The Mews

Some could argue that birds merely have bird brains and are rather primitive creatures, but I know differently. I have experienced so many poignant moments with special birds....it can be such a miniscule line that joins you to a bird you've trained because after all,  when you set it loose, it can choose to fly away. The training of a bird is a fascinating passion, not merely a sport but an art, a dance, a journey. When you share their flights you are in awe and somehow a little of you is transported with them......falcons who consistently fly fast and so well that their flights take your breath away and you hesitate to call them back down to earth; eagles who soar away from you in distant mountainous parts of the world and return .  I have learned so much from birds who flew away so I had to go into the environment , from downtown skyscrapers to country sides, and figure out how to get them back using all the instincts and intelligence I have.  I am proud of the fact that in 28 years of flying birds , often doing at least 500 demonstrations a year plus hunting with birds, I have only had three who flew away and I couldn't get them back.

    But of all the birds I have ever known, one still stands out.....Newfy, a female African Fish Eagle, who with her wonderful call greeted me in the mornings. We were together for years and she flew loose in many provinces of Canada. When we were alone I would fly her without a glove. She'd precisely put on the brakes as she approached , gently land on my arm and carefully eat the food from my hand, later cleaning her beak on my cheek. She died over the course of a day in my arms with my tears streaming over her. That was the saddest day of my life. Later, another bird weasled its way into my heart, a Black Vulture I named Woodstock because when  it came out of the shipping box, having been found in an abandoned barn in Texas, it was the oddest, and perhaps ugliest baby bird you could imagine. She is now 28 years old and still kicking. Over the years she has had running races and beaten hundreds of thousands of children, has made so many people laugh, and perhaps, taught people to appreciate vultures.