Barn Owl Centre Gloucester

KentYeti · #1 (**permalink**) 17-09-2011, 03:38 PM

Went to one of the photography days at the The Barn Owl Centre - Home - The Barn Owl Centre is a UK registered Barn Owl charity yesterday.

At £60 it turned out to be superb value, as well as supporting a charity that is clearly doing a very great deal for Barn Owls in particular, and other owls and birds as well.

Two birds were flown for us, (limited to a maximum of 12 photographers). Leighton Buzzard and Kaln, a European Eagle Owl. And a Barn Owl, a Little Owl and a Long Eared Owl were also posed in various places for us. Vince Jones was our host for the day, and he spared no effort to make it a very worthwhile experience. But with the birds' welfare always upper most in his mind.

Leighton Buzzard was first out. A bit slow to start with, until he caught a vole in the field he was being flown it. He made us wait while he munched it up!

Wonderful to see a captive bred bird catch and eat prey like that. "Be with you all in a minute. They do feed me very well here, but I do so like to hear my food squeal a bit before I chomp on it. And for it to be fresh out of the grass".

Kaln, the European Eagle Owl was the star of the show for me! I'd been chatting close up with him earlier when he was still in his aviary. "Now you put a long telephoto lens on, cos I will slip away from time to time to have a nice perch somewhere special".

What a character that very large bird has. And yes, he did slip off every so often. To perch high up in an adjacent tree.

Like Leighton he was jesse free and to get him back to his aviary after his lengthy display his keeper had to call him down from the tree, and then walk him back into his aviary. No question of holding him etc. Just had to ask nicely, "would you be so kind as to trot along behind me back to your room?"

And then Gyzmo, that beautiful male Barn Owl. To me the photos say it all.

It's not all wonderful birds putting up a superb display for photographers and other visitors when they are there. They take over and care for some pretty sick creatures that have experienced a lot of the worst that humankind can do to our fellow inhabitants on this planet. Whether that has been done by accident, ignorance or any other reason.

I'll be going back to Gloucester before long.

Bryan