Gayle gets up close and personal with a trio of majestic owls at Speyside Falconry.
Owls are absolutely stunning creatures – their piercing eyes and haunting hoots are the stuff of myths and folklore.
I’ve been obsessed by the birds since I was wee and when I hear them screeching in the dark, or spot them flitting silently by during the daytime, I experience a huge rush of excitement.
The stereotype is they are all nocturnal, and only come out at night to hunt, but the truth is a little different, as I discover when I turn up for a “meet the owls” session at Speyside Falconry.
Having driven through a Scottish monsoon to reach the centre near Mulben, I’m anxious my appointment will be cancelled. Wouldn’t the owls rather stay dry and cosy?
Luckily, after I’ve had a chat with owner and falconer Clare Morrison, the rain eases off a bit.
“This is just about OK weather to fly the owls,” she beams, a trickle of water running down her face.
Having had a lifelong passion for birds of prey, Clare and her husband Darren launched Speyside Falconry five years ago.
They started off with just a few birds, but now have an impressive selection, ranging from owls to peregrine falcons and hawks.
Today I’m meeting three owls – Peggy the barn owl, Lauren the long-eared owl, and Lana the white-faced scops owl.
My jaw drops when Clare brings out Peggy. With her heart-shaped face, golden-hued back and wings and pure white underbelly, she’s truly gorgeous.
Barn owls are sometimes nicknamed “screech owls”, thanks to the blood-curdling screams they make – they don’t hoot.
While nocturnal, barn owls occasionally hunt during the day, perhaps when the weather’s been bad and food’s in short supply.
“The term ‘nocturnal’ simply means they have the ability to hunt at night; that’s when they’re most active,” explains Clare.
Peggy has asymmetrically-set ear openings and a pronounced facial disc which acts like a “radar dish” guiding sounds into the ears.
“She can hear a mouse’s heartbeat from 50 feet away,” says Clare. “But the closer she gets to her prey, the less focused her sight becomes. She has to rely purely on her hearing to locate it.”
It’s a huge honour to be up close and personal to this beautiful creature and as she flies onto my gloved fist and devours the entrails of a dead chick, I can’t help but smile.
Next up is Lauren, a gorgeous long-eared owl, also native to the UK.
Her “ears” are not in fact ears at all – they’re tufts of feathers which she raises when she’s alarmed. When she’s hungry, she stamps her feet, much to our amusement.
My final owl is Lana, a white-faced scops owl.
She’s native to Africa, boasts big orange eyes, and is known as a “transformer owl” because of her ability to “transform” when she perceives a threat.
To appear bigger, she fans her feathers and leans forward to create a domed plumage sure to scare off predators. She can also shrink to avoid detection, elongating her body, squinting and taking on a V-shape to hide within her surroundings.
While we’re handling her, she makes a soft cat-like meowing noise, which means she’s chilled out.
“When she feels threatened, she barks like a small yappy dog,” says Clare.
Her mode of flight differs from that of the other owls, swooping down low to the ground before flying to us.
It doesn’t take much for Lana to get bored and after a few displays, she goes on strike, crouching on her perch and refusing to budge.
“It’s sometimes a battle of the wills,” laughs Clare, holding out a sliver of dead mouse and making cooing noises.
Before we head indoors, I’m treated to a tour of the enclosures, encountering Wesley the great horned owl, aka the “dancing owl”. He bobs from foot to foot, bows and wiggles his body in a way that’s reminiscent of John Travolta. I’ve fallen for him, as many visitors have, hook, line and sinker!
“He’s known for his funky moves,” says Clare and I can see why.
Another fascinating owl fact is some species can rotate their heads 270 degrees thanks to extra vertebrae in the neck.
This combination of silent flight, excellent hearing, sharp night-time vision, deadly talons and head rotation mean owls rarely miss the mark when hunting unfortunate victims.
Inside Clare’s kitchen, where coffee and cake are waiting, there’s an impressive white bird on a perch.
“That’s Argyl, our gyr falcon,” says Clare. “He’s only eight weeks old so we’ll keep him in the kitchen until he’s ready for flight training.”
Throughout the morning, I’ve wanted to stroke the birds but have desisted, aware they’re not pets. They are birds of prey and plus, stroking them would damage their natural waterproofing.
Do they ever take off? Rarely, says Clare. They know where their bread’s buttered – why go hunting in the wild when food is readily available and in abundance?
“They could take off at any time – they’ve got free flight,” she adds.
“The trackers on them pinpoint their location. They’re part of the family so we’ll always get them back if they do decide to fly off.”
The focus at Speyside Falconry is on fun, education and hands-on experiences.
Clare and Darren’s teenage daughters Jessica and Kate are “falconers in training”, helping out where they can, while 19-month-old Olivia has a lot to look forward to.
Sessions run year-round – unless the weather is utterly horrendous.
- Speyside Falconry offers private experiences with owls and hawks and behind-the-scenes sessions. Other owls here include the European eagle owl and tawny owl, while falcons include the lanner, peregrine, saker, and there’s also a Harris hawk. Clare and Darren also fly birds at events across the country and offer a pest control service. speysidefalconry.co.uk