Falconry Diary from Ireland’s School of Falconry

Aoife and Milly reunited.

Posted: 06/02/12

Aoife sent this stunning photo of her flying Milly by the lake recently. Aoife used to work with us and returned recently to visit all her human and hawk friends! It was lovely to see you again Aoife, we all miss having you around. There are a few more of Aoife's brilliant photos in the February Guest Gallery.

A budding falconer in the making!

Posted: 25/01/12

Here is Adam Hynes flying Fomhar recently. Adam has taken many Hawk Walks with us and is becoming something of a young expert. His experience and natural ability shows in his perfect handling of Fomhar in this photo.

Playful Swift!

Posted: 17/01/12

Although Swift is nearly 9 months old now, she still finds the world absolutely fascinating! Brian & Melissa Taggart sent this lovely photo of her playing with some moss on a branch when they flew her recently. The photo also shows off her talons very well, it's a wonder she doesn't fall off the branch as she hardly appears to be gripping it at all!!

Stoker in flight.

Posted: 01/12/11

Here is Stoker flying just the other day by the lake at Ashford Castle. The babies are expert fliers now, gone are the days of misjudged crash landings! All four of them have handled the recent gale force winds with consumate skill.

White-tailed Sea Eagle over Lough Corrib!

Posted: 15/11/11

Thank you to Tony Purcell for sending this brilliant photo of one of the released White-tailed Sea Eagles that he spotted over Lough Corrib. It is absolutely brilliant to have these birds around.

The Third Eyelid!

Posted: 10/10/11

Our female Finnish Goshawk is in fine form at the moment and hunting well. She has already caught quite a few crows and this photo shows her eating one of them! The camera just caught the "third eyelid' or "nictitating membrane' as it slid across the eye. If you zoom in you can see all the details of blood vessels.

Corrib in action.

Posted: 10/10/11

Here is wonderful Corrib (our 12 year old Peregrine / Saker hybrid falcon in action. He is flying as well as ever (if not better than ever!) despite his age.

Natalie-Anne Downs flying Samhradh recently.

Posted: 29/09/11

Thank you to Natalie-Anne Downs for this outstanding photo of Samhradh flying recently. There are more wonderful photos of Natalies Hawk Walk in the September Guest Gallery.

The baby hawks meet their namer!!!

Posted: 04/09/11

Melanie Murphy and Dave Comerford came yesterday to fly the babiy hawks that Melanie won the competition to name earlier this year. She thought up the winning names of:- Joyce, Wilde, Swift & Stoker after four iconic Irish writers. Here she is flying beautiful Joyce.

Thank you to Drew Braun and James Monegan for this outstanding photo of Uisce flying to them on their recent Hawk Walk.

Posted: 21/08/11

Further brilliant photos from Drew and James can be seen in our August Guest Gallery.

Flying lessons for the baby hawks!

Posted: 12/08/11

We all had great fun recently when we took the four babies up to the top of nearby Mount Gable overlooking beautiful Lough Cuillin for some serious flying practise. They quickly learnt how to use the wind and the updraughts and were soaring high above us - we were really impressed with their flying skills at only 12 weeks of age. They were spectacular.

Joyce's beautiful (& unusual )tail!

Posted: 09/08/11

Well done to all who guessed correctly that Joyce's tail has 13 feathers instead of the usual 12!!! Rua also has 13 tail feathers and we have known one other female Harris hawk have the same trait! We have never known a male have 13 tail feathers though, only the females!

Update on the baby hawks.

Posted: 30/07/11

All four baby Harris hawks are now flying free and are exploring the woods around Ashford Castle. We are being very relaxed with their training at the moment so some days they are good and some days they are not so good. The two females have had a couple of trips out and about to start their hunting education, as you can see from this photo - they are easily distracted because everything is new and exciting, even a stalk of grass! There is an interesting photo of Joyce's tail in their Gallery (New Baby Hawks Gallery) - there is something unusual about her tail, any guesses as to what it might be.

Wow, what an amazing photo!

Posted: 29/07/11

This is one of the best photos we have ever seen - Wow!

The newly named four baby Harris hawks!!

Posted: 18/07/11

Here are the four baby Harris hawks!!! Can you believe how much they have grown? They are now 10 weeks old and have just been named by Melanie Murphy who took part in (and won!) the recent competition to name them, they are:- Stoker (male), Joyce (female), Wilde (male) and Swift (female), all named after the iconic Irish writers. So far, their training is coming along well and they are all lovely characters. Today they all went for a two hour walk to get used to all the sights and sounds that their new world has to offer. Individual photos of the four of them are in the New Baby Hawks Gallery.

Fantastic photo of Dingle.

Posted: 17/07/11

Thank you very much to Hannah Schaller for this outstanding photo of Dingle.

The new arrivals at four weeks old!

Posted: 10/06/11

It is unbelievable how quickly our four new baby Harris hawks are growing - look at the difference in them from our earlier photos in their gallery!! They run and jump throughout the house, flapping their wings furiously in a comical attempt to fly, which they will shortly be able to do! They are turning out to be great characters, especially Mr Adventurous (pictured right) and we have fallen in love with them already.

How many hawks?????

Posted: 08/06/11

We had great fun flying four of our  Harris hawks together recently! Thank you to Claudia Somes for this photo that she managed to take as she and her friends were flying the hawks.

New Arrivals!!

Posted: 30/05/11

Last weekend we picked up four new baby Harris hawks!! We will keep you updated on their progress, together with weekly photos! Here is todays photoshoot!! There are more photos in the "New Baby Hawks' Gallery.

New heights!!!

Posted: 27/04/11

We are thoroughly enjoying our recent purchase of an altimeter that we can attach to the hawks. Reg, our Ferruginous Hawk (pictured right), is 20 years old and is the first hawk that we ever had. He has always been a high flier but we never knew how high.....until now. The altimeter first clocked him a few days ago at 1,443 feet! But, yesterday, he hit 1,575 feet!

We will keep you posted, and fingers crossed for some hot days with thermals this coming summer!

April Hawk Walks

Posted: 29/04/11

Thank you to Linda and Lindsey for this great photo of Rua coming into land! 

April Hawk Walk Guests

Posted: 05/04/11

Thank you so much to Betty Walsh for sending us these great photos of Neachtans recent Hawk Walk with us, which was for his 7th birthday! The photos can be seen in full in Aprils Guest Gallery.

Also thank you to Bill & Karin Amour for the great photos of them flying Burren & Skellig with us in their Hawk Walk, (also in Aprils Guest Gallery).

And good luck to Robert Duggan who is now starting out on his own long quest to becoming a falconer.

March Hawk Walk Guests

Posted: 08/03/11

Thank you to Misty Sheriff for sending some of the best photos we have ever seen from her recent Hawk Walk with us. The photo opposite shows our three youngest male Harris hawks, in the mist!!!!

More of Misty's fantastic photos are in "January, February & March 2011 Guest Gallery'.

March Hawk Walk Guests

Posted: 03/03/11

Thank you so much to Liam Kane for sending in some great photographs of his recent Hawk Walk with us. Liam's photos can be seen in "January, February & March 2011 Guest Gallery' and opposite. 

February Hawk Walk Guests

Posted: 18/02/11

Many thanks to Louise & Shannon for sending these great photos of their recent Hawk Walk with us and we look forward to welcoming you back to fly hawks with us again this Sunday.

February Hawk Walk Guest Photos

Posted: 18/02/11

Another great photo.

January Guest Gallery

Posted: 21/01/11

Thank you very much to Troy & Veronica Forrestal, Adam Hynes and Taylor Chambers for sending us this months photos of their Hawk Walks with us. Their photos can be seen in:- "January Guest Gallery' on the Gallery page.

New Website Launched

Posted: 18/01/2011

Welcome to our new website. Diary entries with photos coming soon