Cumbria & North Yorkshire news
Squirrel abseil! August 2010
 During red squirrel week (2nd-10th October for your diaries) a brave bunch will be abseiling off the roof of Carlisle Civic Centre, standing at 41 metres (135ft) down 11 floors in support of local charities. To get involved - to do the abseil, sponsor someone or for further information - give us a call at 01228 829 510. We have sponsorship forms available upon request and you will need to raise a £30 registration fee for the business running the abseil and we ask that you do your best to raise £100 in sponsorship, so get started!
Once you have registered on the website (www.eightpointtwo.co.uk), nominated Save our Squirrels as your chosen charity and raised the sponsorship, all you need is to rock on up on 3rd October and take the leap! It'll be a fantastic experience and you're guaranteed to have an amazing day!
Hadrian's wall mosaic madness! August 2010
 Save our Squirrels Cumbria will be embarking on a journey in support of red squirrels. On September 25th, Charlotte, Ed and Ash will be hitting the road to walk from Carlisle to Burgh-by-Sands to raise the profile of red squirrels in the north of England. Setting off from Carlise Castle at 10am, the walk will be about 7.6 miles and all proceeds go towards practical conservation work foir red squirrels in the north of England .
Prior to the event and on the day, you will have the chance to show your support by donating to the project and getting your hands on some raffle tickets to acquire the most Roman of prizes - a hand-made, eco-friendly, recycled red squirrel mosaic! Lovingly made by the Save our Squirrels team, this piece of artwork will be the envy of your friends and be an excellent way to show your support for red squirrels in the county.
If you wish to donate to the cause, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/squirreladventurers and get our totaliser to the top! Alternatively, if you fancy a bit of fresh air, you're certainly welcome to join us! We're all very friendly and we promise not to talk your ear off about squirrels (unless that's what you want!). Sponsorship forms are available from the SoS office or my clicking here. The walk isn't expected to take more than a few hours, depending on walkers' speed, so get involved and have a great day out too!
Alien Invasion BBQ! July 2010
Tackle the issue of invasive non-native species in a whole new way! Food and wildlife is a theme for this event, so there will be organic produce, a chance to plant your own food, live music from Modern Folk band, Stooshie, refreshments, wild food taster stall, a Virtual Riverside Experience, non native games, facepainting and of course a BBQ of non native species! There will be vegetarian alternatives too, so all will be catered for at this unusual and fun day out. Dogs on leads are welcome.
Please don't try this at home! Invasive non-native species are a real problem for our wildlife and many have legal restrictions on moving them around, so please leave it to us. Come along on the day to find out how you can help legally!
Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for under 16's. Family tickets £18 for 2 adults and 2 children. Ticket price includes your BBQ choice, a drink, a cake, live music, 3 activity vouchers and free parking. Additional activities may incur a small charge, but many are free. Money raised goes to Save our Squirrels for red squirrel conservation. Early booking recommended - call Chris Westerback on 0191 284 6884 for your tickets or buy on the day at the gate."
Fun and Games at Dodd Wood June 2010
 Last Saturday at Dodd Wood near Whinlatter, the SOS team welcomed visitors in the area as representatives of the red squirrel. We supplied everyone with fluffy squirrel toys, badges and stationery as well as helping people to assemble squirrel feeders for use in Dodd Wood and Whinlatter when the existing feeders need replacing. Those who helped to put one together inscribed their names on the feeders, preserving their contributions for posterity. If you want a squirrel feeder as testament to your support, keep an eye out for future SOS events!
For the kids, there were colouring-in activities and the opportunity to make squirrel masks and for the more mature audience there was a devilishly difficult squirrel quiz! Congratulations to everyone who had a bash at this - you did better than expected! We must think about some more impossible questions to set you next time.
The day was all part of the BBC's Springwatch Wild Day Out. Everybody had a fab time and it was wonderful to see so many people lending their support to Save Our Squirrels at a time when red squirrels are under increasingly great threat. We enjoyed ourselves and we are looking forward to our next event already!
SOS will be giving an account of themselves at Dalemain Garden Festival on Sunday 27th June by giving a talk on red squirrels, ranging over general information and specific reference to threats and conservation. Come by to find out what YOU can do to preserve this species. All are welcome.
Two new staff members for SOS in Cumbria May 2010
 Two new members of staff have joined Save Our Squirrels in Cumbria! From May two new Community Engagement Assistants have been working with People & Wildlife Officer Charlotte Widgery to further expand the success of the project across the county. Edmund and Ashleigh will be building on the day-to-day roles of the PAW officer to increase the range and concentration of the Save Our Squirrels project and coming up with some innovative ways to promote awareness and raise funding for Save Our Squirrels.
A particular advantage to having the new appointees is to have greater versatility to deliver talks and organise events, which would previously have been under great pressure to staff effectively. Two new CEAs have the potential to triple the productivity of the community engagement portion of the project and they will be firing on all cylinders to achieve this ambitious goal, which will have repercussions on the conservation element through greater awareness, more reported sightings and the availability of funding from a balanced variety of sources.
Edmund Shepherd, one of the new Community Engagement Assistants, had this to say on his new appointment.
 "I didn't have a conservation background before joining the team, but I saw the opportunity and it struck me as a role with a huge amount of potential for someone willing to be enthusiastic and proactive, which I always have seen as desirable attributes. I have never been terribly career-minded, having a variety of experience spanning catering, zoo-work and teaching, but I do know that I value a challenge and this environment is particularly conducive to that quality. I am looking forward to building on my pre-existing talents and developing further those I have picked up since starting here. And I've learned more about squirrels than I ever thought I would!"
The team is very excited about the new additions and we have high expectations of the added value their introduction will bring.
Steamboats and Squirrels
For the second year in a row Cumbrian based company, Ullswater Steamers, have kindly lent us one of their beautiful steamboats for a day of special cruises to raise money for SoS. Visitors were treated to an hour’s boat ride around Wordsworth’s favourite lake, Ullswater, with an on board red squirrel talk. They then had exclusive access to the activity tent, where crafts, games and refreshments were laid on.
There was an extra dimension to the day too, as the local volunteer group, Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group, also had a stall with all sorts of goodies. Ullswater Steamers’ very own Sammy squirrel also paid us a visit; waving off the boat and posing with his fans for a photograph! A great day was had by all and some lovely money was raised to help the cause, too.
Don’t forget you still have time to enter Ullswater Steamers photograph competition. Closing date 31st August 2009 - extended. You now have until November 14th 09. £1 per entry with money raised coming back to SoS!
Photo competition launched "Boots and Boats"
February 2009
Get snapping this year and enter our new photography competition
Following last year's successful photography competition, 'Ullswater Through the Seasons', Ullswater Steamers, in partnership with Save Our Squirrels, have launched another photo competition: Boots & Boats. The subject can be anything from landscape to fauna, squirrels to steamers and anyone can enter. There are three age group categories with top prizes for the winner from each: under 12 years, 12 - 18 years, over 18 years. Closing date for entries is 31 August 2009. Download a competition entry form and get going! Visit the archive news pages to see last year's winning photographs.
Local organisations donate £36,000
Two local organisations, Tourism and Conservation Partnership (T&CP) and Furness Building Society have given a generous £36,000 to Save Our Squirrels. A presentation ceremony on the 27 April saw Sue Savege, Director T&CP and Rob Cairns, chief executive of the Furness Building Society, presented cheques to Lord Inglewood, patron of Save our Squirrels. These funds will go towards designated red squirrel reserves and their 5km buffer zones, the control of grey squirrels, supporting volunteer surveyors and increasing the awareness of the plight of the reds amongst local schools and the wider community.
Sue Savege said: "The Tourism and Conservation Partnership and its members have raised over £19,200 this year and, since 2000, we have raised in excess of £96,000 for this iconic woodland mammal. It is incredibly heartening to see how much people value endangered creatures, like the red squirrel, and how much they are prepared to give to ensure their survival. So many of our members tells us how much visitors enjoy seeing red squirrels; we hope that the inspiring efforts of all concerned will give future generations the opportunity to see this increasingly rare creature."
Charlotte Widgery, People and Wildlife Officer for Save Our Squirrels, said: "The ongoing support of local businesses and their customers is very heartening and we would like to say a huge thank you to them. The money raised is a significant amount and will make a valuable addition to the work we do in Cumbria and will allow the project to continue on into the future."
Find out about opening an account with Furness Building Society and raising money for red squirrels.
Squirrelcams at Whinlatter flagship red squirrel reserve! October 2008
Twelve children from St. Herberts Primary School, Keswick, arrived at our Cumbrian flagship reserve, on 10 October 2008 to do the official 'switch on' of the new squirrel cameras that have been installed. These cameras are in a secret location in the forest, so that no-one disturbs the red squirrels as they sit at the feeders. These images are then beamed back live into the visitor centre, where members of the public can watch their every move! There's a fair bit of competition, though, as the local bird population has also noticed the new feeders! Whinlatter's red squirrels have to get their fast, before the greedy chaffinches and great tits eat the lot!
All this would not be possible without the help of Studsvik UK, who have kindly paid for the upgrade of this camera system, so that we can all enjoy top quality, fast images of our favourite animal! A huge thank you from us all at Save Our Squirrels goes to Studsvik!
Keep scrolling down for more video footage!
Please note: Occasionally, due to the remote location of the equipment, an image may not be uploaded on time. Don't forget that it gets dark here from about 7.30pm (GMT), so if you log on after that you'll just see black screens until the morning - its not a fault!
|
Squirrelcam - What am I looking at?
Hopefully you'll be seeing red squirrels, however, there other visitors to the squirrel feeder. The birds you will probably see here are;
Chaffinches (pink coloured)
Blue tits ( Yellow front, blue "cap" on head)
Great tits (Yellow front, black "cap" on head)
|
Due to the remote nature of the camera installation the movie updates roughly every 40 minutes (daylight hours).
Check the clock time, top left of the screen, for when the movie was grabbed.
If a banner is showing loading or the movie doesn't show almost instantly
then a new movie is being uploaded.
Please check back in 10 minutes time
As with the 'still image' web cameras, the installation is fragile and relies on satellites and quite a bit of damp string.
As always we are working on solutions to improve the update rate and reliability.
|
