I had a pretty full day today, starting first thing and working through ‘til there wasn’t enough light to work by. Wanting to get as many of the aviaries kitted out with perches and nestboxes before the Scottish Owl Centre opens to the public I have to make the most of every minute.
I focused on the Rainforest Realm aviaries once again, continuing the work I was doing yesterday with volunteer helper Stuart. By the end of the day I had the whole section fitted with new perches and had a nestbox in for the Ferruginous Pygmy Owls. The perching in their aviary took quite a good portion of my day considering they are one of the smallest owls in the world! I wanted to make sure their aviary was the best I could make it, with lots of good places to sit; high, low, at the front, at the back, next to the nestbox… I really enjoyed myself today, getting quite carried away and losing track of time. I probably spent more time in the Pygmy Owl pen than in any of the others; the Black-banded Owls, Brown Wood Owls, Southern Boobook Owls, Tawny Frogmouth and African Wood Owls. Working away in these aviaries I noticed the temperature difference with the roof almost completed. I was wearing a short sleeved shirt without fleece today! This hopefully shows that the idea of a tropical zone for the owls will work once the building work is complete.
I still need nestboxes for most of these aviaries but I feel happy with the perching in this important and unique feature of the new Centre. These perches are kind of the ‘bare bones’ of what the aviaries will become once finished. There is still planting to be done, irrigation pipes to be fitted, and wood chippings on the floors. Once finished these aviaries will look fantastic!
There are plenty of other aviaries waiting for perches once I’m done in the Rainforest Realm of course. Our delayed trees and other plants were delivered this afternoon and this means that the ground work contractors will be wanting to get into the Long-eared Owl aviary to plant the conifer and birch trees. I will start my day by catching the owls up and taking them in boxes to somewhere safe and quiet.
By the end of today the work around the site made it look quite possible to be ready for the zoo inspection and opening to the public shortly after the inspection. The paths are almost finished and the major construction work is almost completed now. The final benches for the indoor flying display arena will be finished on Monday too. Today the information boards for the Education Zone were fitted, with just a few more to go up and some seating to be added. This area is beginning to show itself as a good focal point for the owl centre.
So, it’s all go go go!
I think I’d better go go go to bed so I can be up and out early in the morning again, a lot more work to do!
‘Til tomorrow then, goodnight!
