Roland was first introduced to falconry and birds of prey in 1986 when he attended a meeting of a local budgerigar society. The guest speaker that evening was Tom Carnihan and friends, among them Mike Hewlett. Roland's interest was captured, and he decided to pursue it further.

He attended an introduction to falconry course conducted by Emma Ford down in Kent, after which, he acquired his first bird, a Common Buzzard.

After around eighteen months training and flying this bird, Roland decided it was time for the next stage. He enrolled once again with Emma Ford in Kent, this time for the more intensive week long course, to encompass training a bird to hunt.

Roland then acquired his first Harris Hawk, a female which he named Lady, whom he purchased from Jemima Parry Jones for £1,450.00!! " That was the going rate then" says Roly, " Just shows you how times have changed!".

Roly and Lady had many successful hunting days together, but sadly, it wasn't to last.

"Usually, I would come home from work, and feed Lady first thing." says Roly. "There was a hatch that led directly from her aviary into a shed, and when it opened, she would fly in and park herself on the scales to be weighed and then fed on the fist.

On this particular day, I didn't feed her first upon arriving home, I had something else I needed to do first. When I finally went into the shed and opened the hatch, nothing happened. This was strange because normally, she would be there immediately. I went into the avairy to investigate, and found her lying underneath the hatch with her neck broken.

I can only imagine that she had been flying at the hatch because she expected to be fed immediately, and I hadn't gone straight in to her. She must have hit it and broken her neck.

Ever since, I have been a strong advocate of not keeping flying Harris' in a large aviary, where they can build up enough flight speed to do what Lady did. Far better to keep them tethered, or at least in a much smaller area if you plan to keep them untethered."

Later that year, Roland acquired a breeding pair of Harris Hawks, he flew them for 3 - 4 years, and they double clutched every year for around 8 - 9 years, the youngsters always selling for an average £750.00.

Eventually, after all the controversy surrounding hunting, which could ultimately affect falconry, Roland sold the pair and lost touch with falconry for some years until late 2005, when a few Northants falconers got together to form NRC.

Roland was contacted, and renewed his interest in falconry, acquiring a Steppe Eagle.

"The only way I wanted to take the sport up again was if it would be to fly eagles" says Roly. The Steppe Eagle didn't work out, and Roly now has a female Tawny Eagle, whom after less than a week of flying free was already going down on hare!

"She's 16 years old now" says Roly."I figure she has a couple of good hunting seasons to go, then I want to acquire a male and put them together to breed."

Meanwhile, Roly is chasing a male Golden Eagle, a bird he hopes to continue hunting with for years to come.

Roland is also something of a craftsman, in years gone by he has made and sold genuine western mountain man clothing, as well as native american clothing.

He's a die hard member of the club, is always willing to help, both practically and with suggestions and advice, and a real sociable guy all round. I for one don't recall him ever missing a meeting!

"What was your best moment in falconry?" I asked him. "When the buzzard I first had flew free for the first time, and she came directly back to me." He said. "It has to be everybody's best moment, hasn't it?"

Interview by J.Tyas

31st May, 2007