Despite the heat, July has been busier than ever in the build up to the summer holidays, with many schools visiting the park, and activity days running throughout each week.  This is also the time of year when we have a large number of work experience students on the park, and our new post graduate students who are to carry out the Tawny Owl project for us this year are now installed in the hospital and have started their work with the young owls.

Our flying displays are going from strength to strength with new additions to the flying teams proving that they are capable of giving us some breathtaking sights.  Goose the Bataleur Eagle is learning to soar beautifully, aided recently by the strong thermals over the meadow.  Our two Turkey Vultures, Tebenwick and Burdock, are stunning to watch, whether in windy conditions or calm hot weather, they are able to fly slowly and accurately in close proximity to trees, people, the ground or whatever.   Mrs Simpson the Andean Condor causes gasps of amazement when she opens her 10ft wingspan to fly between two falconers, one positioned in front of the visitors, the other at the far end of the arena and sometimes up on the hill. 

Recent additions to the park are a pair of Burrowing Owl chicks (as yet unnamed) who are currently living in the hospital and starting their training to join in with the display team.  And currently in an aviary at the top of the park is a young Siberian Eagle Owl named Cinnamon; this year’s theme being ‘Spices’. 

Up in Reg’s Meadow the young Kestrels have now fledged; five of them were successfully reared this year and the parents can still be seen along with Red Kites and Herons, waiting for our 4.30pm wild bird feed.  Our pair of breeding Buzzards raised two chicks in their aviary at the top of the park and these are now being soft hacked into the wild from the nest box rigged up in the trees in the bottom corner of the meadow.  They will be fed daily until they are old enough to find their own food sources.

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