What a wet soggy windy December and Christmas! I got soaked to the skin today taking the dogs out, I clean my kitchen and within about five hours it is covered in dust again as the mud on the dogs dries out - very tedious.

We did some nice filming with Country File, the people were all charming and very nice to work with, Ellie was excellent with the birds, impressively so, even with Moccas who is not small as we all know. It will be shown on January 17th

I had a very pleasant Christmas, David Morton came round and helped with the feeding round, which was a learning experience for him, I then went for lunch with Alice as per usual, which was delicious, the only down side is that because I don't cook a turkey I never get cold turkey which is almost better than hot turkey, ah well, its worth it knowing I have a lovely Christmas lunch without the work. Came home, took the dogs out, and tried to watch TV but I have to say Christmas TV really is appalling these days. I did watch the last episode of Downton Abbey, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and spoke to my sister in Scotland, my sister in New York and emailed my brother in New Zealand and they all have had the flu - so I have managed to get away without it.

All birds are OK and coping with the damp and the wind. We took Moccas over to Wales on the 28th to show my benefactor her flying, she did pretty well considering there actually was no wind for a change.

Then on the 28th I had noticed some rising water in the car park, but had hoped it was a spring

It is going to look great - eventually!

because of all the rain, however yesterday it was most definitely not a spring it was a mains leak, so I phoned Mike who came over and not only found the leak but discovered that the meter in the field next door which is our meter was pouring out water. So I phoned Severn Trent and I have to say I was very very pleasantly surprised, I got a real person, he was very helpful and within an hour two vans and three very nice men were in the carpark, and not only sorted out the meter leak but helped us with the one near the freezer shed as well. It was so nice to have something like this happen in this day and age so Well Done Severn Trent Water 10 out of ten in my book.

On the other hand I bought a new cooker before Christmas a Rangemaster and it is not working properly. I tried to phone them before Christmas and after waiting 12 minutes with their recorded message I gave up and sent them an email after Christmas, I have heard nothing yet which is annoying. It may be something that I could fix, but unfortunately Agapanthus ate the instruction book!

My wallet is back with all the stuff I did not want to lose apart from the money. I hope they have a very difficult time trying to change the english money and I hope they freeze in my coat!

The house roof is nearly finished thank God, I will be glad to see the back of the scaffolding, which as you can see is not frightfully attactive, but it is lovely to have the roof safe again.

So what else, I have finally finished the Business Plan, apart from the budgeting which I hate loath and detest and have no idea how to do anyway. I have finished an article I was supposed to write, I am sort of up to date with emails. I need to organise two events before the end of May and I desperately need to find someone who can help us with writing grants to get lots of money to do the business plan, so if any of you know one, please send them in my direction.

I am going go Scotland on the 4th to see my sister Anna and back on the 8th in time to have a meeting to do the BUDGET - Oh joy!! And get on with all the work in the Hawk Walk. Our newest member of staff arrives on the 4th as well. Oh and if anyone wants to volunteer during the week after the 8th - I have lots to do!


Happy New Year One and all.

The good news is that my wallet minus any money has been found. That is really good because you can't get a National Insurance card anymore, trying to get a replacement driving license is a nightmare and all the other stuff I had in there I was starting to miss. Still have not sorted out all the debit card problems, but that is happening slowly. I will be glad to see my wallet back. However I am going to now have an away wallet and a home wallet and the away wallet will have bugger all in it apart from neccessities! A lesson learned.

Other good news is that I went on Ebay and found a replacement Barbour. My old stolen one was a 2000 version and so no longer made but I found a couple on Ebay and one arrived today and is perfect which is wonderful. I have bought two so will wait to see what the other one is like.

Mark looking really scary!

The African Fish Eagle now called Mathon is flying really well, he looks like he is going to be a great success. My African Goshawk is now flying loose and called Dinder, she is very funny, she is a bit bad tempered and keeps threatening me but there is not much of her so it just makes me laugh. She finally learnt how to go up into a tree properly today and did it several times.

The weather has been dire, nothing but wind and rain or wind or more rain. We are in the midst of an Owl Evening right now and I am thanking the Lord - (thanks Lord) that it was not on last night as that would have been awful.

My model farm is slowly progressing, Helen had a good idea for making hills, so I am going to try that soon. I have just caught up with all my emails which is making me feel good as well. Need to paint the ceiling in the utility room, and do a couple of other things in the house, hopefully by next weekend. This coming one is the first one off since January - yippee.

Ah well better go and check out the mulled wine and fly some owls.

outside for a celebration meal. The lock on my room door had been causing me huge problems so I decided to get my coat, but put my wallet in the inner pocket, just to keep it safe – wrong move sadly. There was a fire on the lawn and we all sat round it, so after I had warmed up I took off my coat and sat on it. You can imagine what happened. Left at about 10.00pm without my coat. At 7.00am I got up the next morning, instantly remembered about my coat, but not a sign was to be found. So my favourite brown Barbour jacket that I had had for 15 years and had been all around the world with me, plus my wallet with money, debit card, driving license, social security number, train tickets home, and a whole load of other stuff that I suspect I will miss over time having forgotten what was in there, was gone.

birds. Jan was not well so we sent her off with Dave her husband, and hopefully she will be feeling better by Monday. Then made the mulled wine for the Owl Evening, after that took the dogs for a quick run and then finished off the washing so that I have clean clothes to go. Worked the Owl Evening with everyone - the owls were superb, as were the staff and then finished off and came in. Have sorted out the washing, need to mend one skirt. Watched more of the news on France, wondering again how people got to be so cruel to behave like that.

First Owl Evening this evening, with a slightly different format, so hopefully it will go very well and we have two extra owls on the flying. Poor Helen had to take my African Goshawk to the vet this evening. She had been sick this morning and then would not keep down her meds, so we don't hesitate here, no waiting to see what happens, she is too important to take any risks, so hopefully we will have caught whatever it is in time and she will be fine. I do hope so because she is perfectly wonderful and I had hoped to fly her loose today for the first time.

We did all our interviews for the new job yesterday and the day before. The quality of the interviewee's was excellent, and made us all wish we had four jobs available instead of only one. The enthusiasm from most of them was lovely to see. We have five coming back for a work day next tuesday and then the awful job of choosing one and telling the other no, which is not fun.


The weather has been a little depressing over the last week and in fact we finally saw the sun for the first time in seven days at lunchtime today, although not for long. It was very wet this morning and windy so we have fielded phone calls all day saying - yes the owl evening is going ahead. In fact we have never cancelled one yet. We have had to switch things round a bit, on occasion, usually because of wind or rain, one, I think in 2000 we had snow on the last evening and everyone was keen to get home before it became any deeper. That was the year our nutty friends drove all the way from Norfolk to see an owl evening and I did them a special guided tour at the end of the evening because they were so late!

I am off to India and Nepal on Monday week for the SAVE meeting and I am praying that we are not flying over any dangerous countries, flying gets more hazardous as time goes on and I don't even like flying on the best of days. I have always thought that it would be far more sense to give us all parachutes rather than those bloody life rafts. I will be very relieved to get back safely, and hope not to travel abroad for a while after that.

The Black Shouldered Kite that we have is jumping well to the fist and is very pretty, I hope to get her or him flying free before I leave. We also have a new young African Fish Eagle who is charming, although a little nervous of us, we are taking our time with him so he settles well before asking him to do anything in the way of flying. Then early next year I start on the new Bald Eagle, and it would be great to get them both fishing out of the new ponds. Add in Salem, the Hooded Vulture that Holly has just got flying free and next year looks like we will have some very special birds for the demonstrations.

The glorious weather of the past couple of weeks has had a bit of a hiccup, but the rain is what makes everywhere so green anyway, so what the hell! My pond is full and with a breeze and autumn leaves are gently floating on it, they are all shapes sizes and colours. The smaller pond if you stand and watch will occasionally have a huge plopping sound, I thought it might be fish, but in fact it is the cider pears dropping from the tree into the pond!

I tend to curse the cider pears at this time of the year as once they are on the ground and start to rot a little they become less bitter and the dogs happily lie in the sun and munch them, which leads to other things in the house at a later date!

My Sparrowhawk is a joy to fly, the first time you encourage an accipiter to go into a tree, with hopes
of course that he or she will come out again, they sit there for a second and then change character, laddering up the tree with glee and pretending that they are no longer a trained hawk, but in fact no longer have any interest in you at all. This Bitterly did, sizzling about the tree climbing higher and higher. He did deign to come down a couple of times at speed but pulled out before hitting my fist and then landed even higher in the trees. Eventually I moved away and he followed to a lower tree and down he came. Since then he has got trees sorted and follows through them and comes steaming into the fist.

We are now a three accipiter family as a lovely female African Goshawk arrived on Sunday, kindly given to me by a good friend, she weighs just under a pound and is stunning to look at. We are looking forward to flying her as well.  She has the most amazing black skin inside her mouth!


Surprisingly I have taking two days off this week - first day off since December last year! I am going riding with Sally (first time on a horse since I broke my back) and then to see the Red Kites at Gigrin - also a first! And then staying away (voluntarily!!!!) and going on a mushroom foray on Saturday. Phew will I survive I wonder!

We have had to cancel the Halloween Owl Evening, almost no take up, but I think it is because it is not really suitable for young children and they will all be out trick or treating, which is not something I like or understand. So if we do one again we will have to make it very different from all the others. We are adding another owl to the owl evenings, which should be great fun and I am looking forward to seeing how it works! Of course there is always the added bonus of one of us falling into the new ponds!

Back from India, the trip went well, we ran an incubation, husbandry and rehabilitation course, Holly and Adam came with me so it was easier in some ways. We worked all day and then went back to the hotel, where as usual the shower did not work. In Pinjore Gardens there is a sort of food and bar area, although it is impossible to get gin. We sat there most evenings before working on computer stuff and watched the fruit bats fly around. Also saw a juvenile Spotted Owlet, which are very closely related to our Little owl.


It was really good to be able to catch up the vultures that had been wearing my dummy satellite tags for two years and see if any injuries had occurred. We were confident that all would be well as the vultures had been flying well in the colony aviaries and breeding but it was particularly satisfying to see that they were in perfect condition after two years of wear. And this bodes well for the vultures who will wear the real thing for the release.

It was a joy to get home, even if the oil had run out and I could not get a shower until the evening, that was a bit of a trial. The weather has been glorious since we arrived back, cool mornings and evenings, mist rising from the fields and pond early and then bright and warm sunshine on wonderful leaf colour. autumn is just great.

Birds are generally well, the two Snowy Owls are getting ready for the first Owl Evening on October
31st, we are going to do something special for Halloween!! Not telling what though! Middle Mouse (Long Eared Owl) is back working as is Haze, who has a film job next week as well. Bitterly, my Sparrowhawk should be back flying free tomorrow, and the Goshawk is doing well as is one of the new Brahminy Kites, although we have not started to teach him to fish yet. I am looking forward to training my new male Bald Eagle in the early part of next year, he has been removed from his foster parents, which they were relieved about, and will join some of the moulting eagles soon and then I will get him out in January to start work. We are crossing our fingers that we manage to breed African Fish Eagles next year, which would be great and they will stay here if we do.

Have to finish off the roof of the house, which I hope will be done by mid November, then there are the changes in the Hawk Walk that we want to do in early December, that will make things more comfortable for the birds next year.

Jimmi left yesterday, and we put an advert in for a new staff member this morning and we have nine applications already! This bodes well I hope. It is always a tough decision and one wishes that we could employ two or three new people, but one extra is going to help over time.

The dogs are well and missed me (I hope) and have not eaten too much in the way of things that they should not have!! All are sound for a change and soon they will go on their winter diet to get back to a better shape! As indeed will I!

Dave, Jan's husband won a helicam in a raffle it is quite a big one and really cool. He took some pictures of the Centre yesterday evening, they are really good! I want him to walk with me and the helicam and do a guided tour for the new website that Adam and I are going to do this winter.

So next trip is November and then I am hoping that
is it for 2015

Last of 2015 babies, thank goodness!