Feathered visitors pay a visit to WI meeting
Steve and Lisa entertained members of Ashley WI with some of the birds from Shropshire Falconry.
Pippin a burrowing owl, Chris a white faced owl, Biscuit a long eared owl, Fleur a barn owl, and Will, an impressive hawk.
They were put through their paces and had a little fly from perch to hand for titbits.
Some of the members were brave enough to wear the gauntlet, some others were not so brave and kept a little distance from the display. All the birds were very well behaved, so there was nothing really to worry about.
Little Pippin (a burrowing owl) really stole our hearts. He is just eight weeks old but fully grown and over the next couple of weeks he will start to fly and be trained to join the 'flying team'.
Some interesting facts we learnt were the straps attached to the bird’s legs are called jesses and they are put 'under the thumb' to anchor the bird - hence the saying he is under the thumb!
Also, when Steve is displaying the birds at demos he has to be careful not to overfeed them as they will roost in a tree as they are 'fed up'.
Apart from the usual business of the meeting, a vote of thanks was given to Steve and Lisa for their brilliant demo and refreshments were served to everyone present.
We meet every second Tuesday of the month at Ashley Methodist Church, Wesleyan Road, Ashley, TF9 4JT at 7.30pm. For further details contact Hillary on 01630 672043.
By Jo Wood - Contributor
