Having visited Thorpe Perrow Arboretum earlier this year I received a note advertising a Bird of Prey Workshop at the Arboretum. I jumped at the opportunity to get close to these big birds. I was familiar with most of them, but as those of you who visit the Arboretum will know, dogs are not allowed in the Bird of Prey Centre which is quite understandable, so when we visit with Meg & Gracie we always give the centre a miss and enjoy the walk amongst some amazing trees and shrubs instead.

It is just a one hour’s drive from home to the Arboretum which makes it quite local really, and with the session not starting till 11am gave me enough time to walk M & G earlier in the morning, have breakfast and leaving plenty of time for the drive up to Bedale. 

I had been fighting a cold bug for the last fortnight, actually since we returned home from Moraira, but was determined to come to this workshop. It was a cold morning and although rain had been forecast for the day, none materialised, just a bitterly cold wind late in the afternoon. I arrived at the visitors centre tea room at about 10am and booked in, met some of the other course participants over a coffee before the course started at 11am. It is a pleasant ten minute walk from the tea room to the Bird of Prey Centre, where we met ‘Ollie’ our falconer and guide for the day. He gave an overview of the day ahead, after our introductions we walked through onto the flying ground and watched one of the other falconers ‘Pike’ give a flying demonstration with a Bengal Eagle Owl, a White faced Scops Owl, a Boobook Owl and finally, before lunch, ‘Ollie’ our falconer took a 50 year old Male European Eagle Owl into the neighbouring woodland to enable us to photograph this big bird in more natural surroundings. I was extremely impressed with the wealth of knowledge both falconers imparted with us, it was quite fascinating to learn how these stunning birds survive in the wild and the steps that are being taken by Thorpe Perrow to preserve the longevity of these species.

It was another pleasant walk back to the tea room for our brunch; the daffodils were still in flower around the Arboretum and made for some great photo opportunities as we headed back to the café.

After brunch we headed back to the Bird of Prey Centre for the afternoon session. This afternoon was spent out in the field and around the Arboretum as our falconer ‘flew three birds, The Harris Hawk looked quite at home as if flew from tree to tree as we walked through the Arboretum, especially when it landed on top of the stone behive sculpture and posed for the cameras. Our second bird of the afternoon was the Ferruginous Buzzard which ‘Ollie’ or falconer flew in the field behind the flying ground, a beautiful looking bird with a huge wingspan and looked amazing as it flew just a couple of feet above the grass land. By now the weather had started to turn a little and the wind was quite chilly, I was pleased I had a thick winter jacket on. The final bird of the day was a male Saker Falcon, another stunning bird also with a huge wing span, it soared and glided above our heads with such ease, the speed it reached when chasing the lure was incredible. It looked quite proud as it stood and consumed its reward and food. 

I would like to thank Ollie and all the other falconers who assisted with making the day a great success and enabling me to get quite close to the birds. I am look forward to coming to the next session later in the year.