Monday 19 January 2015
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| Benbecula is out and getting ready for flying |
I feel very guilty that I have not written on the weblog as
much as I should have done in the last year or so and particularly recently
over the Christmas period. In fact one of our members phoned me up to see if I
was OK! What incredibly nice members we do have. I am fine, I really am, in
fact I gather after my recent MOT that my blood pressure is low and so is my cholesterol,
which is amazing considering my diet!!! It has been a manic couple of years. We
have done a ton of stuff, and so much is
looking great now. But by the end of the day where I used to spend time on the
computer and indeed still do, I don’t seem to be able to get round to doing the
things I would like to do such as the Weblog.
Over the Christmas period, which was Christmas Eve until
January 5th this year, I get to look after the Centre, which I did
as usual this year and realised, as I fed the birds daily and tried to keep
everything neat and tidy, just how wonderful a team of staff – and volunteers I
have here. The place was spotless, the birds looked well and there was not an
area of the Centre that I was not able to be proud of, and that is a pretty
cool thing to be able to say. Each year things just get better and more
organised and easier for us to care for the birds and the visitors. Once everyone
returned Mike got all the trees down by the Condor aviary, which has made a
huge difference to the light coming to the aviaries and as the days get longer
they will get more sunlight to bask in. Everyone else got on with the job of
getting ready for opening on February 1st.
Right now, apart from finishing off the new incubation
facility, which is going to be wonderful and you will all see so much more, and
dealing with the usual enormous number of emails, we have been working on what
has been needed to go Charitable. We are now a charity and I have to admit to
having a number of sleepless nights. The charities commission wanted the
Trustees to be able to state that there was no conflict of interests and that I
would not benefit from the charity being in existence. All of which I
understand and is very laudable, but there is a part of me that feels like
saying to the Charities Commission – for Christ’s Sake!!! - I have not benefitted from the Centre, I have always put back every penny and more, and
taken risks to keep it all going, I am not going to suddenly start to take, and
nor would I ask the Trustees to even consider it.
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| Before felling - two had been done by this time |
It’s a scary thing to do – as my solicitor said (come to
think of it, she has not answered my last email so she could just be washing
her hands of me, thinking I am nuts to do this) it’s a leap of faith – and it
is. The place will no longer be mine to do with as I see fit. I will have a
wage and looking at it long term, I have no pensions either. Who thinks of pensions
when you are younger, or need to spend the funds on something for the birds, I
did not. So now apart from a wage, which I hope I will be able to earn for a
long time to come, I am reliant on £64 a week from the government, which I have
to say does not go far!
Those are the sort of things that are likely to keep you
awake at night. Luckily I am the sort of person who will grab my book and read
through the small darkest hours so I don’t think about it. Plus I have the
philosophy that – it will be fine, it will all work out. And I think it will!!!
The important thing is that now the Centre has a long term and I hope an as
assured future as possible because it is not reliant on the continuing
existence of just one person. That was too high a risk to take when I look back
at all the tremendous work that so many people have given over the years for us
to still be here nearly 48 years on.
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| All gone! |
It is cold, actually it is pretty cold! But then of course
it is the winter. The weather has been beautiful, clear and frosty and sunny
most of the day – and cold! The birds are flying well, those we have started,
more will be got going again ready for February. The two Owl Evenings are
booking up, in fact the Saturday is full and there are still places on the Friday.
The Griffon Vultures egg will be removed soon as will the Grey Buzzard Eagles.
We did have an interesting time a couple of Sunday’s ago. Katie (volunteer) was
taking a wheel barrow to the compost heap and she came on the radio and told
Pippa and I that there was a tiny owl on the wall. I was not far away and she
was right, one of the Ferruginous Pygmy Owls was sitting on the wall. So we
snuck round and tried to net her, however she then flew up into the Oak tree,
way out of reach. I phoned Sally to see if David had a long fishing rod, Mark
came over and then I remembered Adam’s idea about water. So we got all the
hoses and put them together, and Mark went up a step ladder and he slowly
brought the spray (which was just about reaching!) over the owl and got it wet.
It did not appreciate the rain and tried to fly, but as we had hoped, it could
only fly down!! Five minutes and two bites in my thumb later it was back in my hand
and then in a warm hospital box for the night. The hose did not get put away
until the following day!
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