Owls and Falcons

‘Buddy’ taking the bait from Mr. T.
 
The weather was kind enough to allow us to enjoy a wonderful afternoon at the Owl and Falconry Centre at Oakham, Rutland.  Mr T bought ‘the Experience’ as a Christmas present for us both to share and we’ve had a really lovely day – rather a lot of travelling but all well worth it.  On arrival at the Centre we were able to choose the birds we wished to share the afternoon with – Mr T was happy to handle  ‘Estelle’ a female Harris Hawk with feisty temperament!!  I choose ‘Oscar’ the tiniest of Owls who was adorable and we got on very well. 
 
We,  and the other people on the experience walked through the woods at  the Centre with our birds on our gauntlets whilst listening to Tom who told us all about the history of the Centre, everything there was to know about each of our birds and later on we got to watch Hawks and Owls flying with us holding the bait – a truly awesome experience. 
 
We also saw a  Redkite at close quarters, circling low down watching us, a couple of Buzzards thermalling beautifully and a pheasant who Mr T’s Hawk was showing much interest in!

Days off,  Day 1 :  perfect.