Narrec

Narrec is a bird sanctuary just outside WHK that I absolutely adore. They take in birds that have been injured in some way and rehabilitate them for release. They do have some birds that will permanently be there, mostly because of some human unkindness or stupidity.

There is an incredible Black Eagle, who is huge and plugs directly into your reptilian brain when she lands heavily and aggressively on the tree above your head. Her presence is incredibly aggressive and dominating when you are so close. There is no doubt in your mind as to who would win in a hand to talon fight. Unfortunately, she is going to a permanent resident of her aviary. She was taken from a nest as a chick and raised by a farmer who thought it was manly to have a pet eagle. The first time she preyed on his livestock, she immediately became considered a menace to him. Because she has been taught not to fear humans, and because she knows how to hunt livestock, she cannot ever feel what it is to fly completely free and make the decision to mate, hunt, or flow along an updrift from the desert, just a speck in the sky.

Of course, if she had not been rescued by Narrec, she would instead be dead. Which some would say was better than being caught in what is essentially a cage for the rest of her life.

Other wonderful things about Narrec, are two hornbills who followed us around the entire sanctuary, carefully avoiding the vulture aviary. They posed and they primped and they brought us seeds and stones. Which of course made for some fantastic photography.