Sybil the Stoat

A little over a week ago we had a young baby stoat brought in to the Centre. It was found lying next to it's dead mother, who had sadly been hit on the road. We therefore decided to take it in and rear it to give it a chance of a happy, healthy life.

Izzy took on the role of stoat mum, and has been doing a great job at rearing little "Sybil". Sybil has been growing quickly, and is becoming very friendly too... when she is old enough to fend for herself she will take up permanent residence in our Hedgerow stoat display, giving her a large enclosure both inside and out to explore and still allowing us to sit in with her and play.

Stoats are one of my favourite British mammals. They are a ferocious predator for their size and capable of taking on a fully grown rabbit. They are not wasteful either, once eating the rabbit they often use the fur as bedding before moving on.

They sometimes display a hypnotic dance in front of a rabbit before catching it, whether this really does help or is just a display is unsure, and in most cases its pure stamina, strength and cunning which allows the stoat to catch something nearly ten times it's own weight!

I will let you all know when Sybil is out on display, but until then you may be lucky enough to see her out and about around the Centre with Izzy.

BWC Keepers

9th of May

Many people come up to me and say what a fantastic job I must have, and it is true... I do... I love my job, but it is much more than a job to me, it is a lifestyle! I live, sleep, breath British wildlife and the BWC and I hope my passion and obsession comes across through my work.

I have made a lot of changes in my four years of being head keeper, and I have many more ideas and plans to put into motion in the future... but everything I do, and the Centre does, couldn't be done with out the help of my excellent keeping team.

My keepers are brilliant, the best, a fantastic team that work so well together, are a pleasure for me to work with and always go far and beyond what is expected of them for the good of the Centre and British wildlife.

Next Wednesday

Izzy has been here the longest full time, and despite her occasional mood swings and temper tantrums she is a joy to have around. Lover of all wildlife, Hares are a distinct favourite followed by foxes. Izzy really is great at her job, and fantastic at what she does. I also have the pleasure of her being the best girlfriend in the world.

Wednesday the 9th

Richard has been here what seems like forever. A shy and retiring individual, I think working here is helping him to build his confidence and come out of himself a bit. Wildcats are a favourite, but it is the Pine Marten that is his true love. Richard is brilliant at his job, and inspiring to have around for both the public and the rest of the team.

May the 9th

Katie has worked here on and off since before I was here. She is amazing at working with all animals, but tends to prefer the more furry as opposed to feathery animals we have. However despite this she has remarkable skills in rearing and training the owls. She is stupendous at working here, always has a smile on her face and really brings great value to the team.

Wednesday the 9th, next Wednesday

Leonie has only been here for a year, but has already shown great skill and excelled herself in the work she does. Always thinking things through before taking on a task, the results really do speak for themselves. Difficult to pry her away from the Wildcats sometimes, but when you do she is very keen and eager to learn new things.

9th, 9TH, Next Wednesday the 9th of May

Tom is our new boy, having only been here since the end of last Summer. Another keeper who has picked things up extremely quickly. Although sometimes rushing through the day, he still manages to get everything done to a very high standard and his results speak for themselves. Not really a people person but his confidence is growing. He is also arguably the best brother in the world!

9th of May

So to my keepers... thank you for being so brilliant, you really do make my Britain Great! (too cheesy?)

Oh, by the way team... You might not of heard, but it is my birthday next week. It's on Wednesday the 9th of May! You don't have to go to any trouble over it, but just thought I would remind you. Being as amazing as you are I am sure you were already aware.

;-)

The Tawny Owl

The tawny owl is Britain's largest breeding owl, discounting the European eagle owl, one of the most common resident owls and arguably the most famous due to folklore, myth and stories.

We have always had tawny owls on display, and after starting our flying team two years ago they quickly became a huge success and very popular with visitors. Following on from this we launched our "Owl Photo Days" which almost sell out before we announce them... despite having long-eared owls, short-eared owls and little owls on offer it still seems to be the tawny owls that steal the show.

Therefore many of you will be pleased to hear we have some new tawny owls hopefully arriving at the Centre later this year. We hope to add to our flying team with another pair, which we can also use for photo days to give Aluco the occasional break. And wouldn't it be nice to breed these owls here? Well hopefully we can establish a breeding pair too.

So why am I saying this now? Well... I have had to delay the news on our exciting new research project, due to bad weather, hopefully I can tell you about that next week. And while walking through our woodlands this week our lovely Liza in the office spotted a wild tawny owl chick.

Our ancient bluebell woodland, currently in all its glory, has been home to wild tawnies for as long as I have been here... but I have never before seen the chicks they have reared. On three consecutive days now, Liza has stumbled across one of the chicks while it was "branching out", this is the stage where they start to try and find their wings. Often falling to the ground and having to climb back up the tree again.

Today Liza took me with her to see if we could chance our luck again, and sure enough the chick was their again about 12 foot up a tree covered in climbers.

I love British wildlife, and am very lucky to see and work with many British animals everyday... but as I have said to many people many times, nothing beats seeing it for "real" in the wild! I get a real buzz from it, even still today and even having seen wild owl chicks several times before.

Our wild sighting is great news for our reserve... breeding top predators means a good ecosystem, good prey base and thriving habitat. Our conservation work is obviously paying off and hopefully this will continue with the extra 10 acre expansion we are currently doing.