Haven Falconry

On the Sunday I went to Haven Falconry centre. To be honest, it was difficult to find somewhere open in a Sunday out of season. I was the first one there. In fact only one, and before most of the staff even arrived. I had a walk around before flying a Harris Hawk.

So noisy!

Burrowing owl - my favourite. So cute.

Because it was the winter, they were doing free hawk flights so I got to go out and fly Eddie the Harris Hawk.

Eddie.

All this took about 30 mins. On the way back to Shanklin, I stopped at Arreton barns, a craft village. Some of the places were open and there was somewhere to get a tea. And the glass studio was open. I treated myself to a super cute little statue of an adult emperor penguin and a baby. True Happy Feet style. I also hit the food barn and got some goodies, including some brandy snaps, which I am not supposed treat but couldn't resit.

Back at Shanklin, I went back to the beach and sat on the sea wall with a cup of tea and the brandy snaps. It was very sunny, but cold. I lasted about 30 mins but it was nice being outside. (Even it my butt was numb by the end.)

As per my November holiday tradition on the Sunday night I found a good restaurant and had a splash out meal. This year was at the Royal Hotel in Ventor. It was nice but not up to the standard as previous years. Still they had some very nice champagne by the glass which I enjoyed while waiting for my meal. 

Cheers!

Day as a zoo Keeper - Servals, owls and snakes

Last weekend we all went over to Telford to Hoo Fram for a zoo keeper day. It was amazing. I took so many photos - which is why the day has been split into multiple posts. I really recommend this to anyone in the area (to not - it's worth the travel). And we were there on a really good day. They had a baby armadillo there! Seriously my new favourite animal! He was so cute and loved having his belly rubbed or sitting curled over your hand. He was so adorable!

With my new Favourite!

Who wouldn't love him?

So cute!

With his furry little tummy.

We started out with the giant tortoises. Not the most exciting of animals.

Lively.

But then got to meet a little hedgehog. He was very cute but we woke him up so kept trying to snuggle into his blanket. But that meant he snuggled himself out of the other end. Sweet though you then had to carefully push him back in. But he really stank!

Curious.

Tired.

Kerry was not keen on the smell.

Next to the snakes. This one was a Burmese python. And huge. But she was much nicer to hold than Kerry and Craigs snake. Norman is too fast and you can never tell where he is going. This one was definitely a lot bigger and fatter, but moved a lot slower.

Checking it out.

Too close!

Kerry looking at home. 

The snake was very curious about cameras. 

Dad with the latest in snake scarves.

Craig is a lot happier with snakes these days.

Not sure where she is going at this point.

They also had a raccoon out. And not just any racoon but a famous one. This is Rocky, who was the model for Rocky in the Guardians of the Galaxy film. He did climb all over my shoulders and scratched my neck up. But considering how dangerous racoons are (they like to scratch off faces), he was quite pleasant and friendly.

Checking for food.

Happy to pose.

The next stop was the Servals, a relative of the Cheetah. This one was just tired and lazy. (It was a hot day and in the UK they are probably not used to it.) But he was happy to sit and be stroked and have his chin tickled. Very laid back.

Chilling.

:)

Enjoying a chin tickle.

Ready to be left alone now.

Dad did get some really good photos later that day when the cats moved. Wish I could take the credit for the next 2 but I can't.

Craig couldn't resit teasing him with some grass. But they really are like a big house cats. 

Teasing.

Next was the owls. This one was used on the set of Harry Potter (I thing they get a fair few old actor animals going there for their retirement). He was happy to be passed around and stroked. He did scratch up my arm a bit (he missed to glove when it was my turn) but it just matched my neck so no big deal! :)

Dad having a hold.

Reflections.

Pretty.

Craig and his owl

Kerry admiring.

He was very soft.

Mom wasn't keen. I don't think was a fan of any of the animals up to this point.

Owl Sanctuary

In Cornwall, we went to Screech Owl Sanctuary. We got a little lost getting there. You can see it from the main road. Getting to it is another story! But once we found it, it was great.

They have a variety of owls, both rescued and born in captivity. If an owl is born in captivity they can not release it.
Three times a day, there are flying displays. The first owl we saw was huge! His name was Oscar and he was a grumpy old man.
Then the second owl came out, called Kaya. Kaya is a Boobook owl (also called a Morepork owl) and is found in New Zealand. There are different names for this owl, depending on where they live. Kaya is only 2 years old and was very sweet. When the guy flying the owls asked if anyone would like to hold her, I jumped at the chance.

Me and Kaya

After the display, we had a walk around the other animals. They have a small group of meerkats which were so cute. We timed it right and the animals were being feed. They have black skin on their stomachs, so once they have eaten they lie back with their legs in the air and try to get the sun on their stomachs. The black skin helps their digestion. The group had 3 meerkats, two older males and a younger female. Because she was the youngest she had to do the most look-out duty.

Lucy, keeping look out

having a snack

They also had some pigmy goats, which were cute. (Though there was a young boy who didn't like them so much as the goat thought his fingers were lunch. He was fine, the goats just nimbled.)

Hungry?

There were also 2 emus. The female lays the eggs (obviously) but it's the male who then sits on it. They feed them special emu pellets and asked if anyone wanted to feed them. I was a bit cautious; I have seen emus bite! But they just pecked the pellets off my hand. Fairly gently. But I wouldn't like that beak anywhere near my face!

They spotted dinner...

... but were surprisingly gentle.

We had a look around the owls. The snowy owls were very noisy. The male was displaying for the female. Male snowy owls hold a chick in their mouths while spreadying their wings and making a noise that sounds a lot like a train. Apparently this is very attractive.

Displaying male

 However the female was not looking very impressed!

Unimpressed female

There is a show area where a member of the staff shows off some owls and you can stroke them. It was brilliant! Owls don't have water proof wings like most other birds, which means they can fly silently, but avoid flying in the rain as it then takes them ages to dry off. This is one of the reasons they like barns. When it is raining there are usually mice etc in the barn so they can still eat.
The colours of an owls eyes tell you when it flies. Not all owls fly at night. If an owl has yellow eyes they fly and hunt during the day. Orange eyes means they hunt at dusk and dawn, while black eyed owls are the ones which flight at night.

One of my favourites was Digger, a burrowing owl which are from northern, central and south America. They are the cutest little things. They grow to about 30cm tall and live in little burrows.

Digger, the burrowing owl

 My other favourite is Baden-Powell (named by scouts!), a British barn owl. He parents were two rescue owls who got together in rehab. Because he was born in captivity, he couldn't be released into the wild, though he parents went back. He was my favourite because of the way he greeted people. When they said his name, he wiggled! It was so cute. He just gave a little body wiggle. They have no idea why he does it. None of the other owls do. Just him. Very sweet.

Baden-Powell, the wiggling barn owl!

Feeding Baden-Powel

The birds were beautiful and I got to hold Baden-Powell and another bird later. Here are a few photos of some of the others.

one of the breeding owls

Digger again

Darling, a Tawny owl

Lazy teen owl.