We had a lovely visit to York Bird of Prey Centre at Huby with my partner & two girls, aged 9 & 7 years. The centre is situated in the grounds of Burn Hall Hotel.
We first walked around to look at the birds & saw falcons, kestrels, hawks, eagles, kookaburra’s, parrots, raven, vulture & a selection of owls. There are over 100 birds to see, including over 45 different species. The birds all appeared to be happy in spacious & clean enclosures. While we were walking around, we were approached by a volunteer who asked us if we would like to hold an owl. The girls & I all had a turn at holding & stroking Zorro the owl, who was really friendly & enjoyed having a head rub! Bird handling is held at 11am & eagle handling straight after the 11.30am & 1.30pm shows.
We enjoyed going to a talk & flying display. The staff are all very enthusiastic & extremely knowledgable about the birds. We first met a baby barn owl, followed by two more owls, a kestrel, a raven & a golden eagle. We learned facts about the birds & then the volunteers let us hold the birds & let them fly over to us & land on a glove on our hands. I had the opportunity to have the owls & raven to fly over to me as well as a chance to hold the golden eagle. The display was very interactive & a must for anyone who loves birds of prey. There was also another flying display in the main arena later in the day, but we left before this one. The times of the flying displays are held at 11.30am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm.
The girls had lots of fun playing in the playground. There was a climbing frame, slide, monkey bars, balance beams & a sand pit with buckets & spades. The playground was clean & well maintained.
Crazy golf is availble to play in the field next to the main arena. The girls really enjoying playing crazy golf, which is included in the admission price. There are also footballs, a football goal & rugby balls available to play with if children need to burn off some energy!
Hawk walks, owl experiences, falconry experiences, eagle experiences & photography days are also offered at extra costs. These need to be pre-booked. More information can be found on the website. The centre also guinea pigs, but unfortunately they were not available for us to see on this occasion.
The centre holds special events during the year, including Harry Potter & Christmas events. Details can be found on the website.
There is a cafe & tables both inside & outside. We took our own picnic which we ate outside.
There is a small gift shop in the cafe area.
Opening times are 10.30am – 5pm Monday- Sunday. The centre is closed on Tuesdays.
Family of 5 – £160
Toilet facilities are available in the field next to the main flying arena.
There is a car park outside the centre, which is free of charge.
