New Animal Keeper joins the team!

On behalf of us all at Seaview Wildlife Encounter this is a big welcome to Charlotte Goswell who joined the Animal Care Team today! Charlotte was born and raised on the Isle of Wight before going to the mainland to attend University. Having successfully completed a BSc in Environmental Science at Plymouth University in 2008, Charlotte went on to join the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth where she has been an Aquarist/Keeper for the past two years. Charlotte recently returned to the Island to live and was keen to further expand her experience in working with animals. She enjoys anything related to animals and the environment and in her spare time also enjoys music, outdoor activities and keeping fit. We’re confident Charlotte will enjoy the time ahead of her here at the Park!

Images of Charlotte earlier today – a first time experience feeding sprats to our three Pink-Backed Pelicans, Horace, Doris and Maurice.

Caterpillar Music special visit

After a busy few weeks of visiting schools across the Island, Tara and her team had time for just one more visit to the Caterpillar Music Group in Sandown.

Caterpillar Music is a fun and interactive way to encourage parents and their children to learn and communicate through music. With different themes, instruments and use of puppets it is enjoyed by many parents and children of all ages across the UK.

We were very kindly invited by the very enthusiastic and dedicated Maggie, event organiser on the Island, to join Caterpillar Music with some of our friends from the Park.

This week the theme was 'locomotion'. Therefore, in order to learn about the different ways in which various animals move, who better to demonstrate than our bouncing friend Mr Fluffy!

As you can see, Mr Fluffy is quite used to lots of attention and it seems he found himself some comfort amongst his young admirers....

It's a shame that our Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches weren't quite so well received!

And as for Priscilla, our Bearded Dragon, well the only thing she is concerned about is whether I have snapped her best side!

Although Priscilla and Fluffy didn't really feel like joining in on the music, Caterpillar Music is obviously very much enjoyed by young Children and Parents and we were privileged to be involved in this unique way of learning.

Priscilla, Mr Fluffy, Colin, Cassandra and of course Tara, will be taking a well deserved break from our Educational School Visits before the Park re-opens for the new season on Saturday 2nd April.

However, we will be taking bookings for Educational School Visits again at the end of the season, and if you would like any further information about our Educational activities please contact Tara directly on education@seaviewwildlife.com

Meanwhile we look forward to seeing you in the near future!

Sparrowhawk kill at the Park

These are images captured this morning of a Sparrowhawk at Seaview Wildlife Encounter outside one of our enclosures – having just brought down a Pigeon. As I approached, so did a flock of inquisitive Helmeted Guinea Fowl, but the Sparrowhawk held his ground and continued plucking at his Pigeon prey, occasionally opening up his wings to ward off the nosy intruders.

Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) are most often found in woodlands, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens across the UK (except parts of Scotland). In winter they’re seen in more open areas such as salt marshes adjacent to woodland. The ones we see around the Park are often flying fast and low in pursuit of prey (usually Pigeons) , or soaring high on rounded wings.

We’re not entirely sure but think this may be a male bird? Adult males have a slate grey back and white under-parts, closely barred with orange. Their grey tail has 4-5 dark bars. Females are larger, with brown upperparts, a white stripe over the eye and dark barring underneath. They look heavier than the males. Their broad, rounded wings and long tail are adapted for flying between trunks and branches enabling them to weave in and out of trees at high speed. They apparently never hover like kestrels.

Photos by Jules Brittan – General Manager, Seaview Wildlife Encounter

MEP Keith Taylor visits Seaview Wildlife today!

 

Keith Taylor is the Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England region.  He sits on the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN), the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the Committee on Petitions (PETI). He is a full member of the Parliamentary delegation to Afghanistan, and a substitute member of the Iran and Palestine delegations. Keith is also Vice President of the UK’s Local Government Association Group in the European Parliament – and a member of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights.

Keith was a Green Party councillor for St Peter’s & North Laine ward in Brighton and Hove for 11 years, having been elected in 1999. He served as leader of the Council’s Green group from 2001, and on the council planning committee for two years.

Keith worked for Green Party leader Dr Caroline Lucas MEP for five years as her Regional Liaison Officer, gaining a thorough knowledge of the South East region and developing regional economic policy – and has now recently taken over her place in the European Parliament.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

It was a real privilege to receive a call from Eloise Shavelar, Regional Liaison Officer for Hampshire & Isle of Wight, to arrange a visit to the Park for herself and Keith.  Other than discussing the Park’s green activities and commitment to eco-tourism there was just enough time for Keith and Eloise to have a quick stroll through some of the Park and of course to have an obligatory meeting with Dippy and his Penguin pals.  We struck a deal with Keith – he was welcome to have a cuddle with Dippy on the proviso that he’ll return later this year when it’s warmer. sunnier and the Park is at its summertime best!

FIRST WALLABY JOEY OF 2011!

Left – Image taken this morning of female Bennett’s Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) also known as a Red-Necked Wallaby – with Joey in pouch.

Despite the rainy weather this little Joey decided it was time to show its face for the camera this morning! Illusive as it was last week, there was no stopping the little fella today! I’ll wait for a sunny day for a better quality image, but I did promise that I’d share the first one taken! The Joey’s little bald head peeking out of its Mum’s pouch makes the Keepers think of a peanut – I have a feeling the name ‘peanut’ is destined to stick ….

As you probably know, female Bennett’s Wallabies often have three Joeys of different ages at any one time. They can have one that’s forming in the uterus (the size of a thumbnail); one that's a few weeks old and attached to a teat in the pouch (the size of a small mouse); and one that's about 9 or 10 months old, nearly weaned but hopping back into its Mum's pouch from time to time to suckle or when looking for reassurance. The female actually produces two different types of milk to accommodate the different dietary needs of the youngsters.

In the wild (in South Eastern Australia and Tasmania) females and their offspring only stay together for a month (although females may stay in the home range of their mothers for life while males leave at two years old). In captivity where they live in groups, that behaviour is obviously very different and a natural hierarchy occurs.

SPOT LIGHT ON PINK-BACKED PELICANS

 

We have three Pink-Backed Pelicans at the Park, two males and one female – Horace, Maurice and Doris!  We would love to source another female so there is a balanced ratio of males to females but this type of Pelican is hard to find surplus stocks of in the UK.  

Fun Facts:

Scientific name:  Pelecanus rufescens

Continent: Africa, Asia

Diet:  Fish, frogs, insects

Conservation status:  Least concern

Pink-Backed Pelicans have a wide distribution , ranging from central Africa to Arabia and the Island of Madagascar. They feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates, but their main diet is fish.

Normally found fishing in groups, they form a line around a shoal of fish and simultaneously plunge their heads into the water, this scares and confuses the fish giving the pelicans time to scoop up as many as possible in their huge pouch before resurfacing.

In spring and early summer the pelicans pair up and build a large nest of sticks, two or three eggs are laid and incubation takes around thirty days.  Pelican chicks are ravenous feeders, plunging their heads into the open bill of the parent bird and gulping down semi digested, regurgitated fish.

Although Pink-Backed Pelicans are currently not endangered, human disturbance and loss of habitat are a real threat to the future preservation of this species. 

Did you know?  A Pink-Backed Pelican can hold 8 litres of water in its pouch

Did you know?  Pink- Backs are one of the smallest of the eight species of Pelican.

Did you know?  Birds cannot sweat, in order for the Pink- Backed Pelican to cool down, it opens its beak and flaps the large pouch attached to the lower mandible.

DIPPY’S NEW FAN PAGE…..

Dippy is back on facebook after his two week absence with a new fan page.  Facebook were not very helpful and forthcoming so we had to set him up a new page.  Unfortunately, we have lost contact with many of Dippy’s old friends.  We would love it if those old friends could become new fans.