The blog is moving!

Hello everyone - Just a heads up that the Muncaster website has been updated. So much so that the blog is being taken 'in house' as it were and will no longer be posted on blogger. Please follow the following link to keep up to date with all the going's on a Muncaster including my contribution from the Hawk and Owl Centre. http://www.muncaster.co.uk/news/

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.

Result!

Well now we're fully open and have been for the last week or so. It's been such a busy time for everyone here but its great to be back in the swing of flying birds for visitors again. The Easter weekend has been and gone with varying success on numbers but those who did come along were lovely with one group of people braving awful weather for our morning 'World of Owls' display in the Old Rose Garden and had a lovely time by all accounts. Those are the visitors I enjoy working with the most I think; people who come for a good day out and don't let anything stop that so they suit up in thermals and waterproofs and are ready for anything and smile about it! The World of Owls has been really well received in its new location - we're just about getting used to the new routine of flying in there now and it really gives visitors the chance to see birds flying very close. What's more is that we've managed to get Diego, the Kookaburra fishing from our extensive Australian lake! Peter managed to snap a shot of her doing it too - would be nice to get a really good shot of this before the end of the season but Stuart's face in this one is classic so the resolution doesn't bother me so much.

We also had another visit from Ashley Smith from HCT who helped us with a few more of the exciting plans we've got for the coming season and beyond. It's a reminder that we're still a work in progress and that to be where we are now at such an early stage in our development is fantastic. Something we're looking to expand further at the centre is our on-site conservation efforts. This is an area in which Emma is particularly interested in getting involved so some time with the conservation team at the Hawk Conservancy might be an option to give her the extra support she needs to progress. This visit we also had the chance to spend more time with Ash as a team. This meant that we managed to imp (fix broken feathers) Herriot's tail feathers and soak up as much wisdom from our 'Jedi' as we could before he left.

Herriot and the rest of the Sky Hunters team are also back in full swing at the slightly earlier time of 2pm this year. Operationally this has made the day much more manageable for us and gives us a 'golden hour' between 3pm and 4pm when we can give people the chance to fly a Harris' Hawk through the woodlands here and, perhaps when they're in full bloom' through the bluebells. Doesn't get much better than that! Having said Herriot is back on the team, it's been a little hard to predict what he's going to do in demos day to day. Sunday for example he soared high above the castle, disappeared for a few moments before pulling the most jaw-dropping stoop over the trees and into the arena (to spontaneous applause I might add from large crowds of people). On the other hand, when I flew him yesterday, his display went like this - Take off, land in a tree, the branch snaps, he falls into the long grass, gets up, lands on the main castle lawn, sits and has a rest before flying so low through the woodland he nearly took a lady and her two children out in the process. In fact they ducked for cover when I shouted at them! Hopefully he'll get more consistent
as his fitness (and the weather) improves.

More exciting news is that we're currently on the hunt for another member of bird staff at the moment. We've been a three person team for almost a year now so another member of staff would help us enormously with the additional work we plan to do and make the demos much slicker. We've had a few applicants but there's still time to get a CV into us if you or anyone you know are the special sort of person we look for in a member of bird staff. More info here - http://www.muncaster.co.uk/files/documents/seasonal_falconer_advert_18_3_16.pdf

The Kites are back!

We open in less than a week's time! It's really very exciting after a long wet and cold winter to be finally within touching distance of the main season. We've also been really lucky with the weather recently - I've had a few days that Ive been wishing I hadn't opted for wellies. A lot has been happening - we had a visit from Ash and Penny from HCT which was very helpful. It was really good to see the look of pleasant surprise on Ash's face particularly when he saw the changes we've made to the Old Rose Garden, which by the way is very nearly almost finished and looks lovely. Once summer comes around and everything starts to leaf up a bit it'll look even better. We've started flying in that area now to get the owls used to it and their doing brilliantly. 

Our new freezer unit arrived this week which sounds like a really boring thing to say but when our food has been stored in 3 or 4 emergency freezers around the site it means we really appreciate having it all in one place! The old one gave up the ghost at the back end of last year and had really seen better days. The new one is al digital and high tech. We're very lucky. On that point we'll be having an enormous food delivery this week which should last us the season so the new unit arrived just in time! The roof on our weighing room and equipment shed is being replaced this week too so long as the weather holds. With all the rain the quick fix which was applied last September really isn't up to the job so hopefully this attempt will last a little longer. 

 

Peter flies Diego

All the birds who fly on the meadow are flying well too. Nutmeg even made an attempt to thermal yesterday and ended up being in the air for 25 minutes or so only to come back over at tree height. We're going to make a conscious effort to only fly him in displays when the weather is right for him. Last year when it wasn't he got in a habit of sitting in trees - not exactly dynamic and exciting to watch for any of us. Herriot will need to undergo some heavy imping (mending his feathers by using old mounted ones) as he's looking a bit rough. This eagle does not appear to have moulted anything but a few head feathers since he was a baby.  He is however training up well again and I'm hoping to get him flying free this week. There's going to be a really stark difference between the two displays this year and the most obvious is the amount of space the Falcons, vultures, kites and eagles use by comparison to the Owls we fly in the morning. 

The screen to protect the birds goes up

 

Before we know it we'll be in the midst of the main season again with more audience than we know what to do with. The sun is shining for now and the dog is enjoying it as I write this which makes life here that bit sweeter. 

 

Linford, Burrowing Owl.
There are few things sweeter

Well Spring is most definitely in the air now and that means that the centre is starting to regain some normality and routine. Birds are starting to be retrained ready for the main season (starting 20th March) and staff have just about had all the holiday their going to see until next year. I had a wonderful time away last week in Iceland seeing the Northern Lights, which was on my bucket list, and soaking in the Blue Lagoon but it's good to be back with the birds and back to preparing for demonstrations again. I have to say it's also a bonus for us bird staff having the tea room open again - somewhere warm that has tea and cake has got to be a winner hasn't it?

The diggers out in force

We've been fielding enquiries for new volunteers this week too - three individuals have contacted us, one of whom has just been to see Peter and I for a visit and hopefully we can but them to work very soon - there's rather a lot of staining to do before the summer opening as the rain (would you believe it?) has washed rather a lot of it away. We wouldn't mind some help shifting the huge pile of fresh chippings that are to be in the seating area of the Old Rose Garden.





This is where our new 'World of Owls' flying demonstration is going to be when we start flying again and it's taken a great deal of work to get it where it is now but, as ever, there's still lot's to do before it's ready. The lads here at Muncaster have played a massive part in preparing this area so a great deal of the credit for how the area ends up looking goes to them. I'm hoping we can get the space more or less there about 5 days before opening to give Emma, Stuart and I the chance to try the birds there before we need to show anyone.

Emma with ASBO

The joy of working with a well established flying team is the speed at which they get back on the ball after a break. Just a day or two into training and ASBO, Nutmeg, Conan and Iris are practuically ready to fly free. Actually ASBO has now flown free - he's doing about half a dozen passes to the lure at the moment and that will increase as he builds fitness. This wont take long. The owls will take a little longer I think - we're still waiting on Whippet to moult his tail feathers and, to be honest, I don't hold out much hope for him being ready for the start of the flying season but we'll see. Herriot is in a similar boat and looks more than a tad messy. We don't like to fly birds with feathers broken, on the odd occasion its unavoidable but in this case we'll just have to be patient and wait for them to drop and regrow. We're also expecting to have William, Foxpitt and Bandele, the Yellow Billed Kites, back with us from the 7th March when Penny and Ash visit from the Hawk Conservancy. This will be a good chance for us all to catch up and prepare ourselves for what we hope will be a successful season in 2016. Plus HCT are like an extension of the family for us working with the birds so it'll be nice to see another couple of friendly faces!

Who could these tunnels be for?

New flyers are well and truly out there now. This year the marketing team have given the centre a whole side of the leaflet meaning that it looks almost like a stand-alone attraction. The hope is that people who have an interest in wildlife and specifically birds of prey will spot the flyer on the stand - then again lots of our interest is generated through the website now and I'm told that the Hawk and Owl Centre page is now the 3rd most visited on the site. With improvements to the whole site still to come we should hopefully reach even more people who will in turn want to come and support us. Perhaps that will be you! See you soon....

The gorgeous Delilah

There's not a great deal to say at the moment which is why I've been keeping so quiet over the last month. All of the birds have been fattened up for the winter as you know with the exception of Baz our male Harris' Hawk who damaged his leg in the middle of the summer season last year. With the operation and stitch up a success it took all of 3 months for his leg to heal properly. We got him out of the aviary about two weeks ago and have started training him again.


He's a funny bird, bred from a hunting female I was lucky enough to work with back home in Northamptonshire and a male who had worked on experiences there for 12 years or so. I had always expected their youngster to be very laid back and easy going - Baz is far from easy to work with as far as Harris' go. I do hope he'll settle a bit better when we get him flying as he should be working on our 'Hawk Walks' later in the year - follow the link for more deatils http://www.muncaster.co.uk/gifts-experiences/hawk-walks. Izzy, Our other Harris' (now at a ripe old age of 20!) really doesn't like him and gives him the evil eye at any opportunity.

We had a visit from avian vet John Chitty (BVetMed, CertZooMed, CBiol, MSB, MRCVS (and probably more letters too!) just yesterday. John works very closely with HCT and so takes overall responsibility for most of the veterinary care their birds need. We work with Browne and McKinney Vets who are colleges of Peter's and so their working relationship is already good and their wonderful people who have been brilliant with handling some difficult avian cases over the last season whilst liaising with John.The meeting meant that everyone could put a name and voice to a face and so we could put together more structured procedure for when we have birds that are unwell (it was a lot more interesting than it sounds). I have to say that there were moments I felt a little lost in a room with me and four vets - I'm sure they have their own language. In any case the visit was very positive and we got a lot from it. We've got lots of paperwork to do to make sure we're all on the same page and that we're working to the highest possible standards.

We're still continuing work in the 'Old Rose Garden' which used to be the main section of the old Owl Centre. Practically every structure was removed before Christmas and now we're beginning to shape the area up for it's new purpose (which we'll reveal at the start of the season on March 10th). So until then we'll be digging, shoveling, planting, strimming, pruning, 'making-good', planting and shifting breeze blocks which should keep us busy at least until we start to train birds up again which will probably be towards the end of February.

No prizes for guessing which one's me...

I've been working with Gosforth Amateur Dramatics Society too over the winter doing Panto - It's really good fun. Opening night was last night and we had vast numbers of Brownies and Cub Scouts in which was brilliant as they love it more than anyone. I'm setting up a Youth Theatre with them too in my spare time (??!!) which I'm really looking forward too and I'm hoping to get them involved with some of the events here at Muncaster. I think they call that community cohesion... or something!

The team have moved on apace again with the deconstruction of the 'other' area beyond the current centre walls. Most of the old aviaries have been collapsed and we're starting to get a real feel of how we are going to use this area to its full potential. It's amazing how much having a blank canvass can change your perception of a space. It's so much more open now and there is so much space for us to use.

Lila took a bit of a fall yesterday - after jumping up to catch a stick she fell on her right shoulder and gave a loud yelp and started limping. She's the nuttiest dog so she usually shakes off a scrape here or there. This time however she's not come off so well as, when I went to check on her later in the day, she could bare no weight at all on her right leg. Straight to the vets we went who seemed to think there were no breaks but that it was unsure if she could have a fracture.  After some anti-inflammatory and some pain medication she seems much brighter this morning and is baring at least some of her weight on the leg. The trials our animals put us through!


We're all organised for Christmas now and its good to know that we're all going to get a chance to have a break - including the birds. From 23rd December until mid-March we will not be flying so it means we can get a lot of the work we need doing before we open again next year. That said, it's been easier to get a few of those things done even this month as we have not seen very many visitors at the flying displays but we are ever grateful to those who do attend. Visitors who have seen the flying displays have had extra special treatment and have been flying some of the birds with us. The news coverage of the floods across Cumbria has been 'bad for business' to say the least even though we have been barely seen any flooding in our area. And it's still raining as I look outside the office!









I've also been working with Andy and Denise to create a new leaflet for the new year. It's looking very colourful and gives us our first chance to market the Hawk and Owl Centre alongside the Castle. We couldn't do this last year as we started our season in May - too late to tell the world too much before we had to be flying birds.

Thank you very much to all of you who follow this blog and have supported the Hawk and Owl Centre in our first year. We all wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2016 (which hopefully will include a trip to see us at the centre!).

You've got to love TripAdvisor. It's a brilliant way to gather as many peoples opinions on a place or activity and can be a real help to businesses to adapt. Trouble is it opens you up to all sorts. Muncaster is just next door to Ravenglass where there is a ruin of a Roman Bathhouse - there's a TripAdvisor page for this and despite the incredible fact that it's still standing (with many Walls intact) after nearly 2000 years people still write on the website that it's "just a few walls". I imagine they'd say the same about the Coliseum or after a visit to Pompeii! Mostly visitors have been very kind about the change this year at Muncaster and the displays have been especially well received. We've had countless messages and accolades on social media raving about them. Some don't agree but I have firmly believed throughout the season that the displays and the birds in them have very rightly made us very proud at Muncaster. I certainly wouldn't do them if I thought they weren't to the highest possible standard. What we have produced this year is going to be better next year and better again the year after that. To anyone who hasn't been very pleased with our displays this year I apologise but I think they've been excellent. After all this was our first season and Rome wasn't built in a day. Then again, Rome was 'just a few walls'. 

We have been busy making alterations to the covered area for the tethered birds in the centre. The ground was getting very waterlogged under there and so we've put a membrane and 6 tonnes of gravel down which should do the trick! The birds can now sit out in all weathers (practically) without getting wet heads, feathers or feet. The rest of the team here at Muncaster have also been an absolute godsend over the last week or so as they have been helping us deconstruct some of the old aviaries 'next door'.  This year we've only been using what was called the Owl Garden but we hope to expand into the other large area of the centre when we re-open in the spring. Lots of exciting times ahead as we build up to that opening but a heck of a lot of work to do to it first. 

The Wildlife Pond has also moved on a pace and is now recognisably a public area. Until a couple of weeks ago it was very overgrown and very 'wild'. Emma has been working with the garden staff to create new habitats for wildlife and a renewed area for visitors to enjoy come next spring. This was one of the projects we discussed on the Friends of Muncaster evening in September so it's good to see us being true to our word. 

The hardy birds are still flying and doing a Stirling job in some harsh conditions. As I type this I'm not sure that I won't get blown away today let alone the birds! They'll be flying at 1:30pm everyday until 23rd December, weather permitting.  We had out first cancelled show this week due to high winds. Trees were coming down in the woods so I think we made the right call. A couple staying in Ravenglass had come specifically to see us fly so they still got a close up look at some of the birds and a 'VIP tour'. 

Well the weather has certainly turned and it is most definitely getting towards the winter now. I always love the change over between seasons - especially when autumn really takes hold and in a place like this it's spectacular to watch the greens turn to orange. One of the trees on Canon Bank looked as if it were on fire just a week ago. It's practically bare now - I just wish the weather were not so wet! The damp is causing us some issues. One of them being that people aren't visiting us which was expected after Halloween. I'm told by other staff that it's entirely normal for us to have only seen a handful of people by lunchtime but it seems so alien after, just 2 weeks ago, struggling to seat everyone at the 2:30pm show. Another issue the rain is causing is the ground. The massive amount of rainfall we've had has meant that the 'wet-weather shelter' is no good and birds would very quickly become very muddy if we were to tether them there. We've been in conversations this week to fix this as it has meant a few of the birds being indoors for a while. We've decided that, after going around the houses a little bit, the best solution is to put down a membrane and a good layer of gravel underneath the current shelter. This always was the plan but the shelter was erected so quickly at the start of a very busy season when we were new so it got missed.

 The weather was however kind to us over the Halloween period. Our Twilight Owls flying displays were very well received by all accounts. The displays were modeled on the Hawk Conservancy Trust's 'Owls by Moonlight' evenings (which are fabulous and should you ever have the opportunity to attend an evening with them then seize the opportunity!) and Gary helped us to choreograph and light the arena and it had a stunning impact. The meadow looked great and all the owls did very well. Ash was a little slow on one of the nights towards the end of the week but he's only young! In fact the only night we had rain was on Halloween itself and it was still lovely - our audience that night were especially brilliant as they still sat with us and really bought into the spirit of the event. They were all wet but nearly all smiling and that's good enough for me. Hopefully we'll run similar events for Halloween next year so if you missed it this time then make sure you get a ticket next time around. 




We've now dropped down to one flying demo each day at the earlier time of 1:30pm for over the winter. We found that 2:30pm was just too late and lots of people wanted to get back on the road if the weather was poor. We've also moved our Wild Heron feed to 3pm until we're back in the main season - partly as it's really starting to get dark by 4pm. This seems to be working well and gives us as bird staff a little more time in the afternoon as well as the morning. If you are planning to visit please remember that the castle is closed at this time of year, as is the main cafe but that our tea room is still serving the best cakes in Cumbria and hot soup and sandwiches - what better on a cool autumnal afternoon? We're flying until 23rd December so do take the opportunity to come along! 













We had a radio interview with Metro radio a couple of days ago too. It's always nice to be able to discuss the work we are doing and promote ourselves to the world. Not so great perhaps when my interview went put at somewhere between 1am and 2am on Friday morning - not sure that's where our target audience will be found but a plug's a plug!


The three yellow billed kites have made the trip back to HCT for the winter as the big aviary they were in this season is not sheltered a enough for what can be a very delicate species. They are back with the bigger kite team in Andover and will return in the Spring next year ready to do it all again! 





We've been in discussions together this week about the best way forward for the centre too. We're all very passionate about the centre and all thoroughly believe that it will grow into one of the best of it's kind in the country especially with the help of HCT. I'm putting together these plans at the moment so if you're a regular visitor or a Friend of Muncaster then you can rest assured that we'll be working hard to make the experience of the Hawk and Owl Centre even better for next year. I'll keep you posted. 

It's taken me so long to get around to writing my blog this time - I thought that things would slow down a little after the main summer period and, in some respects, it has. On the other hand so much is happening with plans for the centre making it an exciting but busy time. We had the visit from Penny and Gary from HCT at the end of September to iron out a few issues we were having with the Halloween 'Twilight Owls Show' which is now looking like it's going to be a beautiful experience for all those who attend. To anyone who's ever visited the Hawk Conservancy Trust you may know that they run 'Owls by Moonlight' evenings and our displays is modeled on these evenings. But the backdrop of the lit castle and the atmosphere of the lighting we have created on the meadow is just such a visual feast that I'm certain that attendants to the show will have never seen anything quite like it before - I'm just praying for good weather again. (I seem to be doing that a lot since my move to Cumbria!). More information about timings and prices over the Halloween period can be found here http://www.muncaster.co.uk/special-events/halloween-week.

Ria with Nutmeg

We have also been busy discussing plans for next year's developments and how we are going to go about achieving them. The bulk of the manual work will need to be done after Halloween and over the winter period when we are closed. Given that we will be flying right up to December 23rd this year at 2:30pm every day (and feeding Herons at 4pm) this doesn't give us a large amount of time to be closed completely to visitors. On the plus side if you fancy wrapping up warm on a lovely winter's afternoon you will be treated to some wonderful flying from the hardiest members of our flying team everyday on the Wildflower Meadow. The plans will make our work here so much more efficient and will definitely make anyone's visit to the centre even more special - can you tell I'm keeping most of our plans a secret for now? Gary and Penny's input with all these plans has, of course, been invaluable and we are so very lucky to be working with an organisation that has so much expertise in working with birds of prey and building a centre of excellence. Keep watching this blog and the facebook page for more updates.



Aside all of the hard work each of us have actually managed to take a week off over the past 3 weeks. The wonderful Ria has been here for almost a month now and covered for Emma, Stuart and I to take some leave. She's also been such a breath of fresh air to the centre and her enthusiasm hasn't wavered for three weeks. Actually I am very tempted to let Penny know that she won't be returning to HCT at all and that we will be keeping her now!

Heat lamps and solid roofs on all of the aviaries are all now in place and fully operational. It's very comforting to see the warm red glow coming from the bird's housing when the temperature dips just a little low. So far it's not been too cold but we have had a couple of ground frosts. With the wind chill I'm expecting it to get very cold very quickly after Halloween - which is just as well because many of the birds will be rested after this point. They will be fattened up for the winter and be given a well deserved rest from demonstrations until spring time next year.
 





One final note is one on Herriot. Last week he decided to soar and glide a little further than we usually like him to into the valley. We're all very proud of the progress he has made since our arrival here in May and being able to watch an eagle like this soar over the castle is incredible.

He did however take the biscuit a little by flying just a little too far over the valley and making his part of the 2:30pm demonstration last a little over 3 hours. Stuart and I managed to find him in the woodland just this side of the estuary by tracking his radio transmitter. He was very pleased to see us as I think he had gotten himself well and truly lost! Stuart was a little stressed that day....

It's noticeably cooler as we head closer to October now. The birds are all eating a little more food to hold their weight and the heating is coming on sometimes in my house which is a first! Although I do have to admit to having the fire on a fair few times - Delilah seems to like it and always sits as close as she dares. We're now also starting to rest birds who have worked particularly hard over the summer - Nutmeg the Lanner Falcon being one of those so he's enjoying not having to do a great deal to earn his keep. ASBO has stepped up to the mark after starring in our Friend's of Muncaster evening a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't been to see him fly yet and you get the chance then you really should as he regularly gives us bird staff Goosebumps to watch him fly - "Tinglyyy!" as Stuart would put it.

Ash now fully grown and flying well

Now it's quieter we're also all going to get a chance to take some time away from the centre. After starting in May the work we've done has been pretty intensive and none of us have had much chance to take stock (although I'm sure Emma and Stuart would happily tell you that I'm never here!). Because we're a three person team and we always need two staff here to operate we've been joined by Ria, who has traveled up from the Hawk Conservancy Trust to cover for us all. We're all so far enjoying having someone else on the team and I for one can say its so enjoyable to listen to a commentary from someone new at the shows. I am hoping that Ria's time here will be useful to her too as its a very different dynamic to working at the Trust. A smaller bird handling team, a broader attraction and different shows all mean that it should be an experience so I hope that she feels welcome and that she enjoys her time here.

We had a visit from John Hoosen from the National Trust who has been working with species specific to Cumbria and looking particularly at the Netted Carpet Moth which we have a small stronghold of here at Muncaster - a rarity in this part of the Lakes I'm told. With Emma planning the conservation projects in the coming months this is a species well worth thinking about. I'm hoping we can all get a chance to see the moth at dusk before it gets too cold!

Walrus and Stuart have been working together to get ready for winter. All of the aviaries now have power which means that Stuart has started putting heat lamps in with the smaller, more vulnerable birds first. To see the warm red glow of those lamps inside the houses of these susceptible birds is very comforting. The weighing room is also being re-roofed soon as it was practically flooded earlier this week after heavy rain. It looks as if it's needed a new one for a while so Martin and Murray have temporarily fixed it before the real thing goes on next week (I think!).
 We've got a visit from Penny and Gary from HCT next week as well which will be very useful. There's always so much to discuss and I think next year's plans are going to play a part in these talks - We're all very excited about what's to come after a very successful season this year.

The schools have now well and truly gone back now as we're seeing less families visiting the centre and more couples and groups visiting who have cleverly avoided the rush of the summer holidays. This is a chance for myself and the team at the Hawk and Owl Centre to come up for air as we have such a whirlwind of a summer - really thrown in at the deep end. I'm pleased to say we've managed to do what I think is a pretty good job so far. As I always have said - the birds really have done us proud (most of them at least!).

Emma with Ash on our Friends of Muncaster Event

Thank you to those of you who are Friends of Muncaster who attended our special evening event last week. I have to say that it was far more a success than we could have hoped with double the numbers we had expected for the evening actually attending. The birds all flew well in the demonstration with Ash the Great Grey Owl making his debut appearance in front of a crowd flying completely free! I think he's going to be an absolute super star if he's not already. The highlight for me was Peter and Iona's appearance as falconers for the evening. They were both great sports and did a sterling job - so much so that Emma, Stuart and I had better watch our jobs - Peter had really done his research on Burrowing Owls and even knew the incubation time for their eggs and their conservation status in the wild. The talks were all also well received. Hopefully now we will have a core of our membership that truly understand the work we are trying to champion both here at the castle and with the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Peter also announced that we had managed to raise roughly £10k in donations for that conservation work over the time we have been here which is very pleasing indeed. 

Two delicate Burrowing Owls - Michael Edwards

We're now busy making preparations for the colder months and Walrus has begun his work rigging heat lamps into all the aviaries. We work with quite a few delicate individuals (birds not people!) and its important that they are kept warm and comfortable during what could be a very harsh winter. None of us bird staff have experienced a winter here so we're keen to over rather than under prepare. The team is also in talks about how we can make improvements for next year. Due to the situation back in May this year, we were unable to design and build the centre to a standard we were entirely happy with so the winter will give us an opportunity to take stock and discuss what needs doing before we open again in the spring. This is one of the main attractions for working alongside the Hawk Conservancy - the standards are set very high and that guidance towards those standards is going to be invaluable to the centre reaching its full potential as one of excellence. 

Mulberry, Jason Braithwaite

Whilst the weather has been mostly kind to us over the last few days it's odd how quickly the mornings and evenings can start to feel very autumnal - as if one can smell the approaching cooler weather on the breeze.
We've just finished the Living History week which saw large numbers of various 'ancestors' meeting and greeting visitors to the castle. The birds coped very well with musket fire on the lawn and even, at one stage I think, a cannon. I think next year it might be nice for us to tie into the history side of things a bit more and get involved with some historical falconry and educate visitors a little more about falconers' roots in history. Peter is desperate to get us dressed up in medieval gear for the shows - I'm not sure that'll go down too well with Stuart, or the birds!

Ash, our baby Great Grey Owl, has started work in the displays this past week. At the end of the World of Owls demonstration he has made an appearance as a training session. We've only been flying him on a creance line (a length of line for training birds before flying them free) so far but I think he'll not be long before he's ready to go free. We'll be fitting a radio transmitter first mind you! I think the plan is to try and get him involved in our Friends of Muncaster event (http://www.muncaster.co.uk/special-events/friends-mhoc) thats happening on Sunday.

Herriot, Michael Edwards

Speaking of the event, the team have been hard at work preparing for the evening and it looks to be a wonderful event. We're going to have a few surprises at the flying demonstration so if you are a 'Friend' and you're thinking you've seen our shows before - think again. The finale (which we've rehearsed twice now with one of the falcons) is just awesome. We've also hired a couple of high profile newbie falconers who are going to be a part of the display. Emma and Stuart have also been working to get their talks ready about the conservation work we're all here to support - both here at the castle and at the Hawk Conservancy Trust. It looks at the moment as if the weather is going to be fine too so it's all set to be a really great evening. I shall look forward to seeing you there.

To the Muncaster Hawk and Owl Centre page - http://bit.ly/1II332v

ASBO

There are times of the year that I really look forward to flying birds for large numbers of visitors - the days when it's 'standing room only' at the shows really adds something to the atmosphere of a demonstration and it's often when we get the best reaction from audiences. Monday was one such day and, it has to be said, it is absolutely exhausting trying to organise so many people to stay still and seated throughout and make sure that everyone (and every bird!) is safe. We managed it - I'm not sure how many we had at the demonstrations but it was rather a lot. Coupled with the police dog training unit down on the lawn and the Frozen sisters from the actual Disney film excitement levels were high from the start of the CFM 'Cash for Kids' day. The birds flew outstandingly well and they never cease to amaze me. With all that was going on elsewhere in the gardens they all did a fantastic job for us and we're very proud of them all. Nutmeg the Lanner got some nice height, which he has been regularly doing this last week, and the Herriot was awesome as always.

Rebecca with Herriot

We've got a little more help now too - Dawn managed to get talking to Rebecca, who has recently moved to
West Cumbria from a much warmer part of the world in the States, and gave her the nudge to come along and volunteer. Rebecca has been with us for a week or so now and it's fair to say that she's really been thrown in at the deep end with stewarding shows for us. It's never easy to man the show as some people don't like playing by the rules of 'sit still', 'don't just stand up randomly when an eagle is flying' or 'keep children under control!', so all our volunteers and staff that do this job are doing a great job. We also have a veterinary student here on work experience this week which offers us a little more help and every little really does help! I think he's painting the owl tea room as i type this - perhaps not the best experience for his vocation but it's all part of the job!

Bob with a hooded Nutmeg

My good friend Bob Brind-Surch, who runs a wildlife photography business, Natures Photos, came up to visit me from Northamptonshire last week too. Bob is an excellent naturalist and has a real passion for wildlife from all around the globe. Having spent a chunk of his life following some of the country's great falconers and flying birds himself in the past he has a great knowledge of how to photograph birds of prey in natural settings and understands the needs of the birds which many photographers often don't. I worked with Bob on raptor  workshops at Holdenby in Northants before the move to Muncaster so it was good to see someone from home. This was especially true as it was with the view to running some exciting new sessions here based around the stunning locations we have at Muncaster around the gardens and surrounding estate and the birds we work with in the centre.

Ash is growing fast and training well

Numbers are looking good for our special event for Friends of Muncaster. We haven't asked for everyone to tell us if they're coming but it will help us to know how many packets of chocolate biscuits etc we need to buy! Let's hope all goes well and that the event is a success - I'm praying for good weather.

Is it really August already? It's amazing to think that we are now in our fourth month of working here at the Castle and yet we've done so much. The centre has a completely different atmosphere and look to when we first arrived here in May, something that several visitors have commented on which is nice. The flowerbeds in front of the covered weathering are coming to life a little more now and everything seems to be settling in well. We too are more comfortable in our surroundings and now have a good routine to the day so we are much more efficient when getting ready for opening and demonstrations which means that we're all, mostly, getting a coffee break before we open at 10:30am.

Visitor wise we have been very busy and most days our 'Taster Sessions' are being filled. These are hour long experiences on which visitors can get that little bit closer to our birds and have an almost one-to-one session with our the bird staff as we limit spaces to a maximum of 4 guests. The sessions have been well received with everyone so far really enjoying them (or as far as I can tell!) and most telling me that the session is well worth the £30.00 that we charge. This is really good as every little helps at the moment whilst we're still setting up the centre. If you're reading this and fancy a go, sessions can be pre-booked online or spaces are sometimes available on the day - if you're quick! Details can be found here http://www.muncaster.co.uk/gifts-experiences/hawk-handling-taster.



We did decide to rest Diego in the end. Her feathers really were in need of a good moult so she's getting a nice rest and being fed up for a few weeks. We're in the second week and she's not done that much moulting just yet but patience is important with these things.She is much missed in the shows though as she's a great character and just so different from any of the other birds we fly - perhaps we'll have to find her an understudy for when she needs to moult... now there's an idea! As a result of not having her we decided to make more of Nutmeg, our Lanner Falcon, in the shows. On the warm days when there are thermals he makes some nice height and even when working to a lure he looks absolutely spectacular so we fly him to music - the experience is epic. It occurred to me just how important the sections of no commentary are in our displays as we do get a large number of overseas guests staying here, many of whom would not be able to connect with our displays so well if we didn't have these breaks so it's good for everyone.

The morning 'World of Owls' show feels slicker now and all the owls are performing well. Whilst I was away last week though, Stuart said he had had issues with Sage our Tawny Owl. So Gucci the Brown Wood Owl has filled her role in the morning show and Sage now mostly working on experiences which she much prefers. Sage was a bird that I brought along with me from Icarus Falconry in Northamptonshire where she mostly worked on these hands-on sessions so she's very used to being handled by lots of different people and so this sits best with her. Plus everyone thinks she's adorable!

Ash, the young Great Grey owl, is also coming on well and has grown at quite a pace as expected. He's still not on display just yet but training has begun with the staff here and he's taking it all in his stride - jumping to the fist now for his mice which will hopefully bode well for his future work in demonstrations.

We are planning a special event for the 6th September exclusively for Friends of Muncaster to launch the conservation projects the Hawk and Owl centre plan to work on in the very near future. The evening will include a never-before-seen flying display including several favourite birds from the Hawk and Owl Centre (with a few surprises) coupled with light-hearted commentary from the falconers. After the display, Friends are invited to light refreshments in the Old Laundry Room whilst listening to the evening’s talks on the important work the Hawk and Owl Centre plan to do and the work already happening around the gardens and surrounding estate at Muncaster in the name of conservation. This is an exclusive event for Friends membership holders only so if you'd like to attend you need to be one! You can sign up for this online.

The school summer holidays have well and truly kicked off now and we're noticing more visitors to the 11:30 am show which is good... mostly. I'm not sure what it is about some visitors (albeit very few as most of our audiences have been wonderful) but they do like to try my patience. Just this week one parent decided it was a good idea to have children running across benches and shouting out questions at the top of their lungs whilst Cavalli was flying. This is of course after the health and safety briefing at the start of the demonstration stating that everyone needs to sit still else they may well get a bird collide with them - not good! In any case I did have to stop the show until the children were under control which they (eventually) were by the end. It makes me so grateful for the birds we are working with. They are pretty much bombproof meaning that no matter what happens the vast majority of them don't bat and eyelid and continue with the display. 

We moved the benches on the flying grounds back a little last week too which does give a better view and helps keep the meadow as preserved as possible but it does mean that the birds have had to adjust to new perches or audience in a different place. I think Mulberry the Barn Owl has found this change the hardest as her routine is pre-set targets but she's getting there. She has also frequently 'found' Stuart, Emma or I inside the speaker this week - so much so that we've had to turn the PA off a couple of times to get her attention back. That's what happens when you work with some of nature's best set of ears I suppose.

The new mews has become our default weathering for the falcons and just needs painting up now. Dawn, Eve, Carol-Anne and Terry have been getting to grips with this for us -where would we be without volunteers? Coincidentally, if you are interested in volunteering with us we now have a form we send out for people who want to join us - you even get a free cuppa out of it and I'm sure I or one of the other bird staff will buy you a slice of cake for good behavior! We're building a really nice, friendly team here which has taken the pressure away from bird staff just a little.

Flying displays have been going very well and we're improving them everyday when we can - just yesterday we trialed flying Nutmeg to music and I think it was successful even if he did spend half of his flight soaring above the trees behind the audience where nobody could see him. We are thinking of giving Diego a few weeks off, which is a shame as she's such a star and we're entering the busiest period of the year more or less but her tail is a bit of a mess. 

She had one or two broken ones when she arrived here at Muncaster after a long trip from HCT. She has since broken a couple more and we are going to rethink her perching and box style for when she has moulted. It might give us time to find an understudy for 'Frank' the rubber snake whom Diego kills every day during her display. 

My trip down to Hampshire was successful and I came away with the newest member of our team here at Muncaster - Ash, the Great Grey Owl. He's a little over five weeks old now and is not yet on display, of course, but will be as soon as we can let him. He's going to be such a fantastic bird to fly in our winter demonstrations later this year - I'm hoping we can get him going well for the Halloween celebrations which gives us three months to get him bang on. At the moment he's still coming home with us - a role which we're sharing and Stu and Emma have agreed to take on when I am away from the centre next week. 

It may sound like a fantastic thing to do, babysitting for a baby owl, and it is. 

Except from all the things they want to destroy - or poo on! He's a lovely little character and I have high hopes for his success here in displays. 

Emma has assumed the role of our lead in the conservation field from the Hawk and Owl centre. She went ringing songbirds this weekend and hopes to do more, specifically with raptors if possible, in the very near future. This type of experience  is invaluable to the work we want to be doing. We are making plans to launch the projects we want to work on on site at Muncaster (in addition to supporting the work done by the Hawk Conservancy Trust) in September and hope to hold a special event for 'Friends of Muncaster'. This will be an exclusive event for 'Friends' only and is likely to include a never-before-seen demonstration on the meadow and a talk in the Old Laundry Room outlining the conservation work the Hawk and Owl Centre is working towards. Refreshments will be included too, of course! Details of this event will be sent out very soon but if you're not a friend then sign up now. Not only does it give you access to events like this, which we hope to make regular, but it also allows you entrance to Muncaster as many times as you like for a year - bargain, especially if you are local.