Sunday 10 March 2013
There are people in life who are doer’s and
people in life who talk about it. I am without doubt a doer, I get things done,
I don’t wait around for others to do it, because I don’t have the time or the
patience. I would rather get going when whatever needs doing and get it started,
and then see what happens, than wait around for someone else to get going!!! I
am also a finisher, I am better at the final touches of whatever the task,
usually in finishing, a physical one, I see things that others don’t see.
So it pisses me off sometimes when people
don’t see what we are about.
Consequently I just want to give you an idea of what
we cope with in a day…………………….. after feeding the dogs and taking them round
the field, always my first job of the day, feeding the horse was a part of that
until he went to his new home. I start on emails, bloody hundreds of the
damn things, well OK probably not hundreds, but certainly over 50 per day, many
of which are crap (do I really want Viagra – no, nor do I want anything to do
with a man who wants the stuff – they need to learn that hours of what they
consider to be fun, is way over the top for any sensible female, who is only
thinking to themselves, for God’s sake get on with it!) but I don’t have a spam
filter because otherwise on occasion I lose stuff that is important.
Today, just around 9.00am Holly comes up to
the window during her feed round, because as usual I have forgotten to put my
radio on, and asks me to come out as we have a problem with a Ural Owl, so
after looking at the owl and giving it some treatment, I decide that he
probably needs to see Neil Forbes (oh great – a Sunday, so the cost will not be
insignificant!), but you can’t count the cost, it is a bird whose life is
reliant on you. So I phone him, explain the details and thank goodness he is
working on a Sunday, and so John bless him, grabs a box, I start the van, and
off he goes to Swindon which on a good day is an hour’s drive, with the now
fitting owl.
This means that we are down to two staff
only, with thank goodness a great volunteer in the form of Katy, but that is it!! Its bitterly
cold and I do mean bitterly, and we have three people on a half day experience,
plus we are open and it’s a Sunday. So, things are a little tight. The emails
will have to wait, the five year plan for the vulture breeding Centre in Nepal
will have to wait, as will the book, the five year plan for ICBP and a few
other things pending as well.
Katy finishes off the jobs John was doing
with baths. Holly finishes feeding round, I get the food ready for the birds on
an experience day. I am friendly and polite to the people on the day. In the
meantime Sally who has put in a lot of effort in the new photography competition
emails me to say that people are complaining that they have to pay £5.00 to
enter for three photos– although if they win they could get an exclusive day here one on one
with birds and my staff – not an insignificant prize I think to myself. Plus it
takes our time and effort to look at the photos and judge the competition – are
we supposed to do it for free!! No, and any funds we get go towards the work
we do, surely visitors who are regulars know that! Luckily Holly answered the
Facebook stuff as I suspect I might not have been so tactful!
I then go up to the shop to bring the
people down for the experience half day, plus their partners and as there are
only three of them and it is seriously cold in the flying field with a freezing
north easterly wind racing up the field, I am kind and let the three partners
come into the weighing room as I kit the experience day people with gloves and
instruction.
Holly gets the first bird ready, we do the
initial flying in the field, and then end up with Lunar in the indoor Hawk Walk
before going down to coffee, which by this time is very welcome, we warm up,
and we then have 15 minutes to sort out the flying demonstration, Holly gets
the people sorted out with a couple of birds inside while I get food ready for
four birds on the demo. We run the demo, Katy looks after the people on the
experience day. All goes well, in fact with this wind the birds are first class
although the customers are frozen!!!
Holly and Katy finish off the experience
morning, I manage to do a little to the five year Nepal plan, John phones to
say he is on his way back leaving the owl at Neil’s, but it is still with us
and OK at this point. I then go down to the café and help with the washing up
before having a bit of lunch, and finish just in time for the next
demonstration! It’s still freezing, perhaps more so now, but we have intrepid
customers and the people on the half day have stayed to watch the flying. It’s
still a bitter wind, but the birds are brilliant, the wind is perfect for most
of them although there are a few rather untidy landings.
After the demo, one of our wonderful life
members has again sponsored Pinotage, so John takes him and the vulture into
the weighing room for a photo, I fly the peregrine off demo. After than John
and Holly get various birds flown, I do a little more in the office to the five
year plan, then I fly Kalyke who is one of the six flyers going up to Yorkshire
on Tuesday morning, and blow me it’s time for the last demo!! And guess what it
is still freezing – and trying to snow. We finish the demo, and close up the
doors of the birds in the Hawk Walk so they can benefit from the heaters. The PA
is turned off, the loos are closed as the last customer has headed for home.
The babies food and Eve the sick eagle’s food is prepared, the workshop locked.
Holly finishes feeding the owls, John moves the injured wild goshawk into a new
clean box and in the freezing cold cleans the dirty box. Katy tidies the
weighing room, and then John and Holly switch the Ural Owl eggs for dummies in
case she deserts them with her husband not there. Oh and in the meantime they
bravely check the Steller’s who has one chick and two more eggs!! And nearly
broke the special camara!
Then the phone rings and there is an
injured wild bird of prey in Newent, so while Holly treats the last bird on the
list of birds that need treatment, there is always one in a collection like
this, John and I drive down betting it is a female sparrowhawk – wrong it is a
beautiful adult male, and when we get home and check it over it has a badly
broken wing – right by the joint, so its chances are very slim. But we will
take it to Neil when we collect the Ural Owl tomorrow, who hopefully is on the mend. In the meantime, Holly
and John check eggs and feed the baby owl that is three days old and by this
time, it’s about time to finish!!! Except that I have emails to do, John and
Katy have to drive home and Holly has to finish the paperwork for the birds
going up to Duncombe on Tuesday.
We all between us, Jan included, finish a
bottle of wine, I go in and light the fire, the wind howls through the house, the dogs
are now settled. I will tackle the five year plan again and we look forward to
another day!!!
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2 comments:
I'm sure many people just don't understand how much work goes in to keeping the centre open and the birds fit and well, every day. Rest assured that there are many who love the centre and appreciate all of the hard work you and your staff do, as well as the time you all spend on the competition and keeping us all up to date thought Facebook and this blog.
I love the 2nd photograph above, of the bird that has just hatched. Stunning.
Excellent rant - who put 10 pence in you?
For every person who doesn't 'get it' there's quite a few of your friends and regular visitors that do. Plus, you love it. It's bound to get you down now and again, we all feel like that sometimes, but deep down you wouldn't have it any other way and neither would we! Thank you.
See you soon.
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