Sherwood Forest

[Becky]

We had a (very) last minute break in Sherwood Forest last week to make the most of the nice weather, and I thought I'd share some photos here. It poured with rain in Manchester while we were away, so I think it was a good shout!

The first four photos below were taken with my Samsung S7 and all others (apart from the last one in my second post) were taken with my Nikon D3200.

Went for a walk in Sherwood Forest on the first day - it's difficult to tell from the photos but it was actually very warm and sunny, and about 29 deg C:

I love mushrooms

Sherwood Forest was used as an army training site during WW1, to prepare soldiers for trench warfare. You can still find old training trenches, and these ones have been restored so that you can see what they were like:

Had a morning of falconry on the second day - this lady is Rosie and she is a Harris Hawk:

This grunpy fella was actually very sweet and affectionate, and his name is Zorro:

Barn owl eating some chicken (can't remember the name!):

Love this photo, looks like it's doing a Saturday Night kinda strut

More to follow...

 

[Becky]

The next bird we met was Balti, who is a baby Indian Eagle Owl:

Finally we met Rambo - a Golden Eagle. He was HUGE!

We had a few visitors to the decking at the back of our cabin - this squirrel was very fond of biscuits:

This robin came and sang to me a lot

The squirrel nabbed a whole biscuit and scarpered off up a tree to feast on it:

Thursday morning was foggy and beautiful:

Later that day, here's the cabin we stayed in:

Yesterday we went home via Castleton in the Peak District and explored some Blue John caves. I took this photo on our way home:

That's all folks!

 

[muckshifter]

I've seen those falconers somewhere before ... great pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[nivrip]

Super pics, particularly the birds. But you should have edited out the chap with the owl.

BTW, did you see Robin Hood?

 

[Becky]

BTW, did you see Robin Hood?

Nope, but we did try our hand at archery! Turns out Ian is pretty good but I'm not great

 

[floppybootstomp]

Great pics Becky, I enjoyed seeing those.

I went to Castleton for a school field trip when I was 14 and visited the Blue John caves, loved that place. Is that Winnats Pass in your last pic? If so that's where I managed to fall about 30 feet which led to me ending up in hospital a year later for a hip operation.

 

[EvanDavis]

but we did try our hand at archery!

Compound or straight bow ?

 

[Taffycat]

Awesome photos Becky. It must have been amazing to be able to get up-close-and-personal with those birds of prey. The Golden Eagle looks as if he would have been quite a weighty fellow.

Your cabin looks very cosy, what a great place to stay, particularly when the setting is so picturesque and tranquil... and, when the local wildlife makes a point of visiting to share your biscuits! Thank you for sharing.

 

[V_R]

Great pics guys, nice one! It looks you had a great time, Rambo is huge! I would have enjoyed the birds of prey very much.

Nice looking cabin too, We've looked at doing something similar before, Some we saw looked really nice and are really tastefully done inside..

I've done archery too, at Centre Parcs Elveden a few years back, great fun! So much health and safety silliness though. haha.

 

[Becky]

Glad everyone enjoyed the photos!

Is that Winnats Pass in your last pic? If so that's where I managed to fall about 30 feet which led to me ending up in hospital a year later for a hip operation.

Ouch, sounds painful! Yep that was Winnat's Pass, home of the Devil's Arse. Didn't take a trip down that one

Compound or straight bow ?

Erm... had to Google that. We used straight bows. Got a couple of action shots of Ian, I'll post them shortly.

The Golden Eagle looks as if he would have been quite a weighty fellow.

He was indeed! I had to wedge my elbow into my hip to support the weight, and thankfully I didn't have to hold him too long. His claws were enormous too - wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them!

Great pics guys, nice one! It looks you had a great time, Rambo is huge! I would have enjoyed the birds of prey very much.

Nice looking cabin too, We've looked at doing something similar before, Some we saw looked really nice and are really tastefully done inside..

I've done archery too, at Centre Parcs Elveden a few years back, great fun! So much health and safety silliness though. haha.

The birds of prey was awesome! It was done by Hawks of Steele, and we really enjoyed it. The place we stayed was with Forest Holidays, and I'd definitely use them again. Never been to Centre Parcs or anywhere like that before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a really nice crowd of people there, seemed to be mostly people our age. The cabin itself was really nicely done with lots of thoughtful features - for example, they had an area near the TV where you could plug in a console (we took the PS4) with the power, HDMI ports etc which meant you didn't need to scrabble about behind the TV. It would be a lovely place to go in the winter

 

[Becky]

@EvanDavis here you go

 

[V_R]

The birds of prey was awesome! It was done by Hawks of Steele, and we really enjoyed it. The place we stayed was with Forest Holidays, and I'd definitely use them again. Never been to Centre Parcs or anywhere like that before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a really nice crowd of people there, seemed to be mostly people our age. The cabin itself was really nicely done with lots of thoughtful features - for example, they had an area near the TV where you could plug in a console (we took the PS4) with the power, HDMI ports etc which meant you didn't need to scrabble about behind the TV. It would be a lovely place to go in the winter

Ooooh, thats definitely something I'd like to do.

The lodges and treehouses look really nice! You have good taste.

Ah yeah I've seen that in some of the Premier Inns, they have a plate on the wall with HDMI, USB and Ethernet. So handy!

Yes I bet its stunning if/when it snows.

Looks like you had a lovely time and have given me some ideas.

 

[Becky]

Looks like you had a lovely time and have given me some ideas.

I'd thoroughly recommend it! Forest Holidays has got sites all over the country. We're definitely going to be doing it again, maybe even this winter (probably in Jan/Feb time when it's quiet)

 

[Urmas]

We're definitely going to be doing it again

Or... plan B:

 

[Becky]

Looks great @Urmas!

Are you sure you don't work for the Finnish tourist board?!

 

[Urmas]

Are you sure you don't work for the Finnish tourist board?!

Maybe I should.

But... a country larger than the U.K. with a population that is less than one tenth of that of the U.K.

Lots of space. And lakes.

 

[Abarbarian]

Looks like you had a fab time. Holding a golden eagle must have been a real blast.

 

[Becky]

Holding a golden eagle must have been a real blast.

Yep! I remember being on a school trip in Scotland when I was about 11 and seeing a Golden Eagle up in the sky - just a tiny dot. Nice to see how big they actually are!

 

[Urmas]

... and seeing a Golden Eagle up in the sky - just a tiny dot. Nice to see how big they actually are!

Gorgeous critters... just like Sea Eagles — good great news:

http://yle.fi/uutiset/bumper_nesting_season_for_white-tailed_eagles_421_chicks/9067942

 

[Becky]

Gorgeous critters... just like Sea Eagles — good great news:

http://yle.fi/uutiset/bumper_nesting_season_for_white-tailed_eagles_421_chicks/9067942

I think we have White-Tailed Eagles in Scotland - always good to see a formerly declining species on the rise again!