Over the years, our 22 acres have grown and developed into an award-winning visitor attraction, surrounded by wonderous wildlife. Having worked at the Trust for over 20 years, Bird Team Member and Head of Flying Birds Mike Riley has been there for many of these exciting developments. We caught up with Mike to hear all about the next area of the Trust to have a revamp – our Woodland Arena!

“Well autumn is upon us again, and it’s the time of year where some of our birds will rest for the winter months, and some will begin their flying season.

Making sure that our birds are comfortable is our top priority, with any changes we make.  As we swap the birds around to prepare the winter birds for this time of year, we make sure that our team are ready to go for our daily winter flying displays, experience sessions, and Behind-The-Scenes VIP Winter Experiences – as well as their understudy’s should the birds choose they don’t want to fly for whatever reason! This allows them to take it in turns.

As some of you may know, even the slightest change can cause a stir for some of our starring celebrities, especially in the owl world, and we’ve had a number of hurdles to cross already this year. More on that in a little bit!

Not only are we managing this changeover of which birds are flying and who’s resting, we’re also working hard around the Trust. If you’ve been a regular visitor throughout the year, you’ll hopefully have seen that at the start of the 2024 season we started new work in the Woodland Arena. The large pond, which used to be home to our two seals Cockle and Clam way back in the 1960’s, has now been filled in. This gives us a much larger arena to move around in while working with our birds.

You may also have noticed a large concrete structure has appeared at the bottom left of the arena, where work has been in progress for the last couple of months. This is a surprise so I can’t tell you what it is, but what I can say is that it is all part of something new for 2025.

We’re looking to start further work on this during our two closed periods in November and January. As we move into winter, January is always an interesting month for any work that we undertake.  Whatever we’re doing also has to fit around our Winter Woodland lights extravaganza, which runs from Friday 17 January to Sunday 2 February next year.

During these closed periods, working with the birds and their routines continues and we carefully get them used to any changes within the Woodland Arena as the work continues by our amazing team of volunteers. One of our most dedicated volunteers who helps us at this time is Viv Broughton.  If you don’t know Viv, he’s the creative mastermind and builder behind the six new themed aviaries around the edge of the Woodland Arena, which are amazing to say the least!

We have been working closely with our birds to make sure they are comfortable with the building work in the woods, and will continue to do so when the new lighting and sound system is installed for Winter Woodland Lights. Even though we’ve done the Winter Woodland lights for a number of years now, we still make sure the owls are used to all the new set up all over again. As their daily routines don’t usually involve so much extra equipment being around, sometimes it’s like they have never seen it before.

For Troy the Tawny Owl, this was the case when we upgraded to a new sound system in the Woodland Arena earlier this year. The new system controls the commentator’s headsets and all the music with new speakers hidden within the trees and log piles. After installing these, Troy decided he just wouldn’t fly over towards any of the speakers, and created his own routes through the trees, keeping all the Bird Team on their toes!

One tree in particular, known as ‘Troy’s Tree’, is central in the arena. It has been nicknamed ‘Troy’s Tree’, as it’s the final tree Troy flies to during the Woodland Owls display before heading off for home. After the new speakers were installed, he refused to land in it! We’ve adapted things to work around him and he flies home from a different position. Perhaps he can hear a different sound or frequency which he isn’t used to. But, as is the case with all of our birds, he’s the boss, so we’ve found ways to work with what suits him best so that he’s happy in his routine.

It will be interesting to see how Molly, our Eurasian Eagle-Owl reacts to the new set up, as it’s her first time starring in this event. She takes it in turns to fly in our routines with Cinnamon, our Siberian Eagle-Owl. Cinnamon usually takes the limelight for Winter Woodland Lights, and this will be her first year joining the flying team for this event, so we will be working closely with her to make sure she’s happy with these new additions in our arena.

We’ve got quite a number of events over the next few months and the team know there’s a lot of work that goes into making sure the birds are happy with the changes to their routine. But by careful training and planning, we’re confident things will run smoothly.

So, keep updated on the website for more details to come about these exciting new changes for next year, and do keep coming along to see first-hand how we’re developing the Woodland Arena.”

Small mammals (for example rodents) make up a high proportion of the diet of UK birds of prey. For the last few years, the Conservation and Research team at the Hawk Conservancy Trust have carried out small mammal surveys at both on-site and at two local external sites in Hampshire to estimate prey availability and abundance, which are key for a successful breeding season. These sites are chosen based on locations of regularly used nest boxes that are monitored as part of our Raptor Nest Box Project.  With Kestrel numbers declining across the country, we are particularly interested in their main prey species, the Field Vole. Nevertheless, we record all mice, voles and shrews we catch and release throughout a season.

In this study, we set traps overnight which have lots of cosy bedding and plenty of food in them to ensure they are safe, warm and well fed! We then return first thing the following morning to check whether there are any visitors. If we are lucky, we gently handle them to take a few body measurements, helping to identify which species they are. After a few minutes, we release them safe and sound right back to where they were found.

This year, after a late start in mid-July, we had hoped to fit in two rounds of surveying at all three of our sites (one round takes a week). Sadly, due to large amounts of rain, the season had to be shortened. When it rains, the bedding can become wet and cold turning the experience into a slightly less comfortable stay for any small mammals using the traps. This meant we only managed to survey at our external sites once, but managed to do two rounds here at the Trust, which had surprisingly high numbers this year!

In total, we caught 62 small mammals over four rounds of trapping; 50 were caught here at the Trust, but we had two sessions here compared to just the one at each of the other sites. It was interesting to note a difference between the two weeks at the Trust, catching 14 small mammals the first round and 36 in the next round. Interestingly, across all three sites, we caught relatively even numbers of shrews, voles and mice species across the survey period, but the winner for the highest numbers was the Common Shrew (18) closely followed by the Field Vole (13)!

We also encountered six false triggers, where the trap door was closed but nothing was inside, which were either due to traps malfunctioning, or rather tactful small mammals evading the trigger panel! As a result, we made sure to look for signs of small mammal visitation; signs of nibbling on the food, faeces and burrowing in bedding, which can also be useful to know that something had visited regardless.

We spoke to our Conservation and Research Intern Mathilde Ducroz, and new Research Assistant Tanith Jones, for their thoughts on their first real experience working on small mammal research:

Mathilde:
Having worked with wild birds previously, I expected the small mammals to be easier to work with. I was very wrong! Despite them not being able to fly away, their speed, jumping and impressive contortion skills (voles, mice and shrews have loose skin that enables them to twist around) make them the expert escape artists and incredibly hard to handle. A rodent or shrew will take any exit it can see, including running up your colleague’s sleeve and back, which made for a memorable situation!

Small mammals are an essential part of ecosystems and are the source of food of many mammals and birds but, apart from the occasional house mouse or rat, are seldom seen by many people. It felt very special to have such a close up encounter of these little creatures. Differentiating between the species proved quite the challenge at the start, especially between Bank and Field Vole. After spotting a few of them, the distinction became more obvious, with tail length a good indicator: approximately one third of body length for Field Voles against half of the body length for Bank Voles.

Tanith:
I have never worked directly with small mammals in the past and my only experience of monitoring them has been using indirect techniques, such as processing owl pellets. Learning how to hold them, how the traps work, set-up and maintenance as well as building upon identification skills, meant no two days were the same over the summer. I came to learn how nimble and agile these small mammals can be, and I have a newfound respect for how our birds of prey are able to hunt them with so much grace and precision!

With many high points as well as some challenges across this survey period, I am looking forward to approaching the next season with what I have learnt. Small mammal surveying is a great way to see what prey species are in the area and how this could potentially impact the breeding season of birds of prey across our countryside.

Sunday 4 August 2024 is International Owl Awareness Day, and here at the Hawk Conservancy Trust we think owls are a hoot! Everyday we celebrate the wonderful world of owls – come along and find out more our work with these mystical creatures, how you can experience the magic of owls for yourself, and what we’re doing to help conserve them.

Woodland Owls Display

If you’ve ever wanted to get close to owls, our Woodland Owls display is your chance! Witness an array of beautiful owls skim silently over your head and discover more about these beautiful creatures in this intimate demonstration. See our owls display their unique hunting and flying skills as they glide around the Silver Birch trees in our peaceful Woodland Arena, landing closer than you might expect! This enchanting display features a variety of owl species, including the Barn Owl, Great Grey Owl, Tawny Owl, and more!

Book your next visit to see this immersive display.

Raptor Nest Box Programme

Here at the Trust we care about the conservation of native owls. So much so that we have an on-going project called the Raptor Nest Box Project, which aims to maximise the population potential of four UK bird species, three of which being lovely owls (Barn Owl, Little Owl and Tawny Owl)!

Since the mid-20th century, Kestrel and owl habitats continue to be limited due to human disturbance, resulting in a decline in populations. By building nest boxes for these species, it gives these birds a fighting chance to improve their numbers and, in turn, also allows us to monitor and record them. Find out more about our conservation actions here.

Owl Experiences

Our Owl Experiences give all owl lovers the memorable opportunity to get close to and fly some of our fascinating owls. On this special experience, our Bird Team will share fascinating insights into some of the amazing owl species we have at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, and the work we do to help conserve them.

Your session will include meeting and flying a range of owl species, from some of smallest to the largest. The exact species you meet and fly on your experience session will vary but may include a Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Long-eared Owl or eagle-owls. There may also be the opportunity to work with young birds in training.

We also offer a Children’s Owl Experience, where 6-11 year olds can join in the fun! This fun-packed session involves learning how to identify British owls by sight and from their calls, dissecting a wild owl pellet to try and identify what the owl has eaten, and the chance to hold and fly several species owl from Britain and around the world.

Owl Events

Seeing our birds fly in the evening and at night-time is a truly magical experience. Our owls often feature in these events, taking to the wing against a sunset sky and skimming over heads under the cover of darkness. Our popular Owls by Moonlight events give you a glimpse into the world of owls as they show off their flying skills under a moonlit sky. Our spook-tacular Halloween event, Owl-O-Ween, combines ghostly story-telling with our owls flying for a ghoulishly good display!

As the festive season arrives and the Trust grounds transform into a winter wonderland, you can see our owls flying with Christmas cheer at our Owls by Moonlight at Christmas event. Not your average carolling concert, our Christmas Carols and Owls event will enchant you with a live choir and band performing carols as our owls weave through the woodland around you. Father Christmas, Evergreen the mischievous Elf, and their team of magical owls will also be making a stop at the Trust to give all the good boys and girls their presents during Father Christmas: Back in Flight!

Our owls will also be making a return to welcome in the new year at Winter Woodland Lights in January 2025 – more news on this to come!

Book your tickets now to come and celebrate International Owl Awareness Day by seeing our wonderful array of owls on Sunday 4 August! 

Those of you who have been visiting the Trust for a long time will remember our superstar Bald Eagle – Cheyenne. After many years of soaring over the East Cholderton valley, she is enjoying a peaceful retirement at the grand age of 29 years old. She is dutifully cared for by Bird Team member James Knight, who in recent months has started some new training with her to make sure she stays active. Read James’s blog to hear all about it:

“Cheyenne is one of the oldest residents here at the Hawk Conservancy Trust at just under 30 years old. In her youth, she was one of our most iconic birds, flying in our displays as an ambassador of her incredible species. As she is now an older bird, she is enjoying a very well-earned retirement. Her younger brother, Orion, has taken on the mantle of flying in demonstrations and is excelling in them!

While Cheyenne is taking a much more laid-back approach to flying these days, she’s living in an off-show aviary behind the scenes of the Trust, in a section I often look after. We’ve been getting to know each other, and I’m working hard to keep her in tip top condition.  During the last couple of months of working together, we’ve been working for Cheyenne to take part in her own health checks. This is a really fantastic way of not only keeping a wonderful working relationship with one another and making sure Cheyenne still has time to interact and socialise, it also allows us to monitor if she has a clean bill of health and undertake any necessary health care she may need!

Fortunately, Cheyenne is fit and healthy. But as she gets older we want to make sure we can look after her as best as we can. So a few of the things we’ve been looking at together is giving Cheyenne the opportunity to present her feet for health checks.  This involves Cheyenne holding her talons up to a specific part of her aviary netting, and allowing us to inspect the undersides of her feet and make sure her talons are clean and in good order. She’s a clever girl, and has really been getting on with this new routine. It only took a few sessions of us working on this together for her to figure it all out.

Now that she is happy presenting her feet, the next health check we’re working on is beak presentations. We are working on ‘target training’ – a common technique used when working with animals that teaches them to touch a part of their body to a target so it can be looked at. With Cheyenne, we have been giving her the opportunity to ‘touch’ a clear target with the end of her beak. Again, she mastered this after only a few tries, and now she will even hold her beak on a ledge and allow me to have a really good look at her beak. To check it’s in good shape, I make sure there are no cracks or weak areas that can start to develop in birds of prey as they get older. We have worked closely to build such a strong bond, so much so she is even comfortable for me to check her nares (a name used for bird’s nostrils) and eyes too. We are going to continue to build on her fantastic work – next steps for Cheyenne will be full body presentations so we can give her health checks on her wings and legs.

She is such a brilliant bird to work with – so intelligent and fun. I am looking forward to seeing her develop more and more, and hopefully if things continue to well we can start looking at working with some of the other birds at the Trust in a similar way!”

Congratulations to Ivan Oruka – the winner of our 2023 Marion Paviour Award!

Ivan is currently studying at Gulu University, Uganda, undertaking a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Management.

Ivan is currently undertaking a project that is leading the way for research on Critically Endangered Rüppell’s Vultures. His work is focused in the Luku Central Forest Reserve, where he is studying the only known breeding colony of these important birds in the entire country of Uganda.

This project is the first of its kind in the country – trailblazing the way forward for future conservation efforts to conserve this species of vulture. Ivan is currently gathering data to determine the size of the breeding population within this area, identify what seems to influence which cliff ledges the vultures use to nest on, and finally, what their breeding success rate is and what could influence their success.

Our Marion Paviour Award grant has supported Ivan with this research. These funds have allowed him to cover costs associated with travel to the reserve, some of the equipment he is using to carry out his research, and local costs to cover permits for access to protected forest sites.

On winning the award, Ivan commented:

“To receive this award from you, joy and happiness are an understatement. This award is a timely fuel to my work and just like my birds of interest, my research activities are definitely going to soar. Because I am studying the last members of the species, this award is a dawn of hope to them. In fact, I dedicate it to my birds. All together for community transformation to save the plight of vultures.”

Since receiving the award, Ivan has collected four months of data, and is beginning to interpret what the research can tell us about these precious birds. He has also observed new chicks at the nest sites over the winter months – fantastic news!

Keep your eyes peeled as we continue to share updates from Ivan’s work conserving these Critically Endangered vultures.

Calling all Members…

…did you know you can join our exclusive Hawk Conservancy Trust 100 Club?

By joining our 100 Club, you’ll be in with the opportunity to support the Trust’s vital work AND have the chance to win prizes!

We award 39 prizes to our paid up 100 Club members every year, awarding £100, £50 and £25 on thirteen occasions annually. That’s £2275 in prize money given out every year!

As a member of the 100 Club, you will also have the opportunity to join us for our special 100 Club Members’ night held at the Trust during the summer. This special evening is organised by the team at the Trust as a thank you for the extra support provided by the 100 Club members. It’s a lovely, intimate evening of bird flight and uplifting commentary from the Bird Team, and we look forward to seeing our members there every year.

If you are a member of the Hawk Conservancy Trust and would like to know more about the 100 Club, you can find more on our website here – there’s more information about how we have supported the Trust over the years, as well as details on how to get involved.

If you are already a 100 Club member, I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you! Don’t forget, you can always signup for additional shares to further your support and increase your chances of winning in our monthly prize draws.

Pauline Rafferty, Hawk Conservancy Trust 100 Club Treasurer. 

Alex McGarry is a professional artist specialising in oil paintings of British wildlife and birds. She is the winner of the prestigious title ‘Up & Coming Artist of the Year’ awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guild. She is represented by the UK’s largest distributor of original paintings and limited edition prints – De Montfort Fine Art. And as such her paintings can be found in galleries across the UK and on board luxury cruise ships such as the Queen Mary II.

Alex has a busy year ahead, where there’ll be lots of opportunities for you to meet Alex, view her artwork and perhaps even purchase a special memento of our birds. Fifty percent of painting sales and one hundred percent of print sales goes towards supporting our work!

On your visit

As part of our partnership, an exclusive collection of Alex’s paintings are on permanent display in the Trust shop. Each piece is absolutely stunning, and can be purchased on the day of your visit for an extraordinary memento of our birds.

Throughout the year, Alex will be joining us at the Trust to paint new pieces of our birds. Whilst having a chance to watch her paint in real-time, you’ll be able to get to know her, and ask her any questions you may have about her work. Alex will be here on various Sundays throughout the year – keep an eye on our social media pages for announcements of dates and times.

If you’d like to be in with a chance to win a stunning original artwork, you can enter our new Artist in Residence raffle! Alex is kindly donating her time to create a stunning portrait of our iconic Egyptian Vulture, Boe, which will be given to one lucky winner at the end of the year! Find out more soon on our social media channels and via our Owl Message e-newsletter.

Chris and Megan’s Night of Nature

Are you joining us at our biggest fundraising event of the year – a Night of Nature with Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin? Alex will be!

On this special evening, enter our raffle and be in with a chance to win an incredible memento of this event. Alex will be creating a live-painting of the evening as it unfolds. There’ll be a chance to meet Alex, view her current work created for the Trust, and see this one-of-a-kind painting come to life over the course of the evening. This unique painting will then be raffled off at the end of the night to one lucky winner! Book your tickets here.

Family exhibition in Andover town centre

On Saturday 18 May, join Alex McGarry at her Andover town centre studio for her annual Family Exhibition! There’ll be a special exhibition where five artists, all from Alex’s family, come together in one space to feature their incredible artwork. Find out more details on Alex’s website – we’ll be offering anyone who goes along a free Meet the Burrower’s VIP Encounter when they pre-book their ticket to come visit the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Directions to Alex’s studio can be found on her website.

Anniversary event

Join us for an evening of drinks and canapés to celebrate the anniversary of our partnership with Alex McGarry on Thursday 5 December! Come along and meet Alex for yourself on this free to attend evening. You’ll be able to see our beautiful birds captured by Alex in her art, including the display of paintings that will be on permanent display in the Trust shop over the next year. Mark your calendars – more details coming soon.

Christmas Market

What better Christmas gift for a Hawk Conservancy Trust fan than a painting of their favourite bird to take home? Alex will be joining us at our Christmas Market this year, running Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 November. As well as painting during the evening, she’ll be displaying her exclusive range of paintings and prints created for the Trust and selling them too!

A wedding is as special as the couple getting married and we, at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, will ensure that your wedding is one of a kind. Set within 22 acres of woodland and wildflower grounds and in the heart of the Hampshire countryside, the Trust has a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces for entertainment, your ceremony and photographs. Enjoy your special day surrounded by friends and family, be entertained with our three world-class flying displays and come face-to-face with a special feathered friend. Make your first photographs as a married couple memorable by inviting the wonderful Great Grey Owl, the powerful Bald Eagle or the awesome Hooded Vulture to celebrate with you in a personal VIP encounter and capture this special moment on your wedding day.

You and all your guests will have access to the Trust grounds, allowing them to be inspired by our awesome birds of prey and be captivated by our world-class flying displays. As a registered wedding venue, you can have your ceremony almost anywhere within our grounds. We have a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces that each have their own characteristics and features, making each special and different in their own way.

The Eyrie

The Eyrie is a peaceful, airy space in the centre of the grounds that has large French doors connecting to the Savannah Lookout balcony that oversees our stunning Savannah Arena. The balcony is a perfect place to enjoy drinks, socialise with guests, and enjoy our inspiring morning display from an amazing vantage point.

The Griffon Rooms

The Griffon Rooms is designed for celebrations and located in the heart of the grounds besides a large, grassed area which can be reserved for you and your guests to enjoy. The Griffon Rooms can be easily arranged for a wedding buffet, sit-down meal or a sociable BBQ or hog roast, making this a truly versatile yet intimate venue.

Feathers Restaurant

Evening receptions can be held in our Feathers Restaurant; A bright and comfortable venue featuring a part-glass ceiling and wooden beams and pillars, making it versatile to your personal wedding theme. The vast floorspace can cater for a dancefloor and live entertainment or a social environment for a seated meal. A bar is included within the room hire for Feathers Restaurant and is fully stocked with a wide range of wine, beer, lager and spirits.

Outdoor Spaces

Be surrounded by stunning natura  l environments that each have a different theme and feel. Stroll through the hundreds of wildflowers in Reg’s Wildflower Meadow, enjoy the atmosphere of the Savannah Arena and feel the enchantment of the Woodland Arena; all of which make beautiful backdrops for your photographs.

Take that step closer to saying ‘I do’ at the Hawk Conservancy Trust and enquire for our wedding brochure here to share your special day with a special feathered friend!

A wedding at the Trust contributes to our mission – the conservation of birds of prey and their habitats. Whilst you enjoy our beautiful location, dedicated staff, awesome birds and excellent facilities, you’ll also be helping to support our conservation, rehabilitation, research and education projects for birds of prey in the UK and overseas.

Have you been along to see our brand new flying display this year? Masters of the Sky is our biggest daily flying display yet! Who better to talk to you all about it than the man who came up with the concept and led the Bird Team (and birds) to creating this incredible spectacle of birds in flight – our Deputy Head of Living Collection, Tom Morath?

‘At the Hawk Conservancy Trust, we have a mission – to conserve birds of prey. That’s it. It’s that simple. But as simple as it sounds, there’s an awful lot of conserving to be done and almost all of it requires absolute dedication from people with specialised knowledge. We need as many people on board with supporting our mission as possible. It’s up to us to inspire others, with what we’ve learned, to help conserve birds of prey. Sometimes that knowledge is hard to digest – it’s facts and figures, it’s graphs, numbers and statistics that, without sitting down and really concentrating, can be hard going – especially if the conclusions are not good news.

‘The research findings and scientific papers that are produced by members of our conservation and research team, along with our colleagues working in similar fields, are invaluable. They help us to map out our future plans and prioritize our resources. They ensure that our conservation work is evidence-based, but they’re not always an easy read. The issues many species are facing are complex and varied and it’s easy to be turned off from a topic when its hard to digest and understand. It is part of our mission, then, to take that science and make it accessible to everyone. Understandable is good but inspiring, exciting and fun is better. Much, much better.

‘Any visitor to the Hawk Conservancy Trust cannot fail to have been thrilled, and perhaps even moved, by the aerial prowess of the fascinating birds we care for. Through our flying displays, we’re able to give our visitors the opportunity to be in amongst the feeding frenzy of kites during an African bushfire, eye to eye with a Secretary Bird as he dispatches a snake or even a vole’s-eye view of a hunting Barn Owl. These are the moments that live on in memory long after our doors close for the day. These are the moments which, we hope, will instil a lasting impression and serve as a reminder for how wonderful birds of prey are and how hard we need to work to support them.

‘In early 2022 we took the decision to begin working on a brand new display. For many years, the Valley of the Eagles had taken the top spot as the most thrilling flying display of our timetable – often including the grand finale of a pair of Bald Eagles soaring over the valley and into Reg’s Wildflower Meadow to a crescendo of music and a rapturous round of applause from the audience. The Valley of the Eagles had been running for many years – I can remember watching the display myself when I visited for the first time in 2007. But as we adapt to combat the seemingly ever-growing threat of Avian Influenza and the risk it poses to our living collection, there were elements of the Valley of the Eagles (including the title spectacle of eagles flying across the valley) that we could no longer safely continue with. Additionally, we knew that there were improvements we could make, elements we could make more inspiring to a wide range of audiences – from the experts to casual holiday-makers. The natural histories of birds we could better represent in a brand new show. From Easter of this year (2023), the Masters of the Sky would take the Valley of the Eagles 2pm slot in our summer timetable and much of the challenge of putting the display together, fell to me – how exciting!

‘From the very beginning we knew that we wanted to maintain that spectacle of seeing some of our largest, fastest and biggest groups of birds taking to the wing. Reg’s Wildflower Meadow is such a stunning backdrop and an enormous space that begs to be filled with the flights of our majestic birds of prey. But beyond the spectacle, it is essential that there are some key take away messages about each of the species we introduce.

‘Which birds had a story as yet untold in our displays and which would benefit most from having their moment in the limelight – both on an individual and species-level? I worked with Gary Benton (our Head of Living Collection) to decide who would take starring roles. The flight of the Bald Eagle over Reg’s Wildflower Meadow is so glorious we couldn’t imagine a 2pm display without it –  and so Sam, one of the adult male Bald Eagles at the Trust, would take to the wing in the show, using the two brand-new 8m towers as launch pads onto soaring above the wildflowers. New-comers were to include Flo, a funky Crested Caracara among others. Caracara’s are smart birds that can adapt to many different habitats. They like a challenge and, with Flo, we chose to show something we’ve never show before by focusing on two elements of their wild lives.  Firstly, their foraging behaviour which is largely on-foot. Secondly, something totally unique to this species of Caracara and any of their close relatives – nest building.

‘If you’ve ever seen any of the 10 species of Caracara in action (either in-person or in videos) you might be struck by how different they are. They don’t seem to fit neatly into the family groups as other birds do. They’re not eagles, or hawks, they’re certainly not owls. They’re not vultures either although they are often found scavenging alongside them. So where do they fit in that tree of life? It might surprise you to know that they’re most closely related to the falcons – those high-velocity flyers, well known to be the fastest of all living things. Neither the other species of caracara nor the falcons they link closest to are nest builders – most take over old and abandoned corvid nests or make a scrape on cliff edges – but the Crested Caracara does build nests. Working with Katy Barnes, a Head of Section and member of the Bird Team, we worked together to demonstrate this behaviour. It is important that birds in our care are offered stimulating activities that emulate similar challenges they would face in the wild.  Ordinarily, nest building would be seen in the breeding season, stimulated by a subtle change in hormones at the right time of year. We worked with Flo to simulate nest building behaviour by encouraging her each time she brought something back to the artificial nest (built by Katy). To Flo, this was a enriching experience which earned her big food rewards – win win! This quirky demonstration of behaviour highlights something about the species that might get missed – and Flo’s routine is still in development as Katy has more challenges for her.

‘We begin at 2pm each day with a few moments of pure exhilaration by placing our audience right in the centre of a high-speed aerial pursuit as either Nutmeg or Chaucer (Lanner Falcons) speed towards two lures – one in front of the audience, the other behind. These lures, each swung with skill and precision by members of our Bird Team, represent the moving prey the species chooses to chase in the wild (usually other birds). The falcon powers high above the crowd before folding back their wings into a stoop. In this moment the audience are given the same perspective as the prey as the falcon hurtles towards them. Within two minutes it’s all over as the avian sprinter regains their breath and tucks into a well-deserved meal. Whilst savouring the thrill of watching such an impressive species in action, it’s important to note that these birds are not without threats in the wild. We now know that the Lanner Falcon is a species threatened by climate change as it impacts the weather and, by extension, the success of this falcon’s breeding season. Without this moment in the display – who would hear of the Lanner Falcon under the shadow of their more famous cousin, the Peregrine Falcon, and know about their less-than-favourable status in the wild?

‘The finale to the show focuses on the most threatened group of birds in the world – the vultures. Our work with Egyptian Vultures in Asia is highlighted by the spectacular Boe, who’s been flying at the Trust since 2016. Daily, almost without fail, Boe heads out into the valley or over the trees in order to search for natural lift which invariably assists her to great heights – often hundreds and occasionally thousands of feet in the sky! From her birds eye view, she watches as multiple species join her on the wing – White-backed Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Hooded Vulture, Black Kite and White Stork are all represented in this final part of the show as we display more birds than we’ve ever included in our shows before. Our finale is a spectacle of around 20 birds all together in one sky.

‘If you haven’t get managed to get along to see the Masters of the Sky yet I hope that I might have persuaded you to do so soon. Our displays are the closest we can get to transporting our visitors to the habitats of the birds to see them flying in the wild and I think we get pretty close! My hope is that by offering such an opportunity we can inspire all who visit to support us in our mission to save some of the world’s most impressive birds of prey from the various threats they face. A mission that is becoming ever more essential and is our privilege to undertake.’

Towers built with funding from the Loddon and Test LEADER Programme and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.