Watching birds of prey near Yekaterinburg
At the end of May our Russian-American-French team (the members of the English club and the expats in Yekaterinburg) went to the Falconry Center “Kholzan”. Kholzan is a rehabilitation center for birds of prey.
Golden eagles, sea-eagles, falcons and other birds are usually brought to the center in a very poor condition: some of them got hit by cars on highways but mostly the birds were the victims of hunters. As the guides of the center said, every August when villagers go to pick up mushrooms and berries in the woods, the center receives dozens of wounded owls picked up by the villagers. For hunters it’s just sport – to shoot a big bird. For the workers of Kholzan it’s an every-day work to cure the birds of prey.
Book a tour to Kholzan here: http://yekaterinburg4u.ru/en/tours/kholzan
The owls picked up in the nearby forests. One is missing an eye
Some birds will never be able to fly. They stay in the center forever. In such cases the center tries to find or to buy mates for them.
This couple will have to live in the center as they can't fly. Their reproduction system is damaged but they keep on trying and make a nest for the babies every spring.
After the excursion we sat in the wooden house where we received herbal tea and watched a documentary on the life of birds of prey. Normally, the tour includes watching the falcons hunting up in the sky but that week the young falcons were injured so we just took pictures with them.
The falcon has an eye-cap otherwise it may be scared of people and can peck you
Instead of a hunt the falconers showed us a flight of an eagle-owl in the woods.
A three hour stay in Kholzan ends up with a barbeque. You can bring sausages and other food to have a picnic in the fresh air.
Book a tour to Kholzan here: http://yekaterinburg4u.ru/en/tours/kholzan
The falconry center Kholzan is located 30km of Yekaterinburg near the town of Sysert in the territory of the Sova recreation center.
http://www.holzan.falconer.ru/#
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AskUral.com is the blog dedicated to my lovely region known as the Urals or the Ural Mountains in Russia.
My name is Luba Suslyakova. I am based in Yekaterinburg (Russia), and I would love to share useful information about my area as much as possible and be your travel adviser.
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