great, and I've had some really great times with them, but it would be nice to have a complete change...I fancy a Peregrine!!" Says Mike.

"Kind of a radical change, but since joining the club, I have a better chance of learning about hunting with longwings, so why not give it a go?..."

Watch this space for another longwing flyer in the club!!

Interviewed by J.Tyas

27th July, 2007