Thursday 17th May

Did you know that a man with a big bird of prey goes up on the roof of the academy every day to scare the seagulls?
Robert Judd visited the library with his birds to talk about his work with these magnificent birds.  
Logan Petrie launched the event with a very interesting talk about his visits to falconry centres in Scotland: he has held many different types of birds including  Harris Hawks and Golden eagles.
Robert then introduced the audience to Lara, a hybrid peregrine/saker falcon, specially bred to do work with  displays  etc., and Jerry the Harris Hawk.
Robert’s company is has been contracted to scare seagulls away from various Angus Council premises including Montrose Academy. He flies either Lara or Jerry every day and uses a lure (especially with Lara) to encourage the bird to swoop and dive. This is a really effective way of scaring the seagulls away, but Robert pointed out that it was very important that pupils put litter carefully into bins because the litter is what attracts the seagulls to the school.
At the end of the talk, which also included hints on how to tell the difference between a hawk and a falcon, Lara and Jerry very kindly posed for a photograph with their handler, Robert, and pupils who came to the talk