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mschatelaineThis weekend there was a little fete in Kinning park, sponsored, I think, by the underground company. One of the stalls there was run by Clyde Valley Birds of Prey. They had birds there that you could pet and hold, and I am completely charmed.
I got a couple of nice photos yesterday with my phone camera, and went back today with my Olympus.
This is a Turkmenian eagle owl, a female. I'm told that the size of birds depends a lot on breeding, but in general these are the largest of the owls, and the females are the bigger.
This is a Harris hawk, with one of the Clyde Valley people.
This is a peregrine falcon. This one won't tolerate anyone near. She will fly from the hand, but if you tried to pet her she'd have your fingers.
This is a Russian steppe eagle. This one does photo shoots for, among other things, weddings. It must make quite a dramatic photo for the bride to be holding an eagle.
This is a Canadian-Scottish environmental geek, with a European eagle owl on his hand. I was gobsmacked to find that these are regarded as pests by the environmental regulators, and so is the bird. Because they are not native to the British isles and they can decimate the local wildlife, the fine for releasing an eagle owl into the wild is £18,000 and it is legal to shoot them, although they are not on the official pest species list. This bird is big enough to catch foxes, although they usually go for rabbits.
This lovely little fellow is a barn owl, otherwise known as a ghost owl. These, when reared properly, are very affectionate. If you hold your coat open, this one will cuddle inside. One of the organisers told me about a barn owl he had who would go walks with him and his dogs, flying from tree to tree alongside them and perching on the roof of the shop when he went in for the papers. I totally want one. This one used to be a family pet, owned by a two-year-old girl.
I got the card for the Clyde Valley people. They do displays and hawk walks and hunt days. When hunting they'll take polecats to start rabbits and fly the birds at the rabbits when they bolt. Not for the squeamish.
I got a couple of nice photos yesterday with my phone camera, and went back today with my Olympus.
This is a Turkmenian eagle owl, a female. I'm told that the size of birds depends a lot on breeding, but in general these are the largest of the owls, and the females are the bigger.
This is a Harris hawk, with one of the Clyde Valley people.
This is a peregrine falcon. This one won't tolerate anyone near. She will fly from the hand, but if you tried to pet her she'd have your fingers.
This is a Russian steppe eagle. This one does photo shoots for, among other things, weddings. It must make quite a dramatic photo for the bride to be holding an eagle.
This is a Canadian-Scottish environmental geek, with a European eagle owl on his hand. I was gobsmacked to find that these are regarded as pests by the environmental regulators, and so is the bird. Because they are not native to the British isles and they can decimate the local wildlife, the fine for releasing an eagle owl into the wild is £18,000 and it is legal to shoot them, although they are not on the official pest species list. This bird is big enough to catch foxes, although they usually go for rabbits.
This lovely little fellow is a barn owl, otherwise known as a ghost owl. These, when reared properly, are very affectionate. If you hold your coat open, this one will cuddle inside. One of the organisers told me about a barn owl he had who would go walks with him and his dogs, flying from tree to tree alongside them and perching on the roof of the shop when he went in for the papers. I totally want one. This one used to be a family pet, owned by a two-year-old girl.
I got the card for the Clyde Valley people. They do displays and hawk walks and hunt days. When hunting they'll take polecats to start rabbits and fly the birds at the rabbits when they bolt. Not for the squeamish.
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Date: 2008-04-13 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 08:50 pm (UTC)I was expecting all sorts of wonders on the Underground on Thurs/Fri, but saw nothing. Ah well...