A tribute to "Lily"

On 14th April 2008 myself and Teresa had to make the agonizing decision to have our little Westie "Lily" put to sleep.

She had been unwell for a couple of weeks and our vet confirmed that she had developed lung cancer which had spread to her abdomen.

The last good walk she accompanied me on was on Sun 6th April when we visited the Velindre Reservoirs just north-west of Swansea for the first time this year.

She accompanied me everywhre locally whether it was Darren Woods in Maesteg,Garnwen in Maesteg in summer for Nightjars,Mynydd Margam for GG Shrikes,Kenfig NNR,Ogmore-By-Sea,or a circuit of Eglwys Nunydd,she liked nothing better than to be out walking.

She was born on 30th November 1996 at Tumble,nr Llanelli which made her a "Scarlet" I guess and also a Welsh speaker,I vividly remember going to fetch her on a Saturday morning with my daughter Adele and grand-daughter Ashleigh who was only 18 months old at the time,we arrived early and had the pick of the litter of about 6-7 puppies.

She was loved by all of the grand-kids and loved our regular walks which if they all came resembled a school outing !!

She also loved to go away with us and accompanied myself and Teresa on our weekend trips in the caravan and also on a couple of winter trips during the Xmas holiday to Norfolk,on the last occasion being joined by grand-daughter Ashleigh when Lily also came on a boat trip out of Blakeney Quay to the point to see the seals.

She probably developed quite a good

"life list" without really knowing it which included Semi-Palmated Sandpiper at Ogmore-By-Sea,Spotted Sandpiper at Lisvane,Alpine Swift at Eglwys,Shore Lark at Whitford and Norfolk,Red Backed Shrike at Kenfig,Cattle Egret at Pennard,Richard's Pipit at Llanilid,Waxwings everywhere a few years ago,several GG Shrikes and Black Eared Kite amongst a variety of good birds in Norfolk.

Her "life list" would probably be somewhere between 200-250,the envy of a number of birders !!

It's been really strange this last few weeks not being greeted by her on my return from work in the evenings and even stranger her not accompanying me on the recent twitches at Kenfig,she'd have especially loved the long walk out for the Short-Toed Lark.A number of Glamorgan birders have asked "where's the dog" ?

We really miss her and the house is so quiet without her around,we've decided that we will probably get another Westie but have agreed to leave it until the caravan season is complete and we have taken our main summer holiday,so look out lads when we go birdin' in the autumn we'll have another little friend joining us !!