Our Education Officer Susan has had a busy summer holidays attending a variety of locations to raise awareness about our work and inspiring the local communities to learn more about Owls.
Food Chain bracelets is a popular activity for outreach events
Newmarket Library - Although not a busy session, the audience enjoyed our popular All About Owls talk and making their own Food Chain bracelets to take away with them. One library user went back a while later to say how wonderful the visit was, her family thoroughly enjoyed it!
Kirsten’s Care - This group booked an All About Owls talk, which we were able to adapt into more of a conversation to keep the group engaged. They got to handle a variety of biofacts, including eggs and feathers, as well as receiving a demonstration on how to help injured wildlife. There were some interesting anecdotes from the group, who shared their own experiences of seeing owls or interesting birds from yesteryear.
Lots of enthusiastic families ready to become Pellet Detectives
Gainsborough Library - Another library visit to support their Summer Reading Challenge, and this time the two sessions were fully booked! A brief talk about Owls was followed by our popular Pellet Detectives activity, which had parents as involved as the kids! Some myths were busted at the end of the session and the group were challenged to ask a question which we’d never been asked before, and one participant succeeded! To answer the question - How many Owls are there in Thailand? There are 21 species of Owl found in Thailand. The Short-eared Owl is the only one that is also found here in the UK.
Here’s what some of the participants said on their feedback forms:
'My daughter enjoyed it. First time she has seen a pellet.'
'When we were picking the pellets, it was interesting finding the bones'
'I think it was very exciting, I enjoyed finding all the bones.'
'Brilliant, thank you so much'
'I liked identifying what the bones are'
'A very informative owl staff member and I have learnt something new today about owls.'
Susan with Wolter the Barn Owl and one of her favourite Owl stories
Stonham Book Shop - Get Suffolk Reading invited us to support this event held at the Book Cellar here at Stonham. Visitors were shown how to make their own storybook and encouraged to write or illustrate their book with a story. There were a variety of items on the table to inspire them and we heard some very creative stories about Grandads with ice cream all over their faces, and climbing ropes to reach the treetops. Susan shared some real life stories from our own Raptor Hospital, with the help of Wolter and chatted to the participants about our work. A few families who were on holiday then visited the Sanctuary as a result of our attendance at this event.
IN Stroke group - We pride ourselves on being an accessible location for group visits, and were delighted to arrange a special visit from the local Stroke Working Age Group. The group of over 30 survivors and their carers enjoyed a guided walk, followed by our Meerkat Talk and Flying Displays. They brought an extensive picnic and enjoyed the shade of the sensory garden to eat it.
Enjoying a story in the shade
Stowmarket Storywalk - Continuing our support for Get Suffolk Reading, we attended the Storywalk in Stowmarket, which had several families in attendance. We walked from the Parish Church (near the Library) down to Pykes Meadow, where the group sat in the shade to enjoy some stories and snacks. On the way, Susan chatted with the families about things they could smell, hear and feel which encouraged creative thinking to make stories at the end.
Stall all set up at a history event
Terrific Tudors at Debenham Library - When Susan heard about this event, she knew just what was needed. Since starting at the Sanctuary, she has been excited to deliver history themed sessions relating to the world of falconry. However, these have not been chosen by groups. Susan tasked our maintenance team to build her a cadge (a wooden frame that birds would have been carried on during hunting days) and raided the old equipment box to find suitable items that could be handled by visitors to this event. The Companye of Merrie Folke also attended with a variety of themed stalls, which allowed Susan to learn more about the Cunning Man and his wares, the Barbers Surgeon and his methods of fixing ailments and had a go at some Tudor games.