mostly david ephgrave

Today was split evenly between playing golf and holding owls. It must have been a Wednesday. Massive owl (right). The bird handling came first, as you’d expect. The brochure described it as an ‘Encounter With Owls’, which made it sound a little menacing; would they swoop at me down a dark alley? I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had, the nocturnal rotating-headed bastards. (Though they can actually only turn their heads 270 degrees – ha: “only” – and they’re not all nocturnal. Can I start again?) Tiny owls make me smile. My encounter was great. I had expected to see a couple of owls at most, à la a junior-school-barn-owl visit (was mine the only school to do this?), but there were nine or ten. It cost just £10, and a pound a bird is not to be sniffed at. They came in all shapes, sizes and breeds - the biggest being an eagle owl, which only the adults got to hold; the experience would have been tarnished if he'd flown off w...