20th February
With half term nearly over, we looked forward to the delayed treat that I had arranged for Spencer’s birthday. As usual, he had no idea what he wanted for his birthday (and neither did I for that matter), so I had booked an “Owls by Moonlight Experience” for us all at the Hawk Conservancy near Andover. Spencer is a keen bird watcher and is often to be found looking skyward for long periods at a time.
We arrived at 7pm and tucked in to a delicious hot meal and chocolate brownie and a drink (which were included in the price) before moving on to the large display arena. Here we were given a short informative, but amusing talk about the history of the Hawk Conservancy, before we moved on to the woodland area. It really was quite a magical yet spooky setting, and we were entertained by three owls flying amongst the trees. One swooped so low that it brushed Spencer’s head. We got really close to the birds as they were put on the seats behind us and were encouraged to walk along between the spectators. We were then given a guided walk around the park and shown some more of the owls in their cages. Of course they were more active than we had seen them on our previous visits during the daytime. Then we went back to the arena for another flying display. This time they brought out some of the bigger birds and I was particularly fascinated by the Snowy owl (made famous by the Harry Potter books). Finally we had a chance to hold a couple of the smaller owls and ask questions of the keepers before the evening finished at about 10pm. I have to say that we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. You can find out more on the website
http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/Activities_and_events/owlsbymoonlight.shtml
21st February
This evening we joined the people of the Basingstoke Concert Club who are
celebrating their 55th year, at a concert at the Trinity Methodist Church in
town. It was the turn of the Tippett String Quartet, two of whom are
local lads who benefitted from the support of the Hampshire Music Service in
their younger days.
They played brilliantly to a packed audience. It is worth noting that
under 18’s and those in full time education are admitted for free. Tickets
for everyone else are sold on the door or in advance from their website.
http://www.basingstokeconcertclub.org.uk/index.php?sid=dGlja2V0c3pvbWJpZQ
Their next concert is on 21st March when the Armonico Consort will be singing.