Thorp Perrow part four

 Forth and final part of our trip to Thorp Perrow and I end with a Turkmenian Eagle Owl. This is one of the largest species of owl in the world and is a subspecies of the Eurasian Eagle Owl. It was fantastic to have such a large owl fly right over my head in fact on its last flight it clipped the lens hood on my camera it was that close. Once again distracting backgrounds are hard to avoid but I don’t mind you can still see the owl and that’s the main thing.

This is one of the last shots it was right after this it clipped the lens hood on the camera. The image hasn’t been cropped after this it was too close to focus on it. 

Thorp Perrow part three

 The Saker Falcon is the second largest falcon in the world and breeds from Eastern Europe eastward across Asia. They are fast and can reach speeds of 200mph while hunting prey. I don’t know what speed this Saker was doing but trying to photograph it was a challenge to say the least.

I managed to get it coming into a stoop.

Not a great shot but I somehow managed to get the lure and the bird in the frame.

And got while it was upside down looking at the lure.

Thorp Perrow part two

Now for the Birds of Prey. The first birds are Crested Caracara and I quote “it looks like a hawk with its sharp beak and talons, behaves like a vulture, and is technically a large black-and-white falcon”. It is a bird of the southern USA and can also be found in parts of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. There are two at Thorp Perrow and as soon as the handler came out to fly them, they were at the bottom of the cage waiting to be released it looked like they just wanted to perform. As with all Bird of Prey centres there are people and cages so in all three parts to this Blog, I have tried to select images without too much of a distracting background.

Thorp Perrow part one

 Thorp Perrow is a beautiful Arboretum, Bird of Prey and Mammal Centre in Yorkshire. When we were there on the 3rd the Arboretum was carpeted in Bluebells and Magnolia trees were flowering, it was stunning and I must admit I did take some pictures on my phone. However, I took even more pictures around the Mammal Centre and of the Birds of Prey. Here is the first instalment.

Who could resist these adorable Meerkats?

2nd & 3rd May

 That’s how far I’m behind with my picture editing because those dates are when my wife and I, along with a couple of friends, went to Mount Grace Priory (first eight pictures), Nunnington Hall (next five pictures) and Thorp Perrow (last five pictures). It also shows how sad I am because when people go to places like that, they would probably take pictures of the beautiful landscapes or the buildings however that’s not me I take pictures of the wildlife.

Buff-tailed bumblebee.A member of staff at Mount Grace Priory had hung laminated pictures of Bees from a wall so people could identify what they were looking at. That’s how I identified these Bees.  

Hairy-footed flower bee.

Small Hoverfly.

St Mark’s Fly

Tree bumblebee?

A pair of Grey Wagtail gathering insects at Nunnington Hall kept us entertained for ages.

Common Green Shieldbug.

Pied Wagtail.