Thursday, 27 May 2010
Were she still alive it would be Mother’s birthday today, so Happy Birthday Mother and I hope wherever you are, the whisky is to your taste!!We have had two Sparrowhawks arrive in during the last couple of days, a stunning adult male, whose colour is to die for, we are not sure what is up, it is odd and he is quiet, but he is feeding now and we are treating a wing injury and will see how he does. The other was a female, poor girl she has been attacked by magpies, can you believe, her head is a mess, and she had laid a thin shelled egg in the box that she arrived in. As yet she is not feeding, so we have her on fluids to get her up to speed. Hopefully both will be able to be released back to the wild.
On the subject of wild injured birds brought in, the Peregrine from Symonds Yat is doing very well and flying nicely and will be released in the summer months after wild young have fledged. Charlie has done a nice job on her.
On a somewhat hectic day on Tuesday my Harris Hawk Bay Middleton caught a Jackdaw in the field in full view of the public!! Tactful boy! He did not do it much damage so I released it again, I have to say the bird literally committed suicide, it just sat there while he flew over – that is like you having a picnic on the M4 motorway!! Hopefully he will have learnt a lesson, it was pretty decent of me to release him as I know they are building a nest in one of my chimneys!! Of course now Bay Middleton thinks he can catch anything and had a go at a wagtail this morning.
The baby Steller’s is doing very well, see the photo, what a lovely sight I have to say. So far so good with the rearing and it is lovely to see it back with mum and dad, both of whom are great parents. The weather today is wonderful, the rain helped the plants and the sun is out now and all looks fresh and green in the sunlight. We have a north wind and the Turkey Vultures were very exciting, the male was above tree height and having a good old time. Hare got some lift and did well and Holly said that all three kites were circling together in a thermal, so we are getting good flying. We did the Bald Eagle who is now called Cremorne, she was amazing and got caught by the wind at one point and came in over the top of the Copper Beeches, so she was 80 feet or more up, and it was so funny because you could see written all over her face and body language, OK now how the hell do I get down!!The new roof has started to go on the stables, it still amazes me that people who kept expensive horses, and I mean expensive ones, would leave the stables in such rack and ruin, still we will get it right and it will look great down there as well as everywhere else that we have got back 
to where it should be.
to where it should be.We planted the two brick beds on either side of the flying ground today as well, at least Iloana did, and they are going to look good in a year or so when things start to grow as they should, I have a plan for them for the winter owl evenings!!
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
There are times in life when there is nothing like a bath at the end of the day. I usually have a bath in the morning, to start up the motor as it were, and feel fresh for the day (or warm up in the winter!) I feel guilty if I have one in the evening as well, particularly these days, when I try wherever possible to economise. However on a hot sticky day, when its been a tough one, you just have to do it sometimes. This evening the sun was coming through the bathroom window, I have wisteria and petiolaris (climbing hydrangea) climbing that wall and they are starting to cross the window, (taking over might be a better description) so the sunlight was dappled shade on the wall as if in a wood, very pretty and cheering. As I left the bedroom afterwards, I glanced out of the window and there trotting across the mown grass on the flying ground were two muntjac deer, I have to say in the forty odd years I have been here that is the first time I have seen deer in the field, it was a lovely sight in the late evening light.It has been a tough couple of days, Bosbury Pippin, Holly’s lovely Ural Owl died before she even got him to the vets, Neil was his usually amazing self and helped Holly though it, they did a PM straight away, and Holly watched with James, one of the good things about a PM is that it very often proves that it was not a fault in the keeping or husbandry of the bird, which of course is always uppermost in ones mind at these times. This PM, did just that, poor little lad (and he was a lad) had a very nasty infection that in very young birds just hits them so quickly that it is almost impossible to save them. The symptoms really only showed on the day he died.
Since then Hard Tackle was not well on Monday morning, so off he went to Neils, often with a bird it is just a gut feeling, but Neil has always said it is vital to go with your gut feelings, as they are telling you that there is something wrong, but not exactly what it is. If you then leave it until there are symptoms, often it is too late. Hard Tackle has an infection of some sort, and we are treating him for that, plus nebulising him in case of Aspergillosis, but the most worrying thing was that he has arterial sclerosis (hardening of his arteries) So he is on a low fat diet (rabbit), meds twice a day and exercise twice a day. He eats his meds like a star, flies twice a day although he thinks it a little odd, but does not enjoy the nebulising, although he is being very good about it. I suspect this is directly attributable to our sojourn in the US, when he was not flown much in the early stages, then I was not allowed to fly my birds for the last year and then two years in unsuitable housing. Here is hoping that he recovers, the old bugger! I have to say he is very cheerful at the moment about it all.Other than that, it has cooled down a great deal, which has made things easier for the Steller’s, they have their baby back now, that was a scary couple of days, but they are now feeding him/her and Simon said it is an amazing sight and the female turns her head completely upside-down to give him food!!
Darcy Spice the Great Horned Owl is well and coming on nicely. All the birds have been flying well. Pandora (caracara) had another unplanned trip around the Centre, and is now in a different aviary, an escape proof one I hope.
It is raining as I write and I am wet as I had to go and move some fencing out of the over flow car park as Mark is mowing it – hooray. Hooray he is mowing it, not because of the rain, although I suspect my plants will be pleased.The drainage is now sorted again!! I hope it all works, there is a little more to finish off tomorrow and then we can get back to other planned jobs. We have heard that Rory (rabbit) is well, see pictures, and sadly my car is still dead!!
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Phew, it has been hot, and very welcome, and I have a good suntan, or I will have if the red turns to brown, right now it is somewhat electric red! Saturday Adam and I managed to get through the whole day with an experience day full of four people, and still be nice to one another by the end!! We took it easy and the birds were good as ever. He is now off for five days to look after his parents livestock while they have a break, however his name was definitely being slandered when today Holly found his falconry bag full of meat and his lure, we were tempted to leave it until next Friday, but in this weather it would have been a nightmare by then, then there was the thought of just putting it all in his flat!! However Adam you were in luck, we cleared it all out and washed your bag!!We had six people on a half day experience today, with a ton of friends and family with them, which was nice to see. They did well and the birds flew nicely for them. I managed to get four birds done before they came, which was a good thing, because Calusa,
the male saker did a disappearing act when being flown off demonstration between the 2.00pm and the 4.15 demonstration, he eventually came back just before the end of the last demonstration, and sat on the hedge outside the Centre waiting for Simon to pick him up, I suspect he will be losing some weight over the next couple of days. The Turkey Vultures are doing really well, some very good flying, they are enjoying their different aviary, and I think that Pinotage will once she gets over her sulk about being moved.Friday was a little depressing, I had hoped that I could get a BMW engine to go into my Range Rover, because as soon as you mention the word Range Rover, the price doubles, however apparently the BMW engine, although it is the same one, will not fit, damn it. So we are back to square one on that one.
The damp bit that Iloana found has become a mammoth task, the whole of the back drive is up, and there is more to do, I suspect it will be a week of work so that did not make for a particularly cheerful day. Richard and Janet came over to look at the hole and what there was in the way of power running across the yard and then they took me out to supper so that was a nicer end to the day. But it was a long day as I had taken Linda to the bus station at 5.15am that morning!We now have another emergency, Bosbury Pippin, the baby Ural Owl is sick, we have no idea what is wrong, but Holly and James, her boyfriend have just driven off to Swindon to Neil Forbes, I have to say I am very concerned as he looked pretty sick when they left. Its staggering how the birds always manage to get sick on the weekend, they seem to manage it infallibly, or a Bank Holiday. I hope it is not anything serious as he is a dear owl and we are all very fond of him already.
Friday, 21 May 2010
I probably should not say this, but we do actually need some rain! It is very very dry, and my poor trees are beginning to look a little unhappy about the lack of water. We are watering all the new beech hedge plants, but it is tough to give them enough. Amazingly my ponds are still quite full though, and we are seeing either ducks or geese on the bottom pond on occasion.Linda Flanagan and I went to the Old Court Nurseries and Picton Garden on Tuesday, Anabelle who had come on a one day course had talked to the owners about us having some Michaelmas Daisy’s which I love and they had offered us some, which was very nice of them. So we went and collected them, and bought some more, it was a lovely morning and if you want somewhere to go in the autumn it is a beautiful place and the guided tour on their website is so simple and just lovely to browse through www.autumnasters.co.uk/ Of course now we have to plant everything, which is another reason why a little rain might be good.
The weighing room is all but done and a joy to work in, lots of room and everything neat and tidy!! And it is going to stay that way! The birds
seem to like the fact that there is more space, and even the Tawny Eagles are facing up to the fact that the weighing machine has moved. It also makes weighing the Bald Eagle a great deal easier because it is not cramped. Thanks to all those who made it possible.Mind you, one job finishes and then another problem raises its head. Iloana found a very wet patch when clearing by the back gate, so with help from Mike and the Davis’s digger we now have a huge hole and a water problem again! Hopefully we will fix it today, but sometimes it seems you take two steps forward and one back.
Holly’s baby Ural Owl is a very dynamic owl, it is never still!! And climbs the wire non stop, which means it has scraped its cere now (nose!) so we moved him/her to another aviary and hopefully the problem will be solved, it will stop once he can fly, she has called him Bosbury Pippin! The baby Great Horned Owl is growing by the minute and is my responsibility to train so it has been in the house, Linda Flanagan has been caring for him and he is named Darcy Spice – another apple variety. Adam is waiting for the baby Spectacled Owl to be old enough to come out and be played with, so we add three more owls to the team which is nice.
The grounds are looking good and everyone has been helping with weeding, hoeing and watering the new beech hedges. However the lambs have not exactly been helpful as they keep getting out. There is a ton of grass for them in the sheep field, but no, they would rather have the mown grass and my new beech hedge!!
I just got back from taking Linda to the bus station as she flies back to the US today, it will be a long day, we got to Glos by five forty am, the roads were clear!
Spring watch starts on May 31st and I have been promised that our four films will be on in one of the programmes but we are not sure which one, so you will have to watch all of them. Its been a glorious spring so far, late but lovely.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Its been a lovely week I think, its been so damn hectic that when people ask me if we have been busy I can’t remember!! But the benches in the flying ground have been OK in terms of people sitting on them! So what has been happening, well the weighing room is all but finished, just three drawer fronts to arrive, the lagging on the pipes and the water heater to get working. It is great to have the space and we moved all the stuff back in on Sunday and we just about know where to find everything now! Although I still try to go through the door that is no longer there and the dogs still bark to come it at it! Joan and Iloana are here, and Iloana works far too hard, but the garden is benefiting from her attentions. Iris is a work experience student from France, she has started today, although I have not had much time to spend with her as yet. James, Cynthia and Linda came from the US to stay, so I had to borrow Tony Bucklands Landrover again because I can’t get more than one passenger legally in my van!
Well I can, but not take them on the road. We went to the Yew Tree for supper the first night they came which was great. It was a busy weekend with Experience Days and 11 people on a half day Photographic Day, which was lovely.The birds are well, the Stellers Sea-eagle is a mean little bugger though!! He is a handful and will be interesting to train in the future. He is going back with his parents soon. The baby Great Horned Owl has just come out to be worked with, he has now got Holly’s Ural Owls’ toy Walrus, did I tell you that Holly’s baby owl had a toy walrus to cuddle up to, I didn’t – well it did have, however it has fast grown out of it and is now causing havoc at the Centre by trying to get everywhere!! I think
it will be taking a plane to Australia soon as it is extremely adventurous!Adam and I have been working with the Bald Eagle trying to get her better to pick up, she is improving and we flew her loose again after hours this evening, she is a handful that is for sure.
The leaves are coming out fast, everything is looking wonderful and the lilac in my garden is amazing, but the wisteria in the Hawk Walk will be even better. I did the lecture at Gloucester Museum, which went OK I think, although not a huge audience. Now we have to hope that I have a vehicle in time for the Bath and West show early next month.
Now just for your edification, here is another example of the superb brainpower of the people who insist on still using lead in their ammunition, well done boys, you poison your national emblem and manage to get the rarest vulture in the world sick as well, congratulations!!!!
Rare Pinnacles Condor Chick In Grim Condition
Posted: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:13 PM EST', ''
Posted: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:13 PM EST', ''
May 15, 2010 3:07 AM
PINNACLES, Calif. - It was just this past March when a condor chick was born at the Pinnacles National Monument. Records indicate this may have been the first time that had happened since the 1860's.
"We've never had a chick this severely lead poisoned at this age and at this point we just hope the chick survives," says Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist with the Ventana Wilderness. Earlier this week the 50 day old rare bird and its male parent both tested positive for severe lead poisoning, and were rushed from the Pinnacles to the Los Angeles Zoo. "It's a sad ending to such a historic event and for us as biologists it's our worst nightmare," says Burnett who was one of the first people on site when the chick hatched. He says this all traces back to only one thing.
"These condors are victims of some illegal shooting activity of some sort." The use of lead ammunition has been banned in the area of the Pinnacles since July of 2008, but apparently not all are following the new restrictions.
He explains that lead based bullets scattered erratically through the body of game, while the new restrictions which encourage using copper based ammunition for hunting are far less destructive. "Someone shot an animal with lead ammunition and the birds are suffering the consequences," he says. The condor chick and the male parent are still being treated at the Los Angeles Zoo which is home to a state of the art treatment facility.
They are considered to be in serious condition and their health will be re-evaluated in the next few weeks.
OK I am whacked and off to bed
"We've never had a chick this severely lead poisoned at this age and at this point we just hope the chick survives," says Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist with the Ventana Wilderness. Earlier this week the 50 day old rare bird and its male parent both tested positive for severe lead poisoning, and were rushed from the Pinnacles to the Los Angeles Zoo. "It's a sad ending to such a historic event and for us as biologists it's our worst nightmare," says Burnett who was one of the first people on site when the chick hatched. He says this all traces back to only one thing.
"These condors are victims of some illegal shooting activity of some sort." The use of lead ammunition has been banned in the area of the Pinnacles since July of 2008, but apparently not all are following the new restrictions.
He explains that lead based bullets scattered erratically through the body of game, while the new restrictions which encourage using copper based ammunition for hunting are far less destructive. "Someone shot an animal with lead ammunition and the birds are suffering the consequences," he says. The condor chick and the male parent are still being treated at the Los Angeles Zoo which is home to a state of the art treatment facility.
They are considered to be in serious condition and their health will be re-evaluated in the next few weeks.
OK I am whacked and off to bed
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Golly its Thursday already, where has the week gone. The weighing room is nearly finished, I am not sorry because we have had no water for two weeks in there, and it has been chaos, which has been tough. It looks superb, the kitchen units got by Louise look great, Mike has done a superb job on the refurbishing of the building, Joan and Iloana have been painting today, Esmee painted earlier in the week, I have been painting, Jess painted some of the outside and a great deal of herself, and lots of others have been involved. Richard has made the place look very snazzy with the lighting, although I could wish he had kept his cold and cough to himself!! However I am nearly over it now.The daughter and friend of Gill who came to volunteer from Canada last year came to stay for a night, stayed two and said they would cook supper the second night – shop bought lasagna!!!!!! It was not pleasant! So I am doubting Canadian cooking now!! But we had a good time and they went to see the Kites at Gigrin Farm and all the books at Hay on Wye, well OK maybe not ALL the books at Hay on Wye, but the book shops. It has been a dry week with a lot of sunshine and beautiful mornings but boy has it been cold, I still have to put the heating on at night and have several times been wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa too!
The birds are flying well, we have grounded Specify (Lugger) so she can moult and swopped Katana for Pan (Barn Owls) because Katana attacks the labs!! So she will be better for the winter months. The Bald Eagle is flying well, but needs some manning now to get more manageable, and Watamu (Verreaux’s Eagle) is flying quite well on a good day, as are the Turkey Vultures who are either good, or just walk everywhere!
The baby Steller’s is doing well and I wonder if the furor of the bloody election is now over and I could get him on the news as it is a British first breeding. He or she will be going back with the parents in the not too distant future. The baby Ural that Holly is training is great fun and will do its first day of work on Saturday, and the baby Great Horned Owl that I will train is nearly ready for me to have out. The Spectacled Owl baby that Adam is taking on is a way from being ready yet.
The Symonds Yat Peregrine is doing very well with Charlie and is now catching the lure in mid air, and so he will get her loose soon and see how she does. The gardens are starting to look better, although the Ground Elder is still rampaging nicely, I will get the bloody stuff though!
Hopefully we will finish the weighing room tomorrow, and I can get everything back in its place and be able to find things again. Although Sorrel seems to have no trouble in finding things she is not supposed to have – dummy rabbits, lures, balls of string and so on. However Sedge leaves her in the shade as he stole a child’s dummy today and was running round with it in his mouth!! Luckily the child’s carer thought it was hilarious, and I boiled it for ten minutes and returned it unharmed!
It is Aster’s birthday today, he is well and I was sent a photo of him. That means it is Lily’s birthday as well, a very happy birthday to you both and it would and should have been Arabis’s as well, so Arabis, wherever you are, the happiest of birthdays, we all miss you.Sunday, 9 May 2010
There is an adult rabbit on my lawn outside the office window and two babies, its pretty cool I have to say, particularly as they are eating the weeds in the path, rather than the grass, I wonder if they would like a job! Today we celebrated two things, Simon has hatched our first ever and the first in the UK Steller’s Sea Eagle!! Not bad eh!! The parents will have the young one back soon, they are still heavily in breeding condition, and it will be fun to give them back their baby. It is a triumph for us, particularly when you know what the birds have been through in the last five to six years. The other celebration is the electrics in the weighing room. With huge perseverance Richard has finally got it all working and we have lights – very cool lights, power, and a working environment, which is great. Thanks to Louise and Paul we have kitchen units and the plumbing nearly sorted and Mike with hopefully put the units in tomorrow, giving us a great new space, which I have to say is already looking great!!
I had a phone call the other day from a chap had seen a Red Kite with the netting stuff that is put round
large bales of hay and stuff these days, he did not know if it had been carrying it or was tangled in it. Hopefully it was carrying it because Kites like to decorate their nests with wool, and other bits and pieces. Sadly however the things they use can cause huge problems. Crows also put some stuff into their nests, Hobby’s will use old crows nest to breed in when they get here from Africa. A few years ago we had in the most beautiful young Hobby brought in, absolutely immaculate, just stunning to look at but with only one leg. A small piece of that god-awful plastic baler twine had got wrapped round its leg as it was growing and successfully cut of the blood supply so the foot dropped off like a lambs tail. We had to euthanize it, which was such a shame.
I hate all this plastic stuff, and it defeats me why governments are not banning it. If you have looked at the Powerpoint programme on our website that talks about bottled water, it points out that the americans use enough oil to make the plastic water bottles in one year to power 100,000 cars for a year. And we are as bad. Oil is a finite resource, we will run out, that is as much a given fact as that we will all die, there is no other way to put it, and even quicker thanks to BP’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I would rather be able to drive my car for a little longer than have plastic that I don’t need or want.
None of us need the blasted plastic packaging we get a supermarkets, I swear I have a rubbish bag full once I have unpacked the stuff I buy and I don’t want it, I have no desire to have a cucumber wrapped in plastic, it is stupid in the extreme, it gives us horrific problems with waste, and if you look at the plastic in the Pacific Ocean, it will start to kill humans eventually. It is already killing animals, fish and birds.
If we have to have binder twine all over the countryside, please let us go back to natural fibres like hemp or sisal, they rot and benefit the earth in the long run, and the plants that are turned into it give us oxygen and help to use up the carbon dioxide that we need to remove. Paper bags are wonderful things and trees are a renewable resource and use up carbon dioxide. It’s a no brainer……………..
The Bald Eagle flew really well today, Franklin the Brahminy Kite is getting to be Holly’s favourite, Alexandria (peregrine) was stunning today, as were the two Tawny Eagles. Charlie says the Symonds Yat Peregrine is doing well, we have one baby Harris Hawk, and a Spectacled Owl who is going to be trained by Adam to replace Woodland Venture, although nothing will replace him. Holly is training the new Ural Owl and I have a Great Horned Owl to manage.
The weather was miserable yesterday, I really felt for the people on the experience day, it was bitter in the field, I hope they had a good time. Today we had a half day but the weather was considerably kinder. The week ahead looks dry but cold. And everything is growing like mad, it is so wonderful to see. The clematis is out, the wisteria is going to be fantastic this year and spring is springing all over the place.
I had a phone call the other day from a chap had seen a Red Kite with the netting stuff that is put round
large bales of hay and stuff these days, he did not know if it had been carrying it or was tangled in it. Hopefully it was carrying it because Kites like to decorate their nests with wool, and other bits and pieces. Sadly however the things they use can cause huge problems. Crows also put some stuff into their nests, Hobby’s will use old crows nest to breed in when they get here from Africa. A few years ago we had in the most beautiful young Hobby brought in, absolutely immaculate, just stunning to look at but with only one leg. A small piece of that god-awful plastic baler twine had got wrapped round its leg as it was growing and successfully cut of the blood supply so the foot dropped off like a lambs tail. We had to euthanize it, which was such a shame.I hate all this plastic stuff, and it defeats me why governments are not banning it. If you have looked at the Powerpoint programme on our website that talks about bottled water, it points out that the americans use enough oil to make the plastic water bottles in one year to power 100,000 cars for a year. And we are as bad. Oil is a finite resource, we will run out, that is as much a given fact as that we will all die, there is no other way to put it, and even quicker thanks to BP’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I would rather be able to drive my car for a little longer than have plastic that I don’t need or want.
None of us need the blasted plastic packaging we get a supermarkets, I swear I have a rubbish bag full once I have unpacked the stuff I buy and I don’t want it, I have no desire to have a cucumber wrapped in plastic, it is stupid in the extreme, it gives us horrific problems with waste, and if you look at the plastic in the Pacific Ocean, it will start to kill humans eventually. It is already killing animals, fish and birds.
If we have to have binder twine all over the countryside, please let us go back to natural fibres like hemp or sisal, they rot and benefit the earth in the long run, and the plants that are turned into it give us oxygen and help to use up the carbon dioxide that we need to remove. Paper bags are wonderful things and trees are a renewable resource and use up carbon dioxide. It’s a no brainer……………..
The Bald Eagle flew really well today, Franklin the Brahminy Kite is getting to be Holly’s favourite, Alexandria (peregrine) was stunning today, as were the two Tawny Eagles. Charlie says the Symonds Yat Peregrine is doing well, we have one baby Harris Hawk, and a Spectacled Owl who is going to be trained by Adam to replace Woodland Venture, although nothing will replace him. Holly is training the new Ural Owl and I have a Great Horned Owl to manage.
The weather was miserable yesterday, I really felt for the people on the experience day, it was bitter in the field, I hope they had a good time. Today we had a half day but the weather was considerably kinder. The week ahead looks dry but cold. And everything is growing like mad, it is so wonderful to see. The clematis is out, the wisteria is going to be fantastic this year and spring is springing all over the place.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
The last of the suns' rays are bathing the far hill in that amazing gold light that comes at this time of the year with the sun still low. The cherry blossom is gleaming and the differing tones of green in the new leaves are all so many shades as to be a wonder to the eyes. I have a copper beech tree in the middle of the field, two actually, and there used to be a wild cherry tree in front of them which sadly fell while I was away, the mixture of the copper leaves from the beeches and the white cherry blossom was a sight to behold. There is a sapling coming up from the old fallen tree, I hope I live long enough to see it fill the gap that was left. The birds are singing away and the white lilac is nearly out. The oaks have almost come into full leaf and I swear they did it while I was not looking! The fence at the bottom of the field is almost done thanks to lots of volunteers and particularly Pete on the chestnut paling, so I need some sheep now. The new hedge in front of the fence has been watered copiously by the rain over the bank holiday!! It is another beech hedge but with five holly trees to give me berries for Christmases to come.All the birds did well at the two shows ov
er the weekend, I was flying at the Falconers Fair, OK I wasn’t, the birds were, and Adam did demonstrations at East Knor Castle, which went well. Holly, Simon and Robin with John and the kids did all the flying here and all the birds did their stuff. Cool Ground (Snowy Owl) is now grounded for moulting, which he needs badly, we will get him going again in the autumn when he will be a beautiful white bird ready for the owl evenings and the winter flying demonstrations.Simon took the Kite eggs and there are two which are both fertile, so hopefully all being well we will have two more for the team to join Theft and Deception. I flew Watamu loose this evening, he has forgotten nothing, and we plan to fly the Bald Eagle loose tomorrow and then she can have a name! The new weighing room extension is now painted and Richard did sterling work over the weekend putting in the electrics, we are going to be very smart in there, although I suspect his wife may not be talking to him as he worked late on each evening. Mike and I went into B and Q to look at kitchen units but one of our founder members is going to give us a better price, they should arrive on Friday, hooray, it will be lovely to get things done and in so we can work in more space. And woe betide anyone who leaves it untidy – they will have to lick the floor clean – and without help from Acer!
Sunday, 2 May 2010
I have been a life member of the Raptor Research Foundation for many years now, a while ago RRF decided to pass on the membership organising, accepting of subcriptions, sending of newsletters and so on to a group called OSNA. I have to say that I was not impressed by the concept at the outset, but others wanted it. I was over time less than impressed by the performance of the group, and increasingly so. It was pointed out to me recently that the reason I have received nothing from RRF in the last three years is that my address with OSNA is incorrect. Now I changed it in 2007, however it not being a priority, I did not check it. So imagine my lack of surprise that this was still the case. Consequently about a month ago I emailed them, I loath these templates that you have to fill in because, often the US ones seem to forget the rest of the world and you can't put the right address anyway, and very often the template is not relevant to what I need to say or know. And needless to say unless the county you live in (we don't have states in the UK) comprises of only two letters you can't put it in anyway. However when the next email arrived from a friend showing me my now altered address I had to laugh. It was such a mix up of US and UK addresses as to be unintelligible which again although nor surprising was nevertheless frustrating. I now apparently live at Little Orchard Farm (moved from there in 2008) Eard Island (Eardisland - the village I lived outside) Hereford Shire (Herefordshire the county in the UK where I lived) Mount Pleasant (the town near where I lived in South Carolina!) SC, the state I no longer ever wish to visit!, my UK phone number in Herefordshire which I no longer have, and my email in the US which I no longer have. Well done OSNA - great work! I suppose I should be grateful they got my name right!
It was a very very wet night and when I looked out of my bedroom window at 5.00am, as I got dressed to get ready to go to the Falconers Fair the usual lake was in the middle of the field from the rain and there were two geese on it! I got soaked loading the birds, but by the time we got about half way there the sky was clearing, it was just a shame that instead of keeping on the M5, I turned off onto the M42, don't ask me why, I have no idea, habit I guess, but I did curse as soon as I was past the point of no return as it were, and then realised I did not want to be there. So we kept on and finally got back to the M6, although hardly by the fastest route. Then I nearly ran out of diesel and had to go past the turning I wanted to get some. It is such a rip off on the motorways, I filled up, knowing that there was a garage in Newport that would be much cheaper, which was infuriating, especially as it was 10 flaming pence cheaper per litre. I really do think that it is something that should be stopped.It was bitterly cold at the fair, but at least dry. The birds went OK, reasonably well, nothing brilliant, but consistent, and well behaved. Actually the best was probably the Kite Theft! It was good to see old friends, and walk round and have a chat. Marshalls have the coolest new telemetry, I want a set, it is tiny and works really well and if you put it up in the car it does not spike the passenger in the eye, a huge bonus! We took up the Symonds Yat Peregrine for Charlie and dropped into the DEFRA stand to check what he had to do about her legally, so that is sorted out. He sent me a photo of her back at his place this evening and she is settled already. Here is hoping that Charlie has fun and the peregrine does well and can be released in the summer. Its been a long day and I am going to bed early! Electric blankets are a gift from god that is for sure!
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