Encounter with wild hunters

Earlier this summer, I enjoyed a falconry experience as a 70th birthday present from my son and daughter. While walking through a woodland in the grounds of a beautiful castle, a goshawk glided swiftly through the trees above me, swooping and diving with incredible accuracy and pouncing on anything that moved in the undergrowth. Later, under the watchful eye of an experienced falconer, a barn owl flew silently over my head and landed on my gloved hand, grateful for the tasty morsels on offer. Having the chance to see these amazing predators up close was truly magical and proves you are never too old to learn something new about nature. Joan Brown, East Sussex