One last beautiful day in Scotland (Tuesday, Sept. 29)

We awoke to yet another lovely fall day in Scotland. The sky was blue with hardly a cloud in it. The air was crisp but so pleasant. Our biggest challenge of the day was driving again after three driving-free days in Edinburgh.

The concierge at The Roxburghe Hotel took our keys several days ago and the car vanished into the underground parking lot, not to be seen again until this morning! I loved being able to walk wherever we wanted to go, and if the destination was too far, there were taxis available to help us out. But I digress...

Indian Eagle Owl, one of the largest owls.

We left Edinburgh headed toward Glasgow with only one stop in mind, the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, a great place created by Rod Angus and his wife Niccy to provide a place for owl conservation, housing captive-bred owls and using them to help educate the public about owls. Their motto is "Education, Inspiration, Conservation," and we can attest that the staff and volunteers do their part to engage fully with visitors to ensure that they leave with much more knowledge about owls, inspired to do what they can to assist with owl conservation. 

Rod is a life-long ornithologist. Two or three times a day (depending on season) he or one of his staff conducts a program called a flying display to introduce visitors to two or more owls who have been trained to fly from perch to perch and along the floor in the middle of a large enclosed barn. This is a terrific way for us to see these magnificent birds up close and to learn about them from an expert.

European barn owls, similar to our barn owls.

Brown wood owl, south Asia.

Stripped owl, Central and South America. This
one was not happy about us being near his cage!

Our expectations regarding this Scottish Owl Center were greatly exceeded! If you get to Scotland, try to stop by. You can read more about them at their website. There are more than 100 owls at the center, most of them nesting pairs. Another 20 or so owls have been trained for the flying display. The aviaries are spacious and well maintained. Smoky got some incredible photos. I'll post a few tonight with promise of more to come.

Now it is time to get ready for bed as we need to be at the airport early tomorrow morning for our flight back to the states. This has been a terrific trip, and we are both ready to return home!

Spectacled owl, South America.

--Shann