Hello Everyone! in the #pinmapple community, travelers, wanderers, and more!

(you know who you are) :)

This is @danaidhbee posting to you all the way from Scotland! 💚🌍💙

Today I would like to share our 'Family Journey' To the Scottish Owl Centre which holds "The World's largest collection of Owls".

(All pictures were taken by @danaidhbee)
(thumbnail created by @danaidhbee)

It all started last weekend (16th of April) when we happily set off in our little red car to visit the World's Largest Collection of Owls! We had a voucher for 2 adults and 2 children that we were gifted quite a while back - during the lockdown, it was going to expire that weekend so we had to go because we didn't want to miss out.

So we got some packed lunches and got a dog sitter and went off on our ways to Polkemmet Country Park in West Lothian which is pretty much exactly halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh

We were so excited, all 3 children in the car "hyped" to see these amazing birds on what was a lovely sunny day.... until....

Then suddenly the cars engine light came on "flashing" every time we reached 45mph or more, so my partner Georgia starts panicking and she didn't exactly handle it very well!

I finally managed to calmly convince her to put her hazard lights on, keep going under 45mph (in a 60 zone!), and then stop at the next garage, which was luckily only about a mile away.

I looked under the bonnet/hood and saw that the radiator bars were red hot!!! They nearly singed my eyebrows off upon first inspection! I couldn't exactly see what was causing the problem at first but I felt a Big leak after putting lots of coolant in.

Georgia called Breakdown to call out and help us, so whilst we waited I got some shots of this little ladybird which gave me "signs of hope" because it looks like a mini version of our little red and black vehicle.


They say don't smoke at petrol/gas stations??? this is a little bit antagonising to those smokers on a long journey!! DO NOT SMOKE HERE!!
(They look like giant cigarettes) 😂😂😂

so then the Breakdown guy came out in about 45 minutes (after saying 30mins) only to find out the return hose for the coolant had been leaking everywhere.

We decided NOT, (well... we had no choice!) to go to the owl centre that day because the Breakdown guy recommended that he escort us all the way home with his van behind us and that we book an appointment with a garage the next day to get the car fixed.

Luckily, this week (on the 22nd of April) everything was fine with the car... but unfortunately this time we had one less child because we found something... (I'm so angry 🤬🤬🤬!!!) we found 3 Vapes in her coat pocket! We were shocked and very disappointed, so she didn't get to come along this week as a punishment.

We drove about 1 hour and 20 minutes from our home to get to the Owl Centre passing one of Scotland's most famous bridges "Queensferry Crossing" which is 1.7 miles in distance, the structure is the longest 3-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world. It is also the largest suspension bridge to feature cables that cross mid-span.

Along the way there are some amazing rock faces growing Gorse Bushes from them. It was a nice journey to drive from our city of Dundee. I didn't feel travel sick this time, I usually get it bad!...

The side barriers on this bridge are well-secured to prevent further damage from crashing and to stop humans suicidal attempts.

When we finally got to the Owl Centre I got the camera out again and started to get excited. I could smell all the avian-like smells in the air and noticed a good selection of dense, very tall evergreen trees, and a massive golf course surrounding the whole Owl Centre.**

After we parked and had a well-deserved sandwich, I stepped out and was greeted by this old Scottish Train Cab/Engine just at the end of the car park, I was able to go inside the Cab and get a feel for the driver's role, and the coal shovellers efforts Back in the day.





My partner and daughter had gone to the toilet, so I got out for a mooch and scout for some photos around the perimeter of the building and surrounding playpark area.

(You can tell they really love Owls here!) :)

Some lovely flower beds near the main entrance attracted me over whilst I was waiting.

This is the main entrance to the Visitor Centre which has a cafe, a golf course behind it, and some people's houses (presumably the caretaker's).

The staff were very friendly and informative upon arriving and informed us that the 'indoor flying display' was just about to start. Nice one! We arrived just in time!

We passed through a well-presented gift shop orientated around Owls of course. Owls Galore!! Owls here, owls there, owl everything!

When we went through the door marked "To The Owls". It looked very clean, tidy, and well maintained, and it was there that I was greeted by the biggest owl I have ever seen, it just so happened to be a Massive Owl play chute called "Shortie's Chute" with the exit being the Shortie's bottom! Poop!!

The indoor flying display was about to start in 2 minutes so I made my way there where I saw what is the second biggest species of owl in the world - "The Eurasian Owl" or (Bubo-Bubo), (the owl that Shortie's chute was created after). This beast of a bird is called 'Altai' named after the "Altai Mountains" in Siberia, where she originated from.
(STUNNING CREATURE!)

So my partner, Baby (son), and my eldest daughter and I went into the flying arena. It was quite small, smaller than I expected, I thought it would have been an outside display. The guide was very educated and informative about how she presented the owls and what she knew about them. Excellent information and fascinating facts about these "now quite rare" and endangered birds.

This HUGE Female Eurasian Owl called "Altai" has a wingspan of about 6ft, and when she flew over our heads we were astonished at the sheer gust of wind brushed us, delaying its flight, and the "utterly perfect" silence of the wings.

It perched right behind me above my head. to be honest, it was a little scary at first because the guide had told us that this species of owl can crush a badger's skull into dust in minutes, with its extremely powerful vice-like grip which is stronger than a fully grown Alsatian's (Dog) full force bite#ing power! Just Incredible!

(Our baby of 11 months was with us, he also looked very scared when its wings lightly brushed our heads and left us with an eery breezy chill down our spines!)

She came down into the middle of the floor to show us she wasn't so scary after all... actually... she's quite cute :)

After the amazing display of 3 different owls, one large, one medium, and one small, I wandered out into the brrrrrrr "Scottish cold" to go find the beautiful resident owls enclosures and navigate my way around The World's Largest Collection of Owls at my own leisure.

I didn't know there were types of Burrowing Owl? Fascinating! This species of owl is very small and as you can see it burrows out its home and is the most amazing insect hunter! Wow, During the display one of these little owls called "Doug" flew about 15ft rapidly towards the fire escape and landed on a minuscule spider and ate it in front of the whole crowd, it was magnificent! Too fast to get on my camera!

This one was a little bit grumpy with me, it kept hissing and clicking its tongue to warn me and my camera away, but I still managed to get some lovely shots of its angry little face! >:) nah, haha, it's kinda cute actually...

This is an "Oriental Bay Owl". Its eyes are slanted slightly upright which makes an unusual appearance for an owl, it was also sleeping (of course) on just one leg!

This "Barn Owl" is called "Lofty", who apparently doesn't like to eat too much.

The enclosures looked like they were full of dead chicks, probably the male chicks rejected from farms and slaughterhouses, etc, to feed them on. They looked really well fed, so well fed in fact, that there were lots of these dead chicks on the ground waiting to be eaten at some point.

There was so much useful information plastered around every wall and corner that kept the interest going wherever you went and there was plenty of engagement with activities, interactive information boards, and sensory games to play and touch.
(I didn't know Owls don't build nests... :) interesting...)

This really hit me hard when I seen this - "What is the greatest threat to Owls and their Environment?"

Open this door to find out...

We are!

"We need to stop littering, deforestation, poaching, hunting and capturing innocent animals from their habitats, drastically cut pollution levels, naturally preserve and maintain wildlife habitats wherever we can, and allow us to let nature take advantage before we do...the list goes on...

us humans are terribly wasteful and ignorant when it comes to the nature around us, that were here before us, and will be here after us, for millennia to come! We have destroyed and desecrated their landscapes and habitats for too long and this is why this centre, and many more in the world exists, to help animals affected by selfish humans selfish doing."

But here they do a fantastic job of keeping these owls and their species preserved, well respected, and well maintained.

This place is a "MUST VISIT" if you ever come to Scotland, please stop by here and support this beautiful and amazing cause and make sure you witness some of thee most formidable and apex predators that have ever walked (flown) this planet - in front of your very eyes and even get the chance to hold one for only £5. If you miss this opportunity in Scotland you will be very sad.

Just look at that little face! 😍... How could you ever say no???

Last of all, as I was leaving the enclosures part of the centre I spotted this little fierce-looking chap with a beak of fury! That thing is HUGE!

This is the "Laughing Kookaburra"and it is actually a type of "Kingfisher. There was a story for him being here, but I couldn't quite remember, there was lots of information, it would have taken me the whole day to read every single bit and take it in.

Just an incredible place to be, I felt right at home with nature around me, even though they are captive owls, I understand they are there because they have been threatened and pushed out of their homes mainly because of humans greedy, selfish ways, and our terrible plastic polluting habits and more!

"I want to thank you all for stopping by to see my "Family Journey to the Scottish Owl Centre" (Take 2)."

I would definitely give the "Scottish Owl Centre".......

* 5 STARS! for the hard work and consistent efforts that these species conservationists maintain on a daily basis simply to provide the best possible new life for these amazing birds in captivity.

* 5 STARS for the Beautiful Owls and the Amazing Instructors/Guides, Great Service!

* 5 STARS for the Beautiful Gift Shop and attractive Owl-Themed Objects!

* but only 2 STARS for the Cafe that closed at 3pm, we left our visit at 3:10 (really cold) and wanted a nice hot coffee! so we didn't get in for a coffee... Although... I really did not care too much that I was so cold, the amazing birds, flying displays, and handy information points were enough to help me forget the icy cold wind that was there that day, and give me plenty to write about today :)

"It took me about 7 hours to edit/crop photos, upload, and write and create this post.."

"so please feel free to "reblog, share, and/or comment" on this post at your leisure (no spam), it will help to raise awareness of these amazing creatures and hopefully, you can help contribute to these owls and the centre yourself by visiting this wonderful place the next time you are in Scotland."

MUST VISIT!! Put it on your bucket list!

This has been,
@Danaidhbee,
from Scotland,
Thank you to everyone who came by,
I hope you have a lovely day, wherever you are,
This is goodbye from me,
and it's goodbye from the Owls.

:)

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