Imagine walking along a hill top, surrounded by the spectacular Black Mountains, you raise your hand, whistle, you hear the chink of bells in the distance, and then a hawk flies across the sky and lands on your glove. It’s something people have dreamed of doing since they first witnessed a wild bird of prey chasing its quarry. Traditionally you would have to go to great lengths to obtain a bird and spend years learning the skills you would need to train it successfully. But now you can experience this unique thrill in a day.
Hawking in Wales is primarily a research facility for Oxford University's zoology department. Over the summer months we fly the birds and measure various aspects of their flight. In the winter the weather is rarely suitable for the instruments we need for the research so we switch to hunting with them. Hunting is obviously a bird of prey's natural occupation, so mentally it keeps them stimulated and in turn this makes them more content and easier to manage. It also gets them very fit, much fitter than simply asking them to fly for food. It is in this winter hunting period (September to February) that we can offer you the opportunity to experience the wonderful partnership of man and bird working together.
The Black Mountains; a great place for birds of Prey
This area is not just a great place for Falconry and Hawking its pretty good for watching wild raptors too. We can see Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Goshawks, Peregrine Falcons, Kestrels, Merlins and even Red kites on a regular basis, some we see every day. For Falconry the wide open spaces, the far reaching views, and even the elevation are ideal. They mean we get to see some of natures greatest spectacles from a very special point of view. We can't guarantee you'll see the awe inspiring stoop of a wild Peregrine, but we can be pretty sure you'll see the next best thing with our trained ones.
Experienced Falconers
Between us we’ve got over 40 years experience in flying Birds of prey (and there’s only two of us). We like to think that means you’ve got as good a chance as possible of having an enjoyable and memorable day’s hawking.
Who wants a bird in the hand?
We get a very broad range of people attending our hunting days. As you would expect we get enthusiasts of country sports, but we also get bird watchers, hikers, nature lovers, and we’ve even had stag parties. If you love the outdoors, you’re reasonably fit, and you want to see nature up close then we think you’ll enjoy our days out. Our days aren’t really suitable for children under 8yrs old and if you’re really unfit then you might find the hill walking a bit too much. But if you use a wheel chair or are unable to get about because of a disability then we can cater for you. We have plenty of experience in getting you close to the action.
The ethics and sustainability of hunting game
Falconry is not a pastime for those who want a big bag - think more fly fishing than driven shooting. The pleasure is not in seeing a pheasant or a rabbit being caught but in seeing the Hawks and Falcons doing what they do naturally, using the skills they've evolved over thousands of years. It's not easy for them, nature is clever that way. Predator and prey are so evenly matched that it's usually only the weak or foolish that get caught which means the strong, clever, ones survive to breed and enhance the gene pool. In fact most Falconers agree that the best flights they've seen are the ones where the quarry got away.
In our part of wales most of the wild predatory raptors are back in sufficient numbers that we feel its a good idea to breed and release potential quarry. That way we don't have to compete with the wild birds of prey and equally we don't put a strain on natural resources. We tend to catch about 15 – 20% of the Pheasants and Partridge we release and we don't practice any “vermin” control so we hope that our grounds are rather better off for our interference. In fact the Grey Partridge had all but disappeared locally until we started our scheme so we'd like to think we're putting back more than we take out.
 "A harris hawk flies to you in the black mountains (Click to enlarge)")
 "Flying a hawk in Wales (Click to enlarge)")
 "A selection of some of our hunting hawks and falcons (Click to enlarge)")
 "(Click to enlarge)")
 "A young peregrine tiercel gets lucky and catches a grey partridge (Click to enlarge)")
 "The experienced pheasant escapes the peregrine falcon by heading for the trees (Click to enlarge)")