Steve with Nevada, a seven year old Harris Hawk, trained from twelve weeks old and used to scare away the gulls and pigeons from our historic buildings.
Steve flies him outside the Scottish Parliament for around eight hours a week which is enough to keep the birds from nesting on and around the buildings.
Harris hawks are indigenous to the United States and parts of South America but have been bred in captivity here for many years and have become one of the most popular birds of prey used in falconry.
Mary is a longstanding writer with publications in The Scotsman and a number of independent travel logs and blogs. She has written professionally as part of her 40 year career in education and for pleasure.