Walk The Wildside £75

The traditional application of falconry has been to take a bird of prey, train it and then attempt to catch wild quarry with it. Although our Walk The Wildside experience is not a full-on hunting expedition our leisurely stroll through the Cheshire countryside surrounding us here with falconer and hawk (or hawks) it does show the ability of trained birds and their relationship with their human partners.

You are likely to witness the natural hunting prowess of these birds as they demonstrate their speed and agility. Of course, we also like to give participants as much hand-on time as possible too. This three hour session is held in the afternoons and is an experience that few will ever forget.

Participants and spectators must be 14 years or over.

When falconry was first practised over 2000 years ago the principles of training are likely to have been exactly the same as those utilised by our bird of prey experts as they carefully prepare the birds for all of our falconry experiences. Of course, back then the aim of falconry was to create a weapon that could be used against wild quarry species for sport or for the table not to provide wonderful experiences with birds of prey in Cheshire. Our Walk The Wildside experience is as close as we can get to the traditional application of falconry as practised in Ancient Times.

At the start of this session you will be greeted by the falconer in front of the weathering lawn which is where our trained birds of prey spend most of their time during daylight hours when they are not flying. After a short handling lesson the real experience begins as you are escorted to the beautiful Cheshire countryside surrounding the Falconry Centre to begin flying the birds.

The main focus of this experience will be upon the favourite hunter amongst UK falconers, the Harris’ Hawk. This beautiful chestnut and chocolate brown species is a medium sized raptor that hails from the Americas and is extremely versatile, tolerant and relatively easy to train. It also has the added advantage in that it is one of the few bird of prey species that can be flown with other members of the same species. Indeed, in its natural environment this bird of prey is known to hunt co-operatively, particularly in the more harsh areas of its range. This tolerance can be used by the falconers when they prepare for a "Walk The Wildside" experience. In short, the more participants we have, the more hawks we take, our maximum number of participants is eight.

Note: Our Walk the Wildside takes us along uneven terrain along forestry footpaths and through woodland. No severe inclines or scrambling over stiles is necessary but sensible waking shoes are strongly recommended.

Spectator Voucher £25

If you would like to accompany the participant on their Walk the Wildside then why not purchase a spectator place when you buy the voucher? This is a great way of getting close to the action without handling and flying the birds yourself. You can take photographs or video of the participant throughout the session.

It’s like having your own private flying demonstration for three hours when you spectate. Please note that spectator places can only be purchased and used in conjunction with a valid participants voucher.

Spectator's must be 14 years or older.