Latest News We now have a YouTube channel with a number of new videos taken by Elfrieda Waren. Look on our Photos/Video Page. ******************************* "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.. 20th July 2017 The first thing I must do this week is to ask for help. We are desperately seeking blown lettuce for our twelve cygnets all varying sizes.  They love lettuce and can eat lots of it. It is also very good for them. Three of the cygnets are under 1 kilo and still have their baby  looks. One bigger one has had a broken leg which is healing, one got itself lost and was found all alone. The other seven are all from one  nest and were found sitting beside their mother’s dead body. Their father had been killed a couple of weeks previously. The nine larger  cygnets are all in the big pond with the one adult swan we have and an Eider Duckling who is enjoying the water, diving down and  annoying the cygnets by coming up in the middle of the group. So if you have any lettuce you can spare please drop them off with us or  we will call and collect if needed.  Next we need canned dog food, loaf if possible, but we don't mind any sort at the  moment. We have had in 15 tiny hedgehogs in the last couple of weeks. Kay is still  bottle feeding two and four have sadly died. It is important if you find a tiny hog out  in the day its first need is heat. At this age once they get really cold they are  difficult to bring on. With all these animals in we are urgently requiring canned food.  We ask for loaf type as we get more portions out of this type. Gravy types are very  messy as hogs love to walk over their food bowl. Jelly varieties have about two  inches of jelly at the bottom of the tin which they hogs wont eat. However, beggars  can't be choosers and we will happily take whatever you have. We are still taking in gull chicks as they glide down from roofs unable to fly properly.  Many thanks to Sean for bringing us fish to feed them. They are growing quickly and  healthily on such a good natural diet. Very smelly and dirty for the volunteers and  taking a good hour to clean their pen. Fortunately we are beginning to release them  as soon as they are able to fly well. We are also caring for two Tawny Owl youngsters and a very testy young Barn Owl  who sounds like a steam kettle when he sees us. All our now ready to be ringed  before they can be released. Whilst I am on the begging theme our fund-raising team are seeking tombola prizes for our next Open Day which is on Saturday 29th  July 2017. The David Rollo Centre will be open from 12 noon till 2 p.m. for visitors to see what we do and where we do it. After this at  2.30 p.m. we shall hold our A.G.M. to which everyone is also welcome.  Please remember us if you can help we shall be very grateful.  Pat Goff 13th July 2017 Since I wrote last we have had a very busy time. This year we seem to have had a much wider variety of wildlife come through the  doors. We have also increased the numbers we have treated year on year. The Mallard ducklings that have been with us since they were one day old have come on leaps and bounds. They were flying well last  week but as the river was so high after the recent rains so we contacted  Karen at Hunting Hall Farm where they have a super big pond that is perfect  for ducks. Dick took them on Tuesday and they seemed to settle in very  quickly. It is an ideal spot for them as once they get used to being on their  own they can go off and find new territory for themselves.  Our three Pheasant chicks are also feathering up very well. They do seem to  have taken a long time to grow. They are in the Lomax aviary now so they  have a lot more room and it surprises us that they can be hard to spot when  we go in to the aviary, they are so well camouflaged. They are going to  Barbara's garden for a soft release this week. Our little group of cygnets is likely to grow considerably this week as we are  expecting an orphaned family of six four week old birds to be brought up  from Newcastle via R.S.P.C.A. We already have a young adult swan (last  year's cygnet) which has broken a leg in the past which left it with a limp but  is now fit although we have kept the bird to build up it's strength. It is a very  friendly young swan and gets on very well with our two larger cygnets. The  larger of these cygnets was thought to have a swollen joint but when the  bird arrived we did not think this was the case. It was taken to see David Knight who discovered after an x-ray that this bird too had had  a broken leg but it was healing . We were amazed that these birds can overcome such traumatic injuries and still manage. If it had not  been brought in it probably would not have survived as it was not able to keep up with the rest of the family. Baby hedgehogs are coming in. Kay still has two on bottle feeds but there are three others all under two hundred grams It is very  important with any young animal to keep it warm, sadly several tiny hedgehogs and one small cygnet have died because they were not  kept warm enough. They need either a covered hot water bottle or a juice bottle filled with hot water and put in a sock to keep them  warm until we can give them a heat pad.  I shall be writing next week and I will catch you up on all the other babies we have had this year. We are having an Open Day on Saturday 29th July. Visitors can look around the aviaries from 12 noon till 2 p.m. and our A.G.M. will  begin at 2.30 p.m. Everyone welcome.  Pat Goff 6th July 2017 Seeing this season’s influx of tiny fledglings to the Swan Trust has made me realise just how rapidly young wildlife actually grows – and  how difficult it is for us humans to keep up with.   The four little mystery hatchlings that had come in the week before turned out to be baby thrushes, their beautiful pale yellow and grey  flecking only becoming apparent after a few days of life. When I arrived for my usual Wednesday morning shift last week, Jackie said one  had died, never having taken much food and seeming more lethargic than the other  three. The remaining birds were thriving however, and every time someone walked  into the room they would take it in turns to start up a repetitive cheeping for  attention. They were at that awkward stage where they were meant to be learning  to feed themselves but still hankered for ‘mum’ – Jackie with a pair of plastic  tweezers – to pop minced meat into their beaks every 20 minutes or so. But the  changes in development take place almost on an hourly basis; when I called in the  next day to help with the evening feeding the three thrush chicks had noticeably  grown in just 24 hours and now there was no mistaking their distinctive thrush  markings.  The 10 newly-hatched ducklings that were brought in just a few weeks ago have  undergone a similar transformation. They are now paddling and splashing their way  round the large pool enclosure, eating the trust out of mealworms and lettuces, and  will soon be off to the freedom of the banks of the Tweed. The numerous gull chicks  are also growing fast on the fresh fish, pet food and bread meals we make up for  them.  Keeping all these hungry mouths fed costs money, of course, and as the trust  depends entirely on the generosity of supporters, it constantly has to find different ways of reaching people and generating income. To  this end, Jackie and Kim were at the Castle Gate car boot sale on Sunday June 25 and raised £59.10, and they want to thank everyone  who bought items on the day. Anyone who is already planning ahead for Christmas might like to know the trust’s 2018 calendar is now on sale, priced at £7.50 and  available from the Rollo Centre. The calendar features many of the animals that were treated at the trust and comes with a free 25th  anniversary booklet which charts the history of the trust from its beginnings right through to the present day.  For anyone who missed the trust’s recent open day, there’ll be another chance at the end of this month to see the animal ‘patients’ plus  the new ‘quiet room’ for larger wildlife such as buzzards and badgers which need a stress-free environment away from day-to-day  activity.  The trust’s AGM and Open Day takes place on Saturday July 29th where everyone is welcome to come along to the Rollo Centre  to see what we do. Elfrieda Waren