Birdtastic

OK, I admit – this post is not technically about the garden – or even about the wildlife in our garden. But I have managed to convince myself that I can stretch the topic of birds in our garden to include – well – birds anywhere.

As a birthday present for one half of the little gardeners we both went on a Falconry Insight Day over at Leeds Castle. What a truly exhilarating experience!

We started off with the smaller birds – Oscar the Barn Owl and then went up in size. Ozzy was next, a brilliant little character.

Maggie the Vulture was next and although Vultures get a bit of a hard rap she was so graceful when she flew. Off for a spot of lunch and then out hunting with the two Harris Hawks, Brock and Fosters. We had a beautiful walk through the Leeds Castle estate whilst Brock and Fosters kept their eyes peeled for rabbits and squirrels.

It was such a wonderful day and I can't thank the Hawking Centre enough, the two Falconers Kelly and Mark were brilliant and we learnt such a lot about all the different birds they keep. They're going to be moving from Leeds Castle to the beautiful Doddington Place at the end of February – they'll still be running lots of different courses so if you fancy a brilliant day out then have a look at their website.

http://www.thehawkingcentre.co.uk