When I visited Ireland with my daughter, one of our favorite things was a falconry experience in Dingle, County Kerry. The guides at the Dingle Falconry Experience tell you a bit about each bird they fly. You also get a chance to have the birds perch on your gloved hand.
One of the most impressive birds we saw was an Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo.
I mentioned it in one of my previous posts. It is so heavy, the guide helps support your arm when it perches on you.
Our guide flew it from one post to another. See it in action in this video.
The bird with the most beautiful plumage was a Western Barn Owl, Tyto alba.
I took this photo of its back to get the details of its feathers. Note, I wasn’t really paying attention to the alignment of the background. 😀
The birds fly from person to person as you stand in a large circle. Here’s the Barn Owl flying around our group.
The Harris’s Hawk, Parabuteo unicinctus, had a powerful presence. Here it is up close.
Here’s the bird perching before it flies to the next participant.
When we were there, the guide used a lure with a piece of prey attached to exercise a falcon. Here’s a video of the bird in flight.
The Peregrine Falcon, Falco pergrinus, was gorgeous in flight and on the ground.
Here’s the bird eating a snack with the guide.
If you’re looking for an up-close and personal encounter with birds of prey, check out the Dingle Falconry Experience. It was educational and fun!
Hope you all have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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Wow what amazing birds! Fantastic photos too! Looks like quite an experience. Thanks for sharing, my friend! Enjoy your day 😊🌻💛☮️
Thanks! It was really fun. Have a good day as well. 🙂 🍀
The plumage details you shared are amazing.
Thanks, Egidio! A lot of the photos I took were blurry because they were so close. :)
Wonderful images Siobhan and what a fabulous experience! ❤️ xxx
Thanks! Yeah, it was great.
Stunning owl. Thanks for these great photos of your falconry day.
Glad you liked my photos of that experience. The owls were beautiful.
The feathers were amazing.
Yes, they were!
Very cool! I just love owls! Probably because I don't see them much. But we have a pair that live in our neighborhood and we hear them often in the evening or morning! ...very hard to actually see them!
Thanks, Lisa ! Yes, owls are very cool and sometimes very hard to see. Love hearing them. 🦉
I think it may be mating season here, we are hearing them every night recently!
Seems like a lovely experience, and a simple way of seeing them up close. Thank you for adding this to BoW. Since pets and domesticated animals are not part of a wildlife experience, I look forward to seeing your future photos of wild birds that you interact with, even if they are in your backyard or on your window sill.
Thanks!
Amazing. Stunning very special pictures
Thank you!
I've been to a few of these birds of prey flying demos and they're always very interesting as well as a good chance to photograph these beautiful birds. I love the way you bothered to photograph the back of the barn owl, and the Harris’s Hawk shat is especially striking.
Thanks, Sarah! Yes, they're fun to watch and great opportunities to take pictures. The volunteer photographers at the High Desert Museum get some stunning photos of our raptors in flight.