Latest NewsAvian 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... 5th December 2024My sister, Pat, has asked me to do a piece this week and thought I would try to encourage readers to consider joining us as a volunteer. We only have two paid employees, so much of the work at the Rollo Centre is carried out by unpaid volunteers who usually come in for a few hours once a week in the morning. I have only been doing this hands on work for a year or so and have found it very rewarding, so maybe you would too.There are many ways in which you might be able to volunteer, such as repairs, cleaning or fundraising, so you don’t have to handle wildlife if you don’t fancy that, but we mostly need volunteers who can help with cleaning out the pens and cages and feeding the animals in our care. It’s fair to say that this can get a bit messy at times, but I’m told it’s not much different from dealing with babies and most people seem to manage that. We provide training so you can learn to work with the various wildlife which comes through the Centre. Of course, handling wildlife is different from dealing with domestic pets. They are not always friendly and can be dangerous, so new volunteers are not expected to handle such wildlife until well trained and well fitted out with protective gear.In the autumn we are mostly dealing with hedgehogs which involves a lot of work, but this reduces somewhat as many of them go into hibernation and into our “Hogwards” shed where they only need a quick check each day to see if any dried food has been touched as they do wake up at times and take a little food. The younger ones still awake need cleaning and feeding every day and this is a good introduction for new volunteers as hedgehogs are very placid and easy to handle. Each one is weighed before putting it in a holding box while the cage is cleaned and fresh newspaper and towels provided. Fresh dog food and water is put in and the hedgehog is returned. Some head straight for the food bowl and I’ve always been surprised at how much food they can get down. Some even get their bowls topped up later in the day. The picture today shows The Towers that holds 18 hogs.As Spring arrives and the hedgehogs are released back into the wild the main influx at the Centre is of small birds that become lost or orphaned or fall out of nests. We all like to see ducklings when they come in, but they can get a bit messy and are a bit of a handful when moving for cage cleaning. Gulls are nice enough at this fluffy stage as well but soon turn into rowdy youngsters and we’re glad to see them off as they make for a lot of cleaning. We often get cygnets arrive at this time of year as their parents drive them off ready for a new brood. At least they are easy to get on with being quite friendly with us humans.We are all interested to see the more unusual arrivals at the Centre, particularly the owls and other raptors. They need very careful handling as their talons are very powerful, so it’s for our more experienced volunteers. I keep a respectful distance. The exception to this is our mascot Errol the tawny owl who is quite happy for us to enter his aviary and takes a great interest in the goings on at the Centre.If you fancy joining us get in touch.Terry Morris28th November 2024Hello, I am Errol Owl. I am the mascot of the Berwick Swan & Wildlife Trust. The picture this week is of me when I had not been at the Trust very long. I was sitting on the table while my cage was being cleaned and I was turned into a Christmas Card. I had been very poorly and had completely lost my memory after my accident. I was looked after and hand fed until I was better but according to Kay and Pat I would never be able to look after myself in the wild because I would not eat mice, I shudder to think about that, I only eat chicks, except the legs as they scratch the throat a bit. I don’t like mice at all, horrid furry things. I could not imagine trying to hunt for them. If I would not eat mice I could not manage in the wild by myself, they said, so I became a Mascot. All this was ten years ago. I live at the Trust in my own aviary with a box and a swing and other perches so that I can see what all the volunteers are doing. They come and see me every day to clean up my home. Volunteers are a bit like home helps and I like to leave them the chick legs that I drape around my home. They have a chat to me and change my bath water, wash my perches, clean up my poo’s and the feathers I moult out. It is a very nice arrangement, as I get to see everything that happens here at the Rollo Centre. This year a pair of Herring Gulls nested on the roof of my aviary and very noisy they were! If anyone came through the gate one of the gulls would start complaining. I thought they were going to raise a family but after two or three weeks they left their nest, which they had been adding grass and straw to all the time. It weighed a ton when the volunteers took it down! All that fuss, one of them sitting on the nest all the time and not one egg in it. The ladies were proper mad about it as they had to cancel an Open Day because the gulls were very protective of their useless nest. I like Open Days as I am aware that most of the visitors only come to see me. They enjoy talking to me. It can be quite tiring for me as I usually sleep during the day and do my flying and eating during the night, but I do like it when people visit but then I am a very important person.Things change a bit in the autumn. This is when those darned hedgehogs think they are special. The washing they make is amazing. All those towels and fleeces. They roll themselves up in them and pull all the fluffy threads out so they have to be thrown away after a few weeks. Three loads of washing every day at the moment and all their cages to clean. They are never worth it. The volunteers manage to clean my whole aviary with just a wee bucket of water. It is because hedgehogs are getting to the red list and are in danger of dying out. There seems to be plenty of them here that’s all I can say. The only thing they do that seems at all sensible to me is this sleeping through the winter. Hibernation I think they call it. I have thick, warm feathers and they keep me cosy in the winter. Owls win the day I think.21st November 2024Thank you to everyone that called to see our table at the Marie Curie Christmas Fair last Saturday. It was a great day and we raised over £500.00. It was a brilliant joint effort, both our staff and volunteers really working hard and all joining in to help. Our next Christmas stall on 30th November to the Berwick Riders Christmas Fair, so do come along and see us there. We are trying to make the tables as different as possible. This time we are doing a ‘wine or water’ tombola, win a prize every time, but will it be wine or water. We shall also have calendars and sales items. You can also sponsor a hedgehog.On 7th December Jackie and volunteers are turning the office at the Rollo Centre into a Christmas Grotto. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and there will be all sorts of crafts, gifts, calendars and cards so do come along. They are raising funds to replace some of our plastic cages that have become brittle. They are in use most of the year and all of them have a hedgehog in at the moment. We have to use these cages when a hedgehog needs a heat pad. With the clear plastic top it keeps the cage warm all round, without draughts. In all the years I have been volunteering at the Centre I have never known so many small hogs in at this time of year. We are using a ‘reserve’ cages that are taped up where the plastic top has cracked. These spare cages will not last another year so the ladies thought we could have a fundraising event to raise enough to buy another two or three of the cages to replenish our stock. If we have another busy autumn next year we shall again need all the cages. The photo this week shows with ‘overflow’ of young hedgehogs that are living in the surgery as all the counter tops in the recovery room are full of cages like these. All the cages are a few years old and we were horrified to see how much the prices have gone up. We found that these cages are over £60 each and we could use a few. We still have a few vacant apartments in The Towers as the hogs move into them when they can manage without the heat pads. This is when they weigh over 500 grams and are eating consistently and well. We often find that a hog will eat 100% for a few weeks and just before he can be moved into The Towers, they drop off their eating and we have to keep them on a heat pad and in a plastic cage for a bit longer. We have thirteen in The Towers and about twelve in cages. The other twelve or so are in the big room, as they have reached their target weight of 700 grams. I think we currently have 40 hogs in total. The Herring Gull being treated for an abscess in its mouth, sadly died on Saturday. We had hoped the infection was away after three weeks of treatment, but it looked like it was spreading around its head. We noticed a lump forming on the side of its head that wasn’t there before. It is such a shame as we thought we may be able to fix him. We certainly did as much as we could. It is a shame we can’t win them all. Errol is writing the jottings next week. I noticed him sharpening one of his quills in readiness. I think he is a little jealous of the attention given to hedgehogs.Pat Goff