Latest News Sponsor a Hedgehog  Help the Trust by sponsoring a hedgehog. For further details click here. "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.. 26th November 2020 The photograph this week shows a swan that Dick fetched in from Cocklawburn a few weeks ago. Several walkers had reported seeing a  very small lethargic swan just sitting on the sand. She was very small weighing under 6 Kilos. When we put her in the little pond pen she  went straight into the water and had a thorough wash. When the bucket of food arrived she went straight to it,  we realised she had  spent time with us before as nothing seemed strange to her at all. Since she has been here she has constantly had her head in the food  bucket. She now weighs over 8 Kilos. The other bird in the picture is a huge tall cygnet brought in by the R.S.P.C.A. after being  found oiled round the head and neck.  He is absolutely massive has a very long neck and  was able to look over the dividing fence when he was kept under cover He weighed over  9 Kilos. We decided to let him share the small pond area with the little swan. She really  keeps him in his place pulling on his neck feathers to drag him away if he gets his head  in the bucket she thinks is hers. They do get on pretty well together so as they are ready  they can be released on the river together later this week. We had a visit from the ringer on Sunday. He came to ring the Peregrine. She is now also  ready for release. She came in with a broken wing but thanks to the Vet she has healed  up and is using the whole of the big aviary. She is flying very strongly. When it came to  catching her Kay and the ringer had quite a fight on their hands. When finally captured in  the net, the bird’s legs held securely to keep her lethal talons out of the way, she took a  lunge at the ringer and jabbed her hooked beak into his hand. He bravely finished the job and fitted the ring to the bird’s leg. After they let her go she flew low along the aviary  and sat fluffing up her feathers looking very annoyed.  The ringer staunched the blood  with his hanky. I suppose its all in a days work to him. He said that the Peregrine was a perfect weight and seemed very fit and wild, a  bit of an understatement that. Dick will probably return her this week to where she was found. We have had quite a few bids for the beautiful animal blanket that I showed a couple of weeks ago. Please don’t forget to send in your  name and telephone number together with your bid to our Ramparts address. Please mark the envelope Blanket Bids So we know what it is, as we are opening all the bids at 11.30 a.m. on 6th December when the highest bid will receive the blanket. It is absolutely stunning.  Photgraphs can’t do it justice. Do have a go.  Pat Goff 19th November 2020 Thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to sponsor one of our hedgehogs. This is such a big help to us especially this year  when we have been unable to hold Open Days and special events for ‘Friends of the Trust’.  Hopefully with news this week of a vaccine  we may be able to fund raise next year. On Sunday we had a ‘moving day’ in the aviaries. Having been able to release the Tawny Owl after it had had a health check from the Vet to make sure it’s eyes were working OK. This freed up the Lomax Aviary. Jackie and  Alice did a brilliant job of cleaning the aviary ready for another occupant, so we moved  August Barn Owl from the undercover aviary to the Lomax. This means she will be  able to have much more room to perfect her flying and also to experience the open  air. She was underweight although she was eating well but now at a healthy 360  grams and her leg beautifully healed she looks in super condition. As soon as we  introduced her to the new aviary she flew to the shelter and sat on a beam and  watched me. In the Lomax aviary she will see much less of people which is necessary  as she was hand reared after she fell (or was pushed) out of the nest. Aaran, the lad  who brought her in to us says she was cute and she still looks cute in the picture this  week. Now that the undercover aviary was free we could move another young Barn Owl from  the Longridge indoor aviary to the outside but completely sheltered undercover aviary.  This owl was not quite so amenable. She is much more wild. She was a little older  than August Owl when she came in and was able to manage her food if it was cut up  for her. It was a bit of a tussle to get he in the weighing bag. Bigger than the other  one at 400 grams it is time she moved to the fresh air to prepare for release.   Since the Longridge Aviary takes a lot of cleaning we left that to Jackie for Monday. We have yet another Barn Owl with a very sore eye  to move from a cage into this aviary. We need to find out just how good his sight is and we need to let him fly. Barn Owls hunt very  much by sound as well as sight but if one eye is not working well he may not be able to judge distance well. As David Rollo used to say  ‘Give it a bit of time’.  It is forecast to be windy next week but once the weather has calmed we will have to have a final check on the Peregrine and release  him. He is flying very well and we have done our best with him so it’s time for him to go.  Thank you to those who have already sent in bids for the blanket. Check on the website and Facebook for details. Pat Goff 12th November 2020 Thank you to everyone who has sponsored one of our 23 hogs. They are still coming in and some are still very small. We still have a few  left that are looking for a sponsor and awaiting a name. This situation may continue for some time if the rate of arrivals stays the same.  Thank you too for the donation of food for hogs and birds as well as washing powder and cleaning products. This helps us so much  keeping our expenses down and we know people are thinking of us and providing what we need. When we arrive at the David Rollo Centre in the morning as soon as we open the door we greet the smell of hedgehogs. With 22 of the  little animals indoors at the moment (just one outside) they smell a little overpowering. After a  few minutes with the doors open it just smells normal. Well, normal for the Recovery Room and  surgery which is where the overflow has to stay until they are off heat-pads. All the new arrivals  under 500 grams are put on heat-pads to help them if they have got really cold. They are clever  little animals. When they grow and are warm enough they made their towel bed away from the  heat-pad. The little ones have fleeces and they lie right on top of the heat. We have been treating a Brent Goose this week. It came in with another one from Holy Island.  Both birds had neck trauma. One was so poorly that the Vet put it to sleep but the other was  blind and also had a neck trauma. The Vet prescribed eye drops which had to go in several times  a day but sadly the goose has made no progress if anything it is worse than it was so it will  probably also have to be euthanised. It is such a pity as these are beautiful tiny geese. We have also been treating a Barn Ow with eye drops after it was brought in with a head injury.  It’s eyelid has had to be stitched and the eye itself looks very sore. The bird has to be wrapped in a towel three times a day to have two sorts of drops put in. Hopefully it will recover the use of  them, but it is a waiting game. Something we are very used to.  Susan made us a beautiful blanket featuring lots of different animal faces. It could be used as a blanket or rug or wall hanging. As we  are not holding a raffle this year we have decided to auction off the blanket. The photo this weeks shows part of the decoration. It is 5ft.  by 4ft. If you would like more details check out our Facebook page. If you would like to bid for the blanket put your bid in a sealed  envelope with your name and address and send it to our Ramparts address. All envelopes will be opened on 6th. December at 11.30 a.m. and the highest bidder will win the item.  Pat Goff