Hawk Conservancy Trust

This was my third visit to the Hawk Conservancy Trust and was a bit of a risk, given the weather forecast, but in fact the Spotlight Kid and I had a great day out and escaped almost all of the rain, most of which fell while we were in the Feathers restaurant having lunch. Their winter timetable is a little different as it favours birds that suit the colder temperatures, and so I saw some different birds of prey in the displays to those on previous visits. The Spotlight Kid had not been before and was very impressed, and will probably be visiting again.

Before we had even left the car park, we saw a wild red kite making its way to Reg's Meadow to take advantage of the daily feed that takes place there twice a day, in the company on this occasion of half a dozen wild grey herons. It also joined in during one of the displays (if it was the same one). The Hawk Conservancy Trust were the first to release native bred red kites into the wild in this country and some still return, as do their progeny and other opportunist kites looking for an easy meal.

We were the last to leave and so were the only ones treated to Gary, one of the falconers, training a 10-month old peregrine falcon, a beautiful juvenile soaring above the meadow. His name, appropriately, was Bolt, in honour of last year's Olympic champion, and I got some close-ups of him but as I blipped a close-up of one of their red kites on my last visit, I have chosen this time to blip a bird from one of their displays, their Raptors From The North. This is a magnificent tawny eagle named Frodo landing on the gloved hand of one of their falconers.

L.
30.1.2013

Blip #904
Consecutive Blip #002
Day #1039

Alternatives:
Chaucer And The Sarson Falconer
Black Kite Dive
A Visitor Flies Stormer (Harris Hawk)
Bolt's Reward
Magpies In Reg's Meadow

A Day Trip To The Hawk Conservancy Trust, 27 January 2013 (Flickr set)

Lenses: Sigma 70-300mm, Pentax 17-70mm


Falconry series

Backblips:
Saturday 3 September 1960: The Spotlight Kid and Lozarithm (posted 29 January 2013)
Tuesday 25 July 1961: Cleaning Out The Mouse Cage (posted 31 January 2013)
Tuesday 8 August 1961: Dandy (posted 31 January 2013)
Thursday 10 August 1961: What A Piece Of Work Is Man (posted 31 January 2013)

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Valerie June - You Can't Be Told (2013)
As I was motorvating over to Hampshire through the floods, I was listening to Cerys Mathews' excellent 6 Music show, as I usually do, and heard this for the first time. It comes from Valerie June's forthcoming album. You may remember her striking performance on Later... last year, and she has also guested on Cerys' radio show.

One year ago: Chez Lozarithm