A slightly drunken experience at Harry Potter After Dark where more than one stuffed owl was purchased has led to a bit of an owl love. They really are quite cute and I’m not gonna lie I now have nearly the entire Harry Potter owl collection. Just need to find a Hedwig that isn’t a puppet style, and the small issue of persuading John to allow another owl in the house.
Anyway I’m waffling. John bought the best Christmas present and we went off to an Owl experience.
Location and Details
Owl experience from Sussex Falconry location, Compton near Chichester. The experience is 2 hours and costs from £75. There does appear to be a fee to take guest with you, John did however get to join in so it’s worth while. Owned and run by Sally. It is at her home but she has a full set up along with field space to fly the owls. You can see she puts her whole life into the welfare of the birds.
Experience
I loved it. Owls are so underrated. If cared for and worked with in a specific way from young, the owls are extremely friendly. You got to hold a variety of owls and stroke them. Sally is extremely knowledgeable and gives you a whole host of information and talks about each owl individually from it’s likes dislikes and how long she’s had them.
I will say I did feel the handling wasn’t as evenly distributed as it could have been, I got to hold 1 compared to some handling 3. I am sure this was down to the safety of the birds and you as a customer but I would have liked to experience a little bit more.
Sally looks after you with drinks and home made cake and encourages the group to chat and interact together which really puts you at ease.
Final Thoughts
I loved the experience especially being able to meet a barn owl, Luna is so cute. In the back of my mind I thought is it fair to keep a bird in a cage but on the same breath Sally clearly looks after them like they are her babies and I’m certain they are living a very nice lifestyle. I just couldn’t help but feel they should be allowed to fly off on their own accord. Although is it the same as having a rabbit in a house?!! Who knows.
If you’re an owl lover you will love this experience. Id certainly love to go again.
Rach xx
