The Falconer...........
Well Mrs. C and I have now been living in the Middle East for over 23 years. You might have thought that this would mean that we have seen and done most things. Well far from it and during a visit to one of the many desert resorts (prior to COVID19 I might add) we took an opportunity to attend a Falcon show so that we could get up close (closer than we expected) and personal to experience one of the sports that remains to this day, integral to Emirati culture.
Living and working as we do in the Middle East we often take some of their heritage and culture for granted. Indeed, hunting with falcons, particularly the Peregrine Falcon, has been a much enjoyed past-time in the Gulf Region for thousands of years.
My first real experience of the falcon came back in the 1980's when I used to travel to the U.A.E. on business from the U.K. In those days we used to transit from Abu Dhabi to Dubai by air and I was sitting in business class, (those were the days!), wondering about the reason for the delay. All of a sudden a chap in local dress boarded and entered business class. He was carrying a plank of wood on which was perched three beautiful falcons. He then proceeded to place the plank between two seats and sat down next to his precious cargo. We then departed and this only goes to show the importance that is placed upon these wonderful birds in local Emirati culture.
Sarab, our Falconer for the day, was a delightful chap and took great care of us and even greater care of his precious female falcon, whose name was Sheikha. Now if anyone has ever been up close to one of these beautiful birds there are two striking features that immediately draw one's attention; a razor like beak and some very sharp looking talons. As a result I was mildly surprised and a little apprehensive when the whole show was conducted with us only some twenty feet away!
Man and Bird in Harmony
As Sarab, our Falconer, started to explain about how he catches and then trains his falcons, you could see and feel the awe and affection in which he holds his birds, notwithstanding the fact that they are extremely valuable.
Even though the sport of falconry can be traced back to 2000 BC and still uses many of the traditional pieces of equipment, you have probably guessed that in todays high-tech world, technology now plays a key role with an Iphone App and GPS now being essential Falconry Kit.
Indeed, so as to track their falcons in flight, as they often hunt over large areas of wilderness, each falcon has a GPS transmitter fitted on to its back which then feeds back to an iPhone App! So as Sarab told us, what could possibly go wrong? Hold that thought........
As he continued to explain the various techniques used to ensure that the falcon remains at its optimum hunting weight, maintains a healthy appetite and is encouraged to return back to the falconer, Sheikha sat passively on his arm.
All of a sudden Sarab removed Sheikha's hood and with a couple of blinks of her bright eyes Sheikha went in to active mode.
And we are off!
In a moment Sheikha was in flight and as you can see was heading straight for me. I was using the Fuji XH1 with the battery grip in boost mode with the XF55-200mm lens and as I held my nerve and kept pressing the shutter, I could feel the breeze from her wings as Sheikha flashed straight over my head.
Once Sheikha was in flight we were amazed at the speed and grace of this beautiful bird. Not as amazed as the flock of pigeons that were until that point basking in the afternoon sun on the roof of our hotel. They immediately went to DEFCON 3 as Sheikha made a beeline for them, sensing what might be described as a target-rich environment!
Meanwhile, Sarab remained calm but I sensed, behind his dark Ray Ban sunglasses, a flash of panic in his eyes as Sheikha had possibly gone rogue. Swinging his lure and frantically whistling and checking his GPS app, Sarab wandered off in to the desert to try and get the errant Sheikha back to base.
However, as the saying goes, the show must go on. Indeed Sarab was a consummate professional and soon managed to coax Sheikha back to where the show was taking place.
Now I do not usually use sports mode as I am built for comfort not speed, and I am more of a single shot man. However, with Sarab frantically swinging his lure Sheikha homed in and made several low-level passes at incredible speeds.
Whilst my skills did not enable me to nail focus on the bird, I did my best to capture the breathtaking speed at which the falcon operates and certainly makes you understand why the entire flock of pigeons had heart failure when they realised they were on Sheikha's food radar.
I was now completely in the zone as I tried to capture the action and failed to notice Sarab, who had seen me taking images, throw the lure in my direction at which point Sheikha homed in like an Exocet missile.
At This point I began to sweat and then I got the 1000 yard stare!
Thank goodness for in-body image stabilisation! As Sheikha clutched onto the lure, only a couple of feet away from me, she glared at me almost daring me to try and take it away from her. I did not move a muscle!
In a moment she was back on Sarab's glove and duly rewarded with a meal of fresh bird meat. Apparently they can almost eat their body weight.
It was exciting stuff and as the show came to an end Sarab was very gracious and allowed those who wished to pose with Sheikha for a picture. Mrs C did nit have to be asked twice.
As I sit indoors on day six of our Covid19 lock-down, looking over these images was a welcome distraction from day-to-day events.
When this all comes to an end, and it surely will, I have a feeling that we all might live our lives a little differently. Certainly it will be an opportunity to maintain the community spirit which has developed through adversity and hopefully people will continue to appreciate and enjoy the simple things in life.
Please all take care during this difficult period and watch out for friends, family and those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
Regards from a very quiet Dubai.