Though, falcons, hawks, and other birds of prey can be dangerous, I felt right at home giving falconry a try today. This was due to Bob Edwards, who is a falconer in Warwickshire.

When we arrived in the large open field, Bob was already set up and ready to go. There were three birds sitting on perches squawking away. We had so many questions for Bob. How does he train the birds? How do they hunt? Would he introduce us to his birds? First, we met Richard Harris, a Harris Hawk. The others were named Lady and Harris Tweed.

Flying the birds: First, Bob took Lady from her perch. She began to clean her wings, which we were told is a bit like a pre-flight check. Then, Bob took out a leather pouch about the size of something Lady would consider prey. He swung it around to try to attract her from the sky. Lady dove toward the pouch and was even able to tap it with her beak. Whenever she succeeded in hitting the pouch, Bob rewarded her with food -- bits of rat and other pieces of animal.

Then, Bob gave each of us a chance to fly Richard Harris and Harris Tweed from our arm. We had to wear a special glove called a gauntlet to protect us from the birds’ talons. To get them to fly to you, a little piece of food is placed in your glove, under your thumb, and they will come right to you and eat from your hand. AMAZING!

Fascinated by falconry,

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