Last Friday I took the day off work with a couple of colleagues and went to Millets Farm Falconry Centre.  I had happened to see it included in a Twitter post for places to visit in my area and thought it would be a nice day out that would suit everybody that was going.

I woke to heavy fog outside and wondered if it was set to improve, after a check with the online weather information I was happy to see it was set to lift mid-morning.  After I had picked everyone up we headed on the half an hour journey to the Centre.

Thankfully the weather decided to play nice and the fog lifted an hour before the first flying display at 12pm.  As the Centre is situated next to a restaurant it was a good time for lunch before the next display at 2pm.

The first bird to fly was ‘Boo’ a Striated Cara Cara who came with a warning from the Falconer Luke… please insure all bags are done up securely as he will raid them for food! and sure enough he came over to see if he could get in my bag, sorry Boo no food from me.

They flew a variety of birds; two seemed very interested in the local mouse population deciding to do a little of their own hunting though both were unsuccessful with their catches that escaped their talons.

We also had a visit from some of the local Red Kite population with three of them riding the thermals at one point.

When taking photographs at Falconry Centres I always try and take photos that make the birds look as though they are in their natural environment.  Part of the attraction is to get up close and learn about birds I have little knowledge of.