Latest News Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Sadly bird flu is now moving on from sea birds, to other species of birds, including geese, ducks and swans, and the Trust is receiving many calls from the public spotting sick birds. There is no treatment available and sick birds will often die within a day of showing symptoms. We cannot rescue or accept sick birds at the Centre as this would compromise those birds already in our care and could lead to the Centre being forced to shut down. Our advice, painful as it is to give, is to leave the bird and let nature take its course. Do not touch a dead bird or let a dog near it. The local Council is responsible for collecting them in a controlled manner. In some cases you may report findings to DEFRA on 03459 335577 or visit their web site for detailed advice here. *************************** "Swan Notes" News items written by Trust members and volunteers and usually appearing in the “Berwick Advertiser" newspaper each week. For those unable to read these items, and those living outside the Berwick area, here are the last few editions... 13th November 2025 By the time this article is in the press, the two barn owl youngsters should have been released after waiting for bonfire night to be over and for some calm weather.  They are siblings that were found on the floor of a barn, very underweight and with no sign of the parents.  The pair have been with us since only the 1st of October, and we have been really pleased with their progress.  The sooner birds within our care can be released back into the natural environment the better.  They are good eaters, having a regular daily evening meal of two mice and two chicks, and rarely left any of it.  They were a nice addition to the Rollo Centre for the volunteers, as they liked to sit close together on the high perch and fly back and forth down the long flight aviary whilst they were being cleaned.  This is unusual for barn owls as they usually hide in their box and looking after them has no visual rewards!  They are going back to the barn where they were found. The two Muscovy ducks that we are looking after in the small pond area are doing well.  They came to us as ducklings in mid September, quite late in the year for ducklings.  You may remember that they both had one bad leg on opposite sides – one the left and one the right - and we were not sure whether these issues were permanent and had maybe led to them being abandoned by their parents.  It is great news that they seem to have grown out of their problems in the safety of the Centre.  They are now large ducks, dark brown/black in colour, and are walking well.  We are just waiting for them to gain their flight feathers then they can be released, hopefully in another couple of weeks.  Muscovy ducks are shelducks native to Central and South America where they were reportedly one of the first duck breeds to be domesticated, it wasn’t until the twentieth century that they were brought over to the UK.  Any that are wild here have escaped from domesticity and are known as feral, they are quite common across the UK though there are not so many in the North East.  There are about thirty hedgehogs being cared for now and some have been sleeping off and on, though they have not yet gone into full hibernation.  Jackie has asked me to appeal for any unwanted hand towels (not bath towels) as the hedgehogs in the backrooms need one every day and with the spines and amount of washing, there is a lot of wear and tear, so they don’t last very long. The photo this week shows a lovely, crocheted blanket that is one of many items of craft work made for our Christmas Fair.  The blanket is lovely and would make a great Christmas gift for a child’s bedroom or anybody really!  It will be offered as the prize in a silent auction which will be held across our Christmas fundraising events.  The first of these is our Christmas Fair which is to be held this coming Saturday, 15th November from 10:30am to 2pm.  There will be seasonal refreshments and plenty of stalls, as well as the opportunity to sponsor a hedgehog for a thoughtful Christmas present.  Please do come along to support us and start your Christmas shopping.  Thank you to everyone who has brought in items for sale, or for the raffle and the tombola, it’s greatly appreciated. Gill Powell 6th November 2025 This time of year the girls and volunteers are deep cleaning aviaries that have been vacated by birds having been released. There is often a queue forming for larger aviaries needed as birds prepare for independent life in the wild. Now that queue has  come to an end, it is time for a really deep clean so that the aviaries will be ready for next season. The picture this week shows Errol in the undercover area of his aviary. The wood panelling gives him a sheltered and private area he feels safe in. All our aviaries have this type of sheltered area in one form or another. The wood is fitted on the outside of the wire as it will probably need repairing or replacing during the lifetime of the aviary. The problem is that birds, especially birds of prey, project their poo onto the wood through the wire. This is very difficult to clean. Jackie tried a battery operated steam cleaner that one of our volunteers thought would work. She was super impressed and absolutely delighted when a couple who support us offered the money to buy one. Thank you so much for this superb gift. Jackie said it cleaned so quickly and with no need for electric cables, as the aviaries are some way from power points. We are just waiting for bonfire night to be over and then we have two Barn Owl youngsters ready for release as well as some assorted pigeons. Now most of our time is taken up with hedgehogs. We have nine in the cooler Big Room to add a final bit of weight before they hibernate for the winter. The Hedgehog Shed is ready and waiting, cages all cleaned and ready. We have twelve in the Towers in the Recovery Room, very slowly adding weight but not sufficiently heavy to move to the cooler room.  Eight are still under 500 grams and on heat pads. If you see a small hedgehog out during the day please bring it in. We have had a good many this year far too small to survive hibernation so do help them if you can. Please check any bonfires and piles of leaves before raking up in case there is a wee hog curled up underneath. Holly has been busy taking photographs of our overwintering hogs so that they can be sponsored. Barbara has the paperwork ready, so do think about sponsoring yourself or as a lovely gift for someone.  Avian Influenza is here again. We have had reports this weekend quite close to us of dead and sick swans. Please take care around any sick bird. Keep your distance and leave nature to take its course or try D.E.F.R.A. We cannot take in any SICK bird and have to take extra precautions on site. I must thank the kind ladies who have sent in lovely items of craft work for our Christmas Fair which is to be held on Saturday 15th November 10.30 a.m. – 2 p.m. We are at the Berwick Baptist Church, Golden Square. Do come along, there will be soup and filled rolls, mince pies, tea, and coffee. We have plenty of stalls Wine or Water is always popular and well as a Tombola, Craft Stall and Sales table. A huge raffle and a Silent Auction for a beautiful blanket of animal pictures. I will get Gill to use a picture of it next week. It is absolutely super. Do come along if you can, without the public supporting what we do, we can’t do it. We don’t have cuddly puppies or kittens but we do care about all the wild things that make our lives complete. Pat Goff 30th October 2025 Now that the clocks have gone back, we are experiencing some colder nights and the time is approaching when hedgehogs need to find themselves somewhere to curl up for their winter hibernation.  This is also the time when piles of leaves have gathered in the corners of our gardens which are ideal places for them to sleep, particularly the dry leaves.  There is always a chance that your pile of leaves will have a hedgehog curled up in it, so please check before you rake them up and if possible, leave them where they are – they will provide feed for the garden once the hedgehog moves on in the spring.  It is also approaching bonfire night which is a frightening time for wildlife and hedgehogs may have settled at the bottom of the bonfire stack so please check for them before you light the fire and if possible, restack it.  Hedgehog numbers have been in decline for some time, it has been quoted on social media in the last week that they have declined from 30 million in the 1950’s to just 1 million today, although as hedgehogs are nocturnal and elusive, these numbers are estimated.  Hibernation is a difficult time for them, so we need to give them every chance.  There are 28 hedgehogs currently at the Rollo Centre, mostly in the inside warmer rooms.  These hedgehogs are eating well and piling on the weight, probably an instinctive behaviour as they are preparing for winter even if they aren’t all going to be big enough for hibernating this year.  Once they have put on enough weight to hibernate, they will be moved out into the colder big room.  Hopefully the ones that are in the big room will soon start to settle down reducing the cleaning and, importantly, the food bill.  On an average day, each hedgehog eats about half of a can of dog food so with current numbers, we are currently getting through about 100 cans of food per week.  The hedgehogs that are with us now, and any future ones brought in, will stay through until next April time which amounts to a lot of cans.  In order to help us meet these costs, we are launching our annual Sponsor A Hedgehog appeal where you can select one of our hedgehogs to sponsor either for yourself, or as a gift for a friend or relative.  You choose the hedgehog that you like from a selection of pictures of those in our care, give it a name, and leave your contact details so that you can receive an update on its progress in the springtime before, hopefully, it is successfully released back into the wild.  The picture shows hedgehog number MY71 who, I’m sure you will agree, is a very handsome fellow and is looking at the camera with some suspicion.  The numbering is our logging system where “M" stands for a mammal rather than a bird, the “Y” is the reference letter used for the 2025 calendar year, and the “71” means it is the 71st mammal registered in the year.  If you are able to sponsor a hedgehog the cost is £30 and you can either call in to the Rollo Centre to set up the sponsorship, or alternatively, come and visit us at some Berwick Christmas events.  Our Christmas Fair is on the 15th November, 10:30am to 2pm at Berwick Baptist Church and if you can’t make that one, we will also be at the Charity Christmas Market on the 29th November in Berwick Town Hall, 10am to 3pm. Gill Powell