This Cheshire venue boasts one of the largest collections of falcons and other birds of prey in the country at about 85 birds, ranging from Falcons to a rare White Tailed Sea Eagle.
Open to the public it is a very popular visitor attraction and has excellent facilities on site, including an award winning restaurant. The half day 'Meet the Birds' experience is suitable for wheel chair users. Access to the centre near Northwich in Cheshire is from J19 of the M6, making it an easy venue to get to. IntotheBlue proudly offers a huge range of falconry courses guaranteed to please every bird of prey enthusiast, so please visit our main falconry page to fully appreciate the wide choice available throughout the UK including a superb Falconry in Scotland experience.
The half day 'meet the birds' is a morning experience which starts with a 30 minute introduction to the birds you will be flying held in the 'mews'. You will start to learn some of the terminology and vital information required for falconry which you will shortly be needing when you come to fly your first bird. You will then be fitted with a glove and move up to the flying field. During the rest of the morning (broken only by a break for coffee) you will fly up to six different species of bird of prey including Hawk, Falcon, Buzzard, Owl, Vulture and possibly even an Eagle.
This venue is not as vulnerable to adverse weather as some centres, as there is a 75' barn in which the flying can take place in wet or windy conditions.
The Full Day Falconry Experience starts with a welcome and introduction by the Falconer. You then receive a 30 minute introduction to the birds. This is the beginning of a day of total immersion into the fascinating world of Falconry, by the end of which you will have a real insight and understanding of the subject. At this stage you are just being given enough information to enable the Falconer to set you up with a glove and move onto the flying field when you will fly up to 6 different species such as Hawk, Buzzard, Falcon and Vulture and perhaps even an Eagle.
After lunch (included in price) you have the opportunity to apply your new skills and expertise out in the countryside. You will take several different birds and spend the afternoon flying them and learning how they interact with you, and what makes them such formidable hunters.
At the end of the day you will not only leave with a more involved knowledge about falcons but with new knowledge about the natural world in general. Please take a look at our home page where we offer a wide and diverse selection of activity day gifts by personalised voucher.
The half day falconry course lasts three hours and gives a good introduction to the sport. Those opting for the full day course get to spend a lot more time flying the birds over the seven hours and lunch is included in the price.
Falconry experiences operate all year round. The half day course runs from 09:30 to 12:30 and the full day runs from 09:30 to 16:30.
The centre is close to Northwich around 11 miles from J19 of the M6.
Minimum age is 14, all under 18's must be accompanied by an adult. Group sizes are kept small usually with no more than 8 guests per instructor. You should wear outdoor clothing, and in case of wet weather, boots and waterproofs.
The Cheshire venue permits friends and family to come and watch and take photographs. There is a separate charge of £20 for the half day experience and £35 (inc. lunch) for the full day. This is paid directly on the day. The centre can help with advice on good hotels and B & B's within the local Cheshire countryside.