A Day Out at BIRDWORLD, Holt Pound, Farnham, Surrey.

Today, we took our great grand-daughter to Birdworld, Near Farnham, Surrey. The last time I went there was over 25 years ago, and I vaguely remember being disappointed with the place !...

This time it was different...

Over the years, it has improved.... both in the presentation of the place, and the number, and variety, of birds on display.... The aviaries have been designed with plenty of flying space, for the occupants, and the whole area of Birdworld is "wheelchair friendly".... although this was not of concern to us on our visit, it can be to those unfortunate enough to have to use wheelchairs to get about... For the family with small children, the comparison would be "push-chair" friendly !...

We arrived about 11 am, and spent the rest of the day just wandering around, we took a picnic in with us, and had that at the Jenny Wren Farm, end of the site..... There are toilet facilities in the grounds, and also at the entrance, another good point is there are also a couple of places away from the main restaurant area, to get a cup of tea, or other drinks, and ice creams. It was "quiet" today, but we have driven past at the weekends, and noticed the car-park overflowing with cars.

The highlight of the day for me, was the flying display. This was in the hands of a very capable young lady, Lizzy, and her two assistants. Previous flying displays, at wild life centres, have concentrated on the "education of the masses" commentary, by the person doing the flying, with the occasional "swoop by" of a hawk, or two.... However, Lizzy, at Birdworld, did give some information about the birds, which was interesting, and did not divert the attention from the birds in flight... it was a "light" entertainment style, and completely relaxing to watch and listen to the commentary. The flying display consisted of Two Large Owls, (flying seperately), a "Ground Hopping Striated Cara Cara, a species that comes from the Falkland Islands, where it is known as "Johnny Rook", apparently it finds it`s food supply amongst the baby penguins, and other small ground animals, even going as far as looking under rocks and undergrowth. The team had taught it a version of Kerplunk, where a morsel of food was suspended inside a wire cage with sticks to be removed before it became available at the bottom, for the bird to eat as reward....! Also a pair of Kookaburra`s, who would only land on their own "coloured" stick.! and a magnificent Blue & Gold Macaw, which had an affection for Lizzy, who was flying the birds.

If you haven`t been to Birdworld, then I can recommend it.... as an incentive, go to their website http://www.birdworld.co.uk/ and check out the "Free Ticket" offer .....

To sum up...... Well worth a visit, and very enjoyable. Some photographs from the days outing to whet your appetite ! !