Julian and his family have been club members from the very early days, hardly missing a meeting. Julian has been one of the most supportive members of the club, standing in as chairman when the club experienced some stormy seas last year to help steer the ship into calmer waters, and in doing so earned great respect from the membership.

I asked Julian what brought him to birds of prey, and was surprised to find that it was his son, Nathan, also a club member, who had the original family interest.

"We had seen the Raptor Foundation do a demonstration at a country fair and Nathan was captivated by the Barn Owl they had with them" says Julian. "So much so, that I said we would try to talk to them after the show to find out more about birds of prey."

They did so, and the upshot was that Nathan was to go and help out at the raptor Foundation, cleaning out aviaries and doing odd jobs in return for being taught about birds of prey. "As it was a fair way to drive to take Nathan there, I just used to stay and do odd gardening jobs.."

As a result, Julian also began to learn about handling the birds. And so, a deal was struck. If Nathan stayed interested and hard working with the birds for three years, he could have his own.

A male Harris was obtained, and Julian took a female from the pair's second clutch. The male proved difficult to manage, attacking Nathan and almost causing serious injury, and so Julian decided they should seek more help, and contacted Jenny Wray, formerly of the IBR. She contacted David Wilson, former editor of the Falconer's Magazine, and asked if he were willing to offer some practical advice. David agreed, and became Julian's mentor. David is a keen Goshawk flyer, and Julian decided that was the way he wanted to go.

Under David's wing, pardon the pun, Julian learned about handling and training these top flight birds, and eventually obtained one, a male, which he flies today. He has proven a good hunter, having taken duck, pheasant and Rabbit to date.

I asked him what his finest hour in hawking was, and he related the following story.

Whilst up in Peebles, in Scotland, Amber ( female Harris ) was flying free with a view to hunting. Khan, Julian's Gos, bated hard and unfortunately managed to free himself and took off for some conifers. Amber saw him, and quickly followed, much to Julian's dismay.

Khan settled up in the thick of the conifers, out of site of Julian, and Amber then climbed and began to circle over a certain area. A buzzard appeared, and was quickly seen off by Amber, who then returned to her circling over the same spot.

Julian made his way into the conifers, and spotted Khan, directly underneath Amber, whom it would seem, had acted as a marker so that Khan could be brought back into the fold! Once Khan was recovered, Amber was called, and duly returned to the fist.

Julian is grateful to David and Lynne Wilson, who guided him on the path of learning how to keep, fly and care for these difficult birds, and he hopes there will be many more years to come.

Interview:

John Tyas

February 2008