Another beautiful day that started off with a run. Still being sore from yesterday's long one, it was slow four miles this morn, but that did not matter as we were still at Nana and Grandads so it was lovely running through the countryside, rather than through the town.
Once home, there was time to grab a green smoothie, help Lyns get the little man up and off we went. Today we were heading to The Falconry Centre near Thirsk. They have three flying displays a day and because it was a bank holiday there was lots to do in between displays. £7 for adults and threes and under were free so £14 for a full day of fun, bargain. Whilst the displays were not on, you were free to wander around and look at the birds.
One thing that I learnt during the day is that I am not a wildlife photographer, or if I was to be, I would need a lot of practise. I managed to get the sum total of no photos from the first display. Not that it mattered. There were birds jumping all over the show and mixing with the visitors. James really enjoyed it. After the display there was a chance for the 'children' to hold the birds.
All the 'children' crowded round to hold the owls.
After the excitement of holding the owl, it was time to grab lunch. James went for a play in the sand pit whilst I headed back to the car to grab the lunch. There were plenty of tables and chairs to use for lunch, no one minded at all if you brought your own which was nice, but only a few with umbrellas. Not that it mattered as by the time James had finished playing, a table was free.
"Don't like French Fries" he said before demolishing the pack.
After our picnic, it was back to see the next display. Here they had three of my favourite birds, a bald headed eagle, a golden eagle and a white tailed sea eagle. These magnificent birds were soon soaring over us. Luckily, I had a bit of a better hit rate in the flight session with my photos, probably helped that the birds were a little bigger.
One of the 'smaller' vultures
Absolutely stunning
Kerry explaining all
One thing that shone through was the passion and knowledge that Kerry had for the birds, this was reflected in all the staff at the site. You could clearly see that they cared deeply for the birds and anything you asked them, they knew. Very impressive and fantastic to see.
By the end of this display, James was getting a bit restless, not because he was not enjoying it, rather because he wanted to play in the sand pit again. There was plenty of time between displays so off we went to build sand castles. When I say build sand castles, what I mean is that Lyns and I would build them and then see how long we could keep them standing as James did everything he could to destroy them. This caused much merriment as it then became a competition between Lyns and myself to see who could persuade James to destroy the other's castle.
Me, destroy a sandcastle, never!
He he he
By this point we were all getting a little hot. As if by magic there came a shout that there had been a fresh delivery of ice creams, what good timing! Off we headed for an ice cream and a cup of tea. Strange combination but it worked. A very relaxing half an hour spent slurping and licking and that was just Lyns and I. James managed to end up wearing a fair amount of his mini milk but thats part of being a toddler, nothing a baby wipe or two could not solve.
Before we knew it, it was time for the final display of the day. By this point, the heat had taken its toll and there were not many people left, not that it mattered as Kerry and the team gave as energetic a show as the first one, even though they had been working hard in the sun all day.
So magestic
It flew in about a foot over our heads, such power
At the end of the final display they flew a huge vulture. After all the other birds behaving themselves throughout the day, Ringo decided that he preferred the cool of the shade on the other side of the valley. Actually it was because he did not like turning to fly with the wind as he gets too much speed up, but I like to think he stopped to chill out in the shade. At this point the show was over. The children play area was closed at this point as it was right in Ringo's flight path when he decided to return. Would it have been so bad for James to have played in the sand and run the risk of becoming Ringo's dinner... what's the worst that could happen. When I suggest this to Lyns, I was promptly told that this was not good parenting so we packed James up and headed off to where the children were holding another bird.
Another chance for the 'children' to hold a bird
To be fair to Lyns, where she had wanted to hold the barn owl, we almost persuaded James to hold this little chap. However, he decided at the last minute he did not want to. I am sure next time he would hold one.
We all had had a lovely day but again, too soon, it was time to head home. We headed back to Nana and Grandad's for dinner, they had spoilt us rotten this weekend, and for James to have one final play in the paddling pool. What a lovely way to finish off a very enjoyable bank holiday weekend.