May Update

Hello readers, the summer is almost here and May was an eventful month to say the least.

This year’s goslings (Barnacles and Chinese Fawn) have just recently entered the world and are already exploring the area around the waterfowl lake (not venturing too far from mum). One of the Chinese Fawn Geese was sitting on 15 eggs; 8 of hers and then 4 Indian Runner and 3 Mallard. It’s not only cuckoo’s that lay in other birds’ nests! She hatched four of her 8 eggs but got off her nest before the rest of the clutch were ready. We took the four remaining eggs and put them under a broody hen owned by Helen, one of the ladies who works here and two of them hatched a few days later. They’re still with their foster mother but she’s a bit bemused that the keep grazing and paddling but won’t scratch they way she knows they should!

The Wallaby joeys can now be seen more frequently popping their heads out of the pouch in the far end of the wood. We think there are eight of them and they range in size from small and skinny and about 10 inches tall to well rounded, rather plump and about 14 inches tall.

We continue to try to introduce Ellie and Lola, our two wild born cubs, to each other. As you may recall they get on well with Biggy and Smalley but not with each other. They had supervised visits to each other for 21 days but this approach didn’t work and Ellie was occasionally very aggressive towards Lola ; sometimes they would play quite nicely for several minutes and then for no apparent reason Ellie would go on the attack.

Ellie and Lola are now living as semi-detached neighbours to one another. This is to encourage them to socialise, but nothing can become out of hand as they are on opposite sides of the fence. They are fed along side this fence so they can become gradually used to each other’s presence. They have struggled to get on in the past as they have very different personalities; Ellie is constantly energetic and in your face, while Lola is seldom seen.

A new edition to the park is Skylar the Harris hawk, she is now one month old. She spent just over a month living at home with us frequently displaying her poor manners at dinner time! She is very tame and we hope to fly her in the close future. Harris Hawks are very social birds; this is why Skylar was kept in the lounge so that her brain was regularly stimulated by her surroundings. If Harris Hawks aren’t stimulated often, they will become bored and disobedient towards their trainer. This is why her trainer (my little sister; Frances); took her for walks on the glove around the garden and eventually the rest of the village. This is so she would develop confidence before she learnt to fly.

Look out for the June update that is all about our latest editions at the centre!