Club member for? Three years

Years in falconry? Three years

Birds kept? Female Harris hawk.  Female Goshawk and American Kestrels.

Dogs used? English Springer Spaniel, English pointer, and have just got a German shorthaired pointer.

Ferrets love them or hate them? Love them I have two.

Other field sports involved in? Deer stalking.

Vehicle used for falconry. Subaru (guess what) FORRESTER four wheel drive.

Favourite bird. Female Goshawk

Important club vote

As mentioned at the February meeting. The Royal Swan in Blackwater where the club used to meet has offered us this venue again with the same terms. If you would prefer this venue or the present meeting place, please email Nicky Forrest on Nicola.forrest1@btopenworld.com and let her know which venue you would like, to help the committee make a decision.

Also the club is looking at having the club secretaries post amalgamated with the social secretaries post. Please let Nicky know your whether you agree or disagree with this decision by email on Nicola.forrest1@btopenworld.com

Club annual general meeting March 16^th

The club AGM is on the 16^th march. This is an important meeting to decide who will be the chairman, treasurer, secretary, social secretary and hawk liaison officer.

All these positions are available to club members. You will need to be proposed and seconded by club members.

If there is more than one person there will be a vote.

Please do not be complacent, make sure you attend and have your say in the direction the club takes over the coming year.

Club Meeting dates for 2010

January 19th,February 16th, March 16th, April 20th, May18th, June 15th, July20th, August 17th, September 21st, October19th, November 16th, December 21st.

Easy way to remember is, it is the Third Tuesday of every month.

Ashley’s GWP x GSP Bracken was killed in an accident at the end of last year. I am sure all members will feel for Ash.

The loss of a dog always hurts after the effort and bond that is put in to train one and to lose a dog that shows so much promise, and early on in its life is always a great shame. Bracken was run over while Ash was on a hawking trip.

Hope you find a replacement soon and it is as good as Bracken was.

Uppark

There was a large field for this meet. Birds flying were 1 goshawk, 8 Harris hawks and 2 Gyr/Peregrines.

Dogs were 2 GWPs, 1GSP, 1 Brittany, 1 Setter and 1 ESS.

We started working cover crops with Danny Ringhams GWP with Steve Forrest flying his Goshawk. It wasn’t long before a pheasant was flushed and Steve’s bird was off with a chase that ended in woodland and a kill.

Several Harris hawks were then tried in this challenging situation with no success. By this time Steve’s Gos was ready to go again and another flush resulted in a long flight and another pheasant in the bag for Steve.

We the moved on to a wooded strip and 3 Harris hawks were flown in a cast under John Halls ESS and Russ’s GSP. There was plenty of hollering and crashing about and pheasants flying and at the end of the drive there was great expectation of a huge haul of pheasants. Alas it was not meant to be and the bag was nil.

Trevor then tried with his Harris but the only blood drawn was his own after a dog rose bush managed to nail him in the face.

A last cover crop was then tried for Steve’s Gos and although there was a good flush and Steve’s bird was close there was no bird at the end this time.

It was then time for Alan to fly his falcons. And after John hall built us up with great expectation, Alan’s bird Bernie was off. And much to Alan’s disgust landed on the chimney of the mansion amidst much mickey taking.

However the bird was not there long and was soon rising to a terrific height. The cover crop was pushed through and a French Partridge was flushed. The falcon did a terrific swoop and nailed his bird to great admiration from the onlookers.

Alan’s next bird was up and immediately rose to an even greater height. This time a hen pheasant was flushed and another terrific swoop and the pheasant was hit and knocked to the ground. This bird however was lucky to make cover and her escape.

Steve finished with a last flight on a Pheasant which he managed to catch while the rest of the field went to lunch.

After lunch Alan tried one of his Gyr/Peregrines but this time with no success.

Then it was time for ferreting with the field splitting in to two groups.

At this stage I was unsure how the other group was getting doing but there was much hollering and whooping going on.

For my group Steve’s Gos caught a rabbit after flying under a branch and nailing it by an oak. My own bird caught three and this group witnessed that it was not a gymslip slip for the second and third rabbit Nicky’s Harris also caught a rabbit and the ferret had two rabbits as well.

As we met up at the end, the other group had managed to catch one rabbit. What were you doing lads and lasses?

An entertaining day resulting in a bag of 8 rabbits, 3 pheasants and 1 French partridge

Manton House Marlborough

Birds flying were 2 Goshawks, 2 Gyr/Peregrines and 6 Harris hawks. Dogs in attendance were 1 GWP, 1 GSP, 2 Brittany’s, 1 English pointer and that red dog of Alan’s, Harvey wall banger.

We started ferreting rabbits and it looked like a promising start when Paul’s Harris caught a rabbit straight away. Unfortunately this proved to be the last rabbit bolted as rabbits proved to be in short supply.

We the moved to a small wooded strip and worked the GWP and GSP for Steve to fly his Gos. He had several flights but all the pheasant flew uphill and out matched the Gos.

We then moved into another wood and flew mine and John Lucas’s Harris’s. Johns bird taking a cock pheasant and mine hitting but failing to hold a hen bird.

We then stopped for lunch.

Straight after Alan flew his falcons with Bernie catching a French Partridge some distance from where the field were watching from. Alan’s second bird was unlucky to have only cock pheasants flushed for him which he did not appear keen on.

We then split in to two groups with Steve flying his Gos and Trevor, John, Paul and myself moving to a small pine wood.

Our group had some terrific sport in here with Paul’s bird catching a rabbit and Johns hitting a pheasant but failing to hold it.

We also flushed 2 pheasants at the same time with Paul’s tail chasing one and mine knocking the other out of the air but again failing to hold it.

The last flight of the day ended with all four birds hunting a cock pheasant under some Leylandi trees. This cock pheasant out witted all four bird attacks and deserved to escape.

On return to the cars we discovered Steve’s Gos had caught a pheasant.

Total bag was 2 pheasants, 2 rabbits, 1 French partridge and a field mouse to Shrek, s male Harris.

Paul’s near Alton Hampshire

Bird flying was 1 female Goshawk, 4 Harris hawks and 2 Gyr/Peregrines.

Dogs in attendance were 1 GWP, 1 Brittany, 1 English pointer and that red dog of Alan’s that is a Setter but I can’t remember which type (sorry Alan).

The Harris hawks were flown first in the woods behind where the keeper’s house used to be.

There were several stoops from the birds on both rabbit and pheasant but although my bird hit a cock pheasant and John Lucas’s almost had a hen pheasant after a long walk nothing was in the bag.

During this time Steve forests Gos had a flight on a pheasant across the valley but had no kill.

We adjourned for lunch after Steve had another flight at a cock pheasant from the keeper’s old garden which then took up a lot of Steve’s lunch time.

Straight after lunch Alan’s falcons were flown and Bernie put in another Stirling performance catching an English partridge. This had Alan really worried as the keeper said that the guns were charged £100 if they shot one. Much mickey taking then ensued about Alan having to pay a £50 fine.

Alan’s second bird the had a flight at a cock pheasant but at the last second decided that the cock pheasant was just a bit to big for it.

Next out Steve’s Gos had a flight at a guinea fowl which his bird hit but it managed to escape minus a load of feathers.

We then moved over the other side of the estate but found game in short supply. So on the way back after a couple of poor flights with the Harris’s, we lined out on the stubble fields to look for a Hare for Steve’s Gos.

First hare up was coursed nicely by Paul’s Brittany until he realised he wasn’t going to catch it.

Then a hare broke by Steve and his Gos was off after it. The bird narrowly missed and threw up. It then struck again but missed and tried a third time before the hare made its escape.

We then called it a day and returned to the cars. The weather was quite cold in the afternoon and there were some flurries of powdery snow.

The bag, a disappointing 1 English partridge to Alan’s falcon and nothing to the hawks.

Winchester

This was a new piece of ground for the club which is a pheasant shoot of 800 acres. This ground has great potential but unfortunately for us the day we visited the local fox hound pack was also meeting that day.

Birds flying were 4 Harris hawks, 1 Goshawk and 2 Gyr/Peregrines.

Accompanied by 2 GWPs, 1 Brittany and 1 Irish setter.

We worked a small copse first for Steve Forrest’s Gos but drew a blank. We then moved into a wooded strip and put the Harris hawks up.

First to catch was my POINTER which caught a rabbit in cover. Not a good start but shortly after my Harris hawk caught a rabbit and held it for some time as I had not seen her catch it. There was the odd pheasant flushed but we had no success.

We then moved back to the house as the hounds were meeting at twelve.

After a spot of lunch we were taken to another part of the estate by one of the locals, a guy called Ken Minnelium? Or Millennium.

We then worked two strips of wood. The first had nothing in and on the second we put up Alan’s falcon Bernie. A pheasant was flushed and Bernie stooped but had to come back up and over some power cables. Despite this he still caught!

We then worked another small wood for two of the Harris hawks with no success before returning to the cars.

The hound had moved off the estate by this time so we moved to another part and tried a long pine wood.

My Harris and John Lucas’s bird was put up and we started to work through. After a short period my Harris had failed to follow on and I had to walk back to her. I noticed that she had marked something under her and put my GWP in to flush it. A hen pheasant came out and was caught quite quickly.

Steve’s Gos was next off and after a long flight failed to catch. It was evident where it was by the activity of the local crow population.

We managed one more flight for Steve’s Gos through wood but with no joy. Scenting conditions for both the hounds and the pointers had proved challenging during the day.

Total bag 2 rabbits and 2 pheasants.