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Borough Farm Sheepdog and falconry display
The Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays will be starting on June 23rd this year, once again the sheepdog display will be with myself, David Kennard accompanied as ever by Mist, star of Channel Five’s ‘Sheepdog Tales’. Jonathan Marshall will be returning once again with his array of Hawks and Falcons. Our displays will take place every Wednesday evenings at 6pm, starting on the 23rd June and running through the summer until September 8th. We hope you’ll be able to join us for an evening of amazing sheepdogs and breath-taking falconry.
Adults £4 Children £2 under 5’s free Well behaved dogs are welcome
New for 2010, covered seating!
We now have under cover seating available at the farm, for those occasional damp evenings
I try to bring something new to the sheepdog display each year, and this year ‘Fly’ will be joining the display team for the first time. Fly is 2 years old and although she is not fully trained, she’s very promising and can certainly show what an enthusistic young dog can do
Jake and Fern’s talents aren’t limited to sheep, they also love to work the Borough Farm ducks. The ducks are a big hit with the children and with a series of obstacles to negotiate they provide Jake and Fern a different sort of a challenge.
The Borough Farm display couldn’t be complete without the star of the show Mist, and it’s Mist who rounds off the sheepdog display by showing us just what being a working sheepdog is all about. With a hundred or more sheep to round up in a distant field, Mist really encapsulates all the skill speed and stamina that is required of a working sheepdog.
With his array of Peregrine and Lanner falcons, Harris Hawks and Kestrels Jonathan’s falconry displays are simply amazing. Just as with David’s sheepdogs each of Jonathan’s birds is very individual and excel at different parts of the display.
Harris hawks are unlike other birds of prey in that they naturally live in small groups. They are at ease with human company which means that they are happy to fly to the hand of members of the audience
Pingu the Kestrel has a charm all of his own. He’s a tiny bird weighing only a few ounces but delights audiences with the ability to hover a few feet over head. Kestrels are a common site as they hunt along the grass roadside verges, but to see such a bird flying at such close quarters is just wonderful.
But the highlight of any of Jonathans displays is undoubtedly Erin the Lanner falcon. He’s breathtakingly fast, swooping low into the display ring at speeds of up to 100 mph. And with that speed comes an unerring precision in flight. In the wild Erin would use the cover of hedge rows and trees to catch his prey, in his display work he swoops in through the narrowest gaps in the audience to attack the luer that Jonathan swings for him.
In the amazing picture below Erin is flying between children, while trying to catch the luer. If you look carefully you can see his leg fully extended while flying full speed
These are a few of the highlights of the Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays, David and Jonathan look forward to seeing you at one of the displays this summer
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 6pm, JUNE 23rd to SEPT 8th
Borough Farm Sheepdog and falconry display
The Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays will be starting on June 23rd this year, once again the sheepdog display will be with myself, David Kennard accompanied as ever by Mist, star of Channel Five’s ‘Sheepdog Tales’. Jonathan Marshall will be returning once again with his array of Hawks and Falcons. Our displays will take place every Wednesday evenings at 6pm, starting on the 23rd June and running through the summer until September 8th. We hope you’ll be able to join us for an evening of amazing sheepdogs and breath-taking falconry.
Adults £4 Children £2 under 5’s free Well behaved dogs are welcome
New for 2010, covered seating!
We now have under cover seating available at the farm, for those occasional damp evenings
I try to bring something new to the sheepdog display each year, and this year ‘Fly’ will be joining the display team for the first time. Fly is 2 years old and although she is not fully trained, she’s very promising and can certainly show what an enthusistic young dog can do
Jake and Fern’s talents aren’t limited to sheep, they also love to work the Borough Farm ducks. The ducks are a big hit with the children and with a series of obstacles to negotiate they provide Jake and Fern a different sort of a challenge.
The Borough Farm display couldn’t be complete without the star of the show Mist, and it’s Mist who rounds off the sheepdog display by showing us just what being a working sheepdog is all about. With a hundred or more sheep to round up in a distant field, Mist really encapsulates all the skill speed and stamina that is required of a working sheepdog.
With his array of Peregrine and Lanner falcons, Harris Hawks and Kestrels Jonathan’s falconry displays are simply amazing. Just as with David’s sheepdogs each of Jonathan’s birds is very individual and excel at different parts of the display.
Harris hawks are unlike other birds of prey in that they naturally live in small groups. They are at ease with human company which means that they are happy to fly to the hand of members of the audience
Pingu the Kestrel has a charm all of his own. He’s a tiny bird weighing only a few ounces but delights audiences with the ability to hover a few feet over head. Kestrels are a common site as they hunt along the grass roadside verges, but to see such a bird flying at such close quarters is just wonderful.
But the highlight of any of Jonathans displays is undoubtedly Erin the Lanner falcon. He’s breathtakingly fast, swooping low into the display ring at speeds of up to 100 mph. And with that speed comes an unerring precision in flight. In the wild Erin would use the cover of hedge rows and trees to catch his prey, in his display work he swoops in through the narrowest gaps in the audience to attack the luer that Jonathan swings for him.
In the amazing picture below Erin is flying between children, while trying to catch the luer. If you look carefully you can see his leg fully extended while flying full speed
These are a few of the highlights of the Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays, David and Jonathan look forward to seeing you at one of the displays this summer
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 6pm, JUNE 23rd to SEPT 8th