I went to
Dalhousie Castle the other day to say 'hi' to friends visiting for the
Kindling Words Writers Retreat in Scotland. I loved seeing everyone!
Christine Taylor-Butler and I took at lovely walk down to the castle's Falconry Centre.
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Dalhousie has its very own falconry centre with full-time employees who take care of the birds, both hand-raised and rescues. Each day, the birds are brought from their enclosures to sit on stands.
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The birds sit amazingly close to visitors, although, smartly, one isn't supposed to touch them. (One of the eagles nibbled on her keeper's ear - it was sweet but looked a bit painful.)
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This little Merlin was so cute, he just watched me and watched me. "Hello!"
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And this little guy had such a funny name, I had to get his photo even though he was fast asleep. He is called a Boobook Owl.
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I got some video of the caretaker putting an eagle outside. Click the image to watch on Youtube:
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Not all the birds left their enclosures. Many of the owls stayed inside, I suppose because they are supposed to be nocturnal. Although, this guy didn't look happy about it.
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This guy had the greatest ears!
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Truly, they were
right there and HUGE!
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As you can see when Chris was taking a picture of this enormous owl.
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Of course, I had to visit the crow, because of my new book coming out this fall -
Crow Not Crow by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. I praised the crow as being the smartest bird in the bunch, to which it came over to look at me more closely. I think it approved of my opinion.
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Falconry is an ancient practice, one that kept many people fed through their trained hunting methods. My friend, Leslie Jacoby is translating a Medieval French text on falconry into English for her PhD. (I shared her talk about Falconry
HERE.) I'm hoping she'll leave a good comment below!