Dingle, Day Two Second Half

 (Day five afternoon recap of my late April Ireland trip.)

Picking up from where I left off in my last post, this one will cover everything that happened on the second half of day five.

After a delicious lunch prepared by the guesthouse staff, our tour group assembled on the lawn adjacent to Milltown House.  Sandwiched between here and another guesthouse was a business known as Kingdom Falconry.  And lucky us, we were about to have a close and personal experience with some extraordinary birds.

There was a falconry business right next to our guesthouse

Seeing this falconry demonstration on the tour agenda, I'd packed a lightweight zoom lens.  Not only did I plan to photograph still images, my intention was to hopefully capture these impressive raptors in flight. 

Peregrine falcon demonstration

Two falconry experts, a man and a woman, first outfitted each member of our group with a thick leather glove.  Wow, instead of merely observing, these birds were actually going to land on us!  I began to get even more excited than I already was.

The falcon enjoying its reward

The first raptor brought out was a peregrine falcon.  Our male falconry expert twirled a rope with some meat on the end.  Used for teaching purposes, this exercise was to simulate prey in flight.  The falcon was released and kept diving towards the "reward" on the rope's end.  That bird was super fast!  I tried to get some images of it in action but failed miserably.  The only good photos I was able to capture were still images after the falcon was allowed to catch and eat his prey.

After the demonstration, everyone got a chance to hold a Harris hawk

After the peregrine falcon, our hosts brought out a lovely Harris hawk.  They had us form a circle and began letting the hawk fly to each of us.  Setting a small piece of meat onto our gloved hand enticed the hawk to come over and visit.

Kim's turn

What a thrill!  I must admit, I was a bit tentative at first to have this fierce bird land on me.  But once my turn came around I found the bird to be quite gentle and surprisingly much lighter weight than expected.  The bird was merely after the meaty morsel our guide had placed on my hand, nothing more.

The hawk flew to each of us

I had a blast trying to capture this hawk landing on each of my tour-mates.

Such a thrill!

Such a beautiful bird!  Watching it fly to each person was a thrill.

Take off

My tour buddy Randy was standing right next to me.  Since we both had large DSLR cameras, our shutters were clicking away!  Because it was hard to get selfies with our big cameras, I took photos of Randy holding the falcon and he returned the favor for me.

Randy captures the hawk on his arm

I tried hard to get a photo of each tour-mate holding the Harris hawk.  Upon later review of the images, the thing I liked most was seeing the genuine smiles of joy on all their faces.

I loved the expressions on people's faces

After a long session where the Harris hawk landed on each of us multiple times, the falcon-keepers finally took him back and returned with another lovely bird.

Debbie admiring this beautiful bird

Meet Luna, the barn owl!  She was as charming as she was beautiful.

Luna, the barn owl

Again, our hosts repeated the pattern, and Luna was allowed to fly around our circle, landing on each person in turn.

Landing on an arm

When my turn came around, I was surprised by how lightweight Luna felt on my arm.  She also was a very quiet flier.  With outstretched wings, Luna glided noiselessly through the air.  Owls use this advantage to silently sneak up on their prey.

Luna captured in-flight

I really like owls, so having a chance to see this gorgeous barn owl up close was a real treat.

Such a cute little face!

After Luna had made several rounds, she also was retired to her cage.  Then our keepers brought out a third raptor, a large Eurasian eagle-owl.

Next was the Eurasian eagle-owl

One of the world's largest owl species, this eagle-owl was too heavy to land on our arms.  Instead, our falconry guides carried it around the circle so each of us could get some photos.

Such intense eyes!

I couldn't get over this bird's eyes.  Such an intense shade of orange!

This owl was quite a character

Then the falconry guides had the eagle-owl fly between the two of them.  It was impressive to watch this large raptor spread its wings and glide around our circle.

I had lots of fun trying to photograph the owl in flight

This bird was the most fun to watch in flight.  I couldn't get over the size of its wingspan.  And, like its barn owl cousin, this raptor also was a very silent flier.

Quite the wingspan!

At the conclusion of the demonstration, the falconry keepers invited us into the area where the birds are housed.  Several cages contained many different species.  Besides the raptors used in today's demonstration, we saw two lovely snowy owls and a large golden eagle.  In addition to educating the public about falconry and using these birds to hunt, the place also takes in injured raptors, nursing them back to health.

Snowy Owl

This falconry demonstration had definitely been a high point of the tour so far.  What a unique opportunity!  It's certainly something I won't forget anytime soon.

Whiskey tasting

After such an interesting presentation, the whiskey tasting afterwards was a hard act to follow.  A local man set up his wares on a table outside of our guesthouse.  Kim and I aren't huge whiskey drinkers, but it was informative to learn about some of the better Irish whiskeys.  We tasted three different Irish brands and then a sample of Jack Daniels to compare.  I've never been a Jack Daniels fan, but after trying the three Irish whiskeys, it tasted terrible in comparison.

Guesthouse Irish wolfhounds bidding us goodbye

For the evening, we were transported back into Dingle to fend for ourselves.  We bid wolfhounds Seamus and Ogie goodbye for the night and boarded the bus for a short hop into town.

Another shot of the colorful Dingle storefronts

After visiting the Dingle Crystal factory that morning both Kim and I wanted to buy a piece of it for ourselves.  So the first stop after our bus let us off in Dingle was their retail store.  Not surprisingly, half our tour group were there also.  Kim and I each decided upon a tumbler in the patterns we both liked (me the lovely harp and fuchsia pattern I'd admired in the plant.)  I would've bought more, but that stuff wasn't cheap!  After purchasing and arranging for shipment (for 40 euros Dingle Crystal offered to mail our orders back home) it was time to look for some dinner.

Dingle street name signs

Kim and I wandered up the main street, before deciding to drop into nearby Dingle pub.  Although it was a bit early for dinner, we had our choice of seating and the food arrived promptly.  I had a delicious Irish stew - washed down with a pint of Guinness, of course!

Delicious Irish stew and of course more Guinness!

Then we wandered around town in search of some local Irish music.  Most places didn't start their performances until much later so we had lots of time to kill.  After several days of nice weather, it started to mist and got quite chilly.  So Kim and I ducked into a nearby pub for in search of an Irish coffee to warm us.

Funny restroom signs

Who should we run into, but our tour-mates, Kim and Alicia!  The ladies were just finishing dinner, so we joined them at their table.  It was fun chatting with these two long-time friends.  Since Kim and I were also friends traveling together we all got along well.  Much laughter and good conversation ensued.

Irish coffees to ward off a chilly night

Both Kim and Alicia were also interested in experiencing some local music, so after finishing our coffees, we set out to try and find a place.  Our group walked back up to the main business area but the pubs offering music were either packed to the rafters, or in the case of one place, was burning stinky peat in the fireplace and the odor was just too much for my friend Kim's sensitive nose.

Love the Irish sense of humor!

Batting zero at finding a suitable pub to hear music, my friends and I ended up back near the waterfront.  Seeing a nearby pub, we decided to duck inside and check things out.  Who should we find seated at the bar but our guide Pascal and bus driver George!

Kim tries a "baby Guinness"

The pub was definitely a place where the locals congregated.  Two families, with young kids and dogs in tow, filled an adjacent room.  Everyone seated at the bar seemed to know each other.  Finding seating rather limited, my friends and I split ourselves between the bar and a nearby bench.  We then joined Pascal who was enjoying a bit of the local "craic."  In Irish slang, "craic" (pronounced "crack") means news, gossip, fun and enjoyable conversation.  It's usually prevalent in any pub you visit.  (Pascal told us he once innocently used this term while visiting the US and got predictably humorous results)

The Kims having fun in the pub

We had a good time listening to the "craic" and sampling more of the wonderful Irish hospitality in this humble pub.  But soon, tired after another full day, we ladies hailed a cab back to the guesthouse to catch a few winks.  Tomorrow we'd bid colorful Dingle a fond farewell and head back into Ireland's interior.  

To be continued in my next recap - stay tuned!