Memoirs of a Professional Falconer

John Dickson

I have been an active Falconer since the age of 13, inspired by the book Kes by Barry Hines that was part of my English syllabus at School. Funny really, as I found English and School a bore and anyone who has experienced my spelling, will vouch for that. However the book struck a cord, and I guess, I identified with the main character Billy Casper and was interested by the relationship between him and his Kestrel.

I read Falconry in the British Isles by Salvin and Brodrick and surprisingly this somewhat dated book didn't put me off but further fuelled my initial interest. I was quite aware that hawking Kites in East Anglia was going to be tricky seeing as there wasn't any. Just as well then that the only bird I was able to obtain was a Barn Owl.

Then I was introduced to Mike Bignold, who was completely mad and showed contempt to the world but absolute passion, no, more like love, for birds of prey. In the eyes of a teenager, I thought "This guy was cool" just like Billy in Kes. He told me he had some injured Sparrow Hawks which couldn't be returned to the wild and asked if I wanted them for breeding. How could I refuse! Mike became a good friend and there is no doubt he is to blame for my divorce, for me not getting a proper job and if it wasn't for him I would never have had the opportunity to develop my interest.

He would phone me and say: "John, got this male Harris, fancy flying it?" in those days Harris Hawks were over a grand, I was thrilled. These calls continued and the birds got bigger and bigger, until one day I got the call "John, I'm looking at these Eagles, fancy a go?" I was 18 at the time and of course, I did.

Like most would-be Falconers I started with Short-wings, though I never achieved as much as I would have today. I had a Gos Hawk and my lasting memory of the bird, is chasing it through woodlands as it self hunted. I chased it for what felt like miles until it finally stopped when I caught up just in time to watch the Gos Hawk preen out the tag and it was off again, I did get it back but it was sometime later. Some might suggest that bird signified a turning point in my Falconry career, a time when I joined the top flight, however my family see it more like the start of the end.

The Gos Hawk taught me a vital lesson, that Falconry isn't that easy. It helped me to look more deeply at the art, to focus on the end objective and figure out a set of training procedures which will enable me to install the behaviour on the bird necessary to achieve it.

I have never practiced Falconry properly with a Short-wing since, situations and circumstance carried me in the Long-wing direction although I have flown many for work or while running the Falconry centre at Banham Zoo. We flew everything at Banham Zoo, though the biggest challenge was training six fully grown Vultures without scales, without tethering them and without the ability to attach a creance or tag. It was surprisingly easy although we did get it spectacularly wrong once, when a Vulture escaped and we ended up making news at ten and six front covers of national papers in three days. Now that was a strange experience, being chased by the paparazzi whilst trying to get a bird back. Not good on the nerves when you have absolutely no idea of how you are going to get it back because it had always flown to and from the aviary with five others. There were no fewer than three satellite news vans and 20 cameramen and reporters. In the end a girl who worked for me got it back in spectacular fashion and ended up on TVAM.

My passion has always been Falcons and I have been fortunate to witness some truly amazing spectacles whether it be out of the hood or waiting on. For me the pleasure is witnessing a Hawk do what God created them to do or the result of millions of years of evolution of natural selection, how ever you choose to view it, it is still awe-inspiring.

The best way I can sum this up is to tell you of an account told to me by a well known falconer friend. He describes getting up on a very special day over the Christmas period with every intention not to fly his Hawk but on discovering the perfect conditions found himself loading his hawk into the car. After a perfect flight he sat down next to his Hawk as it fed up on its dinner, stroking his dog he looked up at the blue sky and thought how wonderful life was. He returned back to the family who had started lunch without him, frustrated they didn't share his enthusiasm for the morning's flight that caused his delay.

Falconry is consuming, it has been my life. With NBC Bird and Pest Solutions as my living for most of my life, I have experienced much and knowing the sport the way I do, I know that I have much more to come. I have met some wonderful people and have shared pain, comedy, heartbreak and exhilaration, sometimes all in the same day. This is Falconry and these are special moments which become our memories. Through the next few issues I hope to share some of those with you and celebrate the birds, the sport and the people.