What a fantastic opportunity to ignite an interest in British wildlife conservation for First Cranleigh Guides! I was asked to attend this evening's meeting with some of Britain's endangered and declining wildlife species to talk about the importance of their conservation. 

The goal here was to help them work towards a badge by inspiring conservation action and social/ethical contribution by eventually running their own fundraiser for a charity related to wildlife conservation. I was asked to put forward charities for this, so gave three options that tied in heavily with the species I took with me. These were Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) which are the leading charity for the conservation of British native herpetofauna and their habitats, Hawk Conservancy Trust to go towards their research programme into Eurasian kestrel decline in the UK, and the Surrey Wildlife Trust that helps to protect and preserve the various habitats throughout Surrey.

The girls had the opportunity to handle Britain's rarest native reptile, the smooth snake, and we looked at other British native reptiles all of which are protected and sadly in decline. They also had the chance to handle a common toad and we discussed how they too are unfortunately in decline. We finished it off by looking at our two birds of prey, both of which are Amber Listed due to conservation concern.

Today was a busy one for us! We spent the morning with Rupert who's dad had booked him a 1hr educational encounter with the British wildlife ambassadors. The team consisted of Freddie the tawny owl, Bob the kestrel, slow worms, sand lizards, smooth snakes, grass snakes and toads. All these animals are in decline in the UK and of conservation concern, so it was a perfect opportunity to spark an interest in protecting these wonderful creatures by teaching Rupert all about them and allowing him chances to handle them. The only one he was a little nervous over was the big common toad, but his dad Trevor put on a brave face and held her instead!

The animals had a little break before heading over to a local party for Emilia's 7th birthday! Emilia is a big animal lover so this was the perfect birthday experience for her. Along with her friends, she had the opportunity to handle a couple of reptiles and the toad, and then we all went outside to have a go at handling the birds of prey after learning a little bit about falconry practices. Bob finished the birthday off by doing a little flight in the garden to his lure which was the perfect ending.  

Meeting these animals  up close allows the opportunity for people to connect with these animals that they otherwise would struggle to see in the wild, which in turns helps to build an essential interest and desire to protect and care for these animals in the wild.

All below photos are of Rupert's one to one educational experience.

Bob is progressing beautifully! He has an immediate response to both the fist and the lure, he trades off like a pro and he has been completely reliable in every flying location we've been to. He's also now experienced so many different situations and objects (livestock, dogs, crowds, vehicles, machinery etc.) and shown no fearful reactions, so I am confident he is ready to go free.

I am waiting for one last thing before we take that step, which is the arrival of his IBR (Independent Bird Register) ring. It is important that precautions are taken should a falconry bird ever stray too far and get lost. It is essential to fit your hawk with a telemetry tracker to ensure that the falconer has a good chance of locating their hawk should they go out of sight. Another very useful tip is to register birds of prey with the IBR. This provides them with a unique ring number and puts them on the IBR database so that should the bird be recovered by somebody else they can be quickly reunited with the falconer. Once Bob has his one fitted then he is safe to free fly and I cannot wait!

I was delighted to be invited to Gresham Primary School for the day as this term's reverse school trip to show all 250+ students the wonders of British wildlife! I had two talks going on throughout the day which I alternated between for each class, but with the same message about protecting our habitats and promoting conservation of native wildlife.

One talk focussed on woodland habitat where the children got to see up close our beautiful yearling grass snakes and we talked about their interesting defense mechanisms, diet and how they fit into the habitat. They then had the opportunity to handle Conker the big female common toad and we talked about their annual migration and why they are found in woodland. We finished off with looking at an apex predator of the woodland - Freddie the tawny owl. This gave the opportunity to discuss owl adaptations, diet, hunting techniques etc.

The other talk focussed on heathland habitat where we started off looking at Wren the baby smooth snake. We talked about why this species is so rare and why they are heathland specific, as well as their diet and Wren's future value to captive breeding programmes. The children then had the chance to handle one of the slow worms and we had a look at why they are classed as lizards rather than snakes, their diet, their defence mechanism and other habitats they can be found in too. We ended with having a look at Bob the kestrel, and discussed why he prefers hunting in open habitats such as heathland as well as looking at his diet, hunting techniques and adaptations.

​The animals were all beautifully behaved, and the children too!

Freddie our lovely tawny owl was invited to visit Little Owls Childminding to give the children their first ever encounter with a real owl! Some were a little hesitant and nervous with this new creature in their environment, but they quickly became inquisitive and enjoyed spending some time with Freddie. 

It was so lovely to see their little smiles when they realised Freddie was a real owl. Thank you so much for inviting us, what a wonderful group of children!

Bob has been an absolute breeze to work with. He is such a gem and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such an easygoing hawk with such a fantastic personality!

Bob has shown he is perfectly happy and settled in the presence of dogs, cats, livestock, other birds of prey, strangers, large groups of people, noisy children, machinery, vehicles etc. He has just accepted everything readily with barely any effort on my part, it's just unbelievable that he is so relaxed in all situations at such an early stage in training!

His flight training is coming on really well, he is responding to recall and will be flying free in no time. I cannot wait to see his full potential, I have a feeling he's going to be very special. What a gem!

I was delighted to be invited to exhibit at the Surrey Hills Wood Fair in Cranleigh, a 2 day event celebrating the Surrey Hills and all it has to offer, plus all things wood! This had a footfall of around 6000 visitors, our biggest event yet.

We spent both days there providing a static display of British native wildlife ambassadors, showing all the visitors the wonderful wildlife that the Surrey Hills has to offer. Many people had never seen these creatures before, so it was really special to provide them with the unique opportunity to see some of the rarest and most secretive wildlife of Britain up close.

This opened up the all important conversation about the status of wildlife in the UK and the unfortunate decline in the wild of all species we had present, explaining what we can do to help them and how we can get involved in their conservation. We were non stop, busy all day from start until finish.

Bob the new kestrel did amazingly well, he was steady as anything and hadn't a care in the world, taking everything in his stride. He spent the 2 days preening, rousing and showing so many signs of being fully comfortable and content with his surroundings. Well done Bob, he's a superstar.

Thank you so much for inviting us, what a fantastic 2 days!

Welcome to the newest member of the team! This is Bob and he's a 9 week old Eurasian kestrel, which is a small species of falcon native to Britain. I am unbelievably excited to work with him as it's been a dream of mine since I was a child!

Bob was bred at the British Bird of Prey Centre in Wales, a wonderful centre dedicated to the education, flying and breeding of British native birds of prey. Bob is from a late second clutch of kestrels but very unusually was reared by a different species - a pair of Eurasian hobby's (another small falcon species native to Britain). These hobby's had unfortunately laid infertile eggs that they were continuing to try and incubate, so to reward their efforts they were given a kestrel egg to adopt which they successful hatched on 8th July '22.  They then reared this eyass in isolation with minimal human contact. Once fledged and given time for the feathers to fully come through, it was time for the kestrel to be separated from his adoptive parents to begin his training.

On our arrival to collect him we were very lucky to witness the British Bird of Prey Centre's flying display which included Bob's uncle impressively hovering and beautiful Orchid the barn owl. It was then time to head over to the breeding facility for Bob's first encounter with humans! He was calmly removed from the aviary, giving his hobby parent's a well earned break, and we fitted his furniture (anklets and jesses) ready for the 4hr journey home. He travelled perfectly in the car, a little bemused but no serious stress.

​Once home he settled very quickly. This is when the manning process begins, the hours upon hours spent sitting with the hawk on the fist earning their trust and respect until they feel safe and happy enough to eat, preen and relax in your presence whilst socialising them to all situations they may encounter in their future to develop a reliable and happy hawk when it comes to flying them free later down the line.

I look forward to getting to know him and seeing him progress to become a valuable member of the educational team. Lots of work ahead, but it's going to be an incredible experience and I cannot wait to give him the freedom of flight!