Festival of Falconry

Today I visited the splendid 2nd International Festival of Falconry, at the Englefield Estate near Reading in Berkshire. It's a fabulously colourful spectacle, with falconers from all over the world flying in to demonstrate their art and take part in the Parade of Nations in the grand ring. More photos on my flickr page.

I saw HRH Prince Andrew presented with a male gyr falcon by His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (try saying that fast three times!). And I bumped into all sorts of folk who I normally wouldn't see from one year to the next. All in all, a great day out.

One thing always strikes me about falconers in this country. When it comes to presenting an image that's acceptable to the public, they just 'get it', in a way that so many shooters and hunters don't. On Friday, they invited 500 local schoolkids to visit the show and learn about birds of prey and falconry. They also invited along Chris Packham, star of BBC Springwatch and darling of the conservation lobby.

These guys are even making a submission to UNESCO for falconry to be recognized as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Shooting could learn a lot from them.

Here's something else I noticed about falconers. They look at the sky. Most people just walk about, looking at ground level. Falconers are constantly glancing up at the sky. This chap was posing for photos when something caught his eagle's eye, and he instantly followed its gaze. A moment later I looked too. Couldn't see a thing! Just blue stuff with clouds floating in it.

I meet the legendary man of the woods

There's a legend round these parts of a man named Sean who lives in the woods. He even has a facebook group dedicated to him. The stories go that he eats rabbits, squirrels and mushrooms, was once in the army, and is partial to rum. There are wilder claims about him too, but you know how these things spread and grow.

The stories remind me of Tammylan, the hermit in Enid Blyton's Children of Cherry Tree Farm. Try writing a children's story like that one today!

Anyway, there was Mrs M and I walking the dog through the woods yesterday evening, and the little wretch (the dog, not Mrs M) slipped through an otherwise impenetrable combination of thorn hedge and sheepwire fence into the field. And then couldn't find her way back.

This led to a lot of faffing about, with me trying to push though the thorns and stop the silly dog attempting to jump the fence, which would inevitably have ended up with her impaled on the barbed wire strand on the top.

And in the middle of all this, there's a rustle in the bushes and out pops - the legendary Sean, large as life, all red beard, tattooed arms and wiry tanned legs. Quick as a flash, he's over the fence, ripping his shorts on the barbed wire. Picks up the dog, passes her over, then skips back himself, ripping his shorts again.

We hardly had time to say 'Thank you' before he'd snatched up his water-bottle and gunny-sack and strode off down the path, with a cheerful 'Glad to help'.

A legend indeed.

Gyro death update

I see from the server logs that a certain Kit Davidson has been trawling this blog and others searching the name 'POWA' (the anti organisation 'Protect Our Wild Animals') - which reminded me that we hadn't heard anything recently about the murder charges against gyrocopter hunt monitor Bryan Griffiths.

The following report appeared in the Stratford Observer, but has since been taken down. There's not necessarily anything suspicious in that, but it seems slightly odd that there has been so little reporting of the developments in the case...

Gyrocopter pilot murder charge could be dismissed

Court Reporter
11 June 2009

A MURDER charge facing a pilot accused of killing a hunt supporter with the tail propeller of his gyrocopter could be thrown out.
Lawyers for Bryan Griffiths, accused of killing hunt supporter Trevor Morse at Long Marston airfield in March, are to apply for the murder charge against him to be dismissed.
The charge follows an incident when 48-year-old Mr Morse, a hunt supporter from Alderminster, was struck by the rear propeller of the gyrocopter 54-year-old Griffiths, of Wiltshire Close, Bedworth, was piloting.
It had landed to refuel at the airfield after being used to monitor a hunt in the area.
Mr Morse, a self-employed gardener and a volunteer marshal for the Warwickshire Hunt, died ‘virtually immediately’ from severe head injuries after being struck by the tail propeller.
Griffiths’ case was listed at Warwick Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing – but at the request of his barrister the murder charge was not put to him.
Peter Lownds, defending, explained that there was to be 'an application to dismiss' the murder charge so the case was adjourned and Griffiths was granted conditional bail.
Mr Lownds asked Judge Richard Griffith-Jones to set a timetable for both the defence and prosecution to serve ‘skeleton arguments’ prior to a hearing at which the application to dismiss the charge will be made.
The Judge pointed out the murder case must be heard by a High Court judge, and it had been released to him only for the plea and case management hearing.
He ordered the defence should serve its argument by June 26, with the prosecution response to it by July 24, with a hearing on the application to dismiss the charges some time in October.
Judge Griffith-Jones said: "The issue will be whether there is a prima facie case of murder. The issue of manslaughter will be another matter altogether."
Mr Lownds confirmed there would still be a trial even if the defence application to dismiss the murder charge is successful.
The Judge said the court staff would be asked to find a slot for the trial to take place, possibly at Birmingham Crown Court in January next year.

Filming at West London Shooting School

Charlie Jacoby interviews WLSS senior instructor Alan Rose for fieldsportschannel.tv. We're working with them to produce a series of articles on how to shoot typical quarry - first up, partridges, in our September issue.

Out of interest, this was shot on the new office toy, a Flip HD video camera which is about as 'point and shoot' as they come, and plugs straight into the USB on my laptop. All things considered, I reckon the quality is pretty good.

Seen in all the best places...

The latest copy of Sporting Shooter, and some other magazine, on the coffee table at West London Shooting School.

RSPB slagging off shooting again

This press release from the RSPB puts shooters at the top of their 'blame list' for attacks on peregrine falcons. To be fair, they also list other groups who might go after peregrines or their nests: pigeon fanciers, illegal falconers, and egg collectors.

It's no secret that peregrines are a major problem for people who keep racing pigeons. Check out this thread on a pigeon racing site - the picture below (linked from their forum) shows some of a claimed 6,000 pigeon leg rings found beneath just a handful of peregrine nests, and dark mutterings about birders hiding many more. These people are angry about the RSPB's uncompromising protection of peregrines, and it's clear they feel like taking the law into their own hands.


"The picture of those rings turns my stomach, i wish the r.s.p.b. would protect our pigeons as much as those with hooked beaks, or at least allow us to" says one fancier. "I want to watch them [the peregrines] cook" says another. In another exchange a fancier posts "rspb won't do anything"; one replies: "Unless we do it."


In another post on the same forum, one fancier admits: "I moved here in 2004 and May to September 2004 to 2008 every day up to 4 peregrine falcons attacked my youngsters. I offered the peregrines some indigestion medicine (white powder) during winter 2008/2009 and am enjoying watching my youngsters ranging the skies in peace so far this year."


Most keepers I know would be thrilled to see a peregrine about the place. I can't believe many peregrines come to grief at the hands of gamekeepers. Even if they were tempted, it would be too much risk and effort for too little gain. The pigeon racing community, on the other hand, hate these birds with a vengeance, and with good reason.

Unfortunately for us, pigeon fanciers don't make such a good bogeyman for the RSPB to slag off in its press releases. Pigeon fanciers are bird-lovers too, and it would force the RSPB to confront the uncomfortable truth that some birds eat other birds, and you can't protect them all equally.

Building the perfect pigeon hide

Spot the shooter: with a hide like this, the 

pigeons stand little chance of seeing you.

Today, assistant editor Rebecca and I went to see the guys at ukshootwarehouse to learn how to built the perfect pigeon hide. Father and son Phil and Will Beasley run an impressive sporting agency providing quality pigeon shooting for paying guests. And Matt Hance runs the equipment side of the operation, supplying decoys, hidebuilding materials and much more.

Will took Rebecca and me out to a field on the Waddesdon estate, where his mate Keith Gillings showed us his hidebuilding methods. The results were astonishing - just a few steps back from any angle, and you couldn't see the hide until Keith stood up to take a shot.

We'll be featuring his hidebuilding methods, and many more great tips from these guys, in a new series over the coming months in Sporting Shooter.