Have you ever held an American Eagle?
Nope? It’s quite heavy, and when you look it in the eye and see its huge beak, you might be lucky to wear your sunglasses that day (at least I was). Lyons Cub “only” got to hold a barn owl (kids got smaller birds to hold), but still our visit to the falconry in the city of Remscheid was a full success. We learned a lot about birds of prey, saw them fly and land close to us, heard their screeches, and witnessed how intelligent they are (one falcon found meat under one of three cones). Come check out our visit to the falconry, “Falknerei Bergisch Land“!
We set out on a windy, not so sunny Sunday morning in April. We were a bit worried, because it had said on the falconry’s website that the flight show would be cancelled if it rained heavily. Yet the weather remained dry and we had a most amazing day. We arrived an hour too early, parked on the big parking lot next to the falconry in a wooded area, and walked around a bit in the hilly, beautiful scenery of the “Bergisches Land.”
Then, we returned to the falconry and stood at the entrance with some other visitors until we were let in. The show started at 3 p.m.
First, we were led into a beautiful inner yard with huge bird cages.
Here, the cute brown bird is on its pole and looks much bigger and more majestic now:
At the shop, Lyons Cub bought a tiny plush owl (I was glad none of the birds of prey took it out of his hands when he played around with it during the flight show, for it looked quite real):
It was nice to see some of the birds we would later meet in the flight show in advance. Mommy’s favorite was the big, fluffy snow owl. It was a female, and she screeched every time Lyons Cub took one step closer to her cage. Later, the falconer explained to us that the Harry Potter owl Hedwig couldn’t have been a female, because she was all white. In nature, only the male snow owls are white; the females aways have brown-speckled feathers like the one we saw here:
The great horned owl (“Bartkauz,” literally “beard owl” in German) was very impressive, too:
Here’s a pretty common buzzard (called “Maeusebussard” in German, probably because it likes mice):
And this is the barn owl that Lyons Cub got to hold for a fee of EUR 5.00 before we exited:
We walked around the corner to where the birds had their outdoor stations:
A pretty vulture:
And here’s the American boy with the American Eagle:
There were several wooden houses and poles in the big yard where each bird had its station. All in the back was the hut of the American Eagle. The birds were bound at their legs, so they couldn’t escape, but their leashes were long, so they could fly around. But soon, they would fly free over the clearing from one falconer to another, receiving a strip of meat.
After having looked at the birds of prey in their cages and on their poles, we walked into a forest to a clearing to watch the flight show.
A young gentleman with a microphone moderated the show and told the spectators the names of the animals (both their biological and their given names), where they came from, and peculiarities about them, including funny anecdotes. Two helpers stationed at opposite, elevated desks lured the birds with pieces of meat to fly over the viewers’ heads from one desk to the other to get their reward.
The first bird we admired was a Virginia owl:
Then, we saw the great horned owl:
Most of the birds obeyed very well indeed, only one disappeared back to the helper to be brought into its cage before its stunt was to be over, and a few didn’t react unless the meat was thrown away, not held and waved about, because they wanted to hunt for escaping prey and not take it from the falconer’s gloved hand. When the birds swooshed over our heads, everybody ducked down. The falconer came quite close to us and held the birds so we could all see them well. There were several small kids in the audience, but nobody seemed to be afraid.
Our favorite, of course, was the American Eagle:
The snow owl was beautiful and showed off happily for a bit of meat:
And here, we are watching the barn owl fly, which Lyons Cub will hold at the end of the show:
The most interesting stunt was a falcon that was searching for meat under one of three orange cones by turning them all over until it found its award:
This bird was quite clever turning over the cones, but it didn’t smell under which one the prey lay. It just searched until it found the right cone.
After the flight show, my son and I went to have our picture taken with one of the birds. Grandma graciously declined 😉 Mommy got to hold the American Eagle, and Lyons Cub the barn owl. A lady falconer stood next to us and was holding the birds on a leather strap. We had to put on a thick leather gloves, and there we go:
Lyons Cub with the barn owl:
We both with the American Eagle:
If you’ve never visited a falconry, this will be a trip that neither you nor your kids will ever forget 🙂 The falconry in Remscheid even offers night walks with an owl (for people over 16 years) and owl feedings, so we will surely go there again.