Hawk Conservancy Trust Bird of Prey Centre — Attraction in Test Valley

An absolute throughly marvellous and tremendous place to visit and is one of the best Birds of Prey Centres around in the UK. The Centre is situated on the edge of Andover, Hampshire and the centre rescues injured Birds of Prey with the use of the onsite Hospital and also partakes in a lot of Conservation projects both at home and abroad to preserve Endangered Birds of Prey Cause, which is an absolutely brilliant cause. The Centre houses a number of Birds of Prey including a Secretary Bird, White Backed Vultures, Turkey Vultures, Snowy Owls, Hooded Vultures, Golden Eagles, Black Kites, Tawny Owl, Barn Owls, White Storks, Steppe Eagle, Straited Caracaras & Great Grey Owls amongst other and all of them are housed in spacious and immaculate enclosures and in are in great condition showing that their welfare is very much well maintained by the staff. The best element of the Centre is the flying displays that run throughout the day and there is a total of three in the Summer and two in Winter. The displays in the Summer Timetable are Wings of Africa, Masters of the Sky & Woodland Wonders. The Wings of Africa displays takes place in the Savannah Arena and features Birds such as The Secretary Bird, White Backed Vultures & Hooded Vultures amongst others. The Masters of the Sky takes place in Reg's Wildlfower Meadow and features Birds such as Egyptian Vulture and Stellar Fish Eagle amongst others. The Woodland Wonders Flying Display features Birds such as Barn Owls, Great Grey Owls, Little Owls, Tawny Owls & Siberian Eagle Owl and takes place in the Woodland Arena. All of these displays are magnificently delivered by the staff and are throughly informative learning some interesting facts about their habitat and diet in the wild and the conservation efforts to save them. The great thing about these display is that blend that they theatrical element of the displays with a variety of different birds flying together with the educational information element and also they manage to get different birds such as Kites, Storks, Vultures and an Ibis flying together in harmony in a such mesmerising and jaw dropping way leaving you speechless making it one of the best displays at any Bird of Prey Centre in the UK. The stand out elements has to be the Secretary Bird stamping on the snake as it such a fantastic awesome spectacle seeing the power the Secretary Bird uses with its feet to kill the snake and also The Egyptian Vulture flying to such a great height before coming down to ground level to get its feed is just simply amazing to see to do it to such perfection. There are other talks such as Good Morning with the Vultures with some useful facts about the Vultures, Nifty Nest Builders learning about the different nests Birds of Prey use and Brilliant Bird Brains and all of these talks are interesting. There are informative information displays outside each enclosure detailing interesting facts about the Birds of Prey on show. There is a restaurant on site selling a variety of food and drink at affordable and reasonable prices and a shop with a great range of souvenirs at reasonable and affordable prices. Overall this is a truly mesmerising and special place to visit and makes for a throughly enjoyable and amazing day out. Definitely well worth a visit...

I eventually really enjoyed visiting the Trust! Initially I was put off by some of the stationary birds in their cages... must have been nap time. But the bird displays were outstanding! Where the handlers fly the birds in large outdoor, not enclosed areas, so the birds could just fly off. Very enjoyable! The large birds end up flying over, through and around you!! (And in some cases large owls actually perching on the bench you are seated at! Tip: when you walk into the owl woodland display, sit on the back row close to upright wooden posts just over a meter tall behind the outer row of benches - the owls fly between the wooden posts and perch on them and the nearby benches). Another tip because you are deserve it is... at the furthest "meadow" display where they get loads of birds flying around sit on the upper deck at the back or two rows from the back in the middle - birds fly from each of the sides - you will note wood covered with green fake grass the birds land on - they fly very close back and forth. Amazing!!! There are about 4 of these displays over a 6 hour stretch of time - worth it for adults but kids might get a bit stir crazy? Great facilities both indoors and outdoors for refreshments. Nice gift shop and ample parking. The only thing I wasn't keen about which give this otherwise 5 out of 5 review was some of the birds get tethered to the ground whilst they are being displayed. I'm sure it doesnt hurt them but it made me feel uncomfortable. So go visit and decide for yourself and make sure you plan to hit the bird display event times as they...

Had a really lovely day out today. It was really amazing to see just how well loved and cared for the birds are. We thoroughly enjoyed the flying displays and spent 6 hours looking around - and didn't get bored for a single second.

The Trust is doing an amazing job and well worth every penny. It was also emotionally touching to learn that some of the beautiful birds are so close to extinction. The Trust are doing an amazing job and I would describe it as a fun experience, as well as educational and emotional.

The only negative was that we qued in the rain for the 3.30pm Woodland show, which was delayed by 10 minutes due to guests paying extra for a photography experience that remained in the arena. It left me thinking that regular paying guests take a back seat to those paying more money into the trust. (even though it was tipping it down with rain!) I would suggest they did something about this to ensure greater customer care, as it was not nice standing out in the rain for an additional 10 mins. I would not say it put a downer on the experience - but it was off-putting! I would recommend they look into this as if it happens often it is not acceptable! As it is never nice being treated like a second-class citizen.

Would I return, 100% yes, but if they repeated the above, then I would not return again even though it was a brilliant day out. The Trust let themselves down...