This is my first meeting with Ivan, he was around six to seven years old and I was just eighteen.

Little was I to know at the time that within two years Ivan would become mine.

This photograph was taken in Brighton where Ivan lived with his owner Mike Dawson, who at the time was the secretary of the Hawking Club of Great Britain.

In just less than two years from when this photograph Mike was to ring me and ask if I would like to take on Ivan.
I was amazed, impetuous and hardly hesitated. I often think how different my life would have been if things had turned out differently.

The time seemed to be perfect for both Ivan and myself. I was young and relatively care free and able to dedicate all my free time to him.
Ivan was a young mature imprinted adult eagle and bonded to me which gave my life an extra direction.