Latest News "Swan Notes" News items written by Trust members and volunteers and usually appearing in the “Berwick Advertiser" newspaper each  week. Unfortunately, sister newspaper the “Berwickshire News” are no longer following suit. For those unable to read these items, and  those living outside the Berwick area, here are the last few editions.. 9th August 2018 Firstly this week I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped to make our last  Open Day a great success. We are only a small  band of active volunteers but everyone helps as much as they can and without them we could not continue. At last our 100 plus Herring Gull chicks that have been brought in have grown up and we only have eight remaining. Quite a few of the  birds have had to be put to sleep as they had been injured, either by falling from rooftops or being hit by cars before they could fly  properly. They made a great deal of work and ate for Britain but thanks to donations of fish we have received they grew up very  healthily. We also had to go to pick up a Swan from Haggerston Castle that had been hit by a lorry. It has a badly injured foot which needed veterinary treatment. It had it’s foot  strapped up for several days and has had to have painkillers and anti-biotic  injections daily. The X-ray showed no broken bones but the Vet is afraid that the  foot may be permanently damaged. We will just have to wait and see as only time  will tell.  Our two young Cygnets are very happy to be together and Harry the Swan who has to moult out his pink feathers is very good with them. The two ducks that are in  the same pond will shortly be away as they are almost able to fly All our young Owlets are thriving. We have never had so many in together before.  Everything this year is coming in groups.   The young hedgehogs are causing some concern as the tiny babies have not  responded as they usually do. Kay has reared them for years and is used to  syringe feeding them milk and then gradually weaning them on to meat. This year  some of them have weaned as normal but then start to lose weight and die. The  only thing we can think of is that due to the hot , dry weather the mothers have not been able to produce sufficient milk and have  abandoned them. We are doing everything we can for these little ones but sometimes our best does not do it. We had two small House Martin nestlings brought in last week so I have these at home at the moment to try to bring them up. They are  eating well and hopefully will be fledged so they can go off back to the other side of the world in September or October. Pat Goff 2nd August 2018 Despite so many other events taking place on the same day, and regardless of the threatening rain and thunderstorms, there was a bumper turnout to the Trust’s open day last weekend. Some of the open day visitors are already firm friends of the Trust, such as Jennah and her mum Karen of Ayton, who brought in a couple of beautiful framed drawings done by Karen for us to sell. But it was also lovely to see so many new faces, particularly children and young people, who had come to find out more about the animals in the Trust’s care and how we look after them. Visitors were able to see some of the latest hedgehog arrivals in the recovery room, many of whom are just tiny and will probably need to overwinter with us. I noticed afterwards that several of these youngsters had been sponsored by visitors, so this will be an enormous help in paying for their food and any medicines they might need in the time they’re with us. One lady who had brought in a little hog just the day before returned on the open day - so Pippa the hedgehog’s rescuer has also become her sponsor. Another visitor asked about Winkie, the tiny owlet she’d brought in  - and sponsored - many weeks ago. Winkie has grown a lot since then and is now in the large flight along with four other owls all about the same age. Unfortunately (unless you’re another tawny owl I guess) it’s now just about impossible to tell which one is Winkie. Errol the Trust’s ‘mascot’ tawny owl was on top form perching patiently on Dick’s hand while Dick explained to visitors Errol’s story and how he’d become a permanent resident at the Rollo Centre, with his own custom-built aviary paid for by a kind supporter. While the aim of the Trust is always to return injured or ill animals to the wild when they’re fit enough, because of the severe head injury he suffered, Errol has never regained the feisty predator behaviour he would need to survive. After seeing the animals both outdoors and indoors, visitors could buy a whole range of owl, swan and hedgehog-related gifts, including the Trust’s 2019 calendar and – a first next year - our special 2019 hedgehog calendar. Jim and Shirley did a roaring trade with their plant and produce stall outside the office, and there was a steady stream of people enjoying the fantastic scones, cakes and cups of tea served up by Pat and Kay. Afterwards, the Trust held its AGM, which Pat will report on in next week’s article. All in all, the open day raised £997.00 for the Trust, all thanks to the generosity of the families and individuals who came along and the people who donated items as prizes or to sell. But perhaps just as valuable is the fact that the Trust was able to show people what we do and why local wildlife needs our support, now more than ever before. Elfrieda Waren 26th July 2018 We are getting ready for our next Open Day which is this Saturday 28th July from 11a.m. till 2p.m. Afterwards we shall be holding the  A.G.M. in the big room commencing 2.30p.m.  Everything this year seems to be coming in together. Recently we have taken in twelve really tiny hedgehogs weighing between 100 and  200 grams. They come from different areas but all arrived during a two week period.   Kay had to take most of them home to start with as they needed milk several times a day but only two are still with her the rest are  eating for themselves so they are at the Rollo Centre. This year we have named the  hogs and all of them would like to be sponsored as they will most likely be with us  throughout the winter. Anyone willing to sponsor a hog will receive a free 2019  hedgehog calendar as a ‘thank you’ gift. They all have cards attached to their cages  and we hope people will sponsor them when they visit us for the Open Day. The hog in  the picture this week is Chloe under 150 grams and very cute. She is one of the ones  needing a sponsor. The majority of our young Tawny Owls are in the Big Aviary now giving them much  more flying space. The youngest three are out of cages and in the Longridge Aviary  which has been invaluable this year. The Herring Gull chicks are enjoying the newly made small pond. They grow so rapidly  that they are not with us long thank goodness. It takes ages to clean the pen each day and the pen is surrounded by the smell of fish. I know lots of people don’t like them  but they were here long before us and as wildlife we look after them. So many people  bringing them in this year have been pleased to have somewhere to take them. One  couple brought a Greater Black Back Gull chick all the way from Edinburgh as they  could find no-one prepared to take it. Our motto is ‘If its wildlife we will do our best’.  Most of the other nestlings we had have fledged and left us. I still have a Wood Pigeon who will look like Billy Bunter before he flies he  can eat so much and we have a Collared Dove still needing hand feeding The Cygnet is now firm friends with Harry swan. Even the two well grown ducklings are accepting him in the big pond. He loves washing  and putting his head under the water. Its good to see him have some company as he was very lonely on his own. It is surprising how  quickly he seems to be growing now he is in the pond with his mates. So if you are able do come and see us on Saturday if you are one of the people who sponsored one of the Tawny Owlets do come along  and see how they are doing. We shall have plants and other stalls and of course refreshments including great cakes and scones to enjoy  with a cuppa. Pat Goff