For the birds…and the beasts

Today we got up early so that I could go to a half-day hands-on demonstration at Falconry UK while my mother browsed through Thirsk.

I didn’t take my camera because I didn’t want to haul it around and then discover I wouldn’t have a chance to take photos. ‘Hands-on’ implied to me that I wouldn’t.

And sometimes you just want to DO something without framing it through a viewfinder. So I got to have all the fun, and you don’t get to see.

The demonstration was both entertaining and informative. More informative than I’d expected, because I’d forgotten that falconry is something that normal people can practice in the UK (as opposed to the arcane regulations in the US) so what we were learning was intended for practical use. I’d expected ‘The eagle is a beautiful bird…’ and I got ‘Here is how you tie a falconry knot…’ which was fantastic.

The instructor was, shall we say, an unforgettable character. The words that come to mind are ‘gleefully batshit.’ Of course it was self-aware batshittery which is a bit different; there’s showmanship in it. The first thing he started with was introducing us to the center’s various birds and listing their foibles (‘She’s going to hate you because you have a beard. You ladies, stay back from that one, it’s the time of year that he has a certain thing in mind and because you can’t lay his eggs, he’ll hate you. Yes, they can tell the difference between men and women. Oh, this one won’t let you get close to her. She hates blondes. If you were wearing a hat you’d be okay’). Followed closely by a cheerful list of all of the ways the birds could seriously injure you. ‘Their talons are like rottweilers, so if they go for you it’s like having two rottweilers hanging onto you. This one decided she didn’t like me one day and gave me six stitches in my ear. Blood was EVERYWHERE.’ Followed with a a giant shit-eating grin and declaration of ‘But she’s BRILLIANT!!’

Honestly, he was like someone out of Dickens; but not being Dickens, I will leave it at that.

The culmination of the day was when we took a Harris Hawk named Lou out onto the paths around the center, where she hopped along the hedgerow beside us and occasionally came swooping to our hands (covered in falconry gloves of course) to receive bits of turkey chick. It was lovely hot weather again, a perfect day to be outside with such a beautiful bird. The instructor kept up a constant stream of information all throughout so I felt as if the top of my head had been opened and data was being poured directly in.

Suffice it to say I will never be a falconer (or austringer). But what a wonderful day, and what beautiful birds.

I had arranged to do only the half-day at the center so that I would have time to meet my mother and visit the World of James Herriot. And I’d given my phone to my mother so I would have a way to take pictures of that. I’m glad I did, because the light was gorgeous and the museum was much more detailed than I expected.

Oh my God I was in Skeldale House! /geekout

The dining room-slash-office.