Spurn announces spring 2021 fundraising auction
At the end of last year, we announced that the Observatory was looking to purchase 5.5 acres of land: the fields immediately adjacent to Cliff Farm, just south of the Kilnsea Road and bordering the Canal on its western edge, and Rose Cottage and Well Field on its eastern edge. We know how hard land can be to come by in our area, so when the opportunity to secure these fields in the Triangle arose, we simply couldn’t turn down the chance to develop these more into areas for wildlife.
As with everywhere, last year was a difficult one for the Observatory a Spurn; much of the year we remained closed and were not able to function at our full potential with events and accommodation. But thanks to the amazing support we have received from our Friends of Spurn and the wider community, we are still able to explore potential land purchase opportunities like this one. We have managed to source a substantial amount towards the cost of this land but we just need a small amount of fundraising to get us over the final hurdle.
Following the success of several auctions we launched last year, we have another one for you. All proceeds from this auction will go towards developing the land that we are in the process of buying behind Cliff Farm, and should this sale fall through all proceeds will go towards our land bank fund for future land purchases (please see here for more info).
Ray Scally's painting of the Easington Red-eyed Vireo is up for grabs in the latest auction.
We have very kindly been donated a substantial ornithological book collection, as well as some quality artwork for which we are extremely grateful to the kind donors. We hope you find something on the auction list that you would like to bid on and enjoy the bidding process! We have pulled together 35 lots to bid on, all fully listed on our website here.
Some of the highlights include:
- An original painting of the Easington Red-eyed Vireo by Ray Scally (28x38 cm with mount);
- The Birds of South America: Volume 1 – The Oscine Passerines and The Birds of South America: Volume 2 – The Suboscine Passerines Robert S Ridgely and Guy Tudor;
- HBW Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World (2-volume Set) by Del Hoyo et al;
- The Birds of Africa vols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7;
- The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise Edition (2-volume set) by C M Snow, D W Perrins.
This is an online auction, with bids sent to sbotauctions@gmail.com. Each item has a reserve on it and won't be sold unless that reserve is met. You will be notified by email to confirm your bid initially and if you are the highest bidder and if/when you get outbid with the new highest bid. Please check your junk email to make sure you don't miss these emails!
The Concise Edition of Birds of the Western Palearctic is also available in the auction.
The auction will run until midday on 15 March 2021. Whomever is the highest bidder at this point wins the item and will be requested to pay via PayPal/bank transfer/cheque etc.
Due to the current lockdown situation, there may be a slight delay in getting some of the items to the winning bidder, however if this is the case then we won't request the money until the item can be posted or collected. As some of the items are quite large, they may be collection only, but this can be arranged via email with the winning bidder, but please keep this in mind when bidding.
