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SPARROWHAWK & KESTREL
ANDREW FALCONER Recently I received a phone call saying that a raptor (bird of prey) had flown into a friend’s window. I went round and found a stunned juvenile Sparrowhawk which soon recovered and flew off. The Sparrowhawk (Accipter nisus) is the raptor most often found in gardens as they chase small birds, their most common prey. I took this photo of an adult female on my garden fence. With a length of 35-41 cm and wingspan of 67-80 cm a female is around 6 cm longer and has a 12 cm wider wingspan than a male. The female is slate-grey above with brownish barring on the belly. The male is blue-grey above with rufous barring below. Both have a prominent yellow eye and a long tail. I have seen adult male and female, plus juvenile birds in my garden and think there is one pair breeding near Balmullo.
The Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) is a member of the Falcon family, best known for its habit of hovering while looking for food items like mice, voles and other small rodents. It is often seen above roadside verges and fields. It has a length of 31-37 cm and wingspan of 68-78 cm. The photo (courtesy John Anderson) shows a female, mainly brown with darker streaks above and paler below with dense dark spots. The male has a blue -grey unstreaked head and tail. Kestrels used to be the most common raptor found in Britain, but their numbers have decreased worryingly in the last few years. The reasons for this are complex but loss of habitat due to agricultural change is one reason. Kestrels are now also scarce around Balmullo – most often seen near St. Michaels or Pittormie.
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Balmullo
COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEMBERS
Chairman: Zoë Sanders 1zoesanders@gmail.com
Secretary: Sue Smith 870221 secretary@balmullo.net
Vice-Chairman: Alison Jeffrey 870674 alison@balmullo.net
Minute-Secretary: Ann Falconer 870496 anfalconer@tiscali.co.uk
Treasurer & Newsletter: Andrew Falconer 870496 anfalconer@tiscali.co.uk
Councillors: Ina Cameron 870253 twaauldgoats@btinternet.com
fife
councillors
Gwenyth Mitchell 870010 gwenyth@balmullo.net Raymond Crush Peter Lomas 870848 pil77@btinternet.com
Maggie Taylor 01382 552718 cllr.margaret.taylor@fife.gov.uk Tim Brett 01382 330905 cllr.tim.brett@fife.gov.uk Bill Connor 077 1866 8792 cllr.bill.connor@fife.gov.uk
Useful Contacts
GALA Committee: 077 8033 5250 http://balmullogala.weebly.com M.P. Sir Menzies Campbell 656361
Burnside Hall Keeper Lynn Murphy Dog Warden
John Normand janormand1@gmail.com
870466 0345 155 0022
Non Emergency Police Contact Community Police Officer P.C. Gavin Rae 0845 600 5702
Statements made or opinions expressed in this Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Balmullo Community Council or any of its officers.
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M.S.P. Rod Campbell
844971
Doctors Surgery Balmullo
871164
Balmullo Primary School
659451
Bell Baxter High School
659459
Advert Prices - Small £5, Half Page £10, Full Page £20. You can rent advertising space on a month by month basis or on a longer term basis. The Balmullo Newsletter has a circulation of 700 and is hand delivered FREE of charge. TO ALL ADVERTISERS – Please check your advert. If you would like to remove it or change it in any way, please let us know.
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QUARRY ROAD UNSAFE On Tuesday October 14th, a meeting was held between Fife Council Transportation, a director and manager from Breedon, Councillor Maggie Taylor, ZoĂŤ Sanders, Chair of Balmullo Community Council, and the owners (frontagers) of Quarry Road, to discuss the deteriorating condition of Quarry Road between the quarry and the junction with the Logie road. This is a privately owned road, and although there is a right of way over it, it is not suitable for vehicles. Signs have been put in place pointing out that it is unsuitable for motor traffic which continue to use the road at their own risk. The road is now unsafe and will not be repaired by Fife Council, the quarry owners Breedon, nor by the frontagers.
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Call us on 079 4999 5906 or 01334 870233
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ANNOUNCEMENTS Colin Finlay volunteered to join the Council and was warmly welcomed. The meeting was preceded by a presentation by Carol Petrie who has taken on the role of Project Manager for the Regeneration of Leuchars St. Athernase Church. In 2012, dry rot was found in the woodwork and this led to a decision to use the opportunity to upgrade the A-listed Church building, one of the oldest in Scotland. Various surveys have been done and architects’ plans drawn up, and it will cost around £1 million to do everything that is wanted. Carol noted that the Church is normally open on Tuesdays, but currently 10 – 4 every day until the end of October for viewing of the plans. Another training and awareness session, for use of the defibrillator available to the public at Pitcairn Surgery, is being held on 20th November in
EDITORIAL Since the last issue, all of the floral tubs and containers have been cleared as the weather gets colder and we’re properly into Autumn. Tulip bulbs have been planted in the new multi-tier planter at the north end of the main street and also in one of the barrels at the end of Quarry Road, replacing a batch which were stolen last spring. Let’s hope this very petty theft is not repeated and we get a full display in 2015. We had lots of contributions for the last issue resulting in a bumper 40 pages. This issue is likely to be a bit smaller, so remember we are always looking for articles, large or small, anything
POINTS FROM THE SECRETARY’S EMAIL
BALMULLO COMMUNITY COUNCIL Burnside Hall. If you missed the first session, please come along (old & young). You could save a life! Some of you may see a “new face” collecting for the 200 Club soon. You can make life easier for them by paying larger amounts and save frequent collection. On a negative note, dog fouling was reported as an issue again. We keep getting complaints on this but can do nothing except ask offenders to “pick up” and stop giving responsible dog owners a bad name. If you have seen a persistent offender, contact the Dog Warden at the number given under “Useful Contacts”. The next meeting is in Burnside Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 10th November. A copy of the Minutes will be available on the shelves at the Post Office.
ANDREW FALCONER relating to Balmullo. I make no apology for including another page featuring and comparing 2 birds which are sometimes confused and can both be seen locally. I get some feedback to suggest these articles are enjoyed by at least some of our readers. We are indebted to Mike Withers, our local technical expert, who spends hours each month organising articles, pictures and adverts into pages and making sure the number we end up with is a multiple of 4 (think about it!). Also, thanks go to Jon Gill who designs the cover and has provided some excellent pictures for it.
SUE SMITH
If you wish to read the ‘Planning Performance Framework 2013/14 (PPF3)’, it is available on the Fife Direct website. Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband would like to find out if anybody in our community would be willing to be a case study that uses fibre broadband and share the benefits it has brought them. If you could help with this please contact Brenda Conway, NGA Campaign Manager,
Community Project Officer - Central Scotland at brenda.conway@bt.com You are invited to attend and participate in a ‘Consultation on Locality Arrangements for the Health and Social Care Partnership in Fife. The local consultation is being held on 30th October 2014 at 1.30pm-2.30pm at County Buildings, Cupar.
Balmullo
Variety of competitions and friendly matches every week No experience required. All welcome to join.
Play outdoors in summer Indoors in winter
Call John on 870196
Bowling Club
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BALMULLO COMPUTER HELP PC ¦ MAC ¦ WIFI
NEED YOUR COMPUTER SPEEDING UP? STILL RUNNING WINDOWS XP? ALL TECHNOLOGY ISSUES SOLVED
CALL MIKE ON 078 8865 6065 mike@balmullo.net
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THE 200 CLUB DRAW - THIS MONTHS WINNERS £50 £20 £20 £20 £20 £20
Mr Smith, Anderson Drive Mr Turner, Borthwick Place Mrs Nicoll, Anderson Drive Mrs Watson, Cynicus Place Mrs Scanlon, Park View Mrs Baird, Pitcairn Drive
£10 £10 £10 £10 £10
Mr Bayne, The Mount Mr Mathers, School Road Mrs Colford, Clay Road Mrs Pattie, Inchlaw Mrs Hamilton, Lomond Place
How to Join Our 200 Club? - It's easy to join the enter as many times as you like. We are currently 200 Club. Ca ll or e ma il I na at trying to raise money for various Balmullo twaauldgoats@btinternet.com or call 870253. It community activities and projects. GOOD LUCK! only costs £1 per entry per month, and you can
CAN YOU HELP OUR 200 CLUB? We have recently lost 2 collectors who have been forced to give up so we desperately need volunteers to collect monthly contributions. However many residents pay larger amounts to allow less frequent collection so the task is not onerous. Please consider if you could help! WHAT’S ON?
RUNNING AN EVENT? EMAIL ANFALCONER@TISCALI.CO.UK
NOVEMBER 1st Balmullo Gala. Hallowe’en Disco in Balmullo Inn from 8.00 pm. £5 6th WRI Annual Business Meeting. Burnside Hall 7.15 pm. All welcome. 7th Carpet Bowling & Dominoes. Bowling Club. 7.30 pm. Young & old welcome. 10th Community Council meeting. Burnside Hall 7.30 pm. All welcome. 13th Gardening Club Winter Talk - Air Ambulance. Burnside Hall 7.30 pm. £2.50 14th Prize Bingo Evening. Bowling Club. 7.30 pm. All welcome. 20th Defibrillator Training & Awareness. Burnside Hall 7.30 pm. Please come!
28th
Carpet Bowling & Dominoes. Bowling Club. 7.30 pm. Young & old welcome. DECEMBER 3rd Burnside Hall Committee Meeting. 7.30 pm. 4th WRI Christmas Party. Burnside Hall. 5th Prize Bingo Evening. Bowling Club. 7.30 All welcome. 8th Community Council meeting. Burnside Hall 7.30 pm. All welcome. 11th Gardening Club Winter Talk – Floral Art with Andy Smith. Burnside Hall 7.30 pm.
LEARN HOW TO SAVE A LIFE 20-11-2014 RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Ingredients
360ml sunflower oil 2 balls of stem ginger, chopped 280g carrots, peeled and grated 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 360g self-raising flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 180g dark brown sugar 2 teaspoon ground ginger 180g soft brown sugar 2 teaspoon mixed spice 6 eggs 100g pecans, chopped
CITRUS & SPICE CARROT CAKE Zest and juice of 2 oranges 1 tablespoon marmalade Pinch of salt
Mix well; divide between 3 prepared (3 x 8 inch) cake tins. Place in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until the cakes are well For the Icing risen, golden and spring back 300g icing sugar when pressed lightly. 50g butter Turn out onto cooling racks. 75g full-fat cream cheese For the icing, place all the Orange zest ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Method Spread between each layer of Pre-heat oven to 170oC. For the cake, place all the cake. Finish off with some caramelised ingredients in a bowl. pecans and crystallised orange.
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BALMULLO GALA A.G.M. Balmullo gala Committee held their AGM on Wednesday 1st October. The usual motley crew turned up as well as a new face. The 2014 Gala was a success and we have to thank you all for your continuing support. This gives the committee the drive to do better the next year. The gala in 2015 will be on the 13th June, the second Saturday in June. We will have the usual attractions with some surprises. We will have the fun run again and the hill race on the day, sponsored by Paul Monteath. We voted in the new committee: Chairperson: Vice Chairperson: Minutes Secretary: Treasurer:
Alison Fraser Mike Grant Claire Barr Feonagh Grant.
SWALLOWS: MIGRATION OR HIBERNATION? The swallows that Andrew wrote about in the September newsletter have mostly disappeared now, having migrated away from their breeding sites. We know about their migration because large numbers that have had numbered rings placed on the legs in Britain have later been found on their wintering grounds in southern Africa. Even before the ringing results were available something was known about their migrations because observers in Mediterranean lands saw them in autumn (even watching them flying over the sea) and people in Africa saw them during the European winter. Before about 1800, many naturalists believed that swallows spent the winter under water, in a state of hibernation. Nowadays we tend to laugh at such ideas but our ancestors based their view on good evidence. First, during evenings in the late summer and autumn swallows can be seen in huge numbers perching in reedbeds or in riverside trees but they are not there if one returns in the morning – clearly, they must have descended under water during the hours of darkness. Secondly, when they reappear in spring swallows are often seen near water, from which it is obvious that they must have just emerged. So the idea of hibernation not only
CLAIRE BARR
Our first event is to be a Halloween disco on 1st November. Tickets will be £5.00 and will be held in the pub from 8pm. Tickets can be obtained from members the committee.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 28th October. All help and support will be well received. Gala committee is on Facebook Many thanks Claire Barr
JEREMY GREENWOOD makes more sense than the notion that such tiny birds can fly thousands of miles across seas and deserts but it is also supported by firm evidence. Unfortunately, as so often in science, common sense is not a good guide. We now know that the observations that many took as good evidence in days gone by have other interpretations. If one remains in the reedbeds overnight, one sees that the birds stay perched in the reeds until first light, when they fly away; their departure is rarely witnessed because few people get up early enough in the morning. The birds roost in reeds and riverside trees because the water makes it difficult for potential predators such as stoats to creep up on them during their sleep. And their spring-time association with water is not because they have just emerged from their winter sleep but because that is where the food is – in the form of small insects (which may themselves have just emerged from the water).
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MACMILLAN COFFEE AFTERNOON I wish to thank everyone who helped, and came along with their Baking, Raffle Prizes and Books etc. We were very well supported. The main raffle prizes were donated by:Meal for 4 from Du Vin Hotel. Cream Tea for 2 from Balgove Larder. Two vouchers + Beer from Edenside Brewery. A voucher for a home hair do from Linda Lindsay. £25 voucher from Thai Teak. Box of Chocolates from Balmullo Spar. Jar of Sweets to "Guess the Contents" from Dairsie Post Office.
JACQUELINE STOCKTON Bottle of Wine from the Scores Hotel. Some of the children from Balmullo Primary School came along and entertained us. I would also like to thank Lynn for setting up the Hall. My apologies if I have forgotten anyone. By the way we made £635 - £200 more than last year. Thanks to everyone who came along to supported the event.
BALMULLO S.W.R.I.
ANN FALCONER
President Mrs. Ann Falconer welcomed Flower of the Month members to the meeting on Thursday 2nd Jan Redpath October. Due to the planned speaker having to cancel, a Members’ Night was held. We started with a quiz, compiled by Mary Reilly and Ann Falconer, which was wide-ranging and entertaining. Then we tried to guess the identity of the beautiful brides in a selection of wedding photographs brought along by members. This was easier said than done, with many blackand-white photos up to 50 years old. Voting papers were distributed for election of the new committee next month. Everyone enjoyed a tasty supper. Our team for the Federation Ruralympics on Saturday 13th September at the Victoria Hall in Coaltown of Balgonie was Mary Reilly, Mary Campbell, Grace Steven and Jan Redpath. About 30 teams from institutes around Fife took part, so Balmullo were surprised and delighted to take bronze medal position. It was a very well-organised morning and everyone enjoyed taking part. Our next meeting is our annual business meeting on Thursday 6th November at 7.15 pm Competition winners: in Burnside Hall, with Balmerino WRI providing Jar of Apple Jelly the entertainment and supervising the election of a new Committee. We are also having our 1st Grace Steven usual visit from the Red Cross, who will be selling 2nd Evelyn Erskine a selection of Christmas Cards. 3rd Mary Campbell Thank You Card 1st Wilma Mackie 2nd Jill Nicol 3rd Penny Wiles
New members are always welcome.
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LEUCHARS AND DISTRICT GARDENING AND CRAFTS CLUB Our Winter Talks season started with a presentation by Keith Jackson of Fife Council on Community and Wild Flower planting throughout Fife. He gave a series of slides showing schemes around Fife, with a history of the Best Kept Village competition which, with support from Fife Council, local community groups and business sponsors has produced beauty and colour around the County, not only for local benefit but for visitors. He finished with a short presentation of the 50th Anniversary display of Britain in Bloom at Chelsea Flower Show where he headed up the Fife team in their contribution to it. At this year’s Autumn Flower Show we are grateful to Derek and Liz Johnston of D&E Garden Services, Leuchars for their donation of a trophy for competition in the Children’s Section. It
BILL DUFF
will be presented annually for the best overall Miniature Garden in a Seed Tray. The Show is in the Burnside Hall, Balmullo on Saturday 25 October and entries for all classes can be taken either on Friday evening between 6.00 and 9.00 pm or Saturday morning between 7.30 and 9.30 am. The show opens at 1.30 pm, with presentation of trophies at 3.45 pm. Our Winter Talks programme continues on Thursday 13 November with a presentation from the Scottish Charities Air Ambulance. Then on Thursday 11 December we have our annual Floral Art Demonstration with Andy Smith. Both talks are in the Burnside Hall at 7.30 pm, entry £2.50 per person which includes refreshment. Bill Duff, Secretary, 1B Smithy Road. Tel: 870787.
CHRISTMAS CARD SALE In aid of St Athernase Church Regeneration Fund Saturday 15 November 11.00 am – 3.00 pm 18 Lucklaw Road, Balmullo Jill Nicoll
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