A remote farm in the Scottish Borders is set to become one of the world's leading falcon breeding and training centres for the Qatar royal family.
A remote farm in the Scottish Borders will soon be run as a falcon breeding centre by a Sheikh from Qatar.
The Sheikh has planning permission to build a breeding centre near Hawick.
Work has already begun for the complex, which will soon house some of the world's best falcons. Jenny Longden reports:
Falconer Jeff Armstrong already keeps a number of the birds of prey at Bonchester Bridge.
He believes the Borders is the ideal place to breed falcons.
He said:
"This area is remote, it's quiet, it's an ideal place to breed Falcons.
"The climate over here is perfect for them, it gets too hot in Qatar, and makes it much more difficult for them to breed. Also, there aren't enough daylight hours over there.
"The plan for us is to breed very high quality falcons. We will travel to America and Canada just to find one falcon here, one falcon there, to find the best we can"
A remote farm near Hawick will soon be home to hundred of falcons, bred by a member of the Qatari Royal Family.
Falconer Jeff Armstrong already keeps falcons at Bonchester Bridge.
Sheikh Ali Bin Abdullah Athani approached him to start up a falcon breeding centre.
It will include a huge pen for the birds to fly around in, and breeding chambers.
High quality Falcons can be worth up to £1 million.
Each one is micro-chipped and registered.
That is partly why a remote Borders farm is an ideal spot to breed them, but also because the climate is ideal.
A remote farm in the Scottish Borders is set to become one of the world's leading falcon breeding and training centres for the Qatar royal family.
The development plans have been approved for the new facility at Weensmuir Farm, near Bonchester Bridge in Roxburghshire.
Sheikh Ali Bin Abdulla Athani is hoping to join his family in visiting the centre around four times a year, to purchase birds of prey.