Falconry World

Jess one of my star english pointers is about to have pups. Not only that she was mated with Simon Highams dog which is as pure an Embercombe line as you can get. The famous Embercombe line was created by falconer Steve Franks who is famous for his longwings but even more so his pointers that have kept longwing falconers in game for some decades now. Jess amd Amber my other pointer work on Wemmergill moor counting grouse and this year I took Simon’s dog up with me. He was really good if not alittle over anxious but staedy as a rock on point with both of mine. The pups will be available in late July and will mean Zoe can’t come to the falconry festival due to puppy sitting duties. If anyone is intersted in a pup please let me know. Hope you enjoy the pictures of her at work.

My wife often tells me that during the falconry season she becomes a falconry widow. Apparently my posture changes, I stop cutting my hair and gain a musty smell like damp dog or worse if a day old chick has been forgotten in a jacket. My clothes are always the same colour (Greens and browns) and my general fashion is that more commonly seen on the catwalk of a big issue seller(homeless magazine here in the UK). Only on field meets do I request an ironed shirt and put on my Sunday best mole sking trousers, wax jacket and get out a fresh lure.

She reads me like a book and can tell my success in the field by the fact that either I enter the house with the bird on fist whistling or the glove enters the house closely followed by a Tasmanian devil, blaming everything in the world for conspiring to ruin my birds flight. [Read more]

Mike from Greece stroking a female gyr after insemination.

My life as a cameraman takes me to some weird places. For instance yesterday I was on a photo shoot with my canon camera and witness to a male being stripped for his semen. Not only that. I was then a part of another scene and stroked this beautiful birds back whilst a man stuck a plastic tube inside her…..I was of course watching for the first time the process that is A.I. or Artificial Insemination, not as some of you may have thought!!!

It was an odd day. From the moment Derek Stotton appeared wearing a semen collecting hat (I couldn’t take a picture for laughing) I knew this was no ordinary day. Derek Stotton, whom for those of you that don’t know him, is a larger than life character that has been involved in falconry since we were flying pterodactyls. In fact I think he was the first person to bring them into this country. Anyway, Derek has visitors from all around the world and yesterday was no exception.

Whilst I was ready with canon camera to get some pictures, a young falconer named Mike, from Greece arrived. I don’t think Mike had any idea what was in store for him. The look on his face when Derek appeared donning his semen collecting hat was one of part terror and one part amusement. He possibly thought he was in the dark scene from Pulp Fiction, in the basement. However he had a different look on his face later when Derek was getting him to massage a female gyr falcons back!!!

I wanted to do photography of a gyr donating semen to a hat. The process works by an imprint male flying on to the hat and pounding away. I thought it was an April fool when I was first told about men wearing hats and getting a falcon to mount their head and deposit semen in the hat. However when you consider the price of a gyr, well you gotta way these things up. The semen is then collected from the hat and used to inseminate a female by the use of a fancy turkey baster.

But alas by the time I got into the pen with canon digital camera this young stud had already spilt his milk in the hat and was having a cigarette in the corner of the room, reading the days papers. So it was on to the males with a foot fetish. These male imprints don’t dig on hats they like shoes. I don’t know if Derek had to wear special shoes for this guy but he couldn’t get enough of Derek’s Hush Puppies. After some small time chit-chat with Derek, the male got down on the floor on to some new plastic semen cards and “admired” Derek’s shoes. He sure did like those shoes. He was another no nonsense male in the bedroom and didn’t mess around after he had indulged in his foot fettish. The gyr male was back on his ledge, and settling down for a sleep like every other male on the planet after sex, only his was with a Hush Puppy, still whatever floats your boat.

Male imprint gyr falcon loving Derek’s foot wear…

Derek has an incubation room, along with a microscope and refrigerators the room was buzzing with electric activity. He took a previous sample of semen and told us he was ready for her. No special shoes, no hat was needed for this girl, she loved Derek for who he was. At any other time she would have gladly attached herself to mine or Mikes face. However at this time of the year she became like a gyr with a fever, and the only prescription was Derek.

Derek inseminating a female gyr.

It was amazing to take photographs of this powerful falcon, cute as a playful kitten as Derek gave her the magic. She will inseminated like this for a good few days, the best time however is after she lays an egg. The sperm will then swim down to the other eggs in waiting and hopefully fertilise them. It was a fascinating insight and makes you appreciate what breeders have to go through to get our birds. Derek has many other naturally breeding gyr falcons, but the next time I take photographs of them they’ll be with this years birds for sale. I’ll need to film a lot more football stars to buy a gyrkin to fly, but I never say never.