At long last the weather has settled down which has slowed the numbers of sea Birds being sent in.

With all the guava trees in fruit the Native Pigeons are having a ball, at least the weather is not hot which can turn the juices from the berries into alcohol and make the Pigeons drunk.

Medication for the Birds is very expensive, to give you some idea, the last Kiwi that was caught by a dog the medication bill was $250 just to stop infections setting in, all medication we have to pay for just like any vets have to.

I was talking to Sandy and Ian from Rainbows Relics who deal in Antiques and Collectables and they were shocked when I told them how much it costs to run the Centre each year.

Sandy decided to do something about it, on the 16th June 2018 from 10.00am till 2.00pm we will have Sparky our Kiwi on display at their shop at 49 Clyde Street.

This will be a good chance to see and touch a live Kiwi, to many it will be the first time.

If you want to know more about the day contact Sandy or Ian on 09.4383150, come along for a visit and help the Centre at the same time.

I was talking to a member of the Public who said with the announcement of new funds for the Department of Conservation I guess the Recovery Centre will be able to get some funds.

It would be nice if that’s was did happen but we don’t see any of this windfall.

The funds are for predator control only to help get rid of them and in turn should help our Native Birds.

The Recovery Centre still receives around 1300 Birds each year, it would be nice to have a visit from the Minister of Conservation to show just what we do in Northland for the Native Birds, I have invited other Ministers and top People from the Department in the past and told they would love to visit, sadly to date we have never seen anyone over the past 25 years.

They must think we are just a small group looking after a few Birds, each year we reach thousands of people Educating them about Native Birds.

When dropping of a Bird at our Centre please leave a contact number so we can get back to you about the Bird, it’s important that every Bird goes back to where it came from, you can even text me a message on 0276750564, this is handy for after hours.

Robert and Robyn Webb.