Gauntlet Birds of Prey Eagle and Vulture Park Visit 2nd August 2012

bongorob

bongorob

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I made my first visit to Gauntlet Birds of Prey Centre today and since there is nothing in the forum about this collection I decided to write a review. I don't know if it is not popular with ZooChatters, but the only person I am aware of who has visited the collection is Zoogiraffe.

The full admission price is £5.25 for adults, and you can enter and leave at will throughout the day. A fair price I think if you take in the two flying displays, (12.30 and 2.30), meet the birds and the vulture feeding. Not much to keep a Zoochatter occupied for a full day though.

I found the entrance difficut to find. Walking from Knutsford I saw the sign alongside the road advising motorists to turn left. They could do this but would end up in the grounds of a hotel, there is a second sign furthur along the road which is opposite the entrance. This road also gives access to a garden centre.

The aviaires seemed rather bare but were clean. One of the caracars seemed agitated at not being able to get higher and looked very nervous while I was standing by it. As soon as I moved the bird flew off the log it was sitting on and perched on the wire at a higher vantage point.

There is a (very) small refreshment area in the entrance building. This seemed to consist of hot drinks and ice cream, although there may have been more on offer.

At 12 noon(ish) there is a vulture feed and the keeper gave an informative talk on vuture behaviour and the threat posed by the use of the drug Diclofenac, which is poisonous to vultures.

The centre is not a place to visit in wet weather, the only shelter is in the entrance building. There is a small yard with a couple of picnic tables in it for visitors to sit and eat.

The pathways are gravel and I do not think they are suitable for wheelchairs, from my own experience I know how hard a job it is to push someone in a wheelchair on gravel paths.

Labelling - I am no bird of prey expert so I am assuming that the labelling is accurate.

Birds of Prey flying display
The display I saw used a very young Rüppell's Griffon Vulture, Hooded Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle and Barn Owl. One interesting fact I learnt was that bald eagles fly better in windy conditions. A different set of birds is used in hte afternoon demonstration but I did not stay to see this.

Species list
Mammals
Ferret
Polecat
Dwarf Goat

Birds
Marabou Stork
Red-legged Seriema
Boobook Owl
Great Horned Owl
Bengal Eagle Owl
Barn Owl
Common Scops Owl
Little Owl
European Eagle Owl
Tawny Owl
Great Grey Owl
Brown Wood Owl (labelled as Malaysian Wood Owl)
North African Tawny Eagle
Martial Eagle
Chilean Blue Eagle
White-tailed Sea Eagle
Bald Eagle
Fish Eagle
Golden Eagle
Red-tailed Buzzard
Common Buzzard
Harris' Hawk
African Harrier Hawk
African White-backed Vulture
European Griffon Vulture
Rüppell's Griffon Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Hooded Vulture
Yellow-headed Caracara
Crested Caracara
Striated Caracara
Common Kestrel
Lanner Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Black Kite
Red Kite
Brahminy Kite

Zootierliste includes gyrfalcon for Gauntlet but I did not see one.
 
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A pretty fair review and one that I cannot disagree with.I would say that many of the aviarys near the entrance are far to low,which includes the one that Bongorob,was on about with the Caracara trying to get higher in,I suspect this will be the same bird that was doing just the same on my last visit,the only other fault I can find with the place is the fact they have a rather large set of Pylons less than half a mile away from the flying area.
 
I had to google Chilean blue eagle: I've never heard that name for the species before.
 
According to the falconers, Chilean Blue Eagle is only used in Europe, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle as used in South America is not really appropriate because only young birds have the black chest feathers, more names are Black Buzzard Eagle and Grey Buzzard Eagle.

My apologies for not posting scientific names.
 
I paid a visit to Gauntlet back in June - look for the black kite photograph in the gallery.

Most of your appraisal I'd concur with, although the second flying display I saw was particularly impressive with a group of black kites all participating. When the marabou stork is flown it's worth the price of admission in itself (something I saw during their Cheshire Show demonstration).

It was interesting to compare the style of flying display with that of Lakeland Bird of Prey Centre, which I visited yesterday. While the gentleman at Lakeland was particularly entertaining, the display itself was much slower and involved far fewer birds, so Gauntlet wins on that score.

Worth noting that Gauntlet also provide the flying displays at Knowsley.
 
Also Camelot theme park where they've recently started a third centre. Some of the birds are rotated between the centres depending on season. For example, my favourite Gauntlet bird, Scooby the raven, is currently at Camelot.

I've been to Gauntlet many times and know the staff well. They're generally very friendly and forthcoming and put on a great display. As SMR says, the Marabou stork display is something to behold, and the kite team display is also pretty special. They have a good mix of birds with some oddities like caracara, seriema among the more common owls and hawks. Their conservation work with vultures in their native countries is also noteworthy. Their website details the work they do on this page Experience Falconry and Flying Birds of Prey in Cheshire at Gauntlet Birds of Prey Eagle and Vulture Park.

As far as refreshments etc go, the staffing levels aren't up to providing a full service as well as looking after the birds, doing displays and hosting groups and people doing birds of prey experience days. My suggestion for a full day at Gauntlet would be to come for the earlier displays/meet and greet/vulture kitchen, walk the short distance to Fryer's Roses garden centre, stuff yourself with lunch, cake and coffee and come back for the afternoon display which usually finishes with the kite display and has different birds to the early display.

Maisie (Gauntlet fan)
 
bongorob said:
According to the falconers, Chilean Blue Eagle is only used in Europe, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle as used in South America is not really appropriate because only young birds have the black chest feathers, more names are Black Buzzard Eagle and Grey Buzzard Eagle.

My apologies for not posting scientific names.
Click to expand...
no apology necessary. The name just reminded me irresistibly of Norwegian Blue Parrot!! :D
 
There is now a better picture of the collection thanks to additional information supplied by SMR and Maisie.

I remeber hearing that they did displays for Knowsley but I forgot to post it. Thanks SMR.

I did not now about the catering available at the garden centre, thanks Maisie.

Free flying marabou storks must be worth seeing.

Another thing I should mention, for anyone visiting by train the centre is 30-35 minutes walk from Knutsford station.
 
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