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Introduction to hawking and bird scaring services

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Birds are very protective of their nests, their eggs, and their young. If they perceive a threat of any kind, they will move to where they feel is a safer area. That is what happens when they spot a predatory bird such as a Hawk. If they think a hawk has taken up residency in an area, they will move on even though as part of our Bird of Prey program the hawks do not attack them. Just sometimes, it is possible that the pest birds eventually realise that the hawk is not a threat and start to move back to the affected area. Then other methods may be needed in conjunction with the hawk flying. Firing blanks, pyrotechnics, and flying kites can all be extra deterrents. The Hawks flown during the Bird of Prey program in no way attack the birds and in the correct scenario, the presence of a bird of prey on a site convinces the target Species that the predator is resident in the area and that it will attack them or any young they may attempt to raise on the site. This makes the site less attrac...
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Useful Falconry Terms

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  We decided to put together some Falconry terms and there meaning to help out anyone interested in learning more about Falconry or anyone just starting out.   Abba:   Arabic word that means cloak. A safe method of restraint that protects the feathers while allowing the bird to breath freely.   Accipiter:   True hawks. Identified by short, round wings, long tails, light eyes and a forest habitat   Aspergillosis:   Fungal (mould) infection. causes lethal inflammation of the air sacs lungs.   Austringer:   1) A person who flies short-winged hawks. 2) One who keeps and hunts short-wings and broad-wings   Aylmeri jesses:   Jess consist of three parts: anklets with grommets, mews jesses with a swivel slit, and slit-less field jesses   Bagged quarry:   Live creatures let out for the hawk to chase   Barbary falcon:   Falco pelegrinoides. Subspecies of peregrine fou...
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Those not so well known falconry teams.

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. 1. The Handcuffs. When you're falcon / Hawk has you foot bound on both hands, and you can't move them.  2. Tree watching. The art of tree watching has probably happened to everyone. When you're bird decides to sit at the top of a tree and not respond to your calls.  3. The Splat. Your bird lifts their tail and squats out a large 💩 over the unexpected person standing near you. ( European Eagle Owls Speciality) 4. The Face Full. That unexpected egg sack explosion in the face from a day old chick.. 5. The Why Now Moment. You take your bird out to fly in your field or woods or even to work.  And they find that small puddle and decide to have a bath.
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How dangerous is Pigeon fouling

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Harmful to Humans Is pigeon feces dangerous to touch or breathe? It is never a good idea to come in contact with any animal or bird droppings, and proper hygiene is a sure-fire way to make sure that no infection is ever experienced. That being said, there are some concerns when it comes to pigeons, as they tend to move into buildings easily. There are three human diseases that have a link to pigeons. They are Histoplasmosis, Psittacosis, and Cryptococcosis. Histoplasmosis   is an illness caused by a fungus that is found worldwide in certain soils and yes, in pigeon droppings. Normal activities can lead to a person being exposed to the fungus; however, you would have to breathe in a huge amount of the fungus for it to cause infection. Symptoms  generally manifest within ten days of exposure and include fever, fatigue plus chest pains. However, most people don’t develop infections even though large amounts of people are exposed to this fungus through normal activities...
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A Warm and Busy February.

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Well its been a while since our last blog but been a very busy start to 2019 as you could see from our last blog  we have been working with Changing Step North East  Since our visit to the National Memorial Arboretum    Dave Tindale along with Wayne,Gary,Liam and Gary came down to Peterborough to help take down and move an Avery that we had been given. This was a mammoth task and between us all including Sally my other half we did this in one weekend. before Saturday just starting Sunday midday  As you can see from the above photos this was a the mammoth task but was a fun weekend. For anyone reading this that might have served you will understand when I say the weekend was full of fun squaddie banter and hard work, Also this last month we had a road trip with our birds to the coast. Myself and Swampy packed up the birds in the van and set of early one Thursday morning heading south to go and visit another group of Veterans near...
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Location: London, UK
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Working together relaxing together

Last Thursday 31 January 2019 we took our birds to The National Memorial Arboretum to meet up with Changing Step North East, Help a Squaddie and Roma Guard. This was a meeting of a great partnership of companies working with veterans’ organisations to help veterans in need. Changing Step North East is a not for profit, Social Enterprise Company, Limited by Guarantee and aims to provide a transitional service to former members of HM Forces and their dependants. This will be achieved by offering advice, support and training to assist with reintegration back into the civilian community. We will also offer our services to members of the local community, which we believe will help to promote the reintegration of former service personnel and their families. There is soon to be an announcement made by Changing Step which we at Spitfire APC are very excited about.  They are based in Crook a historic market town in County Durham. Changing Step from here also run The Veteran...
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Animal Activities Licensing Do you need one?

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I spoke with The Raptor Awards Community Interest Company today about the new regulations coming in on 1st of October to do with Falconry and its Licencing as there seems to be a lot of different things being said. The Raptor Awards have been working with DEFRA to offer training days for bird of prey businesses requiring a licence. In a nutshell for those of you doing pest control using birds of prey here is the conditions that will determine if you need to apply or not. 1. You are based in England OR you are based outside of England but exhibit commercially in England 2. You use birds of prey on a commercial business for one of these activities, or similar:  A. Educational visits M XL L S ​ ​  B.Displays (static or flying)  C. Wedding ring delivery  D. Corporate days  E. Experience days  F. Photography days  G. Film, video or other media work  H. Breeding birds of prey for sale  I. Oth...
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