Beautiful Birds and Creepy Critters Experience
Overview
Join the Eclipse Falconry team for a fantastic event to be held at their Bird of Prey Centre within Ash End House Children's Farm. Craig, from the Eclipse team is offering us a special 2 hour experience to combine meeting both the birds of prey, and the creepy critters.
The first hour of the event allows you to meet, handle and fly a selection of their beautiful birds. This is a great opportunity to engage with and learn all about these incredible creatures.
We can then either take a break for lunch/coffee or move straight to the Critters depending on the groups preference.
For the second part of this event, you will have the chance to learn about and handle a selection of snakes, lizards and spiders .This is a rare opportunity to enjoy these fascinating creatures with a definite ‘hands-on’ approach! There is no pressure to handle anything you find too creepy, although there may be some gentle encouragement!
If you'd like to bring a packed lunch, the Farm has a lovely sheltered picnic area. There is also a cafe should you wish to purchase drinks and snacks.
Extras
If you would like go around the farm before or after your experience, then there will be an admission charge of £6.95 and this will be paid at the entrance to Ash End Farm.
Any drinks, snacks or lunch at the cafe
Host & Everything Else
In the past we have enjoyed visiting the birds and the critters separately but are now combining both events for an even more rewarding experience. Please see feedback below from the events individually.
Birds
● The Birds of Prey event in my view can only be described as excellent and certainly much more that just value for money. We were given much more time that the prescribed hour and the impression I gained was that it was a pleasure for them as opposed to being part of the job. We did not have an actual coordinator but this was not necessary as the `Bird Man` looked after us fully and was very informative,easy going, along with touches of humour.
There was plenty of opportunity to have contact with and fly the several different birds of prey presented to us. The final demonstration of flying was also excellent and we were allowed to watch at close quarters. The whole event was brilliant and we were made to feel very,very welcome. I have no criticisms of any part of it and do not see any way in which the event could be improved. “Yes really enjoyed the Bird of Prey Encounter, fantastic to have photos taken with the birds”
● “Birds of Prey was wonderful. Craig was very friendly too. Good value for money and very
informative. A lovely morning out”
● “The bird of prey experience was very informative and enjoyable. It was well organised, and I would efinitely recommend it to other members. The gentleman in charge of our group,Craig, was very friendly, patient and gave us a lot of interesting facts oneach bird that
we handled. It was a brilliant afternoon, and you could tell that the animals were very well looked after”
● "I just wanted to let you know
what a great experience I had at Ash End Farm doing the birds of prey experience.
Craig was very knowledgeable and kind and loves his work. We got loads of time
handling the birds and lots of photo opportunities. We even got to see some
baby kestrel chicks. It was all I could do to not pop one in my pocket. We got
to handle the huge Eagle owl which was a bonus. Great value for money. I would
highly recommend it"
● “The bird of prey encounter was really good. Definetly in my top 3! The guide was amazing, so informative. He made sure we had plenty of time with each of the birds, even checking we had enough time for photos. He knew so much and loved his birds. He even gave us extra
time as he didn't want to rush the event. As an event it is whole heartedly worth the money you pay. The small group we had was ideal too as it meant we got to know each other and had plenty of one on one time. I would recommend this event to all xx”
● “Birds of Prey was wonderful. Craig if I remember his name correctly was very friendly too. Good value for moneyand very informative. A lovely morning out. Thanks”
Critters
● We had a fantastic afternoon out, the guides were extremely knowledgeable (information overload) and we had a generous amount of time handling a variety of snakes, reptiles and spiders. We didn't have to handle anything we didn't feel comfortable with, but it's nice to push boundaries. I actually came out of this event with a different opinion of snakes having held a few here for the first time in my life - once you get over the odd feeling of them doing their own slippery thing, they're actually quite nice! The only thing I would have changed would be regarding the set-up - they need a barrier, sign, or a separate room for these private events because we kept having members of the public invade thinking it was a display-for-all. Other than that slight flaw, I would definitely book this event again, and was extremely pleased we went along.
● I would definitely book this event again, and was extremely pleased we went along.
● Lovely afternoon spent with snakes, toads, lizards and a tarantula! learning so much about them, especially how much a toad can wee!! and how soft and gentle the tarantula was ;-)
Gallery
