HawkTalk Issue 90 Spring 2022

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HAWKTALK SPRING 2022 ISSUE 90

Lights, Music, Owls … Action! In January, the Trust presented something unique and magical. A never-before-seen (perhaps even a world first of its kind) event spanning 17 nights throughout the month and offering over 3500 visitors the chance to step into our woods and be immersed in a place of natural magic and mystery.

In the summer of 2020, amid fears for the future of our entire organisation due to the pandemic, we began development of our Winter Woodland Lights event. Our aim, for this new event, was to merge nature and technology to create an evening that would leave anyone who experienced it feeling uplifted and inspired by the natural world. Tom Morath, Events Manager and Bird Team Member, tells us about his creation and development of this event. Sound From the start we didn’t want ‘just another Christmas lights event’. Education is at the core of everything we develop for the visitor experience, and this was no exception. We wanted our visitors to come away from the experience having learned something and, hopefully, with a new- found appreciation of nature and wildlife - especially owls. To do this I set to work writing and recording a commentary – a voice that would accompany the visitor through each part of the journey as they walked the lit grounds, ultimately leading to the heart of the woods where the owls would fly. Viv Broughton, a deeply valued volunteer at the Trust and highly creative member of our team, took my concept and wrote and recorded an original soundtrack for us. This tailor-made music brought our woods to life and set the tone for each area of the story.

Light Developing this event felt like a venture into the unknown. Technology was at the forefront, showing off the trees and owls at their best, so we needed to call in some experts with some lights! We worked closely with the team from Yes Events (who are no strangers to working on huge lighting projects across the country) to create our lighting plan. Although a smaller site than the Yes team are used to, the precision timing and flexibility required to accompany both our soundtrack and our owls in flight was quite a challenge. We knew that every night would be different, depending on what the owls wanted to do, and needed to allow for that. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a vision finally realised as the lights dimmed, a huge suspended globe was lit and our woodland was bathed in ‘moonlight’. And still the best was yet to come… Owls The stars of the show were the owls. Prior to the event, our Bird Team spent weeks working closely with them, preparing them for the event, familiarising them with new lighting, bit by bit. We thought they might be a little put off by the glittering lights or the artificial moon, yet they didn’t give two hoots in all honesty! The owls were wonderful and have never looked more inspiring than they did flying through the sparkling, colourful woodland. I loved developing this event. If you were there in the Woodland Arena, with our pair of Barn Owls gliding on the golden ‘sunrise’, you’ll know how special it was. To share that space with those owls, among the trees we so often taken for granted, was magical. If you didn’t manage to make it, a word to the wise – we’ve just begun production on Winter Woodland Lights 2023. Watch this space …