Where to try Falconry

In a new series we explain how best to enjoy one of Scotland's top attractions. First up we look at birds of prey.

It's a moment of suspense and silence.

A moment when all is still, anticipation mixes with anxiety, and the whole world seems to be on hold.

The bird is poised a few hundred metres away and you can see her clearly high in the trees. She waits and observes and you know that the moment you raise your hand she'll lift herself effortlessly and gracefully, come silently, menacingly, through the air, straight towards you.

Then the moment comes, she gathers herself and rises up, an awesome mix of strength, stamina and serenity, and she's there, effortlessly landing on your glove and claiming her reward. You feel a surge of elation, a short adrenalin rush and a sense of success, a primitive rush of dominance.

You have controlled her.

Except of course you haven't. Like all the great feral predators, from sharks to big cats, birds of prey are never truly mastered, never truly under control. Look into her eyes and you'll see nothing, an indifference to you that goes no further than whether you're going to produce another piece of raw meat.

It's probably this coldness, this remoteness, that has distanced the big hunting birds from generation after generation of humankind. Sure, people and birds have worked in uneasy alliance during the centuries, and nobles have courted them as accessories.

Some have claimed to have grown close to their birds, attempted to bestow them with character. But mostly their aloofness has created fear, myths have been foisted upon them, and for generation...

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• By : Sally Toms
• In : Outdoor Scotland
• Issue : 41
• Page : 22
• Words : 900