My very kind friends Marcus & Sophie bought me the biggest treat imaginable for my decade defining birthday earlier this year; a trip to the Exmoor Owl Sanctuary to fly owls! Actual owls. With it was the generous gift of a stay in their family's holiday apartment in Porlock, Somerset, a stunningly pretty sport.
Myself and the best beloved got up early and headed to the sanctuary discovering, to our joy, that we were the only ones flying the birds. We took out four, including Caspar the Barn Owl and Nada, the Indian Eagle Owl. Each was weighed before flying, to ensure that they were hungry enough to cooperate. Food was an array of chick bits, including feet, thighs and wings. As a long term veggie I blanched a little at handling them, but nature is red in tooth and claw...
The birds were beautiful, graceful and light as air. They were also unintentionally comical and gave us the greatest morning of fun that either of us can remember.
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