NATIONAL BIRDS OF PREY CENTRE NEWSLETTER Number 9 December 2000 A COUNTY AWARD FOR THE CENTRE Gathered together on the 3rd November were not only companies, individuals and organisations of the national and international renown, but ordinary members of the county of Gloucestershire. All nominated because of work done for the benefit of others. At the reception organised by the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire at Cheltenham Race Course, Mark Parker and Sarah-Jane Rum-ble received “The Heroes of Gloucestershire Award” on behalf of the National Birds of Prey Centre for the care and research into birds of prey. THE WEATHER Many of our members and friends have been in contact because of the dreadful floods and stormy weather suffered by so many people up and down the UK. We would just like to say thank you very much for your concern and it is really nice to know that you have all been thinking of us! Fortunately, we are slightly higher up that most places around Gloucester and have managed to avoid major flooding. All the birds and staff are well, although the mud is getting extremely boring! We have lost a few fences in the gales and some major damage to the larger trees will have to attended to in the not too distant future… al-though it’s not over yet, we don’t plan to let it get us down!

A TRIO SADLY MISSED! Overnight on the 15th July 2000 three female Harris Hawks, namely, Lambe, Common Blue and Bell, were sto-len from the Hawk Walk within the grounds of The National Birds of Prey Centre. In my time at the NBPC this is the second time that birds have been stolen. The previous theft was in 1996 when two breeding pairs of Harris Hawks were taken from Barn Two. In addition to this, one of the youngsters that was being reared by its parents ended up dead on the floor of the aviary. The 1996 theft was hard to take, but the recent theft of birds was very upsetting. It hit Jemima and all the bird staff hard, especially me as all three Hawks played such an important part in the many courses that we run, nota-bly the Falconry Experience Days. All the courses over the past few years have gone from strength to strength and none more so than the Experience Days. Without a doubt this success has been helped along by quality birds who by their own character have helped us run courses consistently and smoothly without too many hic-

cups. All three birds stolen have helped the Centre to achieve success as well as giving staff, the public and course attendants many enjoyable and exciting moments, I thought that it would be nice to write a little piece about each bird, as a sort of tribute and public thank you for all they have given us. Its only right that I start with “Lamb” who was named after a Scottish poet. Bred by Mr J. Shaw from Derby-shire; Lamb was seven years old when she was stolen having hatched out in June of 1993. She was by far the most experienced Harris Hawk at the NBPC, having performed public demonstrations on thousands of occa-sions, including numerous demo’s in front of members of the Royal family. Lamb’s many days out hawking had taken her to well over five hundred head of quarry which included, hare, rabbit and pheasant. She was also particularly adept at surprising crows. One other talent that she had was a rather crafty way of catching squir-rels. Often on days out, she would find herself a squirrels dray and then proceed to jump up and down on it. This she would con-tinue to do until a squirrel was flushed. Now all the bird staff at NBPC try not to catch this particular type of quarry because they posses a nasty bite. This can cause severe infection to a birds feet, with the possibility of tendons being severed and seri-ous infection getting a hold. Lamb was bitten many times by squir-rels but it never de-terred her. She was an absolute master at catching them and would refuse to come out of a tree if she believed one was there. Lamb was an extremely clever hawk, one of her tricks, in realising that squirrels often posi-tioned themselves on the underside of branches was to sneak along the branch above them. If the branch was small enough she would reach around either side with her feet and grab it. Unfortunately for me she rarely let go, which meant I normally had to climb the tree in order to retrieve both bird and quarry. Lamb was not the most elegant of birds, she was a long slim strange looking hawk who gave the impression of being extremely slow and clumsy. In reality she was, very efficient and knew how and when to turn on the power. She is the only hawk that I know who has caught two rabbits at once, and a rabbit in a tree. They are true stories that I won’t detail now, though if you ever come on an experience day, I’m sure you will here me tell the tales. The one thing that I will truly miss about Lamb is her truly wonderful temperament. She was easy going and never aggressive. Many hundreds of course attendants over the years have picked her up and held her on their fists. She made it easy for them. My lasting memory of her will be of earlier this year when a school party of blind children attended the NBPC. Lamb allowed the children to run their hands over her in order to under-stand what a hawk was. She never flinched once and permitted all of the children to have their turn. She was a remarkable bird who will be sorely missed by all. Bell - was the youngest of the birds stolen, having been bred here at the Centre in August of 1999, a year when the chosen theme for naming new birds was “inventors”. Bell’s initial training began in January 2000, this was pretty late on, due to the fact that she was a second clutch bird. Bell was trained by Annie Miller who put a lot of time into her, both at work and her own time. Annie’s hard work was rewarded in early March when Bell caught her first rabbit on a Five Day Falconry Course. From then on she went from strength to strength and formed a very good hunting partnership with the more experienced “Izzy”, a four year old male Harris hawk.

They often flew quite brilliantly together especially when out Hawking during Experience Days. It was a part-nership that just clicked producing a quite formidable duo. On many occasions when quarry was scarce they would circle up high into the sky, soaring around together before stooping down to the fist. The control and sheer spectacle of it all astounded many people even bringing some to tears! Bell was a very dark, smart looking young Hawk who at times could be a little vocal and a touch temperamen-tal. But all in all she was a reliable responsive and valued asset to the Course team. She will be missed by all, especially by Annie. “Common Blue” arrived at the Centre in June of 1999 with somewhat of an un-usual start to life. She arrived in part juvenile plumage having already started her first moult indicating that she was a 1998 bird. Though where she originally came from and who actu-ally bred her was and still is com-pletely unknown. Her path to us was via a gamekeeper who had caught her unharmed in a Larson trap. She had been living rough in the area for over 7 months surviving on a luxury diet of pheasant. It was because of this that later during her stay at NBPC she became known as the upper class Harris Hawk. She would often turn her nose up at rabbits when out hawking, showing a much greater desire and aptitude to pursue pheasant. After being caught by the gamekeeper Common Blue was handed over to West Yorkshire Police Constabulary who in turn delivered the bird to us. Ironically the ring on her leg was one of the batch stolen at a Country Fair . Though whether Common Blue had been previously stolen from someone before her capture or just lost, no one knew. Yorkshire Police had been unable to trace an owner, and so she began a career at the NBPC, she was a pleasure to fly and never caused any problems to anyone. Switching her flying talents from Experience Days to demonstrations, to flying to complete strangers fists on numerous varied occasions. She had a nice easy going attitude to life, and gave all the staff an easy option bird to use in any difficult flying situation. Because she was a 1998 bird, the ‘name’ theme that year being butterflies, I decided to call her Common Blue. She was due this year to be paired with a suitable male in the hope that her easy going attitude would be inherited by any offspring. I hope that wherever she is, that she is still happy. I trained and flew her for most of the 1999/2000 season, I am grateful at least that I had that time with her. All three birds have been greatly missed we still have hope that somewhere in the future we will see and fly them again. I hope they are safe and well and that their present keepers who ever they may be are taking good care of them. To date none of the birds stolen in 1996 or July 2000 have been recovered. Mark Parker, Head Falconer.

NBPC EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE Back in 1997 I begun to study for my Diploma in Raptor Biology through the University of Wales, Swansea at the NBPC. At the time I was working at the Lincolnshire Birds of Prey Centre, where I was for six years, then after I took on the role as Education Officer at Linton Zoo. It was always a dream that perhaps one day I would be working her at the NBPC, why? In any career you have goals, things to aim for and achieve. In the bird of prey world the goal has to be to work here. When you work for the most famous birds of prey centre in the world, with the largest collection and leads the world on many aspects, i.e. captive breeding, what more do you need? In the past I have worked often on my own or with just one or two people, but here you are part of a large team of bird staff who all clearly love there work, and where it is clearly obvious that there is a strong team spirit. And who are all committed to the NBPC. I find in my short time here that I have learnt so much re-garding new ways in training birds that it has brought to me a breath of new fresh air. With the help of my colleagues we are putting together some exciting new ideas for 2001. Next Easter we are hoping to launch our new “Wildlife Walk” which will be really great for everyone, in particular children, where we will really bring the National Curriculum to life. There will also be a new quiz train on offer for the whole family to get involved in to test the old grey matter! I am also the coordinator for volunteers, so if any one wishes to give us a hand here we would love to see you, just let me know. Regarding volunteers, I am thinking about creating a separate “Volunteers Club” so they who join could organise their own activities, have there own separate uniform, be in charge of organis-ing their own work load etc. U really think that this will work and would be very exciting and rewarding. I hope in the near future to get the opportunity of perhaps meeting many of you as members of the NBPC. Martin Foulds, Education Officer.

THE AUTUMN • Trip to South Carolina for Jemima in August • Good bye & good luck to Henrietta, move to Cornwall • Katherine left us for five weeks to travel Europe! • Caitlyn from Bird World, swam the Channel to raise money for Penguin Conservation • Filming at the Centre for a new series called “Animal Champions” • Congratulations to Judy and Martin, now Mr & Mrs Eley • Arthur gone to Panama to track and study Harpy Eagles in the wild • Hornets nests brought in “experts” to advise us that they are endangered, so they stayed…

Hmmmmm! • Flying Demonstration at Chatsworth Country Fair by Jemima • Two Students from the Van Hall Institute in Holland arrived for three months – Roland &

Freddie • Jemima attended the Police Wildlife Liaison Conference to give a talk • Lisa Jones and crew joined the Falconry Experience Day to film for HTV • Have you seen it? The Ad for the New Sony Digital Handycam… it’s “Chalky” • Twilight Evening tickets sold-out • Members celebrated their Ruby Wedding Anniversary with a day at the Centre • Martin and volunteers took the Ravens to a Haunted House Party • Jemima away in November • Rain, gales… mud, mud, glorious mud!

VOLUNTEERS… We need your help! Here at the Centre we are developing a new Volunteers Club, comprising of enthusiastic people from all walks of life who have a keen interest on Birds of Prey and a keen interest on the NBPC. As we move into the year 2001, we have decided to recruit people with various skills that can take the NBPC into the future. We are looking to recruit extra ordinary people with skills and experience in education, fundraising, ideas, DIY etc. On the education side we want to develop our Education Room more into an Educational “Activity” Room where kids and adults can enjoy aspects such as face painting, badge making etc. We are also looking to develop our Educational tours where we can provide the public with up to date information on what is happening at the Centre in particular with the breeding pro-grammes. On all positions available there will be extensive training offered to the successful candidates and of course the benefits of working with the Worlds most famous Birds of Prey Centre. INVITATION: If you are interested in this chance of a lifetime and the opportu-nity to support the work of the NBPC, why not come along to our open Volunteers Night? Saturday 3rd March 2001 at 6.30pm. There will be a talk, questions and answers session, followed by food and refreshments. RSVP (please) to: Martin Foulds, Education Officer. We look forward to hearing from you!

MEMBERSHIP NEWS At the beginning of the year we opened the Membership to a wider “audience” and made the Scheme, which has been in place since 1997, more flexible. This has been a great success, and throughout the year we have had the opportunity to welcome more and more new Members of all age groups, than ever before. Your Membership is very valuable to the Centre especially in December and January, so please don’t forget us during the hectic shopping season! Membership makes an ideal present for relatives and friends, all you need to do is TELEPHONE 0870 990 1992 and we will organise everything by mail order (including a gift card).

CHRISTMAS OWL EVENINGS

At the National Birds of Prey Centre Newent, Gloucestershire GL18 1JJ.

Guided Tours of the Owls by Torchlight

See our Hawk Owl “hover” in the Education Room Hog Roast & Mulled Wine

Flying Demonstration in the Dark!

Saturday 2nd / 9th / 16th / 23rd

Tickets on sale now… For details and booking, please TELEPHONE 0870 990 1992