Ferrets, Falcons and Fletchings



Two of the dozen or so birds that were on display.

Even though I wasn't supposed to be in this weekend for the fathers day event I couldn't help but pop down with my family to check out the two great events we had on! The folks from Feather Perfect came to display their amazing array of birds of prey. The flying went pretty smoothly, except when one of their falcons named Chris decided to perch in the Cedar tree on the main lawn and refused to come down, cleaning his beak in protest.

Also they had a couple of ferrets with them, used for driving rabbits out of holes, while I didn't get chance to stay and see what they had planned, the gardener's here at Dudmaston would have appreciated a little assistance in dealing with our floppy eared adversaries.





Where's Chris? Like where's wally, but with a bird of prey...

We also had the Scouts archery group, shooting some tradition and modern bows and longbows as well as running have a go sessions. As a bit of a history geek, I was very keen to have my go at shooting a tradition bow, but when I asked if they had any traditional longbows over 60lbs my answer was a dry look and a simple "not for you". Shucks! Still, the modern 30lbers were still a lot of fun and I will admit I went back a couple of times to get my fill! Although it was a fathers day event it wasn't just for the big kids, there were some great miniature bows for some miniature archers to try out too...

All in all it seemed like a very successful and popular day! Watch this space for more events going on in the gardens! If the birds of prey really interested you, we have a Falconer who is going to start coming on a more regular basis. He is currently in the process of training his 2 year old birds and will be bringing them in to acclimatise them to the public. While they don't fly, they are still impressive creatures to behold and William (our falconer) is a font of information about falconry both old and new.