Machynlleth, rest day, July 26, 2017

It rained, but that did not affect the day very much. In the morning went to MoMA!  Not related to the New York original, but it did have a small exhibit featuring local artists.  My favourite was this piece made out of fine jewellery wire.  Since a title had not been given it, I am calling it Uncontainable Woman:

This watercolour(?) was done by a nine-year old girl.  Would you believe?

The one piece of embroidery was charming:

A detail:

The afternoon's event was the reason for the rest day.  It was a Just For You Falconry Experience.  To see better photos than I took go here: <http://www.raptorexperiencewales.co.uk/just-for-you/page17.html>  

You go to this falconry place a few miles outside of Machynlleth, which you are still trying to pronounce, and Luce will bombard you with such an array of facts about these birds that your head will be swimming or spinning in just a few minutes.  I cannot remember the half of it, but what I can tell you is that the birds are weighed every day because their weight, to the ounce, determines whether they will fly, which determines how much raw chicken (if any) they get, y es muy complicado.  

Now, if I am not mistaken, the eyes of this bird (yikes, but it could have been a different owl) can change from yellow to blue when necessary....they have a blue membrane sort of like a cataract that comes down when needed:

This is Barry with a bigger fellow:

And with a bald eagle.  Isn't he majestic?

No, you can't get away:

You really can't.  (You have to stay just like that to have your silhouette drawn for the USPS logo):

This is a brother and sister pair of Barn Owls from South Africa.  They have the softest little feathers:

Part of the "experience" is putting on a leather glove and letting the birds land on you as they swoop in to get their little bit of raw chicken.  It is amazing how delicately they alight. When they do, they land with a talon over the bit of food to secure it, then dig it out.

Although I could not absorb the myriad facts I was told, I did get a thrill seeing the birds so close up. You get to see the the makeup of the feathers, the little pads on the bottoms of their feet, so many details normally too far away to be seen.

I am not going to tell you what these birds eat as a main course!  You will have to spend a few hours with Barry and Luce to find out!