So last week I was off on another vacation. This time my husband and I cruised from Montreal to Boston. The highlight was a shore excursion called Fun with Falcons.
It was in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, that we got to take part in this adventure where we were bused (uncomfortably) to a man’s home where he raised falcons. He works as a falconer, putting the birds to work to control pest birds, like pigeons. He also hunts with the birds, using his dogs to flush out game birds like quail, which the falcon then hunts.
He also does educational visits like the one I was on.
We got to watch a hooded Saker Falcon eat and then we got to put on the glove to hold the falcon, which was hooded at the time. Fascinating.
Then we were taken outside to see where he kept his birds, of which he had two Saker Falcons, two hawks, and one hybrid Gyr/Peregrine Falcon. The latter was the most noisy of all of them!
He then let the hawk out so that we could experience having the bird some to us on the glove. We walked through some of his property and then he used food to bring the hawk to him, which meant it flew over our heads, knocking into one of the guests! The bird was undamaged. I am not certain about the guest!
Then he had us turn our backs to the bird and he’d put food in our hand on the glove so that the bird couldn’t see it. Then we’d hold our arm with the glove holding the food up and the hawk would land on our hand and eat before turning to leave. It was an amazing experience.
Finally, he brought out the hybrid falcon for us to see. A gorgeous bird.
I learned a lot about how he works with the birds and how they are fed and cared for. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait for the time when a fantasy novel idea comes up and I can use my new found falcon knowledge!