A Long Drive

An enjoyable few days break in the Netherlands sharing experiences with many old friends has come at a pivotal moment of change in the annual breeding cycle at home. Our eyasses leave the nest, soon to move to their new homes and training for their new lives. I am delighted that my alluring male Gyr Peregrine was collected by a friend from France for a life of game hawking. What a pedigree, the  family he comes from an endless series of memories of so many flights. My two female eyasses, now just nine weeks old, will soon be on their way to the Middle East. Temptation will again be relieved for me - it's always difficult to resist an outstanding eyass, particularly one that I have been watching grow into such desirable perfection and although they appear identical one of the females has a look in her eye revealing some inner aspect of presence that always signals an outstanding creature.

Today we have to box up and transport them to the hack pen of their new owner. For many years, like most people I know, the wings and tail were taped with masking tape to preserve the feathers during transit, a process fraught with unseen consequences and little guarantee of success - it at least reassured the recipient that we had done everything possible. Today, in the warm days of summer, it makes more sense to understand the hawks natural behaviour and its reactions to how it finds itself. From that perspective it seems fairly obvious that when very wet, after a thorough soaking, it will settle in the travelling container and do itself little harm as well as being less stressed and cooler for the journey as it slowly dries out.

My nearby friend was kind enough to come and help with the task and promptly at 9.15 he drew into the yard. Both of us equipped with gloves, hoods, towels and travelling boxes we shut ourselves into the adjacent aviary, I immediately caught the first eyass with ease before she could get excited. No slouch she immediately vented her displeasure and bit clean through the glove - ouch! My blood oozed through the leather and the pain throbbed but adrenaline of the moment was enough to handle the pain. My friend got a hood on her and we weighed her in at 1330 grams empty - very satisfying although I knew she was around three pounds when I left an old fashioned balance in the aviary so that I could see how much weight they could depress when sat on its perch. Putting the new trial into effect we hosed her feathers, repeatedly, dipped tail and primaries into a full bucket of water and sloshed them about until soaked, no tape applied, just straight into the box still wearing her hood where she soon settled. The second eyass was identical except that her choice was to slash my forearm with a healthy gash. The plastic pet carrier was easily taken apart at the waist with four quick release catches so that on arrival any further handling was easily achieved with the minimum of fuss, hood off and into the holding pen. I was back home after 666 miles and 13 hours on the road, both delivered feather perfect, a job well done.

At my friends home I had seen more than 40 eyass Gyrs in his hack pen, what  a long way we have come in just a few years. A long drive usually leads to many thoughts and introspection.  My trip to the Netherlands meeting many old friends from different cultures makes me realise how much has been my privilege to see IAF grow over many years and to have worked closely with many wonderful people.  The  Association changes as characters come and go, as each new political agenda reveals itself but as in all human affairs we are never far from more difficult experiences.

One of my pleasures is fly fishing. For many years I was dedicated to my local chalk stream and would not have dreamed of any alternative, that was until a friend introduced me to bone fish, wow, there is something else.

In harmony with the season I am currently reading 'Another Lousy Day in Paradise' by John Gierach, a charming man I had the pleasure of meeting during my time in the US and with whom I fished and shared a bottle of wine on the riverbank. A plain speaking man, in his book he describes fishing as his passion, his way of life illustrated with a series of anecdotes among which he comments:

".......and eventually you have to pitch in, especially when the things going wrong where you are now are the same things you had to escape from some twenty years ago.

But politics is ugly, and it won't be long before you find yourself up a spiritual box canyon..........there are those who tell you not to let it get personal, but the dirtiest secret  in politics is that it is personal."

A crusty no nonsense sort of man his lazer vision seems to accurately describe challenges in the sport similar to many of those faced by many of my falconry friends I met in the Netherlands, people who struggle with regulators and opponents of their sport as well as some fellow falconers practicing 'the dirtiest secret in politics' at any cost. But it's not the only way.

Thankfully it has been my experience that at an international level there seem to be many people who recognise how fulfilling it is to focus on the art we practice and share its pleasure, reflect on our history, recall falconry's role in cultural heritage (as recognised by UNESCO), its ongoing contribution to more positive development of so many aspects of life today, worldwide. Perhaps it is the breadth of different cultures that keeps us aware of some truths and values often overlooked from a less demanding perspective - how fortunate to have such strong characters and great friends.

And now back home my way of life has changed gear, breeding is done, the moult progresses, a new game season will soon be upon us. Summer fun is to be enjoyed, today the Household Cavalry held their summer show in the forest at West Tofts, perfect summer weather, a big gymkhana and summer holiday for horses and soldiers who for the rest of the year are involved in ceremonial duties of state seen all over the world as well as fighting a war in Afghanistan. BBQ's, ice creams and horse games all in great fun just a couple of miles from my river, life is still on track.

Valkenswaard

People often talk of the quality of our sport, the artistic aspects as they perceive them, all seen in the light of our current values and society in which they live. Much comment seems to look at characters who lived a century or five centuries ago describing them as they fit into current perspective of values, with the assumption that this man was motivated by today's values, defining his actions by modern secular and scientific perspectives. This may also be applied to people from different cultures today but reality can be very different? If we could meet that man from 5 centuries ago or even a man today from another culture or religion his explanations might be very different from our expectations. This past week we have been looking into some of the historical aspects of falconry in Europe in the company of falconers from all over the world.

As is recognised by all its citizens, Valkenswaard in the Netherlands, owes its very existence to falconry. From 1550 until 1928 the Mollen family and others created an economy by  trapping and distribution of migrating falcons and hawks traded to much of Europe and even further. The soil in this area, like the Brecks of my native Norfolk, is almost pure sand  with the consequence that any agriculture is wholly dependent upon whatever manure and plant food can be applied. Before 1550 both areas were in great poverty  but in Valkenswaard it was later transformed by this new economy,  trapping falcons, supplying most of the royal houses of Europe.

Later the connection between the two areas grew when Hawks were supplied to the Confederate Hawking Club and then also when the Champagne Club moved to Norfolk at the time of the Franco Prussian War. Dutch Falconers were employed and then eventually the whole operation was transferred to the Loo in Holland in formation of the new club.

Today we are far removed from the constraints of that era with mobility and technology that transforms our way of life and distances us from nature in ways that our awareness finds hard to comprehend. This week I fulfilled my long held inquisitiveness when I attended the IAF AGM hosted in this historic town for falconers worldwide. We were generously welcomed in Valkenswaard, hosted in the town museum and civic centre, addressed by the mayor, whose chain of office has the image of a Peregrine falcon engraved in celebration of their heritage. Many of the roads were bedecked with flags depicting falcons and the IAF, how welcome we all felt.

Our way of life came alive for the local population when falconers from 40 or so countries around the world came together for the annual meeting of the IAF. Guest of our president was His Excellency Mohamed al Bowadi of the UAE who in his address to our meeting ably voiced the real essence that has been falconry for thousands of years.

 "We are all here because of an innate sense of purpose, a goal to protect the species that we love, and the long established tradition of falconry. In this journey we have unknowingly enriched who we are as humans, and as such as humanity.

We have crossed borders, bridged nations and creeds. This journey has allowed us as a community, to achieve what some may say, were far-fetched conservation dreams."

Recognition by UNESCO of the intangible cultural heritage of falconry in many countries defines and recalls the context for our way of life which gives us the privilege of our model of behaviour and values, close to nature and aspects of our own being otherwise confusing,  seemingly distant from modern society's  priorities. His Excellency went on the say:

 "I am standing here as a man and as a falconer. For many of us being a falconer and a person is the same thing, as the values, ethics, moral standards we strive for as people are the ones we abide by as falconers. To be a falconer is to embody the value of respect, resilience, tolerance, ambition, patience and humility. These values are universal and so is falconry."

Museum staff organised for us a practical demonstration of the trapping procedures at the traditional location where migratory hawks and falcons converge on the heath from all over northern Europe, Scandinavia and Russia in the autumn season as they head south. Of course this process is reversed in the spring when hawks return to their breeding areas.

Today, in countries where trapping is legal, it's a relatively simple process to drive around with traps at the ready and attract the chosen species. In the days of trapping at Valkenswaard it was a far more ingenious process requiring great dedication and patience, the help of a butcher bird, trained falcons and much good fortune to attract a passing falcon to the trap.

During our meeting it was fascinating to watch a presentation by Turkish falconers showing their traditional trapping of migrating Sparrowhawks which they rapidly train to catch migrating quail after which, when their sport is done, the hawks are returned to the wild to resume their journey. In national costume their traditional songs were stirring in many ways, touching feelings not far removed from my own daily falconry experience.  But we are all falconers in this world together with many shared values as His Excellency had reminded us - certainly it stimulates alternative viewpoints, creates respect and appreciation far removed from some of the more modern aspects with which we also contend.