8th May - Hawk Conservancy Trust, Andover, Hampshire

For those that know me well, they will know that I do not photograph captive animals, today was going to be a kind of exception.  Back at Christmas 2024 I received a voucher for the all day experience at the Hawk Conservancy.  My booking last year was cancelled due to weather and today was the earliest I could get.  But the good new was that the weather was behaving, although a little cool first thing the sun was forecast to come out late morning and warm up.

I arrived just before 9:30and met with the team for the day and four other visitors.  We made our way to the Woodland area, the scene of an owl flying display in the afternoon.  We were told we would be flying birds today, but I don't think I realised how involved we would get and what birds we would fly.

First out was a Tawny Owl, called Troy, a male and a very bright little bird, that was very light when it landed on my glove.

There was a distraction a rat was running around the benches and the owl was clearly watching it.

I had seen the Tawny Owl at Fishlake earlier in the week, but this was a special encounter.

Next out was Galaxy the Spectacled Owl.  Coming from central America, I have seen one on my first visit to Costa Rica.  Galaxy was even more distracted by the rat and I only managed one flight.

There is one owl that I was lucky to see in the Grand Tetons in 2015, the Great Grey Owl, but here I was flying one, incredible, this one was called Walter and he looks huge but in fact was only 750 grams.

Here I am with Walter on my arm.

A chance to get in close with this incredible bird.

A huge facial disc that helps focus the sound when hunting in the snow.

When Helen found the Great Grey in the Grand Tetons it was sitting in an Aspen tree.  The equivalent to the Aspen here in the UK is the Silver birch and you can see how the plumage just melts into the brak of the birch.

Next was a Siberian Eagle Owl, a stunning looking owl with some beautiful plumage, the owl named Cinnamon it did fly to me and I was able to look closely at those orange eyes.

The final owl encounter was with Coral, the Burrowing Owl.  A little smaller than a Little Owl, but with long legs, she was a delight to handle and watch scurrying around.

We had some time to watch the African Savannah display and then it was lunch.  After lunch we went to the Savannah set and were introduced to our next bird.  Here I am being introduced to Orion.

What a bird, Orion the Bald Eagle.  He seemed comfortable sitting on my hand and I am sure the fish helped.  However you can't help focusing on the huge bill and looking into the eyes and wondering what the bird was thinking.

After Orion, the Bald Eagle, we were introduced to a Hooded Vulture called Sundance Kid.  Some video of him flying to me.

And a photo of Sundance.  Hooded Vultures are one of the smallest vultures and like all vultures are threatened today.

It was then time to watch the "Masters of the Skies" display which does what it says on the tin.  There were Lappet-faced, White-backed and Hooded Vultures, Black Kites and two "wild" Red Kites, a Steppe Eagle and for me the star of the show, Stellar's Sea Eagle.

As always a wonderful show with the added bonus of the Red Kites interacting with the Black Kites.

We were not allowed to fly any birds while the public displays took place so we spent the time during the Woodland display seeing the areas the public can not go to.  An interaction with a White-backed Vulture called Simba was special.

Our final bird to fly was the Harris' Hawk.  These birds are one of the most popular falconry birds and there are many in the country.  A true predator, in the wild these birds hunt in packs.  It is not a true hawk and is based in its own family, they are found in arid areas, notably Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

This is Josie and she knew what to do flying back and forth several times.

And so an incredible experience came to an end.  When I arrived I had no idea what to expect, but I can honestly say this was a wonderful day.  Both of our guides, Hugo and Gwen were amazing and the birds were as always here in immaculate condition.  If you get the chance to just go, do so, it is a good day out.  Even better though is this experience.