Barn Owl

How privileged was I to watch this beautiful bird taking off and flying by me! It was, of course, absolutely silent in flight and all the spookier for that.

Buzzard

The buzzard is seen throughout much of Britain, though was almost wiped out through persecution in the east of England. It can often be seen circling in the sky, riding thermals whilst looking for its prey.

Chilean Blue Eagle

This magnificent bird lives at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, in the far north east of Scotland and is very well looked after by resident falconer, Andy Hughes. Andy has an obvious passion for his birds, and a great depth of knowledge in every aspect of their handling and well-being. If you're in the area, I'd urge you to spend some time here. The castle and gardens aren't bad either! Please follow this link to the Castle Falconry website if you'd like to see more about Andy's birds, or falconry in general.

On the ground she is ungainly, even a bit comical perhaps, but once in the air... well, she is then truly in her element and is an awesome sight to behold. "Graceful power" is how I'd descibe this majestic creature. I particularly enjoyed the photograph (left) of her landing on her perch to take a scrap of meat from Andy. This showed the wonderful relationship between him and his birds. She could easily have ripped his hand apart had she wanted to. (I don't recall Andy having any fewer than 10 fingers!)

Golden Eagle

I have been fortunate enough to see golden eagles in the wild, though not so fortunate that I have been able to photograph them in their natural habitat. This beautiful specimen, looked after by Andy Hughes at Dunrobin Castle, certainly has a "presence" unlike anything else and I was delighted to have the opportunity to photograph him up close.

Gyr Falcon

Another of Andy's birds, he has appropriately been named "Monkey". He often has to be looked for between shows as he has a habit of not coming back if he spots a juicy rabbit in the distance during a display. Poor Andy must have missed his lunch on many occasions trying to find Monkey!

They do say that people and their animals start to look and behave like each other. Look below at Andy's clenched fist and Monkey's clenched talons: Andy thought his clenched fist was in triumph at Monkey returning, but perhaps it's Monkey who is celebrating his training of Andy...

Harris Hawk

This is a North American bird, the tail feathers of which were used by the Indians in the making of headdresses. Having great respect for nature, they did not kill the bird but simply gathered its discarded tail feathers. This is a beautiful bird and I consider myself very lucky to have caught it in flight, which shows it at its wonderful best in my opinion.