Harris Hawk in flight

Last day of our weekend in the New Forest and today we headed to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Romsey for a photography day with Paul Manning. Dawn joined our meet today for the workshop.

The day started with coffee, followed by a presentation on falconry and birds of prey.  Really interesting, Paul in an extremely knowledgable man and dedicated falconer who obviously loves his work. In the morning we concentrated on close up work, photographing the birds on their perches. 

A break for lunch and then it was back out in the field for some birds in flight photography. Paul broke us in gently - firstly we had some low fly pasts before the birds were let loose for some free flying - slightly more difficult to capture and get shots that were in focus! 

The day ended with the birds posed in their natural habitats with their prey which resulted in some lovely images of half eaten mice and chicks!!

A really enjoyable day was rounded off at a pub for dinner before heading off home.  

A few extras here: Peregrine Falcon; European Eagle Owl; Gyr Falcon; Peregrine Falcon. 
A few more shots can be seen on my ipernity page: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/338569/album/880324