I started the day trimming the ID signs, I printed yesterday, to size ready for laminating. I did the goeldi Monkey signs first as they would be an easy and quick replacement job. So once done I nipped out to Zona Brazil an area where the Goeldi's enclosure is, which is conveniently just across the path from the building I work in. My quick straightforward job took a wee bit longer than planned due to me dropping the new signs down into a recess behind a high fence on the outside section, which needed some crafty stick twiddling and finger grasping moves for me to retrieve them. And then with the indoor sign I forgot to bring some tissue. There is a sprinkler system on the indoor section designed to create a humid environment for both the plants and animals. Consequently when I remove signs in the indoor section I always find the surface behind the signs quite wet and sometimes with algae growth. So I had to do a quick run to the section staff room where luckily it was their morning break and I could 'borrow' a few tissues to clean off and dry the surface so I could put the new sign up.
Back in the studio and trimming the bird ID's I also printed yesterday, I realised I had to print some more. These particular signs were for the Forest Of Birds which is an indoor aviary. The ID signs are presented in a type of book form - the pages have one species per side and are laminated to protect them from wear and tear. They have eyelets in the laminate through which a couple of U bolts hold them to a wooden backing board. There are three such 'books' through the house and all show the same ID signs... so I try to keep them matched with the order that the ID are seen in the 'book'.
Back earlier in the year there were a couple of changes made. The violet turacos were taken out of the aviary and replaced with red crested turacos and I was warned that in the near(ish) future the grossbeak starlings would also leave the aviary. So I made a list with a rearrangement to the order in the book. Due to a few previous changes the three books were out of sync order-wise... so, in March as one of the books needed some replacements done, I redid the whole book so that the new species order could be 'installed'. This month another of the 'books' needed a good few replacements so I now need to bring that one up to date with the new species order. Which is why I realised I had more IDs to print. Another 7 species were printed and also trimmed. I them carefully place two trimmed signs back to back in between two layers of laminating plastic and put it through a machine that heats the plastic, bonding the two layers together encapsulating the paper inside. This is one page of the 'book'. I then trim it to size and down one edge that I have left with a clear 30mm border in the laminate I hole punch two holes at the same point for each page.
Into these holes I push one half of a metal eyelet and then place the other half over it so that the laminte is between. I then bash this with a hammer to fix the two eyelet pieces together. I have to bash it right.. too lightly and the eyelet doesn't join well and too hard and I can twist the eyelet out of shape. And if I'mnot careful I can flatten a finger or thumb!!! Once the eyelets are in place the pages are then ready to be put onto the U-bolts to form the 'book'.
I left going over to the Forest of Birds, to do this, until later in the afternoon... again it was busy in the zoo and so I waited until the bulk of the crowds had gone so that it would be easier to do the work without getting in anyone's way.
It's always a fiddly job doing these signs as the U-bolts are fixed thriugh a backing board and this is fixed to some structure in the aviary and each one has very little room underneath to undo or do up the nuts holding the U-bolts in place. Luckily the one I did today wasn't the one with all the cobwebs behind! Eeek! But still very fiddly - the only benefit to the time it takes to get the nuts threaded and done up is that I get to see the birds. I was listening to the male white-rumped shama today as I struggled with awkward recesses and unwilling nuts. It is another beautiful songster.. often mimicking other bird calls. But today as it sang it's heart out it bobbed its tail up and down, something I hadn't seen it do before to any effect. It must have been displaying because his white rump feathers were all puffed up as he moved his long tail up and down... and when his tail was up, he held it almost vertically.
The last half hour of my day was spent taking photos in Bug World before it was locked up for the day. I have to try and get decent photos of the species inhabiting our native rockpool exhibit, so this was my first real attempt to accomplish that. I was lucky... the shanny (fish) came out and was wonderfully cooperative moving to the front of the tank in clear view. His name is Sammy, apparently... Sammy the shanny.
I managed to get a couple of fairly decent anemone shots, snakelocks and beadlet, but the little snails are not easy and there are many species in there I'm sure I won't get photos of at all. Back to the studio to upload them and quickly go through to delete the ones that are of no use before I go home. Tomorrow I can sort out those that I could use for the ID signs and hopefully get Mark to tell me what is what. I know I have a couple of the periwinkle snails but I don't know which ones are which of the two species in there.
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