Summer on the Horizon?

Well, the forecast says good weather is coming. That sounds good for thermalling the small eagles, but so far my confidence has NOT been boosted by the arrival of swallows. We keep hoping to see the first ones whiz in the barn and start making noise, but nothing yet. However, we did see the unusual sight of a group of Martins arriving on migration as a big flock at the weekend. We don’t normally see them until after the swallows, but hey, we don’t make the migration rules!

We have now got a good number of falcon eggs from several species but for some reason, although we know there has been copulation because the eggs are fertile, the males are not joining in with incubation when the females step off the eggs. So we’ve pulled them and have them in the incubators. I pulled the eggs early so didn’t know until later if they were fertile, so opted to leave the pairs without dummy eggs, and they are already showing signs of recycling. If we get 2nd fertile clutches, we have a contingency in place to put the 2nd clutches with foster parents for parent rearing.

We also have Harris hawks with eggs, the first clutch of which are due to start hatching in a week.

On the slightly less cheery side, my poor old Hungarian Vizsla, Jodie had to be put to sleep on Monday she was 14. Last Friday, she was still bouncing around, happy and healthy, running 3 miles a day with the other dogs. She had come into season for the first time in 2 years and it was heavy and bothering her, but after a conversation with the vet, was seen as no cause for concern. However, Friday evening, on her run she started to limp a little. But she was still happy, and eating normally. We put her on Metacam to reduce any swelling in her suspect shoulder and to kill the pain a little. Saturday morning she was very unwilling to walk. She would limp around the garden, but was clearly a little unhappy. Saturday night she wouldn’t get up unless lifted and while drinking normally, she wouldn’t eat. Sunday morning she was a bit brighter, tail wagging and pleased to get some treats, but still wouldn’t eat her dinner. We conned her with some venison and trout, but not very much. Sunday evening and she still had to be lifted outside, and once she’d had a wee, she wouldn’t move. Had to be lifted back indoors. Monday morning was the same. Throughout all this she seemed painless when laying down, but totally unwilling to get up or move at all.  A trip to the vet ended with the expected result. Her shoulder had totally failed. No injury, just completely knackered. She has been hypothyroxic for 2 years and had a great, active trouble free life. The vet says there was nothing to do beyond stealing a few extra weeks using drugs to manage the pain and swelling in the wrecked shoulder. That would have been the wrong decision for her and us, so in total agreement with the vet, she was put to sleep. She rests now side by side with Mac, her old running mate who she has missed this past few years. RIP.

Where there is livestock, there is dead stock, and new life is always around the corner. The ferrets are all bursting with kitts! I didn’t want any baby ferrets this year, but someone wanted a whole litter from me so we decided to breed one jill, and let the other be mated by the vasectomised hob. Despite our vigilance, the intact hob got there first and they’re all pregnant!!!!!!!!

It’s a shame our Golden Eagles aren’t as compatible as the ferrets. Relations in that aviary are better, but this year is a write off as far as breeding is concerned!

We’re exploring things to build our next block of aviaries now. We plan another 8 aviaries built off the side of the eagle aviary. One large for another very very special pair of eagles we have coming, and the remainder for falcons. These are plans that have been simmering for a long long time, but the work put in by everyone and the support of others means these dreamed of ideas may become a reality over the next few years. The aviaries will be built in phases but at least we’ll see them actually becoming a reality. It will be nice for the 36 year old Golden Eagle we have here who was stolen from the wild as she had just become adult in 1979, to have a purpose built aviary too. She has specific needs and it’ll be great to see her get them provided!

Final news for now, we also have been requested to build a quarantine facility to BALAI Directive standards. This will stand to allow us to serve as a facility to provide for birds moved throughout the world for conservation work. We should see some vulnerable species come through and become established as breeding pairs to improve their overall conservation status. We really do live in interesting times. It’s been a long hard game, but finally we see the conservation fruits of our labour. The new station will be sponsored by a couple of organisations, without whom it could never happen, so to them, we offer our unconditional gratitude!

That’s it for now. I’m back out to look for signs of the promised sun, and maybe a swallow!

Thanks for looking in.