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 July 2020 I have been down to the Rollo Centre this week for a quick look in and do a bit of paperwork. It was interesting to see what is going on  at the hub so to speak. Although I have not been out very much I have been busy at home and Dick has been helping out in the  evenings at the Centre. The Blue Tits we reared and released at home are calling in less and less for a free handout now so they must be managing well by themselves. We have another young Blackbird in an aviary to learn to find his own food, so he should be able to be  released in the next week. Indoors we have three tiny House Martins who are sill being fed very frequently through the day. They will be  with us for several weeks yet so we are still doing what we can. I had been greatly looking forward to seeing the young Tawny Owls that are at the  Centre. The oldest is a ‘red’ Tawny and not very friendly but he is doing very well  eating for himself and flying well too. He came in from Kirk Yetholm when the tree he  was living in was cut down. The other Owlet was brought in 3rd June from Scremerston when he fell or was blown  out of his tree and no-one could find where he came from. He is absolutely adorable  (see photo) and at the moment very friendly. We think he may turn out to be a ‘red’  bird as well. These red coloured Tawny Owls are much more fiesty than the brown ones for some reason. They are eating chick and also several mice each day which we have  to buy in frozen and cost 50p each for the larger ones. One of our volunteers has a relation who loves owls and he wanted to sponsor one of  the Tawny Owlets for her. He knew that this would help cover the cost of the food. We  decided that as we are short of Open Day takings this year we should see if anyone  wanted to sponsor the other Owlet or maybe one of our gorgeous little Cygnets. They  will all be here for several months and the Cygnets most likely will have to over-winter  with us. Although they do not cost quite as much to feed they will be with us for  longer. I am now busy making Sponsor forms and taking photos of all our cute babies whilst  they are still cute. If you would like to help by sponsoring please phone and we will let  you know what to do. Thank you to everyone who has helped by donating lettuce which are jumped on by the Cygnets and other food kindly dropped off for  our wildlife casualties. It is good to know we have such great support. Pat Goff 2nd July 2020 Early summer has kept the volunteers as busy as ever with a steady stream of ‘creatures great and small’ coming into the Rollo Centre.  Many of the birds are fledglings that have somehow ended up being lost or orphaned, including at the moment a kestrel, two tawny  owlets, jackdaws and herring gull chicks.  Like any youngsters, small animals are constantly on the go and need lots of care and  attention. One of our indoor tasks at the moment is to give a family of eight ducklings  fresh food and water and remove the dirty newspaper lining and bedding from their  plastic cage. To get them out for cleaning, Jackie suggested I put their temporary box  into the cage to transfer them as they leap like jumping beans and there’s a danger  they can shoot out of your hands. The ducklings successfully removed, I gave the cage  insides a thorough wiping, put in fresh lining, food and water, and then carefully  released them back in. But within 10 minutes of the ‘deep clean’ they had completely  trashed the cage, squabbling over who should be in the water bowl and who could eat  the most lettuce. It won’t be long before they’re big enough to go outside where they’ll  have more room to explore and play. On the same day two herring gulls came in, one just a fluffy chick from East Ord which  was wandering on the road, the other an adult that had been found in the grounds of  Simpson’s Malt. The adult already had only one leg, but it seemed he’d been managing  fine until his accident. Unfortunately his good leg was now turning out at an odd angle  and he couldn’t stand on it. A wing also looked damaged, so his visit to the vet’s wasn’t  looking too hopeful.   Possibly the trust’s youngest ever hoglet came in that day. She weighed just 20g and  was so small Kay could hold her in a closed palm while we looked for a heat pad and fleecy blanket to keep her warm. Kay thought at  this size she must have been just a day old. She will need hourly feeding 18 hours a day for several days, with no guarantee that she will survive. But she managed to take a little of the special formula milk Kay fed her with a tiny syringe, so that’s a start.  Elfrieda Waren 25th June 2020 Last time I wrote I included a photo of a nest of Blue Tits that we were caring for at home. This time there is a more up to date photo  that shows them out in one of our aviaries. They still like to be fed now and again but they are finding their own food now. The original  brood has been joined by a lone survivor of a nest found at the side of the road. They all roost together in a line on a perch right at the  top and back of the aviary under cover. Another couple of days and we can open the door and let them go. We shall leave food and water in the aviary so they can get a meal if they need it.  We also have reared a Blackbird which was released last week. He still comes to his aviary for a snack. This is the best way to release  the nestlings as they know where food is. We still worry about the right  time to let them out. Too early and they may not survive, too late and  they become attached to us. Down at the Rollo Centre things are still very busy. The three  Jackdaws that stayed with us till they were eating for themselves are  back down at the centre so they can use a bigger aviary to perfect  their flying abilities. Our aviaries at home are too small for birds of  this size to fly much.  The cygnets are all doing well. They are going outside during the day  now but are being brought in overnight. They can soon get cold and  wet at night with no parent to keep them warm. The Hare that I reared and sent to the Rollo Centre so that he could  become independent has now been released. Dick showed him to me  quickly before he took him off. He was up to 820grams a perfect  weight for release. Last weekend Dick took in a very tiny Partridge chick. We kept it warm  at home overnight. At one point it was gasping and felt cold but I  changed the hot water bottle in the middle of the night and in the  morning it looked much better. It had to go in a cage with some tiny ducklings that had just come in. We find that a single baby bird on  its own does not do well. The Partridge is quite happy still living with the ducklings who treat it like a brother. The ducklings will soon be  much bigger than the Partridge and I think there may be a problem when they go outside and have a little pond to go in. I will try to get  a photo for next time.  I just have enough space now to thank everyone who has donated money food and other supplies over the last few months. We have not been able to have our Open Days this Spring and these donations have helped a great deal. Thank you to for respecting social distancing when bringing in casualties to us. Pat Goff