YOU GUYS I went falconing for the first time yesterday. We went to Arran and got to handle four birds: a hybrid falcon, an eagle- (or, in North America, Horned) owl, a Harris hawk and a buzzard. The falcon was amazing, she ate a chick from my hand (a somewhat disconcerting experience for vegetarian me. And, as it turns out, chicks are full of recognizable YOLK). The owl was adorable , I'd take him home in a second. And the hawk and the buzzard are the ones we actually got to fly, which was a whole other kind of amazing, watching the way they adjusted their flight to land on you. The whole thing was quite thrilling, and I absolutely recommend it for those without crippling fear of birds...