The sun came out after a week of heavy showers, traditional Fowey regatta weather, and the St Austell Photographers’ group enjoyed 2hrs in the field getting wonderful shots of my birds relaxing and flying.
Here are some of the photographs taken on the day by Barry and Chris
Aren’t they amazing! They were a friendly group and I look forward to welcoming them again, maybe on a frosty winter day next time for contrast.
Training and caring for my birds certainly keeps me busy, and I try to make sure the birds keep busy too. The past few months have seen the birds entertaining families while they get creative in the yurt; hosting summer feast nights; giving people the thrill of having a bird of prey fly to their glove for food and taking part in several bespoke photo shoots.
The feast nights brought lots of new people to the Owl Field in August. With the Keep Cornwall Fed chefs and Kim’s Kitchen cooking up some delicious meals we will definitely be planning more for 2018.
Photography sessions have also been a big part of our activity, and the cows like to join in too and surprised Maryna of Photography by Maryna! She got her bag back with only a little cow slobber on it!!
So if I ever wonder if I am doing the right thing – I look at my birds, reflect on how much we have achieved together, and know that I am doing exactly the right thing…then I put the kettle on!
Wow – what a beautiful month October turned out to be! When I first decided to set the dates for two Family Craft Afternoons In the Company of Owls in October half term I must admit to having my fingers crossed behind my back for good weather – and it worked!!
Tuesday Oct 25th got so much interest from local families that I had to say it was full 10 days before the event – with 35 people booked in [adults, children and toddlers] it was certainly going to be a busy afternoon.
The children’s activity was to make owl masks and pine cone owls – and I think the adults enjoyed the crafts as much as the kids did!
Of course there was tea, coffee and cake for all – oh and hot chocolate too. These yummy treats went down well, especially with the opportunity to toast marshmallows by the carefully attended fire 🙂
Sunday 30th was busy too, with a smaller but just as fun group of families – and the sun shone making it feel like a summer’s afternoon rather than the end of October.
The owls enjoyed meeting everyone, with Whisper and Peanut coming out so everyone could get really close up and personal with them!
Peanut was the star of the show flying in front of everyone, showing off what he can do – although he seemed to be a bit full on the Sunday …I think he is catching bank voles in his aviary again 🙂
Where is Peanut?
I am looking forward to starting regular Saturday morning Family Craft sessions very soon – just need to get the yurt built as I am sure the weather will turn more seasonal now it is November.
Meanwhile the owls are busy with private 1:1 bookings in their field, and will also be going out in the community, meeting people and making them smile. Next community date is November 19th in St Austell town centre with CHICKS charity.
See you there!
The two youngest owls, Peanut my Burrowing Owl and Whisper my Barn Owl, were invited to attend the Three Wishes Fairy Fair in the beautiful grounds of Mount Edgecombe House near Torpoint last weekend. This was the 10th year the Fairy – or Faery to be precise – Fair has run, all thanks to my ‘sister-in-law’ Karen Kay.
Love the Fairy fair with Karen Kay
The sun shone on Saturday afternoon as I arrived with owls and my daughter, Hayley who was helping me by taking charge of Peanut for the afternoon.
Of course the owls got a lot of attention from all the wonderful people there, and everyone was amazed to see the owls so calm even with the crowds wanting to all say hello. Whisper was so relaxed she even fell asleep on my glove – twice!
Whisper snoozes by the mushrooms
Whisper relaxing among the fairies
I made sure Whisper wore her special colourful ribbons for the day, and I was amazed to hear how many people – or I should say faery folk – have an owl as their animal spirit! I learnt a lot about faeries that day!
There was so much to see and people to meet. However imagine how surprised Hayley and I were when we walked around a corner and found a mermaid!! Yes, a mermaid!! She introduced herself as The St Ives Mermaid. I introduced myself as The Bird Lady of Fowey, of course!…it was wonderful to meet her and she was so lovely to talk with. Of course I have invited her to my In the Company of Owls event in August, I hope she comes – I have a paddling pool she could use!!
St Ives Mermaid meets Bird Lady of Fowey
Owls and a Mermaid
Further down the field we came across this beautiful vintage wagon adorned with amazing artwork and carvings. I think the owls would have quite happily moved in and stayed there!
Owls and beautiful vintage wagon
It really was a gorgeous afternoon, walking around the wonderful grounds of Mount Edgecombe House with the owls, sitting on the grass and taking in the sites and generally enjoying chatting with my daughter – all in the company of owls!!
Thank you, Karen, for inviting us. We would love to come again next year!!
Owls and Karen Faery Kay – thank you!
I am loving my shed. From a second hand purchase found in St Blazey last year, we took it down and put it back together in the field – in a bit of haste as the ground wasn’t really level, but it was a start.
So now I have somewhere to shelter from the weather and weigh the owls – very important as this quickly tells me if they are healthy, hungry or fat!
I can also make cups of tea – and of course have a place for my Owl Advent calendar [thank you little brother].
And now, after a lot of hard work on a really windy day with my daughter’s boyfriend who wheelbarrowed loads of gravel up the field to make a solid base… …
…And with a big THANKS to the Fowey Lankelly Rugby team who incredibly picked it up and moved it last weekend for me the shed is now on solid ground – and doesn’t wobble when anyone goes inside!!
Today I have made a good start on sanding down the outside and putting some colour on the old wood. Beach Hut blue works well in the field, I think 🙂
Peanut and Victor had a very busy Xmas and New Year with 5 private dates and 2 charity events in their diaries. Luckily for me they were all indoors, and in some beautiful rooms – Victor looked especially grand in the billiards room at Fowey Hall Hotel.
The families enjoyed learning owl facts [ most people know the word nocturnal, but diurnal is a new one for many] and making owl masks.
Of course when the children wear their masks they are definitely not allowed to move their eyes but have to remember to move their heads to see, just like the owls do!
Trenython Manor had a glorious Xmas tree in the room, making a wonderful backdrop for the close up and personal photographs with the families. I would love to offer evening owl walks through their gardens when the weather warms up a bit.
Lankelly Rugby Club Junior Xmas Party chose a Hogwarts theme this year, so an invitation for the owls to attend was an obvious choice. I made sure I was prepared and researched the owls famous in the Harry Potter series, putting together fact sheets showing the children how these owls live in the real world – rather than being used mainly for postal deliveries as in the stories. As both Victor and Peanut were at the party the children, and adults, could see the huge diversity of these fascinating birds – especially after I pointed out that Peanut was just as fully grown as Victor and not his baby at all!
The invitation to the Rugby Club’s party came as a direct result of the support I have been giving to CHICKS – Country Holidays for Inner City Kids – who have a holiday retreat in the nearby village, Tywardreath. Peanut and I attended two of their fundraising Xmas mornings, one in Snuggles Nursery in Bodmin and the second at Happy Days Nursery in St Blazey. For a small donation anyone could have a close up photograph taken of them with Peanut. This went down really well and we raised £80 for the charity which was fab!
Snuggles Nursery put us in their sensory room, which was perfect! Peanut is very used to the public attention and is so photogenic that the nursery are thinking about having him as their mascot!!
I already have a few more dates booked for 2016, which is really exciting as it means my business is starting to fly 🙂 Plans to work with CHICKS and deliver activities to those children are in the pipeline and still lots of digging and building in the field to do too. Meanwhile using other venues is giving me the chance to get out with the owls, meet loads of lovely people and share the owl love!!
So many ideas of what to do. The space in the field is looking really lovely, especially since my sister-in-law cut the grass again. I didn’t know that to have a go on a ride on mower was on Cheryl’s Bucket List, but as soon as she mentioned it I booked her in to mow –
Mowing a Meadow
It’s beginning to take shape with the lawn appearing out of what was 20 years of grazing pasture – any gardener would be proud of it. So now I am trying to decide where to put some colourful planting and keep bringing cuttings from home. A lady in my village was giving away loads of bedding plants: ox-eye daisies, geraniums and aquilegia which will all help to fill the space, with some left over to brighten up the parking area too.
At the farm there is a load of willow ready for coppicing, so I did! I took total advantage of a friend who was visiting my brother for a few days and, with Silky in hand went for it. Blue supervised.
Cutting Willow
Getting started
Lazy Dog
Nearly Done
Willow Done
Spot Peanut
Burrow Inspection
Pine Cone Owls
Halloween Owl
Bird Lady of Fowey 