Sunday 28 February 2010


We had a very quiet Sunday, the weather forecast yesterday was dire, so not surprisingly most people stayed in, and yet the weather was OK, no rain, a bit cold, but dry, damn I wish they would get better at being more accurate as they have such an effect on the tourist industry.

Still we flew all the birds and the falcons are starting to get back to fitness after their enforced break with the snow. We are going to start with Pinotage the Egyptian Vulture next week, although she is in a very snappy mood at the moment, ah well, I guess we will see how she does if she gets back to flying, actually I am pretty sure she is a he, so perhaps that is the problem. We are also going to get the two Turkey Vultures going, Buckwheat and Alfalfa; Robert Allen named them for some cartoon characters in the US. I am looking forward to getting them flying again.

I don’t think my baby rabbits are going to make it, Randal is not well this evening. They have never taken to the bottle feeding particularly well and they are very young, I probably should not have tried, but it seemed a shame not to give it a go.

We have had a bit of a surprise with the newest owl. The young Indian Eagle Owls that we bred in December are not suitable for us to fly as they have not been aclimatised the dogs, so when the parents laid again I asked Simon to remove the eggs as we are not finding homes for them easily. But to keep one back so I could rear and fly it and get it used to the dogs. As he was going to India we put the last egg under the African Spotted Eagle Owls, who had two eggs, but have not produced fertile ones since 2005. So when he got back there were still two eggs and one baby. An Indian Eagle Owl we thought!! However!! It was larger than expected, had yellow eyes, not eyes starting to go orange, and tiny feet, yes you guessed it. Its not an Indian Eagle Owl, its an African Spotted Eagle Owl, and we are delighted. Simon then removed the other two eggs and checked them, one was the Indian Eagle Owl that had stopped and the other was fertile but not survived. So he took the eggs and we hope they will recycle and produce some more young. Its great to have one of their babies again and he is in the kitchen getting used to the dogs and us.

Tomorrow we will finish off the zoo mesh on Mozart's new block of enclosures, Simon and Adam worked hard on them today and it is looking good. Finish off the benches in the flying field, and start the next bit of drainage. I hope to get the bulk of that done by the end of this week as we have a five day course next week. I also hope my bloody car will be fixed by then.

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Hello

I have to say that keeping a weblog can at times become compulsive and at other times a chore. Sometimes I am berrated for not keeping it up and sometimes I get wonderful comments from people who follow the news of the Centre.

It is fun to share the daily goings on here, some good and some bad, some funny and some sad, but all a part of our daily lives.
And as I said before its a pretty cool to be here and it is a great place to visit, you should try coming and watching the birds and meeting the staff and of course the dogs.

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An interesting video on Lead

An interesting video on Lead

I find it staggering that people who want to hunt don't see the value in changing their ammunition from lead to a safer product. We have stopped using lead in petrol, in paint, in our water pipes, but they still want to use lead - ah well, apparently eating it not only kills birds but leads to reduced intelligence in humans......................

NO ONE is asking you to stop legal and genuine hunting, they are just asking you to change your ammunition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHZGQ8i8AwI

HC

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