Ben Long Falconry
Having trained his first falcon over 38 years ago, Ben Long must surely be one of this country’s most experienced practitioners of the ancient art of falconry, a sport that has been continuously part of Britain’s heritage for at least 1400 years. He is well-known in the falconry world, and his team of falcons and hawks give demonstrations of falconry techniques at various shows and other events throughout the year.
A visual feast
Falconry as a sport has never been about the catching of quarry. Rather, it is about seeing the hawk or falcon operating in its natural element - the air. Ben’s training techniques and subsequent displays are designed to show the audience what these birds can really do. “Almost the only thing the public remembers about other falconry displays is when one or more birds are lost”, says Ben. “My intention is that the audience will go away remembering the flights”. Thus, Ben employs hawks for audience participation, but also uses many falcons, including the peregrine, the world’s fasting living creature. In order to demonstrate the flying abilities of these beautiful raptors, Ben also uses novel techniques with kites and specially-designed helium balloons to encourage the falcons to climb high above the arena. This is a sight not to be missed.
As well as flying the birds, Ben has all his team on display throughout the show day, allowing the public to ask questions, to see the birds at close quarters, and even handle them. He is rightly proud of the condition of the raptors, which he strongly feels should be as near perfect as possible, so a great deal of thought is put into their welfare at all times.
When not engaged with displays, Ben can be found hosting experience days and also giving tuition to both would-be and existing falconers, and also organising the deterrence of avian pest species using falcons and hawks. He also provides tuition and entertainment for various clients, which have included corporate groups, schools, birthday guests and even wedding parties.