The Laurel Fork Falconer is traversing the state of West Virginia and wants you to come along with him! Collin Waybright, known as the Laurel Fork Falconer, is a licensed Master Class Falconer and one of the youngest Master Class Falconers in the state of West Virginia. He is now taking reservations for his 2023 Inspiration Tour of West Virginia.
Waybright, 22, experienced an outstanding year in 2022 by logging over 10,000 miles of presentations all across West Virginia and surrounding states. One special highlight was a falconry demonstration for the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the European Union in Washington DC in September 2022 for their Mountaineering Day event. He said he hopes to add even more miles to this year’s journey to teach others about his passion, falconry.
He is stepping into 2023 with the goal to inspire “West Virginia to look up!” Laurel Fork Falconry not only specializes in engaging educational presentations for schools, libraries, organizations, and public events, but also gives falconry demonstrations and Hawk Walks at the Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast in Jenningston, West Virginia. Waybright has recently made some impressive additions to his already amazing line up of birds, including the newest team member, a Peregrine Falcon. Others raptors used by Waybright include Rico the Red-Tailed Hawk, Charleston the Barred Owl, and Eddy the Harris’s Hawk.
He embarked upon his initial falconry adventure at age 14 when he trapped his first Red-Tailed Hawk, Ace, from the wild. In addition, Waybright has trained an American Kestrel for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA, and is one of the youngest people in the US to work with a Bald Eagle. Known as Mr. Spectacular, the Balk Eagle is a non-releasable bird and is now an educational ambassador, used to teach others about falconry.
Waybright was homeschooled and upon graduating high school in 2018, he spent 10 months working at the Ararat Ridge Zoo located at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY. His nine+ years of experience as a West Virginia Falconer, working with a West Virginia raptor rehab center and the Ararat Ridge Zoo, has allowed Collin to work with a number of different birds including some a raptor might even consider “lunch”. Waybright spent over a year as the Executive Director of a raptor rehab center in West Virginia, gaining valuable knowledge to add to his obvious joy of working with these birds. People are often amazed at Collin’s God-given talent of working seemingly effortlessly with birds. Of course, if you ask him, he will assure you that there is certainly more to training birds than what meets the eye.
Each Falconry/Bird of Prey presentation is tailor-made for the intended audience and lasts about an hour, he said. Whether you want to learn about the art of falconry, the ecology of raptors and why they are so important to the environment, or whether an owl can really turn its head 360 degrees, any of the Laurel Fork Falconers programs can provide answers. Waybright can supply the material and live birds to keep any age audience fully engaged in the learning process and separate fact from fiction. Find out what it takes to become a falconer in the state of West Virginia and the proper care of these amazing birds, while learning the fascinating story of how Waybright became a falconer at age 14.
For more information on the Inspiration Tour of West Virginia, pricing or to reserve your presentation, please visit www.laurelforkfalconry.com, call the Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast at (304) 402-7095 or email laurelforkfalconry@yahoo.com. You can find the Laurel Fork Falconer on You Tube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok.
All photos provided by Redhead ‘n Mudboots.