Members Newsletter February 2003

Chief Executive's Page

It's newsletter time again and a lot has happened, and I am unsure where to start.

In the last newsletter you should have all received information on twilight flying, to which some of you attended. For those of you who did visit, I hope you really enjoyed it, I know that the staff and I most certainly did. Because of popular demand we held 5 more evening events right up to Christmas, having Santa visiting us on 4 evening events, reindeer included. We are continuing with our twilight flying right up to Easter; dates for Easter are the 18, 19, 20 & 21 April.

With the introduction of our Falconry courses John is going to be kept very busy. Don't forget we are starting on our handling courses for any member that is interested. The cost is £30.00 for one morning, phone the Centre for dates or further information.

The last year has seen a dramatic change in the running of the Centre, one of them being The Friends of The Raptor Foundation. This organisation has been set up to deal with the fund raising side of the charity taking away some of my workload. The Chairman is Peter Harding, Vice Chairman Mick Smith; Treasurer is Mo Harding and Secretary Helen Tarbox. As of June 1^st all members of the Foundation will automatically be members of the Friends Of. This will mean you will have a right of say in any of the meetings being held. Our first meeting will be a BBQ on the 7 June, so hopefully we will see you there.

Our flying team of birds is on the increase; with a peregrine/saker called Axel, Tai a pure peregrine, Sas a pure saker and 3 new Harris Hawks. John's Sakeret, Blizzard is recovering from a fractured wing after hitting the back of his head.

The New Year is starting off well with visitor numbers increasing, let's hope it continues throughout the year. New attractions for this year will be the finishing touches to the Education Room and all the ground in the back park filled with aviaries, there are some 80 enclosures for birds. The new and larger tearoom and gift shop shall be up and running. The accommodation and gardens in the courtyard will be underway at the end of this month. If you are planning to visit you will notice the changes.

Enquires for the show season are underway, anyone interested in helping at any of the events please contact the centre for shows in your area.

Last year a group of volunteers from the centre, John, Al Walker and myself included cycled around Rutland Water to raise funds for the Education Room. It was the first time in 15 years I had been on a bike and rode 26 miles; saddle sore - I was a bit, but it was a beautiful sunny day and worth it. Some £800 was raised on the day.

This year's group fund raising activity is a parachute jump. Why jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft and I hate flying. Anyone interested in the jump (over the age of 18 years only) contact the Centre, as there are limited spaces. July/August is the planned time.

Don't forget if you need any new equipment for your birds John's your man, you can contact him at the Centre.

Liz McQuillan

Editors Page

Well 2002 has now ended and we have started a new year. 2003 will hopefully once again be another good year for The Raptor Foundation.

There are 3 main fundraising teams (Bedford, Cambridge and Lincoln) as well as the centre in St Ives, who are constantly working to raise as much money as possible. All of this money goes directory to improve the centre as well as looking after the long term residents and the new arrivals who need medical care. Every penny we raise is needed and goes directly to help the birds who arrive at the charity. So if you see one of the teams out and about with their collecting tins please come over and say hello.

In the article from Liz she gives out several bits of info, including details about the formation of the Friends of The Raptor Foundation, there will be more information about this in the next newsletter from our new Chairman Pete Harding.

As you will have noticed from Liz's announcement I am now not only the editor of this newsletter (which will also be changing to 'The Friends of The Raptor Foundation') but the secretary as well. Putting my Editors hat on I would like to once again request that members contribute to the newsletter, it could be anything, a poem, cartoon, comments on your visit to the charity or just something you think would be an interest to all members.

Putting my Secretary's hat on, I hope to see you at the members BBQ on 07 June 2003 to be held at the Centre.

Helen Tarbox
Newsletter Editor

A cold day at Scotsdales

Sunday 12 January 2003 - It is a Sunday morning at Scotsdales Garden Centre in Great Shelford, Cambs and it's cold (and I mean really cold). As I am writing this I have lost count how many layers of clothes I am wearing in an attempt to keep warm, and trying to write while wearing a pair of gloves is also causing problems. It is only 11.30am and we have been at the Garden Centre for about 1 hour so far.

For those of you who have never visited Scotsdales Garden Centre, let me describe The Raptor Foundation stand for you: We have an area situated by the exit but lucky for us it is under cover, so we stay dry when it rains. The space is split into 2 areas - the first is for the birds, it is on gravel with evergreen plants in small raised beds with the blocks for the birds to sit on in-between the plants. The second area is a shed which is used as a shop, as well as being somewhere to make a hot drink.

Today Jimmy and I are joining regulars Pete and Mo Harding who rarely miss a Sunday, come rain, shine, wind, sleet or snow. Today Pete and Mo have brought 8 birds with them:

Merlin - Tawny Owl
Ali - Barn Owl
Hershy - Kestrel
Thor - Snowy Owl (6 months old)
Beako - African Spotted Eagle Owl
Dakota - Western Screech Owl
Nanook - Canadian Great Horned Owl
Krishna - Indian Eagle Owl

This is their main fund raising team as well as two other birds that only help out in the warmer weather. (The picture on the left is of Thor aged about 8 weeks old).

It is now 12.15pm and my toes are so cold they have gone numb. My fingers are the same but have been warmed up after hugging a cup of hot tea for a few minutes.

Why are we still here? There are 2 reasons, the first is to continue fundraising for The Raptor Foundation, and the second reason in my opinion is that we are mad.

Most Sunday's Pete and Mo can be found at Scotsdales normally until about 4.30pm. Scotsdales provides a steady income over the year and the money collected goes directly to The Raptor Foundation.

If you feel you would like to help us in fundraising either by helping at Scotsdales or in any other way please contact the centre for information.

Helen Tarbox

Trust Me

"Trust me, it will be fine", said Liz, smiling. Now when someone smiles & says "trust me" I get very nervous.

This evening was to be the third of our Twilight Owl evenings, the two mid-week displays were well attended & had gone well. We had no real idea of how popular the evenings were going to be, expecting (hoping) for around 60 people for the weekend display. During the middle of the day, the number of people booked to attend reached 120 & a rapid executive decision was made to take no more bookings & have a fourth evening the following Saturday.

The day had started off overcast & looked like rain, but despite our worry managed to remain dry right up until the end of the 2 O'clock flying display. Then it started to rain. Liz comes out & asks us to bring the barn owls that are to be flown indoors so they remain dry & to feed up & lock away the birds that are not on the evening display. Then she says she's going out for a short while but will be back well before the display should start.

As we fed & locked away the birds, the rain got heavier & heavier. Thoroughly drenched, we grouped in the Tea Room & waited. As we sat listening to the rain outside get heavier & contemplated having to postpone the evening, the phone started ringing - someone asking if the display was to go ahead, decision time, what do we say - get them to call back in an hour, Liz should be back by then & she can make the decision. Time passes, more phone calls, no Liz, still heavy rain & a growing conviction that even if we don't call it off, no-one will turn up in this weather & what are we going to do with baked potatoes, beans & soup to feed 120 people. 5.30pm arrives, the first visitors arrive & Liz arrives (at the expected time, she said, though some disputed this). Another rapid executive decision made - reorganise the evening, feed the visitors first & pray the rain stops before we go out to fly the owls. Despite the weather, close to the full 120 people turned up, causing more panic in seating that number.

As we got all of the visitors fed, the rain started to lighten, by the time 7pm arrived the rain had all but stopped. Another rush, let's get everyone outside & start flying the birds, in case the rain gets heavier again. Fortunately for us, the rain held off. All of the owls were on top form, though there was one moment of concern when one of the barn owls (Arnie) flew out into the field & darkness, fortunately coming back from the opposite direction.

With the rushing around taking photo's of the evening & flying Clunk (the European Eagle Owl), I missed much of the flying, though Tom's (the Snowy Owl) flying stands out clearly. Flying out to the middle of the field & looking totally confused (the expression said, "look at me, I've got yellow eyes, I'm a day time hunting owl"), following a little encouragement from Liz ("you can do it, trust me", smiling), did a wonderful flight straight into a post (I'd better not say what Tom's expression was then).

Despite all of our worries & panic, the evening was regarded as successful by all the visitors that spoke to me afterwards. But I don't think that it will go anyway towards making me less nervous when Liz smiles & says "Trust Me".

PS. Just before Christmas, we had another set of Twilight Flying Displays. On the first night, Tom was, again, the highlight of the display, this time by flying straight out of the flying area & not coming back. We did have two very concerned days (Snowy Owls tend to stay on the ground & there are several foxes around) before Tom was found & returned safely to us. Despite our concern, we did get a lot of amusement out of our falconer, John, rushing in on Saturday, excited & convinced he had seen a Snowy Owl sitting out in one of the fields. When this Snowy Owl turned out to be a white bottle, we just couldn't resist having a bit of fun, including bringing out a white bottle for him to fly on the second night (on a creance, of course, wouldn't want people to see John lose his bottle, again).

Paul Frost

A Great Weekend

I wrote to Pets at Home in Kempston to ask if they would allow us (Michael and myself) to display our owls in their store to raise money for the centre. We were very lucky and got a reply agreeing to a weekend in April 2002. The staff of the store were very kind and put up posters to advertise our visit.

Kempston is only a few miles away from where we live so no great planning details or research (maps or directions) were needed. No parking problems either with a car park right outside of the store.

After introducing ourselves to the lady in charge on the day we were shown to a very good position just inside the shop entrance - ideal to attract people coming in or passing by the store.

The birds were set up and a member of staff offered us a cup of tea which was gratefully accepted. Public were coming in by now and showing much interest in the birds. Asking all manor of questions: 'Are you here all day?' 'Are they real?' 'How do you manage to get them to sit so still?' As well as the usual 'Do they have names?' and 'What do they eat?'

Zuice (Snowy Owl) did his party piece by chattering (in his own way) to Michael if Michael spoke to him. Stroud (European Eagle Owl) and Nookie (Great Horned Owl) when not on the glove paid a lot of interest in the dogs passing by the glass window to the amusement of the public. Abby (Little Owl) was many a time mistaken as a baby. Benji (Bengal Eagle Owl) was her usual well behaved self, sitting up very straight like a queen on a throne. The rest of the birds also enjoyed the attention and just took it all in their stride.

When the public were thinning out, I took the opportunity to visit the Ladies Room and have a quick look around the store - which had everything for your dog, cat, rabbit or budgie could ever want. They also have a good selection of animal carriers (we buy ours from them) in all sizes.

Well did I buy anything - well yes - not any animal feathered or covered in fur but a t-shirt with a barn owl on the front. Purchase paid for and it was back to the stand to see Michael surrounded by six people deep trying to get a stroke of the bird on his glove - this continued until nearly closing time, so with the public finally thinning out and the shop staff ready to go home there was one last thing to do - allow the staff to meet the birds before putting them in their boxes ready for home.

The weekend was a great success and most enjoyable - with two more weekends booked (which by the time you read this we will have done) and enjoyed just as much.

Isabelle Smith

Hospital News

The best news was Pet Rescue recently portraying the work that we do as a Charity. We were on for a whole week, not bad for 2 days filming. John and I took it in turns to talk about what goes on here. For both John and I, I suppose the best part of it was the filming of the release of the Tawny Owls as well as the placing of the young kestrels into a wild kestrel nest. We substitute fed them and after a week or so they had fledged and flown the nest site. All the birds now released back into the wild are rung by the BTO (as in filming at Pet Rescue) which gives us a clear indication of how the birds are doing.

In October 2001, 6 young Tawnies were released in Warboys. Unfortunately one died 4 kilometers from the site after 156 days - not bad.

The following is a list of birds we have had in and how many were released:

Liz McQuillan

Last Minute News

London Marathon in April:

We have a gentleman from Chatteris, Thomas Jones, who will be running the London Marathon. He has asked us if he could raise money for us through sponsorship by running. He is making up some sponsorship forms - should you wish to help by sponsoring him please contact the Centre.