Merry Christmas

All the Keepers and staff at the British Wildlife Centre would just like to wish all our regular blog readers a very Merry Christmas!

At this quiet time of the year we are still very busy, with essential maintenance work, building new enclosures and just the extra work and time it takes to look after all our animals on the colder winter days. With this in mind, and with the predicted extra snow we are supposed to be getting, the "Head Keeper's Blog" is going to take a brief 2 week break from posting updates.

Please remember, we are next open to the general public from Monday the 27th of December - Monday the 3rd of January. Although often a very cold week, it is always a fun week to visit the Centre and a great way to walk of the Christmas dinner or just escape the family gatherings for a day! The new keeper talk schedule for this week is listed under the "Keeper Talks" at the top of this page.

Thank you for all your support this year, and look forward to seeing many of you over the next open period.

The Blog will be next updated very early in the new year, so be sure to check it out to keep up-to-date with all news from the BWC!

More snow photos

A slow week at the Centre while we are still just getting back to normal after the heavy snow fall. More snow predicted for a couple of weeks time too, they think it may be a white Christmas here...

Anyway, here are a few more photos of our animals in the snow to look at.

BWC buried in Snow!

Went home on Tuesday, smattering of snow but not much, then when I got up on Wednesday I opened the door to go to work and had a foot of snow piled up against it! Since then it has increased to 18 inches, 2ft in some remoter parts of the reserve. I was going to post a few photos of the centre in the snow, but then thought you would much rather see animals in the snow so here you go...

Although pretty for some photos, the snow is a but of a nuisance for us here. Some of the keepers have been unable to make it in the last couple of days and the snow can cause a lot of damage with some of our enclosures. Luckily so far we seem to be all right.

Winter is here

No! We haven't got snow here yet, these photos are from last year. But this morning we woke up to the coldest morning so far, and forecasts are showing it is the start of Winter with temperatures dropping over the coming days. We are even forecast snow over the weekend! But we will have to wait and see if that holds true. But even so, if no snow this weekend, it looks very likely we will have snow at some point over the winter if its to be as long and cold as predicted.

The animals never seem to mind the weather this time of year, and all cope extremely well. Most of them have moulted into their thick winter coats already and are better prepared than we are. Arguably they look much better this time of year when they do have their winter coats.

For the keepers, this time of year is mixed. We begin to slow down with school and photographic bookings which you would assume gives us more time. But instead we are equally busy with the extra routines needed to keep the animals in full health. Extra feeding duties need to be undertaken, water needs to be ensured is not frozen, nest boxes all nice and cosy etc. Not to mention all the maintenance work we are trying to get on top of before we open up again. All this with cold feet, cold fingers and frozen water taps which just makes the general day to day jobs take that little extra time than normal.

 Whether we get snow or not this weekend, it is clear winter has arrived at the BWC. 

Owl Roadshow

After last years launch of a Winter Roadshow, where we take animals to the schools, we have refined it all for this coming Winter and bookings are coming in strong!

We offered two different visits last year. Small mammals or Owls. Small mammals was good, but to the numbers of students we were getting it just was not visually enough to keep the attention. The owls on the other hand worked really well. Therefore this year we are offering just the Owls.

Our visit will usually last around an hour. We will bring up to all 7 British species of owl. Talk about each individual and owls in general, and new for this year... we may be able to fly one or two of the owls around the school hall.classroom.

Our first booking this Winter is tomorrow where I will be taking Robin, Evy, Florence and of course Ethel for a slightly shorter, 30 minute, presentation.

Owl Photographic Day

I had to make a quick and tricky decision over the beginning of the week. Our "Raptor" photographic day was scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, but the weather conditions were forecast to be terrible. Heavy rain all day, gale force winds, and getting darker earlier than it usually does this time of year. Today however was forecast to be beautiful, and by luck was a rare empty day at the Centre with no other prior bookings! Therefore at short notice we swapped the days around.

Unfortunately 3 of the photographers could not make the change, but all thought it was the right decision to make and have booked in for another day next year. To make up numbers a couple on the cancellation list managed to fill in at short notice. After a lovely day of photography it is obvious that it was the right thing to do.

Owl and Bird of Prey photographic days are something we are looking at promoting for next year. 4 of our own dates are already up on the website for booking, as well as a few workshop run days. The beauty of it being based on the nature reserve means if demand is high we can always add more dates without disrupting school visits etc at the main part of the Centre.

If it is not a "Raptor" day you are booked into, then it will be a mammal day where no birds will be used for photography work. Instead you will get good chances to photograph a wide range of mammals from Harvest mice up to Red Deer.

On the "Raptor" days you can expect to photograph around 6 different types of British Owls and Birds of prey, all placed in natural looking surroundings. Some oppourtunities of the animals with prey may be possible and certainly some flying will be on show. The day will offer photography work in our woodland area, open field lands and wetlands area all located down on our Nature Reserve. Based in our Field Studies Centre means there is no need to use any of the facilities at the main Centre. Some walking is required to get to some of the photographic locations.

For more details and to see the available dates check out our photographic section on our main website, linked in side bar on the right.

New Kestrel

Last Monday I went to pick up a young kestrel. He is a young male from this year, and over the next few weeks will be manned and trained to fly.

He is a lovely little bird, currently going by the name Jimmy, and I have big plans for him once he joins the flying team... In the mean time I am hoping to use him for some portrait shots in his first ever photo shoot this coming Thursday on our first official "Raptor Photography Day"

Update on our Wildcat kittens

Earlier this week we sexed our wildcat kittens in preparation for moving them on to other places. Unfortunately earlier this year Iona lost her lone kitten, and then a couple of weeks ago Kendra lost one of hers after it had a nasty fall in the enclosure. However the remaining two kittens produced by Kendra are doing very well and look extremely healthy.

One of them is a female and the other a male. We will most likely be holding onto the female for ourselves as Lex a fantastic cat and it will be nice to hold back one of his offspring. This year also looks like it may be the last for our eldest cat "Una", who I fear may not be with us much longer and so this kitten will be a nice replacement for her. We will likely call her "Isla"

The young male cat "Richy Junior" will be re-located by the studbook holder, currently at Port-Lympne Zoo.

Our wildcats are part of the national studbook for Scottish Wildcats, currently held at Port-Lympne Zoo in Kent. The co-ordinator there is responsible for the relocation of captive wildcats part of the programme and ensuring the genetic purity as far is possible of captive wildcats. The hope is that one day there will be a safe haven in which to release pure Scottish Wildcats back into Scotland and keep our last remaining native cat in the country a lot longer than if we did nothing at all.

For more information on Scottish Wildcats and the efforts being made to ensure their survival, check out the Scottish Wildcat Association.

Flying Owls

Our two new barn owls, hatched out here at the Centre earlier this year, have finally joined our flying team. After being successfully reared by keeper Katie, they took their first flight in front of the public over the weekend. Having coped with that as well as they did it was time for the training line to come off, and earlier today they took their first free flights around the Dell.

Katie has trained them well, and they both performed brilliantly. They will be on top form for the displays come the winter week opening and going into the weekends for next year where we also hope to add a little owl and short-eared owl to the flying team.

The barn owls have been named "Dawn" and "Evy"

Fallow Deer Rut

The fallow deer rut is in full flow, I am afraid I have no pictures of this years clashing of antlers, but above is a photo of William "barking" to the rest of the herd.

Our pale buck William seems to have ousted Norman from his position of master buck. Some of you may remember that last year William put up a good fight, but was cut short when he broke one of his antlers. This year he seems to be faring much better with two. He has clashed antlers only a couple of times with the other buck, and even had a short lived go with Eric! But seems to be quite in charge of the fallow does currently.

Hopefully I will be able to bring you photos of some action soon, if not I can post a couple from last year to show you what the rut is all about.

Fallow Deer Rut

Just a quick update... the 2 fallow bucks, William and Norman, have locked antlers a couple of times over the weekend. They are still happy lying up close to each other so the full fallow rut has not started yet, but I am sure it will very soon and it promised to be pretty good this year with both bucks evenly matched.

Hopefully I will be able to provide you with pictures as and when it really gets going.

As for the Reds, they are slowing down now. It seems Eric has complete control and dominance of the herd and Alfie is happy on the outskirts. I am sure it will not be long until Eric has done his job and Alfie is slowly allowed to mix back in with the group.

Red Deer Rut

Early yesterday morning Alife decided to challenge Eric for control of the herd. They were heard clashing antlers during the night before, but only lasted till around half nine in the morning. Both of them seemed very weary and tired, unsurprisingly, and although a little bloody Eric came out on top. Alfie spent the rest of the weekend sulking away from the main group.

Alfie is a big stag now, and in size more than a match for Eric, but maybe confidence, skill, antlers are lacking a bit. All that will come with time. Maybe he will have another little go this year but if not I am sure he will really challenge for master stag next Autumn.

Below is a video of some of the action.

New Red Squirrel satellite site

Today I loaned out a pair of our Red Squirrels to a new site. It is their first time with red squirrels and adds to our breeding group. Hopefully they will fair well there and breed next year, helping us with our breeding program.

Having bred over 40 healthy kittens this year we stocked up our walk-through enclosure, set up a couple of new trios for breeding here and then sourced out a few to our breeding groups.

By having breeding groups it means that hopefully our captive population won't have a crash. The idea is we loan the squirrels out to several places being able to call them back if we need to, and collecting any offspring they produce. We can then try and keep all the breeding group sites healthy with breeding red squirrels and help them all out if any of them or ourselves has a crash in numbers.

Sadly Mrs Milo passed away due to old age a few weeks ago. Also, as some of you know, Tyto one of our reared owls died unexpectedly too leaving his brother Alba on his own.

With a healthy breeding pair of barn owls on display in our aviaries we thought there was no need to be breeding more in our "Barn". And what with Milo getting on a little now too we thought we would just let him retire. We cut off his boots (anklets) and will no longer be used for display work, although can still be seen in his enclosure in "The Barn".

To give him a little company in his old age we paired up Alba with him to form a little bachelor pad.

Deer Rutting

The Red Deer rut is in full flow. Eric has been strutting his stuff and bellowing out most of the day and night recently. Poor old Alfie has been pushed out and is sulking a little, but then he has been disappointing this year and hasn't really made much of an effort himself. Maybe he is biding his time till next year, or maybe he is just like his dad "Archie" and just a little too laid back :-)

Be sure to check out the rut at the BWC over the next couple of weeks if you have not already. Eric has even been chasing off the 2 fallow bucks, but they will be rutting soon themselves which promises to be fantastic this year with both looking fairly equal and the young buck already having a go at the master buck Norman.

Two upcoming events

Friday the 5th of November, 2010

This evening the BWC will host a talk given by wildlife presenter and photographer Chris Packham. 

After his popular talk 2 years ago, this is sure to book up fast so please get in early to avoid disappointment. To find out more details or to book a place call the main office on 01342 834658

Saturday the 22nd of January, 2011

This day will be our second annual Winter's Members Day... so make a note of it now in your diary!

After last years success we will be holding another Members Day during our "quiet season" Be sure to keep up to date on this blog nearer the time to find out more details on the day and scheduled events.

Is a cull on European Eagle Owls in the UK imminent?

European Eagle Owl, Doina... yes Doina, not Ethel for a change :-)

There was a sudden uproar over the web this week with the leak of a possible cull of European Eagle Owls in the UK. It seems like DEFRA will be making a decision based on a health and safety report being carried out by FERA. It also seems like they have been trying to keep it on the quiet side, and with some investigating by several concerned owl supporters it looks like FERA have only consulted parties which would be in favor of a reduction of eagle owl numbers... maybe why it was all being done on the quiet side?

With the leak several owl experts and enthusiasts have been in contact with DEFRA, and everyone is awaiting the final verdict. It was suggested a decision was to be made by the end of this week, but with the leak and sudden concern over the internet I believe the decision may well be delayed.

Follow this link to find out all the details and keep up with the news first hand.

raptorpolitics.org.uk

- There has been no scientific evidence shown to prove that an eagle owl has killed a hen harrier

- There has been a record number of hen harriers at Bowland Forest, which is also home to 2 eagle owl pairs

- Eagle owl diet is mainly made up of rabbits, which do far more damage to the countryside than eagle owls

- Although many of these owls may well have been from a captive origin, a large number have now been bred in the UK and it is not impossible that some may have migrated over from mainland Europe

- After persecuting them to extinction before, are we really going to make the same mistake twice?


It seems the people against the Eagle Owl in the UK is due to its skills and expertise as a hunter/predator. What we must all remember though is that this is a natural way of life, even if the potential prey is something we like.

After being on the fence for some time, the RSPB made an announcement over the last couple of days saying they do not support a cull of Eagle Owls.

Only time will tell and it is in the hands of one man at DEFRA who will make the decision. Lets just hope he looks at all the facts based on actual scientific evidence, and listens not only to FERAs biased health and safety report but also those people who have worked closely with wild eagle owls over the last several years and their supporting groups.

Our 1st "Owl and Bird of Prey Photographic Day"

Our first "Owl and Bird of Prey" Photographic day will take place on Thursday the 11th of November, 2010. There are 10 places open and these will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Due to high demand for this new BWC venture I will ask anyone interested to attend the day to email us at info@britishwildlifecentre.co.uk with "Raptor day" as the subject and contact details so we can get back to you. The first 10 emails we receive by date and time of our inbox will be replied to to confirm a placement. If you don't receive a reply then I am afraid you will have to assume you were not in the first 10 emails. We will however attempt to reply to all emails.

The day will be priced at £75 per person

The day will start at 10am (arrival from 9.30am) with Tea/Coffee and induction. It will then be split into a morning and afternoon session with a break for lunch in between. The day will end at 4pm with a Heron feed allowing you to photograph our wild heron colony before leaving before 5pm.

Each session will comprise of up to 3 different birds. Each bird will be set up in natural looking settings for portrait shots. Some of the birds will be available for some action/flying photography work. Some "bird on prey" opportunities will be on offer to photo too.

The birds on duty will be the sole discretion of the BWC to be decided on the day. However if time permits extra birds may be added to the roster.

The event will be held at the BWC Nature Reserve. Base camp will be the Field Study Centre situated in our extra parking space. This holds all facilities that will be needed, but you are advised to bring a packed lunch as no access to the main Centre will be allowed.

I am sure it will be a great day, with lots of photo opportunities for all who come. The trial day was a huge success with a fun laid back feel but everyone went away with the photos they wanted. I hope to replicate this on all our future "Raptor" days.

Below are a few photos from a couple of members who came on the trial day just to wet your appetite.

Andy Critchfield of hardpointphotography.com

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor of seeing.org.uk

 Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Our 1st "Owl and Bird of Prey Photographic Day"

Our first "Owl and Bird of Prey" Photographic day will take place on Thursday the 11th of November, 2010. There are 10 places open and these will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Due to high demand for this new BWC venture I will ask anyone interested to attend the day to email us at info@britishwildlifecentre.co.uk with "Raptor day" as the subject and contact details so we can get back to you. The first 10 emails we receive by date and time of our inbox will be replied to to confirm a placement. If you don't receive a reply then I am afraid you will have to assume you were not in the first 10 emails. We will however attempt to reply to all emails.

The day will start at 10am (arrival from 9.30am) with Tea/Coffee and induction. It will then be split into a morning and afternoon session with a break for lunch in between. The day will end at 4pm with a Heron feed allowing you to photograph our wild heron colony before leaving before 5pm.

Each session will comprise of up to 3 different birds. Each bird will be set up in natural looking settings for portrait shots. Some of the birds will be available for some action/flying photography work. Some "bird on prey" opportunities will be on offer to photo too.

The birds on duty will be the sole discretion of the BWC to be decided on the day. However if time permits extra birds may be added to the roster.

The event will be held at the BWC Nature Reserve. Base camp will be the Field Study Centre situated in our extra parking space. This holds all facilities that will be needed, but you are advised to bring a packed lunch as no access to the main Centre will be allowed.

I am sure it will be a great day, with lots of photo opportunities for all who come. The trial day was a huge success with a fun laid back feel but everyone went away with the photos they wanted. I hope to replicate this on all our future "Raptor" days.

Below are a few photos from a couple of members who came on the trial day just to wet your appetite.

Andy Critchfield of hardpointphotography.com

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Andy Critchfield, hardpointphotography.com 

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor of seeing.org.uk

 Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk

Mike Taylor, seeing.org.uk