Happy newish year... Wingspan edition

It’s well into February and I’m already thinking this year is going way too fast! I usually take January quite easy, as the Christmas rush usually takes takes it all out of me, and this year was no different. I really needed time to recharge and so I spent most of my January with the birds, I’ve been to quite a few sanctuaries and good birding spots so I’ve got a lot to share.

I thought I’d start with a visit to Wingspan, National Bird of Prey Centre. My sister has recently moved up to Rotorua, so I went up to visit her and of course had to sneak in a trip to Wingspan. The centre had changed since I’d last visited, and the free flight display was set in a paddock with a neat little viewing area where we got to watch the falconers train their birds.

We were treated to displays from three different birds, male and female juveniles and also an adult female. The size difference is quite staggering between the smaller male and larger females, it’s really noticeable when you have a comparison right in front of your eyes. There’s also a big difference in the colouring of juvenile birds, their skin has a blue tint to it when they’re young and their feathers are quite uniformly dark brown in colour. As they mature and moult into their adult feathers they develop their distinctive patterned feathers.

I had the incredible honour of being chosen as a perch for the adult male kārearea that was on display, here are some photos that showed his intentions before he landed on my head! I wanted to get up close to the falcons but I definitely didn’t expect to get this close!

I always love watching birds in flight and getting to see the falcons display their incredible speed and hunting ability right in front of my eyes was amazing. It started to rain right at the end of the flight display which made for some nice photos and meant we got to go inside the information centre to see a very special bird.

That special bird is Jarli the barn owl! I was not expecting to see her so it was a pretty amazing surprise. I’d seen barn owls at Wingspan before but not this close. She got fed a mouse in front of us and I can’t help but feel like she’s smiling as she was eating it! What a beautiful bird she is!

I snapped lots and lots of photos for future illustrations which I’m really excited to get started on. I’m bursting with inspiration at the moment and can’t wait to translate that onto paper. Watch this space!