GATCOMBE AND CHILLERTON SCARECROW FESTIVAL MAY 25TH – 2ND JUNE

Make a date in your diary to visit the Gatcombe & Chillerton Scarecrow Festival from Saturday May 25th to Sunday June 2nd 2013.  A fantastic array of scarecrows scattered around the village and local community for all to see!

http://www.gatcombeandchillertonscarecrows.co.uk/

Where is it?


Throughout the villages of Gatcombe and Chillerton

Which Way? There will be signposts throughout the parish, to point you in the right direction, however, a suggested starting point would be Cox’s Corner PO30 3EE on your sat nav, then turn up Rectory Lane, towards Gatcombe. Then back down onto the main Newport to Chillerton Road, turn right and head for Chillerton.

It’s FREE! Yes, the best part is that it is totally free, so come along and bring all the family, and spend an hour or two enjoying the spectacle.

Surprise Surprise!

Forty one year old Steven Gregory was given the surprise of his life when he arrived at the Park to be told he was going to be a ‘Keeper for the Day’ here at Seaview!

His girlfriend Mandy had booked the experience without Steven having an inkling of what was going on!

After his action packed day of meeting Skipper, Horace and Moris and Roo, he kindly wrote a little message to Dippy on his face book page,

https://www.facebook.com/DippySeaview ,  which read as follows…

“It was a pleasure to meet you again Dippy, thank you for a wonderful time and sharing my birthday with me. What a great day and experience with you and all the team”.

Double Trouble!

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming 12 year old cousins Frazer Colewell and Daniel Quarrington from Portsmouth to join the Keepers for a “Keeper for a Day” experience!

The boys regulary visit the Park with their family each year and didn’t want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see what really goes on behind the scenes here at the Park.

Frazer who is a Parrot lover and Daniel who loves Penguins were given the chance to meet all our adorable Penguin chicks, even one that was hatching,our little orphaned Joey and seemed to make particular friends with our two rebellious Rats, Rizzo and Templeton!

It looks like Daniel’s sister will joining us as soon as she turns twelve next year too!

WINNER OF OUR ‘ NAME THE BABY BEARDED DRAGON COMPETITION’

Congratulations to Jackie  of Surrey  who’s entry we chose as the winner in our Name the Baby Bearded Dragon Competition…
‘PUFF’ is the winning name…….  Jackie’s comments below on receiving news of her win!


Hi Lorraine
OMG! Thank you so very much. I cant wait to come back to see you this year, even my husband is excited about the prospect of seeing Dippy (my favourite), the Wallabys and Meerkats again and of course meeting Puff. You have made my day.
Thank you again
Jackie

We look forward to welcoming you Jackie and your family to the Park in the summer – thank you for entering our competition….. Team Seaview & Dippyx

Junior Wildlife Experience!

Alysha joined us for junior wildlife experience today. Alysha loves all animals but her absolute favourite are the wallabies! Alysha also donated her Giant New Zealand Rabbit; Fluffy to us a good few years ago, so they had a lovely reunion with lots of cuddles and strokes.

TOP REASONS TO VISIT SUPER SPECIAL SEAVIEW…….

SUPER SPECIAL SEAVIEW ….. Getting mobbed by wallabies and meerkats might send some people running but animal enthusiasts will be in seventh heaven, in absolute style getting up- close and personal to a diverse collection of exotic creatures that definitely have the X- factor!
This hidden gem located on the NE coast of the Isle Of Wight really stands out from the crowd! With the most stunning far reaching views across the Solent waters and show cased in a natural parkland setting this is one of the most beautiful locations on the Island – an amazing site overlooking the sea.
The Park hosts a daily programme of nine interactive hands–on wildlife events for all park visitors led by a dynamic keeper team that offer a warm, friendly, welcoming atmosphere .




Leading the way with interactive wildlife experiences for all ages one-to-one encounters don’t deliver much better than this. A truly special environment has been created where guests can book ‘behind the scenes’ exclusive V.I.P. bespoke packages for any occasion, be it a first date, honeymoon, anniversary or birthday the wonderful element of these experiences is that they are personally guided by an experienced keeper team where the focus is always on involvement. The ‘keeper for a day’ package is a fantastic opportunity to be given a true feeling of what it’s like behind the scenes at Seaview or the Junior Wildlife Experience created for younger guests aged 6-15 years inclusive enables little animal lovers to experience a ‘mini wildlife adventure’ learning all about the Parks fabulous wildlife and how to care for them.


Meerkat Madness introduces visitors to the mischievous meerkat gang and the Penguin Encounter gives a fascinating overview of the Humboldt Penguin colony viewing their natural behaviours with information given on where they originate from and why they are threatened in the wild. Visitors will have the ‘extra special’ chance to meet the famous celebrity penguin ‘ Dippy’ – the first real penguin launched onto facebook! There is also the opportunity to book a ‘Combo Encounter’ having exclusive time with both the Penguins and Meerkats!


The ‘Wildest Place For A Special Date’ is the ultimate experience for couples looking for something a little different with a wildlife twist! A personalised tour focussing on close-up time with all the favourite characters at the Park accompanied by a luxury 5 star champagne lunch on the patio area with breathtaking sea views.


This truly is a magical day out for all ages, so don’t leave the best until last and definitely don’t leave the Island without visiting this exclusive wildlife getaway!
http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/wildlife_encounters/

Fun in the sun!

Here are some lovely photos of our Ring Necked Parakeets enjoying stripping and chewing some tasty willow branches.

LETTER OF THE WEEK–TO ALL THE FANTASTIC STAFF AT SEAVIEW WILDLIFE

TO ALL THE FANTASTIC STAFF AT SEAVIEW WILDLIFE ENCOUNTER
Thank you so much for a fab birthday party for my son Reece!  Despite the weather, all loved it and everyone was so kind in trying to raise our spirits around the Park!  We had lovely food and a wonderful cake too!
Can’t wait to come back in the summer – thank you again Kelly Wetherick


Dear everyone at Seaview Wildlife Encounter
Thank you for my wonderful party on the 13th April!  One of my best parts was finding out about adopting Mr Fluffy the rabbit.  I was very excited about this.  I loved the penguins at the pool but my hands smelt very fishey afterwards, it was OK though!

Thank you for the lovely food, cake and party bags.  I would like to come again in the summer because on my party day it was raining but we still had lots of fun!

Thank you,  everyone was so nice to us …. from Reece Wetherick

Keeper For The Day!

On Sunday 21st Chris Berners spent the day helping out the keepers. Chris comes to the park with his family and loves all the animals, especially the Wallabies and Penguins. Hopefully we will see you and you’re family again soon Chris!

June and Kim's Meerkat Encounter!

Yesterday we welcomed June Booker and Kim Pickett for fun with our Meerkats. Both mother and Daughter love all animals and as a Mothers day present decided to come down from London for a fabulous time with our Meerkats. It turns out are Meerkats are a little nosey too, rummaging though Junes bag.

Madness with the Meerkats!

What a beautiful day for John Brown  to join our clan of Meerkats for an Encounter as a birthday present from his family. He really enjoyed feeding and getting up close to our furry little friends.

Turkey Time!

Look what our keepers have discovered! One of our Turkeys has made a perfect little nest in a small dog house that we use as shelter for our rabbits outdoor enclosure, and she is happily sitting  keeping her eggs nice and warm. Who knows hopefully we will have some little Chicks/Poults running around the park within the next month or so!

Name our new Bearded Dragon!

Meet our latest addition to the park- a gorgeous baby Beardie! The tiny bearded dragon has just joined our reptile collection this week.

In the photo below you can see just how small he is compared to fully grown adult dragon Priscilla!







As a new arrival, the Bearded Dragon has not got a name yet- and this is where you come in!
Can you think of a suitable name for the beautiful little dragon?

Because of it’s size and age it is not possible yet to tell whether it is male or female, so we are looking for a name to suit both genders!

Bearded dragons are found in the wild in Australia, so get your thinking caps on to come up with an awesome Ozzy name!


Whoever puts forward the chosen name will win a Family Day Pass for four people!


Please email entries to
info@seaviewwildlife.com  by Saturday 27th April 2013.
The winner will be announced soon afterwards!

Don’t forget to give your name, phone number and address!

Good Luck!

What a Beautiful day for a Penguin Encounter!

It finally feels like Spring is in the air, the perfect day to enjoy a Penguin Encounter and that’s just what Laura Green and Sophie Ross did!

Having not visited the Park before the ladies fancied treating themselves to something special. This was a particularly unique experience as for the first time this year our Penguin Encounters got to meet our newly hatched Penguin chicks too!

Don’t forget to visit Dippy’s facebook page for the latest update on our adorable Penguin Chicks!

https://www.facebook.com/DippySeaview

Seaview Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013!

Every year we run a competition here at the park to see who can capture the best photos!
The photographic opportunities at Seaview Wildlife Encounter are superb – and all within an unspoilt, natural environment.
Most of the Park's enclosures have "camera flaps" - these allow for unhindered photographic images - with no fencing or boundaries in the way!

This week we were sent some incredible images from 15 year old Joe Turner, as his entries for the competition. Joe managed to capture some amazing shots of our ducks and Barnacle Geese in flight!




If you are interested in entering the competition you can find details on our website:

http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/photography_competition/

The theme for this year is “Animals in action” – images can show Park animals on their own, in groups or interacting with a Keeper or visitor – as long as they are action-orientated!

We look forward to seeing your entries!

Luna the Home wrecker

Its a very exciting time here for our Humboldt Penguins, we currently have 18 penguin eggs ready to hatch. Luna one of our male Penguins has started an affair with Biscuit one of our breeding females. Luna is the Penguin pictured with one red tag on both of his flippers.
He sneaks into the cave when Squirt, Biscuits partner is elsewhere, struts his stuff and does the naughty! We have nicknamed him Luna the Home Wrecker! Poor old Squirt is none the wiser, Biscuit and Squirt have two eggs and hopefully will have two healthy chicks very soon.


We will keep you updated on the latest gossip on this Penguin affair, what a naughty boy you have been Luna!

Samual Wilkins’ combo Encounters!

Thirteen year old Samual Wilkins enjoyed not only a special Penguin Encounter but also a Meerkat one too!

     

This unique gift was given to Samual as a joint Christmas and birthday treat from his Parents.

Although Penguin enthusiast Samual obviously enjoyed the attention he received from Skipper, one of our friendly Humboldt Penguins, he also caused quite an impression on our inquisitive Meerkats …..well his boots did by the look of things!