Falcon what?

Our schedule for the family reunion was entirely in Dutch, most of which Dave was able to translate for me. However, there was one item on yesterday's itinerary - sandwiched between mass and lunch - that Dave couldn't understand. I asked one of Dave's cousins at breakfast and she looked at me and matter-of-factly translated, "falconry." I must admit, while I may have heard the word before, I didn't really know what falconry entailed. Dave's definition was, "something medieval kings and queens did for entertainment, involving falcons." I'm not a lover of birds, in fact I find them to be quite disagreeable, so when we arrived at the lawn behind the castle to find about a dozen falcons, owls, etc. perched on metal stands, I can't say I was jumping for joy. But, it did put a smile on my face when Dave exclaimed excitedly, "that one's a peregrine falcon!" (The peregrine is Dave's favorite animal.) After an hour spent divided between four stations explaining various elements of falconry (all of which was in Dutch, so I wandered in and out, taking care of my nephew for a while as well), the real fun began. There was a "demonstration" where volunteers could have a falcon land on their leather glove-clad arm, which, I'm guessing, was one of the highlights of Dave's weekend.