On Friday 6th June we arrived at The Lodge - it was a beautiful day:
On arriving in the reception area we met Mike, Mrs T and Maurice Tse-Laurence - once we were signed in we headed for a quiet spot in the garden to chat about the Community and some of the problems. The excellent Mrs T (Claire) had come equipped with a note pad and pen (thankfully, as we hadn't) and we put some of our points and questions to Claire and Maurice:
We learned one thing affecting the site speed considerably is at certain times of day the site sends out news to people who have subscribed to that service - the chances are that when the site slows right down it is trying to cope with running the Community and sending out news at the same time.
The Community is, to a degree, a victim of its own success - when it was first started the RSPB genuinely had no inkling of how many people would take to it, and the reality took them by surprise. They were delighted at the level of success but have struggled to keep up with the sheer amount of information to appear. We suggested they needed to make more use of the Community as we think it is a perfect way to show off the RSPB and its work.
We discussed archiving as a way to potentially create more space for newer posts and photos - Mike commented that Rutland Water had successfully done this with its older blogs - the main concern was how much to archive, and where to put the archived material. It was also suggested that past post of users who no longer post on the Community might be archived. We also expressed a wish that the archived material should be accessible in some way. Claire and Maurice said they would look into this.
We brought up the recent survey which appeared on the Technical Difficulties thread - happily, Maurice had already tweaked this so you can tell it what problem is being experienced. We have personally found it useful.
Glitches like posts and threads disappearing and reappearing, missing reply buttons, rich formatting and error messages are all being looked into - we are awaiting a response.
As to communication levels - the problem is that there aren't too many people at the head office to regularly post on the threads, which leaves teams like IT having to choose between sorting the problems or talking to us.
We also brought up the subject of Good Egg Awards - Claire and Maurice couldn't think of any good reason these had been stopped and they both felt that special posts should be recognised. We look forward to hearing to a response on that one.
Finally we raised the dreaded question of whether the Community will continue to exist as part of the RSPB's website. The impression we were given was that both Claire and Maurice were in favour of the Community continuing but we were not given a definite yes or no answer. I think it's possible that this is being discussed at a higher level.
At this point I would like to give our sincere thanks to Claire and Maurice for making time to meet us all to discuss our points - they are clearly very busy so it was very much appreciated by the three of us! We would also like to congratulate Claire on her well-deserved promotion. Clare (my wife) and I would also like to thank Mike for joining us - he actually stayed overnight in the area so he could accompany us. His input was most valuable and very appreciated.
We will follow this up in the future as and when more answers appear.
We did take a while to have a quick look at this very beautiful reserve - poor Limpy was tired out by then and needed a lift:
"Birds are, quite simply, little miracles - and as such they require care and consideration."
Magnus Ullman
My Flickr account is here
I have been told by members of my RSPB Local Group that quite a while ago back in the 1980's long before I joined the Local Group, that the Group had a 7 day Birdwatching holiday in that area and on one of the days was a trip to The Lodge and the Local Group members that went on that holiday also where privaledged to have a guided tour of the house,despite the visit been on a midweek day and Staff in the house at work. Normally the guided tours take place on a Sunday on 1 day a year when the staff arn't working.
Regards,
Ian.
You should have taken Richard from Loch Garten and he may have been able to discuss this as well. The RSPB actually submitting a planning application to site a Turbine and at the other end of the country protesting against them.
WIND TURBINE AT THE LODGE
Just like to add my voice to the voices of others to say thank you to Clare, Limpy, Mike, Claire and Maurice for taking the time and trouble to meet and to chat about the Community. Clare, I can't think of anything you missed, but I hope if someone comes up with something you have not covered that you (and/or others!) might have another meeting at some point in the future! Yes, I hope the Community continues--it has provided me with new friends, gorgeous photos of wonderful birds and other wildlife, lots of fascinating information, suggestions of places to go to see various critters, news of environmental events (some welcome and some not so good!) and many very welcome giggles, laughs and outright guffaws. Thanks to Everyone, and long may it continue!
Kind regards, Ann
Outstanding !!! So much appreciated CLARE - LIMPY - and MIKE - so very much indeed. It would be more than sad if we couldn't communicate with each other via the threads and PMs :( The interaction between us whilst we are watching is so very special. I'd miss so very many of you - we'd have to swop phone numbers. How many would be willing - anyway, how could that work ''Did you see Odin bring in that whopper?''. ''When? '' ''Just now of course! '' Oh, never mind'' ...... Just wouldn't work would it , sigh.
Unknown said:You should have taken Richard from Loch Garten and he may have been able to discuss this as well.
Both Clare and I agree that the Flows is the wrong place for wind turbines.
Thanks all for taking the time to discuss the community issues and for reporting on them. Fingers crossed for the future of this community.
Tiger's Osprey News
I would have loved to collect Richard from LG - I haven't seen the place for more than a year!
Seriously, though, I just hope that we asked the right questions and made a good impression. I think whoever had the idea to start this Community was an absolute genius.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Many thanmks to Clare Limpy and Mike for giving their time to solve some of the problems people are experiencing. Thanks also to the "other" Clair and Maurice for their time also! Much appreciated. I hope the community will continue!
Thanks to Claire,Limpy & Mike, I hope the community will continue.
J
Thanks very much to you three for doing this, and I hope the trip was enjoyable.
I may be a minority of one but I would actually argue against reinstatement of the Good Egg awards. Not wanting to take anything away from the awardees, but I don't think any scheme that could be seen to be putting one person above another is a great idea in this sort of community (and I have one so I can't be accused of 'sour grapes' in saying this!).
We were told that the badges being displayed again was a blip/error and they would disappear, but they haven't. The explanation for them is buried pretty deep in the site, and newbies don't know what they are for - I've had people address me as 'Good Egg' rather than 'aiki' for example.
I think that awarding the Good Egg for one post is actually slightly preferable to the original scheme but to me the facility to 'like' posts is a much better and fairer way for the community to recognise good contributions (though posters should not be able to 'like' their own posts!)
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/