Folks, Falconer Flock To Banner Days

Banner County people flocked to see and hear Richard Brown speak about his past career -- he is a retired falconer. According to Brown, "Falconry is the taking of wild game with a trained raptor. It can be a falcon, a hawk, an eagle or some other bird."

Mr. Brown has worked airports, blueberry crops, and grape crops with his falcons for the past fifteen years. The falcon keeps starling and pests off the crops or off of the airport runways. But now Mr. Brown said "it has just become a passion again. And it is something I will probably do forever." He has been a falconer for 40 years.

Originally from Ireland, Richard Brown came to the United States in 1980. Then last year, the Browns relocated from New Jersey to Banner County, Dr. Evelyn Brown is the superintendent of the Banner County Schools and just completed her first year as superintendent.

On Saturday, Mr. Brown used a falconry technique for exercising falcons, called "stooping the lure". After removing the hood from the head of the falcon, the falcon is released and the lure is swung in a circular fashion. The falcon flies high then drops quickly at the lure. The "fellow" he flew, "Jack" has a reputation for taking off, but the GPS tracker has helped to locate him many times.

Jack is a hybrid falcon, a cross between a peregrine falcon and a prairie falcon.

In addition to the falconry demonstration, many other events took place at Banner County Historical Days including the pancake feed, fun run, craft show, and parade. Before the falconry exercise, there was an ice cream social and Tim Nolting spoke on local history. A quilt show and a dance completed the activities for the day.