SAD NEWS RE PATILY- MISS PATRICIA SELMAN

Very sad to read this news, I remember Patily from many years back when there was a 'forumates' meet up in Regents Park where, despite her health problems, she was such a cheerful & interesting lady, am sure TJ, Clare & others will also remember her!

I was so very sad to hear from Mike last night that Patily had slipped peacefully away on Saturday.  Her love and passion for osprey shone through in her posts here on the Forum.  She was one of the original Early Morning folk and did her rounds of the nests.  Despite her disabilities she still managed to snip pics from the cams and type the updates.

I well remember meeting her, along with Mike, at Rutland on 22 June 2018.  Her carers were so lovely with her, and Paul Stammers was wonderful at organising transport down to the hide and a picnic afterwards.  A lot of manpower was needed to get the telescope in the right position for Patily to be able to see the nest, but it was successful!  She looked so delighted to see the osprey in the feather.  I think she went on to Dyfi either as part of that trip or on another one and probably got to Glaslyn, possibly other public nests.  She was quite a determined lady.  Patily wrote of her day, and Mike and I posted a few pics on the Forum, here.

Patily will be much missed by us all.

MaryGK's memorial card:

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SheilaFE said:

I well remember meeting her, along with Mike, at Rutland on 22 June 2018.

SheilaFE said:

Patily wrote of her day, and Mike and I posted a few pics on the Forum, here.

As the link is giving "Page not found", I've managed to find the page and hope this is it...

But just in case this site is broken, here's a C&P:

patily wrote the following post on 24 Jun 2018 at 12:34 AM:

My visit to Rutland yesterday was perfect in every way. Absolutely glorious weather from start to finish; a slight breeze and gorgeous blue skies without a cloud in them. I had been emailing Anya last week and as my 3 friends and I arrived, she and Paul came out of the office to greet us. Paul guided us to the big window and he talking to us, when he said, "Isn't that right Mr Simmonds?" and with that Mike, his wife and Sheila stood up to welcome me. To say I was overjoyed is putting it mildly.Paul was very good and more or less stayed with us for the whole visit. After chatting with Mike and co for a while, they wandered down to Waderscrape and we followed shortly afterwards, with Paul taking us along the top path. This was a bit bumpy in places, but a lovely walk with Meadow Brown butterflies flitting about and many small birds flying across the path and a constant cloud of midges  Paul also pointed out some Common Spot Orchids

When we eventually got to the hide, it was pretty busy with volunteers talking to visitors and pointing out the ospreys and other wildlife. Because of all the chatter, nobody noticed 33 deliver a fish to the nest. We were able to watch the feed, whilst 33 sat on the pole to the left of the nest. I would have liked to see the chicks helicoptering which Paul said they have been doing I think they were too stuffed, and perhaps too warm. A little later 33 and Maya took off and by the chicks hunkering down in the nest, it was clear there were intruders...2 in fact. Some people went out of the hide to take a look and indeed there were 4 ospreys flying around. Even though I had my binoculars with me, I asked at one point if there was any chance of seeing the birds through one of the telescopes. A really nice, patient volunteer whose name, sadly, I wasn't given, did his best to accomadate this request, but it looked as if this wasn't to be. Mike suggested that there must be a way and with a little jiggery-pokey between Mike and the voluunteer, I was able to watch the family. We were also able to see some ducks in front of the hide, including a pair of tufted ducks. Every now and again there was a call of, "water vole" and you could see one briefly. I think the last we saw of it, to everybody's amusement, one of the tufted ducks nipped it on its rear and it swam rapidly off into the reeds.

After all this activity Paul asked us if we would like to all go and have some lunch and took us to a lovely area with a picnic table and benches and then, all too soon, it was time to leave.

That was my third visit to Rutland and it was by far the best, because of all I met, all the activity of the animals, especially the ospreys, the beautiful flower meadows an the glorious weather.

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Mike wrote the following post at 24 Jun 2018 1:20 AM:

Well Patily you've told it just as it was!

The white knight trying to sort the telescope.

 

Patily pointing out the activity around the nest

More telescope adjustments as Lynn captures the action.

That characteristic indication as to what is going on.

The lady on the left is Pat's friend who has been with her previously. Sheila FE is sitting, camera poised, whilst Lynn. my wife, is capturing the moment as Paul checks his shots.

It was a great day and Paul, as usual, pulled out all the stops to ensure that the day went well.

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EDIT - Sheila's fab fotos are on this page.

Rest in peace dear Patily. Sending condolences to her family and friends, I hope the loving tributes and the beautiful memorial cards and photos will bring them some comfort.

So sad to read about our dear Patily, thank you Mike for telling us. Always enjoyed her posts and her love of our beloved Ospreys shone through them, may she rest in peace now. You never know, she may be closer to our Ospreys that have left us over the years. Condolences to her family and friends, she will be so very much missed on here.

Thank you Sheila. Great recall!!

Many thanks Scylla for picking up that my links failed, and for finding it again. Much appreciated. x

Patily will always be special to me in so many ways. When she started posting here I got the idea that I already knew her. Eventually I asked her and sure enough I did know her.

Back in 1997 a friend of mine got me involved in helping to computerise a charity. I advised on the computer to buy and how to get "online"

On 30th April 1997 I finally got them online for the first time. So that was quite a significant day. Against my better judgement I got dragged into this charity whose secretary was none other than Patricia.

We had a rocky road because the charity fell into the hands of a class 1 conman.

On 2nd August 1998 most of the committee met in Patricia's flat for a meeting of "doom". Patricia agreed to write a letter to this conman asking certain questions but stipulating that he not answer until the committee meeting of 17th August 1998.

On the morning of Saturday 15th August 1998 I got a letter from this conman replying to Patricia. I took this to be the final straw and wrote out my resignation and copied it to the other 10 committee members.

Now 15th August 1998 was not just old day it was the day of the terrible "Omagh Bombing". I have often wondered if I had waited until the afternoon to write those letters as it may or may not have been affected by Omagh. For those who do not know I grew up near Omagh.

I got to know Patricia afresh learned about her osprey habit. I knew that her dream was to visit and osprey centre.

I suggested that her best chance was Rutland which as is recounted elsewhere she managed. I do believe that she also visited Dyfi Osprey Project.

Those visits meant so much to her I am sure did much to sustain her difficult life.

It is sad but there will not be any Patricia to welcome back the osprey this year.