Peregrine Spring: A Master Falconer's Extraordinary Life with Birds of Prey

by Nancy Cowan

Overview

Peregrine Spring, Nancy Cowan’s memoir of her thirty years living intimately with raptors, gives us a new perspective on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Cowan shares her experiences running a world-famous falconry school, and the lessons she's learned from her birds. From retrieving her falcon from the local police “lock up,” to finding her husband in bed with a gyrfalcon, to a heart-breaking race to save her young peregrine from attack by a wild hawk, Cowan’s life is a constant, ever-changing adventure. Cowan’s birds have immersed her so much into their world that she has found herself courted by a Goshawk and bossed about by a Harris’ Hawk. The book carries her readers along, so they, too, meet hawks and falcons in ways they never imagined possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493018376
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Nancy Cowan is a master falconer, wildlife rescue expert, sled-dog sportswriter and historian, popular speaker, and award-winning writer. After spearheading a years-long campaign to win legalization for falconry in the state of New Hampshire, she and her husband founded the internationally-known New Hampshire School of Falconry. A licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Nancy has worked with a variety of hawk and falcon species which have been injured or orphaned and frequently is consulted by local wildlife rehab centers and New Hampshire Audubon Society on the care and rehabilitation of injured birds. The school website can be found at www.nhschooloffalconry.com. Cowan’s writing has appeared in DogWorld, Yankee Magazine, DOGFANCY, and Down East magazines as well as club and breed publications.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword Sy Montgomery Elizabeth Marshall Thomas xi

Prologue xv

Part 1 Owned by a Hawk

Chapter 1 A Different Way of Life 3

Chapter 2 I Begin 13

Chapter 3 Meeting Injun 19

Chapter 4 The Attack and the Mission 23

Chapter 5 Compatibility on Injun's Terms 31

Chapter 6 Goshawk in the Bedroom 37

Chapter 7 Injun on "Suffering Fools" 41

Chapter 8 Moving to the Right Place 45

Chapter 9 People in Kilts 49

Chapter 10 How High Should You Go? 53

Chapter 11 Thin Ice and Pheasants 63

Chapter 12 Hawkdogs 69

Chapter 13 Bird Years 79

Chapter 14 The Importance of Being Injun 89

Part 2 A Tale of Two Peregrines

Chapter 15 Tapped for a New Role 99

Chapter 16 Suspicious Characters 109

Chapter 17 Licensed! 113

Chapter 18 Meet a Bird Named N-Z 121

Chapter 19 The Dance Begins 125

Chapter 20 Can He Fly? 133

Chapter 21 Airborne 141

Chapter 22 Flying To Despair 153

Chapter 23 Only Optimists Need Apply 165

Part 3 A Life Filled with Raptors

Chapter 24 Bubba 171

Chapter 25 Contract Attorneys and Partnerships 177

Chapter 26 Summer Flights 181

Chapter 27 Moving Day for Falcons 187

Chapter 28 Cowan's Falcon "Nursery" 193

Chapter 29 Tabasco 199

Chapter 30 Mosby, the Gray Ghost 203

Chapter 31 Emma's Great Adventure 209

Chapter 32 Jazz 215

Chapter 33 Lightning in a Bottle 221

Chapter 34 Sidekick 227

Chapter 35 Winterizing Harris's Hawks 233

Chapter 36 Making In 237

Chapter 37 Crash 243

Chapter 38 Well-Groomed 249

Chapter 39 Scout 253

Chapter 40 Peregrine Spring 259

Editorial Reviews

Peregrine Spring is “a roller coaster ride of experiences . . . an exquisite, moving, important and surprising book. . . . When the tempo does slow, it is a respite that gives the reader a chance to savor descriptions of incredibly beautiful birds which carry the reader along on their spectacular flights.” —Sy Montgomery, author of The Good Good Pig

“Peregrine Spring must be told. It is important that this book be published. People need to read this.” —Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs

“Nancy Cowan's Peregrine Spring is the best narrative of a modern falconer's life I know. It’s not a how-to, though you can learn plenty from it. Nor does Nancy pose as an all-knowing 'Master,' though she is a master—or mistress—of our ancient practice. What she does give us is a falconry pilgrim’s progress, from beginner to teacher, with all the thrills and delights and sometimes horrors that accompany the journey. I plan to give this book to every person who approaches me and wishes to become a falconer. It’s essential.” —Steve Bodio, author of A Rage for Falcons and Eagle Dreams

“Peregrine Spring is a wonderful and often poignant account of Nancy Cowan’s relationship with a host of raptors; their lives, personalities, and species-related abilities. This book is for those interested in human-animal relationships and future falconers alike.” —Ben Kilham, author of Out on a Limb: What Black Bears Have Taught Me about Intelligence and Intuition

“Cowan gives us striking insights into the inner workings of the relationships between raptors and their handlers, as only someone who has dedicated her life to these birds could do.” –Irene Pepperberg, author of Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process

“Of all the working partnerships between humans and animals, the most intriguing and unfathomable must be the one between falconers and their birds. In this beguiling memoir, Nancy Cowan describes the knife’s edge on which she and her fellow falconers balance—studying everything from medieval techniques to modern medicine, doing their best to understand the kinds of birds who think, but not the way we do; who accept their jesses and hoods, but don’t lose their essential wildness; and who, when released into the sky, can at any time disappear and never return. Filled with information, beautiful descriptions, and stories both heartwarming and hair-raising, this is a book that will fascinate readers of all kinds.” —Suzie Gilbert, author of Flyaway: How a Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings

“Since time immemorial, humans have looked to the skies and marveled at the flying skills and hunting prowess of falcons and hawks. We have craved the freedom of flight and the vicarious thrill of the kill. For thousands of years, falconry has allowed that thrill to manifest in the close union of bird and human. It’s an uneasy alliance that requires patience, skill and care, and Nancy Cowan is one in a small number of practicing falconers today who share their passion and avocation with a wide audience. . . .Through Peregrine Spring we can all sail on the wind with Nancy’s birds and take a glimpse into her life: a life devoted to an ancient art with a modern twist.” –Iain MacLeod, executive director, Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

“Not only does Nancy share the technical aspects of training and hunting a raptor, she brings to life the critical bond between falconer and falcon. A great read for anyone who wants to get a close look at what lies behind the curtain of falconry.” –Michael J. Bartlett, president, New Hampshire Audubon

“'How could anyone relate to a creature as cold and emotionless as a bird of prey?' asks Nancy Cowan in this marvelous book. She answers in stories steeped in admiration, learning and love. 'I have to do this right,' she tells herself about falconry. And she does. She gets her wordsmithing right, too, showing us the hearts of hunters in clean, feather-elegant prose that borders on poetry. Thank you, Nancy. My library is enriched by Peregrine Spring."—Kim Heacox, author of The Only Kayak and Rhythm of the Wild

From the Publisher

Falconers will find many similarities to their own experiences in the recounting of Nancy’s life. . . . Falconers, especially East Coast ones, will be able to identify many of our fellow falconers whom Nancy only identifies by their first names. It makes you feel like an insider and adds to the enjoyment of Nancy's story.

Archives

Falconers will find many similarities to their own experiences in the recounting of Nancy’s life. . . . Falconers, especially East Coast ones, will be able to identify many of our fellow falconers whom Nancy only identifies by their first names. It makes you feel like an insider and adds to the enjoyment of Nancy's story.

Peter Barry Devers