Hogwarts in the suburbs?
Most of you might think that
Hogwarts is a magical little place buried deep within the realms of the
countryside, far, far away from all known muggledom. In reality it seems it is much closer than
you would think. You see Andy neglected to tell me that the local school for
youngens is no less a prep school for the mystical realm of Hogwarts. To any
muggle born (you and me hopefully), it just looks like any other normal school,
but to the young witches and wizards of the valley worlds, it is the start to
their new magical life where treasures abound everywhere. While this school
isn’t a boarding school, it is one where the transition into Hogwarts is made
to be a little gentler, the inmates getting to go home to mum and dad each
night.
Yeah, maybe I should leave this kind
of story-telling to those who can actually write awesome stories, and I will
just get back to letting you know what I have actually been up to since my
arresting last entry.
For those who actually give two
hoots, today was the day I met a local bird enthusiast who keeps owls (and now
I apologise for the 2 hoots line). And while I’m apologising, we met him (Brian
the owl keeper) outside the front of the nearby primary school (Hence the bad
Hogwarts reference too... Maybe I should have gone with Hogwarts being a
disease instead) while we were waiting with Andy’s sister, Caroline, for his
niece and nephew to finish schooling for the day.
Anyway, Brian is just a small part
of a much larger group that care for and show these beautiful creatures to help
educate and give awareness to the majestic world of birds of prey. I had the
pleasure of meeting 3 of his gorgeous owls that afternoon. Two were fully
grown, one still a “baby” (even though with all his fluffy feathers, he is actually
bigger than his older brother!!).
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| Check out the owls album here |
One of the owls (the smallest of the
three) was being taught how to behave, as Brian explained, he had been sent up
from Wales as he had been a very naughty boy, but having been rehabilitated, he
was going back soon a much happier and better behaved owl.
As already suggested, Brian and his
owls are only a small part of the North Wales Bird Trust. Brian is also looking to open up a regional branch
of the trust at Rawtenstall within the near future.
Considering their deadly nature, the
birds are incredibly soft to touch and are really well behaved even though you
have to keep in mind they are still wild animals. Weighing in at only four and
a half pounds though, it is really easy to forget they are perched on your arms
even though their talons are capable of applying sufficient pressure to crack a
human skull.
It was truly an awe inspiring time I
spent being in the presence of these splendid owls and after a fun 20 mins of
playing with them, it was time for us to continue on our way back to the
flat. It was a wet and cold day that day
and I was the only person in Rawtenstall that needed to warm up. Can anyone say SOOK?
Feel free to check out the North Wales Bird Trust link, and if you can, please donate to this very worthy cause.
cute and deadly, the baby one had my finger in his mouth at one stage tasting it... he didnt try to bite, was just holding on... and his claws are sharp, he jumped up onto my shoulder and the claws went straight through my jacket to the skin... didnt break the skin, but you could see he had been there :)
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