"HE clocked the pigeon when we were half way through the demonstration and that was it - he was off. He chased the thing through tents and marquees before catching his prey in one of the coffee stands. It made a right mess and there were feathers everywhere."

Falconer Jonathan Marshall recalls the last time he did a demonstration at the Dorset County Show. Admittedly he did not anticipate it ending in a cloud of feathers and spilled drinks, but then, letting a falcon loose is not like letting your dog off the lead.

That said, although Jonathan's birds are wild at heart, they rarely stray from him - all morning we had been flying three hawks through the woods near his Devon home and they rarely left his sight.

That is because Jonathan looks after them - indeed he has rescued most of them from certain death in the wild or previous owners who have mistreated them. And they are in safe hands now, as Jonathan is dedicated to his birds, evident from the time he invests in them. It can take months to train just one and he flies them all every day.

As we walk through the trees one of the hawks dives into the undergrowth.

"I think he might have got something," says Jonathan. We dash to where the bird swooped. Perhaps it was a rabbit but the hawk came back empty clawed.

After a morning with these magnificent birds we return them to their perches in Jonathan's trailer and drive further into the countryside, where we will let the peregrines and a golden eagle loose.

On the way I asked him how a lad from Lancashire ended up a falconer in Devon. It started with a trip to the Lake District.

"I saw a golden eagle there and afterwards bought a book about them," he explains. "There was a chapter on falconry and I decided that's what I wanted to do."

By age nine he got his first bird, a kestrel - which gave Jonathon a reputation in class.

"All the other kids were into football and rugby, but I liked birds so I was the weird kid," he said. "I took the kestrel in for a talk I was doing at school and as I was speaking he pooed. I caught it before it hit the floor but didn't know what to do, so I just put it in my pocket and carried on!"

Jonathon joined the RAF where he was responsible for using peregrines to clear runways of pigeons and seagulls. However, an opportunity arose on the University of Kent's raptor biology course, so he bought himself out and signed up.

After his degree Jonathan moved to Devon where he set up a birds of prey centre. But even this did not satisfy his insatiable curiosity - he wanted to fly with them.

"The centre became too repetitive so I put someone else in charge," he explains. "I started microlighting and jumping out of planes with my birds."

This earned Jonathan the reputation as the "birdman" and he is the only person in the world who parachutes with birds of prey - although with a top speed of 200mph they are not easy to keep up with. This was evident when we took the peregrines out that afternoon. As they swooped and dived it was hard enough following them with your eyes. I was a little nervous as I swung the lure, which the peregrines snatched from the end.

However, if I was nervous about the peregrine then I had not seen the day's attraction - the golden eagle. This bird is so big and powerful Jonathan locked his dog in the car while we flew it. "Last week he caught a fox," he explained. "I can't risk having the dog running around."

Little wonder. As it glides through the air it looks every bit the predator - its wings are two metres across, while its beak and claws are easily visible from the ground.

Hesitantly I outstretched my leather-clad arm and clutched a piece of meat as I encouraged the bird to land on me. Jonathan assured me I would keep all my limbs and I trusted him. After a minute the eagle spotted the meat and landed on my arm. It was exhilarating, having such a fantastic, powerful and rare bird perched there. It effortlessly ripped through the beef and when it took off it split open the leather glove, such was the power of its talons.

This rounded an amazing day. Sadly the blustery weather put the kibosh on going in the microlight and flying with them, but that didn't matter much - it had still been great fun and an education.

Jonathan will be appearing at this weekend's Dorset County Show
(Dorchester Sept 6,7), offering a taste of falconry. If that is not enough and you would like a whole day flying these magnificent birds, visit experiencefalconry.co.uk for a list of experiences that Jonathon offers.