North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre
Smallway Leisure Park
Smallway
Congresbury
BS49 5AA
License no: 80551
Breeding License: 35243
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Please contact 07557 785621 and leave a message for availability and bookings or email us at nsbopc@aol.co.uk
North Somerset Bird Of Prey Centre
COVID-19 Updates
Experience Days
We are pleased to announce some of our experience days will be resuming from 1st August 2020. Our Owl Experiences, Bird of Prey Experiences and Falconry Days will all be restarting from this date.
What do I need to know?
- We have several additional safety measures in place for the safety of our animals, staff and visitors. These include additional hand sanitiser, disinfecting of gloves between uses, reduced group sizes to allow better social distancing and all staff wearing recommended PPE.
- We are no longer able to offer cream teas on our Bird of Prey Experiences or Falconry Days as the on site coffee shop has reduced hours and reduced capacity in order to comply with the hospitality industry guidelines. Where cream teas would normally be included, we have lengthened the experience and included more bird handling to compensate.
- You will be asked to wait outside our gates and a member of staff will greet you at your designated start time.
- All participants MUST bring their own face covering or mask and wear it throughout the experience. Failure to comply will result in you being turned away without the option to rebook. We do not have mask or face coverings we can provide so please do make sure you have your own. Spectators will also be required to wear face coverings if they wish to be within 2m of the birds and other animals. Under 4s are exempt.
- We can not accommodate late arrivals on any of our Experience Days so please make sure you arrive in plenty of time.
- As always a 7 day cancellation and rescheduling policy applies to all bookings.
- Spectators are still welcome to join us on our Experience Days.
- Our Hawk Walks and Meet the Animals Experiences will not be resuming just yet due to limited capability to social distance on these sessions. We will post a further update when we are able to resume these experiences.
- All Experience Days are held in groups. Please contact us directly for a quote on a private Experience Day.
- If you have one of our gift vouchers that expired between 1st March 2020 and 1st August 2020, we will automatically be extending your voucher validity period by 6 months so all vouchers will now have an expiry date of 1st February 2021. If you purchased a voucher through a third party, you will need to contact the provider directly to see what their policies are with regards to expired vouchers.
- All bookings must be made via email: nsbopc@aol.co.uk
Please be patient with staff, we are still working with a skeleton animal care team and no admin staff. We will respond to all enquires as soon as we are able to.
We are still very much in need of fruit and veg donations so please do feel free to bring along any items when you visit!
Private Group Bookings
What do I need to know?
- We are taking bookings for private family/group bookings where you can enjoy exclusive use of the North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre and have the place to yourselves in a safe and secure environment.
- Admission - £5 adults & £4 children, under 2s are free.
- Session times are 10.00am, 11.30am, 1.00pm, 2.30pm, 4.00pm and last for 1 hour.
- Sessions MUST be pre booked and paid. All bookings are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Please email nsbopc@aol.co.uk for availability and to book.
- Face masks and not compulsory for visits to our visitors centre but you are welcome to bring them if you wish.
- Visitors will be asked to wait outside until their designated time slot when they will be greeted by a member of staff. If you are late, your session will not be extended as we need to deep clean in between groups.
- You will be asked to sanitise your hands on arrival. There are multiple hand washing stations and hand sanitiser stations around the centre.
- All contact points are being disinfected regularly including door handles, stand off barriers and glass windows, but we do ask you to minimise touching windows and barriers wherever possible.
- We do not allow visitors to put fingers into enclosures for your own safety as well as that of our animals. Anyone seen attempting to do so will be asked to leave.
- If your group is made up of people not from the same household or bubble, social distancing must be maintained throughout your visit in line with the latest government advice.
- Please do not turn up without a pre-arranged booking as you will be turned away.
Our Aims and Objectives;
Conservation of Birds of Prey through public education, captive breeding,
treatment and rehabilitation of wild injured birds of prey.
The main visitors centre is open to the public for limited dates each year (Please see our 'Open Days' section for more details). We run 'Experience Days' on all other dates throughout the year where visitors can get up close to our Birds of Prey and other animals (Please see our 'Experience Days' section for more details on the different experiences that we offer).
Education is on going to all visitors. The Centre undertakes more in depth education to specific groups and parties, from schools to universities and offers off-site lectures and teaching.
The Centre continues its captive breeding aims; to research species; breed from species not previously understood; maintain the collection and provide birds for demonstrations, both in the U.K and further afield.
We are a fully licensed and insured. We are passionate about educating people about birds of prey and the challenges they face in the wild. We strongly believe children are the future and a child who grows up loving nature and wanting to save it will be an adult that takes action.
Our Experience Days operate all year round
Experiences must be pre booked by emailing nsbopc@aol.co.uk or calling 07557 785621
All of our experiences are fun, educational and very hands on.
From Owl Experiences and Falconry Days to Hawk Walks and Bird of Prey
Encounters, we have something for everyone to enjoy!
Experience vouchers can also be purchased as gifts which are valid for 12 months.
Visit our 'Experiences and Gift Vouchers' section to find our more.
....................................................................................................
We also hold limited Open Days each year at our visitors centre
As well as running Experience days throughout the year, we also open our doors to our visitors centre on certain days each year where you will be able to....
~ Meet over 60 resident birds of prey including eagles, kites, falcons, hawks and owls.
~ Find out about our exotic mammals from foxes and skunks, to mongoose and meerkats,
at our amazing feeding shows and talks.
~ We also have a variety of reptiles and creepy
crawlies!
Please visit our 'Open Days' section for timings, admission prices and
all events happening throughout each of our open days.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND LATEST NEWS
September Open Day - Cancelled
August Open Day - Cancelled
July Open Day - Cancelled
June Raptors & Reptiles Event - Postponed
May Open Day - Cancelled
April Open Day - Cancelled
We rereleased this wild Tawny owl on 16th March. He was brought into us in the aftermath of Storm Ciara with a damaged wing and was unable to fly. After many weeks of medical treatment and rehabillitation, we finally got him back to where he belongs.
By visiting us on our Open Days and by booking Experience Days, you help fund this important work. On average it costs us £174 to treat an animal in our hospital so every little really does help. You help us, help wildlife, so thank you!
Edit: We have been overwhelmed by the love, well wishes and support Jager and our team have recieved. We have had wonderful donations of cozy beds and blankets for Jager, toys, treats and get well soon cards. We have also been asked for ways in which you can contribute towards the vet and medical bills. Whilst we do not like asking for donations we do appreciate that Jager has touched your hearts and some of you would like to help and we are incredibly greatful for that.
Below is a link to our PayPal account and anything you can/would like to donated would be very much appreciated. A huge thank you from Jager and all his care team xx
paypal.me/nsbopc
A little while ago, Jäger our corsac fox, hurt his leg. X-rays confirmed he had hyperextended (dislocated) the joint and irreparable damage had been done to the ligaments and tendons which a cast and rest would not fix. After a consult with our vet we were referred to a specialist, Dr Kevin Parsons at Langford. Our options for Jäger included amputation of the leg or a complex surgery to fit a metal plate. Due to Jäger being so small and his foot and leg bones being so tiny, the operation was a risk but one we all felt was worth taking to give Jäger the best chance of a normal life. Just over a week ago Kevin performed a Pancarpal arthrodesis using bone from Jägers shoulder to repair the joint and fitted a metal plate to his leg. Jäger has a long recovery period ahead of him and it will be a while before we see if the operation has been a success and he is on crate rest for the next few months while his leg heals. The treatment has been very expensive but we can’t put a price on his health and welfare and he is worth every penny to us. Throughout all the vet appointments, surgery, dressing changes, medication and after care, Jäger has been an absolute super star and we are so proud of him. We owe a huge thanks to Kevin and all his team at Langford vets as well as our own vet for all her advice and aftercare. We will be keeping everything crossed that Jäger goes from strength to strength and we will keep you all posted.
Above: Before op x-ray
Left: After op x-ray
2020 Open Day Dates Now Released!
Visit our 'Open Days' section for more details
Licensing Update:
As of 1st Arpil 2019, all Animal Activities must be licensed which includes animal encounters, village fetes and fairs, bird of prey displays, educational talks for schools and childrens groups, animal therapy visits to hospitals and care homes, childrens parties, etc.
If there is an animal involved in anyway, then the company requires this license. This is to ensure higher welfare standards for the animals being used and greater public safety.
We are fully licensed for both Exhibiting Animals (80551) and Breeding (35243).
We are also fully insured.
If booking a company that has animals, please ensure they are licensed as it is now a legal requirement. Anyone operating without this license will be doing so illegally and their Public Libility Insurance will aslo be void.
Static and Flying displays available for events, fêtes, carnivals, shows, corporate entertainment, television and much more.
For enquiries, bookings and availability please contact us at nsbopc@aol.co.uk
'In the end we will only conserve what we love.
We only love what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught.' Baba Dioum
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