Diego - Credit Ian Taylor

It's been a busy few weeks at Muncaster. The new flying arena is working as well as expected - it's so much easier for falconers and birds alike to fly just next door for the 11.30am display. We've only had one poor soul sat in the wrong place for the duration of the first display as they visited last year and must have missed the signs and advice from staff on where to go and so she sat up in the meadow. For half an hour. On her own!
Luckily she was fairly local so I'm sure she'll be back to see it over the summer anyway.



Unfortunately I've had to stop flying Diego as she's taken a dislike (I don't blame her if I'm honest).
The dislike has got to the extent that she likes to bite me, hard, in the back of the head at any opportunity. It's not a pretty site if a little funny for Stuart and Emma.
Herriot has been very hit and miss in the displays and it's very weather dependant. Yesterday he flew beautifully over the trees and into the valley and he was actually circling up on a thermal - closely watched by the local Buzzards, Ravens and Crows. To have any bird flying like that is just a stunning sight and when it's an eagle its somehow even more special. He's always one of my favourites to watch fly.

Herriot with Stuart after another awesome display.
Credit - Michael Edwards

The Donkey Shed has been totally transformed now. Those who visited last year will have seen the old structure we found when we cleared some of the trees at the top of the meadow. It was a bit of an eyesore in such a beautiful place to say the least. Now though, Stan and the team have been working hard to get it looking smarter - and what a fantastic job they've done. It's all clad in timber and even has stable doors and the all important roof to keep everything dry. Walrus has been sorting the electric out up there too which means the Donkey Shed has power and light and the PA can run on mains power. We've had a couple of experiences of it giving up the ghost halfway through a display. The meadow is becoming more and more a central part of the gardens and it's hoped that the Donkey Shed should be able to be used to sell drinks, snacks and adoptions packages from in the very near future. Who knows - maybe even the odd Ice Cream on the warm days.

Baz is going home - Credit Ian Taylor

As a team we took the decision to drop Baz from the team altogether this week. Last year he had an injury to his leg which hasn't helped but it's fair to say that since he's been here he hasn't settled in. This means he has no real role or job with us here which means he's getting bored and frustrated with us. He's my own bird so I always wanted to see the best in him and sometimes it takes other people to remind you that things are not going to plan. I had thought for a while that finding him another home might have to be an option but after speaking to Stuart and Emma this week we all agreed that I should make arrangements for that more quickly.

My good friend and Jedi (Mentor) Mike from Icarus Falconry in Northamptonshire has kindly agreed to have him back, at least for the foreseeable future. Baz was originally bred there and one of Mike's volunteers was particularly fond of him so I hope they can maybe bring him round to being a nice bird to work with. Some birds just don't settle well into an open centre like Muncaster and Baz is clearly one of them. It'll be sad for me to see him move on but it is the best for the bird.

Peter and I have been conducting interviews this week for our Seasonal Falconer role and all I can say at this stage is that I think they have been successful and we've been delighted to meet people whop are clearly passionate about wanting to work here and with our bird. Update to follow.