# Owl Pics



## ralphy (Nov 24, 2008)

Merlin is a Great Gray Owl (GGO) and is one of my charges at a bird of prey centre & last week was the time for her to have her anklets changed & talons trimmed. Now, the feet of GGOâ€™s are heavily feathered and as you can see below arenormally remain hidden from view, so I thought Iâ€™d take the opportunity to capture some images of them!










Although these owls look large and impressive, the majority of their bulk is actually feathers and they are a lot lighter than other large birds. Merlin stands 20 inches high and has wingspan of 60 inches yet weighs only 32 ounces. Living in the Boreal Forests around the Arctic Circle, GGOâ€™s are equipped with asymmetric ears which, combined with the dish of the face, provide superb directional hearing and enable them to hear a rodent under 2 foot of snow. Whatâ€™s more when they have found them they can crash through the snow with the sheer power of a powered dive despite it being strong enough to support a man.

In order to handle a bird of prey they are fitted with anklets and jesses in order to hold them to the handlers glove or to tether them to a perch. These need to be changed periodically and needless to say the bird doesnâ€™t like the necessary handling! Great care has to be taken to avoid injury, both to the bird and the handlers. The bird has to be captured and then held in cloth to protect the feathers.

When stressed the bird will react vigorously and can easily break its bones so a compromise has to be made between restraint and pressure.

For the handler, the risk of injury is not primarily the beak, although a bite is painful







, but from the feet; they have remarkable strength in gripping and the talons can pass right through an un-protected hand. What's more, the bird's natural instinct is to not let go!










First on are the anklets, known as Aylmeriâ€™s; the benefit is that the anklet piece is separate from the jesses so it is easier to remove or attach them. Made from kangaroo leather they are both soft yet strong. Sizing them to the birds legs takes training and experience as it is very important to get the correct fit and size.

The Aylmeri's are held together by a brass grommet, here being clamped through the leather.










And fitted.










Then the jesses are attached, at the open end is a small hole through which the metal clip on the end of the rein is attached. This arrangement ensures that there is minimal risk of entanglement and damage to the birds legs.










All done, not a happy GGO.










R


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

That's a really interesting post. Thanks for sharing it.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Nice post Ralphy and great pictures. :thumbsup:


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

The expression on that owls face in the last pic is priceless 

We have this Raptor center just up the road from us and have family membership, we go quite a lot in the summer...

Fantastic creatures...

http://www.raptorfoundation.org.uk/


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## MarkDavey (Jan 9, 2009)

Lovely post, thanks - thoroughly enjoyed reading this this morning 

Is this the bird of prey centre at Ipplepen?


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## vamos666 (May 20, 2009)

That's a beautiful bird and some great pictures. :thumbsup:


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Excellent. Interesting


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## Chukas (Aug 7, 2008)

Excellent post and Great Pics


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## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

Just look at the claws on that bird! Great pics!


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## mjolnir (Jan 3, 2006)

Wow, he looks amazing. I wouldn't want to upset him though.

That's a very intense stare.


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Good to see you on this side, great post.


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## thunderbolt (May 19, 2007)

Great post and superb pics of a stunning bird. It reminded me of this one I took during a falconery display at Bodnant Gardens a couple of years ago. Wonderful creatures.


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## ralphy (Nov 24, 2008)

MarkDavey said:


> Lovely post, thanks - thoroughly enjoyed reading this this morning
> 
> Is this the bird of prey centre at Ipplepen?


That's the one. I help out there one day a week.

Are you local?

R


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Great pictures Ralphy, look at the talons on that thing!


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## Alas (Jun 18, 2006)

Fantastic pics and Owl. love the 2nd last pic which seems to say 'just wait till you let me go'


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## janicko (Jan 14, 2010)

really amazing animals. an uncle of mine is a forester and he found an big old owl once. she was injurend and he tried to keep her alive in the basement of his house. i think i was 10 years old back then. we went down to have a look, the clows seemed gigantic and we had loads of respect old animal.


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## Snookster (Mar 19, 2010)

:kewlpics:


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