ScottishReport – Raptor Education Foundation

From Scotland With Love

Immature female crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus ) in her second year, bred by Mr. Andrew Knowles-Brown. Mr. Knowles-Brown, Chairman of the Scottish Hawking Club, with his very unique eagle hybrid, a cross between a male golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)and a female ornate hawk eagle (Spizaetus ornatus). This stunning eagle, now just over a year old, weighs approximately 4 and 1/4 pounds. While he has some of the wing shape and markings of the golden eagle, his body shape, long legs and long toes are clearly those of the ornate hawk eagle. Ready to Hawk! The members of the Scottish Hawking Club get ready to climb the hills behind Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland. Holy Isle, a religious retreat for centuries, is in the background. Visible in the photo are three Harris’s hawks and the hybrid eagle. Kristie Brown, a Denver native and falconer now living in Casper, Wyoming is third from the right next to REF Curator Anne Price. L to R: Murray, dog handler extraordinaire and local Arran resident, Dougie and Ronnie, whose hawks each just caught brown hares within two minutes of each other. Our intrepid curator/biologist, Anne Price, in the weapons room at Blair Castle during a “Céilidh” a traditional Scottish gathering and social event. She is wearing the tartan of the MacNeil Clan on her father’s side. The weapon room was completed in 1873; there are 488 objects in the room ranging from pollaxes to swords, guns, shields, knives, powder horns, bayonets, daggers, etc. The very oldest part of the castle battlement dates to 1269. The Red Deer (our elk, Cervus elaphus) was actually a pet on the estate, “Tilt”, who had to be shot after he was injured at age 13 tangling with a wild deer during the rut. The red deer were carefully managed and some kept as pets; the gamekeeper kept track of each stag and mounted its shed antlers every year on other shot deer skulls, with plaques that detailed the year and age growth of the animals.

Raptor Research Foundation 2009 Conference Headquarters:
The Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry, Scotland

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Scottish Report