Suffolk Owl Sanctuary near our holiday cottages

One of the closest activities to our holiday cottages is the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, based just around the corner in Stonham Aspal, Suffolk. It’s a charitable organisation and has been going for almost 15 years. It is incredibly popular with our holiday cottage guests, whether on a family holiday or just two on a romantic break in our luxury cottages. I thought it was time for me to write a little blog about it as we had some guests rave about it this week.

As well as being a great tourist attraction it’s actually a facility for the care & rehab of owls, all originally relatively local to us in the first place and they are prevalent in the movement for owl conservation, both nationally and internationally.

They have a ‘hospital’ for injured owls and apparently raptors! I didn’t know we had Jurassic Park just around the corner; why wasn’t I told about this?!?! Ah, turns out they are birds of prey! The centre treats wild birds before releasing them back into the wild.

We are very lucky here anyway as we often see barn owls and hawks of all kinds in the fields around us so I guess it’s an area that simply attracts them. Maybe they’ve heard just how good Suffolk is?

The sanctuary is very active in promoting their work to children and as well as thousands of kids visiting every year, they also get out to schools to spread the word and allow children to marvel at these beautiful creatures.

They have fabulous demos during the summer, allowing visitors to see the birds in flight, as well as informing us about all aspects of owl life such as lifestyle, habitat and conservation. They have lots of leaflets on many facets of the care and protection of the owls and an informative interactive website.

One of the best things they do is hold photo days, where as it says on the tin, they allow people to come and get the best possible photos up close and personal.

If you want to get involved they’ll send you a FREE booklet if you email them with your details: suffolkowlhome@gmail.com

There’s a whole diary of events each year and here’s a link to the 2015 season so you can see if there is something to suit you, whether you are staying in one of our holiday cottages or not. If you are holidaying with us and planning to visit the sanctuary as a result of seeing this then please let me know and I will donate £10 from the cost of your break with us to the sanctuary.

Those experts amongst you will notice that this is not an owl or a bird of prey. Well done. They even have Meerkats.

There’s so much info on their website so why not take a look and plan your visit? The Owl Sanctuary is open all year round to visitors to Suffolk, closing only on Christmas day!