Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Checked on the 3 owls yesterday and the old female (25 ish) has laid a clutch of eggs and is sitting. Father and last years daughter (the bigger bird) are proudly sitting in the sun, awaiting events. He's ultra aggressive, and has back up from his daughter, it's a nightmare going in the flight pen at the moment, but, with luck, I'd like to tame a chick to fly off a glove. Pics at http://www.chriswilson.tv/woods/woods.html I am not risking a picture inside the shelter where the old girl is sitting, as I won't turn my back on the pair outside unless someone else is in there to fend the *uggers off with a yard brush. Last time I did that I had a nice set of bloody scratches across my back for days. They fly totally silently and you feel you have been hit with a medicine ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Great news Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Chris just out of interest what camera are you using - DSLR im assuming asle ill be quite suprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 wow... they are beautiful! keep us posted on events Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 It's a Sony DSC-F717 on default settings. Whatever that is. I bought a Nikon (not an SLR) and it felt plasticky and broke in 2 days. I swapped it for the Sony, and it's been brilliant. But i know nowt about cameras, just point and press. I have some great pics of the netting in perfect focus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 It's a Sony DSC-F717 on default settings. Whatever that is. I bought a Nikon (not an SLR) and it felt plasticky and broke in 2 days. I swapped it for the Sony, and it's been brilliant. But i know nowt about cameras, just point and press. I have some great pics of the netting in perfect focus Just read about it - Yes that is a cracking camera and a great price. Nice to see some real life shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Nice photos Chris, and congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Awesome birds, and great photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Great photos, Chris. This flight pen. How big is it? Very envious of all your land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 Great photos, Chris. This flight pen. How big is it? Very envious of all your land. 100 foot by 22 foot. They are spoiled... Most people keep European Eagle Owls in an aviary about 12 foot by 6 foot. You never get to see just how impressive they are in flight though. despite them saying the owls are quite happy in such a small space I have never heard the birds themselves comment! We don't take all this space for granted, believe me. We worked hard for it, and every day we look out and say wow, is this REALLY ours? I have started clearing a walkway through the new woods, as they were all but impenetrable. It's going to be a slow, tedious and bloody hard slog, but it's already showing signs of being a worthwhile task. You are welcome to come and have a nose around, anytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Often I see Tawny and barn owls about when fishing or driving. The thing that always amazes me is how silent they are in flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muffleman Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Stunning birds mate, might have to come up personally for discs and pads, just to come see the owls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Was alittle disappointed this thread wasnt code for invading Germans. Well done Chris. Very nice Owls. Do they hoot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethr Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 I have started clearing a walkway through the new woods, as they were all but impenetrable. It's going to be a slow, tedious and bloody hard slog, but it's already showing signs of being a worthwhile task.I remember reading in one of Phil Drabble's books (one of my heroes... he chucked in a board-level job in industry and a huge Tudor farmhouse to make his living writing about the countryside) how he used pigs to clear paths through his woods. Put them in an enclosure, let them root around in it for a few weeks, then move them to the next bit and sow grass in the area they'd dug up. Now that's my kind of landscape gardening (and my kind of bacon sandwich, eventually). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 Was alittle disappointed this thread wasnt code for invading Germans. Well done Chris. Very nice Owls. Do they hoot? Constantly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 I'm very envious Chris, I love birds of all kinds. I won't say "you lucky bugger" because you've obviously worked hard to get where you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 I remember reading in one of Phil Drabble's books (one of my heroes... he chucked in a board-level job in industry and a huge Tudor farmhouse to make his living writing about the countryside) how he used pigs to clear paths through his woods. Put them in an enclosure, let them root around in it for a few weeks, then move them to the next bit and sow grass in the area they'd dug up. Now that's my kind of landscape gardening (and my kind of bacon sandwich, eventually). Funnily enough someone mentioned wild boar to me at the weekend. Jane went off on one and said an emphatic NO! I veered towards a pair cassowaries, the boar are now a broachable subject Would deter poachers, I mean, would YOU want a set of tusks embedded in your arse by a 400 pound beast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Chris Im not sure if it has ever been asked, how did you get into keeping all these strange / exotic/ whatever you want ot call them... animals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 I have always loved livestock guarding breeds of dog, and have had a few of the more "challenging" ones over the years. Komondors, Anatolian Karabash, Bouviers, and also Russian Black Terriers, another rare, but different type of breed. We moved here into the sticks 8 years ago, and decided to get chickens. These seemed a doddle, so we decided to have some peafowl, too. They roamed free, and we added Guinea fowl. The next door but one neighbour complained of the peafowl pooping on her driveway, so I decided to build an aviary. I loved them having the freedom to fly, so it had to be a BIG aviary. This went well, and in the meantime I met someone called Will Harrison, a local exotic bird specialist who mocked at chickens and peafowl, and introduced me to more exotic things like emus and rheas. They demanded a seriosuly large compound with 6 foot weldmesh fencing. I built a one acre compound and relised that building these things was just like a rabbit hutch, but on a grander scale, and anything was possible with determination and hard work. Will then gave me 2 wallabies as a birthday present, and they joined the emus as fellow Antipodeans. Suddenly we had a mini zoo. Add in many species of pheasant, a pair of kookaburras and a pair of white cheeked turacos, and we have a fair collection of critters. The feed bill is quite alarming these days I love it though, as it's such a contrast to working on engines and cars, and it makes use of the space we are lucky enough to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil tt Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Amazing birds:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Hope you get some joy with them hatching, that'd be fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cable Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 I have always loved livestock guarding breeds of dog, and have had a few of the more "challenging" ones over the years. Komondors, Anatolian Karabash, Bouviers, and also Russian Black Terriers, another rare, but different type of breed. We moved here into the sticks 8 years ago, and decided to get chickens. These seemed a doddle, so we decided to have some peafowl, too. They roamed free, and we added Guinea fowl. The next door but one neighbour complained of the peafowl pooping on her driveway, so I decided to build an aviary. I loved them having the freedom to fly, so it had to be a BIG aviary. This went well, and in the meantime I met someone called Will Harrison, a local exotic bird specialist who mocked at chickens and peafowl, and introduced me to more exotic things like emus and rheas. They demanded a seriosuly large compound with 6 foot weldmesh fencing. I built a one acre compound and relised that building these things was just like a rabbit hutch, but on a grander scale, and anything was possible with determination and hard work. Will then gave me 2 wallabies as a birthday present, and they joined the emus as fellow Antipodeans. Suddenly we had a mini zoo. Add in many species of pheasant, a pair of kookaburras and a pair of white cheeked turacos, and we have a fair collection of critters. The feed bill is quite alarming these days I love it though, as it's such a contrast to working on engines and cars, and it makes use of the space we are lucky enough to have. Wow dude, that's cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARTIN R Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 awesome pics, hope I can take a look when I bring the car in. Will phone you in the next few days to sort out a date:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 No problem Martin, you are welcome to have a good look at them, just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheefa Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Great news Chris. Remember when I picked my car up in December those Owls were just sat perched perfectly upright outside. Beautiful. What was that crazy cowling thing though? It made some kind of very weird howling noise into a sort of cackle at the end. A giant flying beast? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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