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May 2008

Spring is definitely here, with Reg’s wildflower meadow beginning to show its true colours. The cowslips are in full bloom, which makes for a spectacular backdrop in our Valley of the Eagles demonstration. And with the good weather we’ve been having recently and the addition of various new birds to the show, such as the fabulous Hooded Vultures, it is an even more breathtaking event than in previous years.

The new seating arrangement is proving a big success and the Bald Eagles look just magnificent on good thermal days, stooping in to the fist to finish off the display.

The breeding season is also in full swing, with the pair of wild Kestrels in Reg’s meadow now on eggs; a camera is installed in the nest box and you can see what’s going on in the box if you go into the main hide and look at the monitor. The best is yet to come though, as once the chicks hatch you can look out of the hide and see the adults collecting food at our ‘Red Kite, wild raptor and heron feed’ each afternoon at 4:30pm, then watch them on the monitor as they take food into the box for their chicks.

Meanwhile, the training of new birds continues. Mindy, a Brahminy Kite is being worked by Kim Kirkbride in the woodland arena and is well on her way to being ready for joining in with the displays. She is catching food in the air and fishing for it from the pond beautifully.

In the lower flying ground, the Barn Owls have a new arrangement for making their appearance at the 12:00 noon flying display. Instead of flying out of the shepherd’s hut as they used to, they now appear from a tailor-made Barn Owl nesting box.

This links well to one of our new conservation projects, the Fund-a-bird nest box scheme, providing and monitoring nest sites for four species of British raptor. You can read all about this project on the Hawk Conservancy Trust website at http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/Fund-A-Bird.shtml.

Lou Richie, Editor

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