Birds of Prey at Stonham Barns (Suffolk Owl Sanctuary)

Member Name: kayers

Product:	Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
Date:	19/08/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good day out for wildlife, shops and food!

Disadvantages: none

We were looking for a day out in Suffolk and found Stonham Barns Owl Sanctury at Stonham Aspal. It is on the A1120 and is well sign posted so was no problem to find. There is good parking and a restaurant offering hot and cold meals and sandwiches. There are also several small shops to visit stocking various things, such as old fashioned sweets, kitchen ware including lots of unusual things that are hard to find in the department stores, such as different shaped cookie cutters that could be bought separately. There was also a good shop for buying and caring for tropical fish and gold fish and a small part of the shop had unusual pets to buy such as snakes. We also looked at a very nice furniture shop.
However, back to the owls, the sanctury is very reasonably priced at £6.50 for adults (less for children and concessions) and is open 7 days a week. From March to September flying displays are held several times a day. There are various birds of prey, not just owls, and some of these are flown in turn at the various displays. The two men that we saw that day flying the birds were excellent. They kept up a commentary all the time the birds were flying giving lots of interesting facts about the birds and their natural habitat and how they act in the wild as well as information about the individual birds' characters. The birds looked happy and well cared for both in and out of their enclosures. We were able to sit very close to the flying area and the birds flew over our heads - quite low at times - and sat on various perches around the seating area as well as the flying area which enabled us to take some good photos and see the birds very close up. We actually sat through 2 displays - there was no restriction once the entrance fee had been paid.
We really enjoyed our day here and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in wild life and birds of prey in particular.

Summary: Would recommend this to anyone