An innovative way of teaching children about history has taken off in Easter Ross.

Farmer Neil Munro returned to his homeland in 1998 after 12 years in Australia, with a passion for the past and a love of birds of prey.

His eagle eyes spotted there was a gap in the market to combine his two interests and get children interested in local history.

'Take Flight' allows children to touch and fly birds of prey under supervision while Neil throws in a sneaky lesson to help the children understand their ancestry.

Take Flight is based at Storehouse of Foulis, a short drive on the A9 north from Inverness, on the shores of the Cromarty Firth.  The area has a rich Pictish background with burial grounds and monuments, which made it the natural home for Neil's new project.

And helping him provide the history lesson are his eight birds - Harris hawks, a baby barn owl, an eagle owl, buzzards and a Saker falcon.

Neil, who got the business up and running two months ago, said: "It's for the children - I'm trying to give them a little bit of the history of the area, and who the Picts were.  It also lets them see the birds and fly them through the woods.

"I've been doing this all my life, but not as a business.  The kids enjoy holding the birds and seeing them fly - and they get a wee bit of the history of why the Celts always had birds.

"Most of the information was taught to me by my grandfathers and great-grandfathers - it's the mediaeval side I'm trying to promote."

A nest egg of £3,000 from Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) made the project possible -although Neil had already invested in leasing the land and buying his birds.

He admitted that he probably would not have been able to get things off the ground without the funding, adding: "The money was very important - if it wasn't for RACE backing me, it would have been a lot more difficult to get started."

RACE development manager Kenny MacKay said: "Neil's part of the country has a rich history that has never been tapped into in such an innovative way before.
 
"The children will learn how to handle and look after the birds and, at the same time, gain an insight into local history - all in a perfect setting.
 
"With Neil's experience and enthusiasm for Take Flight, the sky is the limit."

And Neil has plans for the future, including school parties and an entire mediaeval village to bring history to life.

To find out more about Take Flight, call Neil on 01862 842747.