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.. 29th October 2020 Firstly this week I have to announce the death of my mum, Mary, although she was known as Nan to most of the volunteers. She had a  fall, fracturing wrist and shoulder of her left arm in July and at 97 years old was never able to recover. I looked after her at home with  the help of carers but then she rapidly became very frail. She passed away on 19th October in Berwick Infirmary and I can’t quite believe  it yet. She was a great supporter of the Trust. She paid for the camera system to be installed as well as buying hutches. She always  manned a stall at Open Days starting with the Tombola, but as she got older this became difficult for her so she did the Wine or Water  stall with the help of my brother, Terry. She will be greatly missed.  During the last few weeks I have not been at the Rollo Centre as often as  usual while I was looking after mum, but she was still keen to help me when I wrote the jottings. When she knew there were  a lot of small hedgehogs in our care she said one of them needed to write to ask for sponsors. With  this in mind Hedgehog MT115 is telling his story.  There are eighteen of us hoglets living at the Rollo Centre and all of us will have to stay over the  whole winter because we are too tiny to hibernate. I only weigh 300 grams and most of the others  are about the same size, but there are one or two just around 500 grams. Only one of us has been sponsored and given a name. The rest of us are just numbers, which we  are feeling a bit prickly about. Please think about sponsoring a hedgehog like me. It helps to pay for  our food and buys washing powder as we need clean towels every day. Sponsors can choose the  name of their hog and we have our photo taken which is printed on a card. This gives all our  details. In the Spring we have our photos taken again and these are sent to sponsors so that you  can see how we have grown and when we will be able to be released. It costs £30.00 to sponsor one of us. It makes a lovely Christmas present too. You can e-mail the Trust on swan-trust@hotmail.co.uk or phone the David Rollo Centre  01289302882. Details also on our Facebook page and website. I am hoping to let you know next time I write about the Tawny Owl recovering from a R.T.A. He is now in the Lomax Aviary and is flying  really well. Probably he will have had a final Vet check next week which will decide his future.  I must also thank everyone who has sent us donations from our wish list on Amazon (details and link on our website) it is great when we  get a parcel come with items we really need. Thank you all so much.   Pat Goff 22nd October 2020 When I was cleaning out Errol’s aviary the other day, he seemed a little out of sorts. He was perching on his swing, which was odd, and  even more unusual, he flew over my head when I bent down to fill his water bowl. Errol the tawny owl is the Trust’s only permanent resident; he survived a collision with a car, but can never be freed because he lost his  ‘wildness’ with a brain injury. For us, he’s a symbol of what can be achieved  when a wild animal has the chance of treatment and recovery. I wondered whether Errol could sense that this year, things have been a bit  strange at the Rollo Centre. It turned out that he was having a ‘tawny tantrum’  because of the gulls flying low overhead, but there’s no doubt that the Trust has  had to do things very differently in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Normally Errol would be the centre of attention at one of our open days, where  the public gets the chance to see the animals and find out about wildlife rescue.  The open days are also our opportunity to meet supporters, generate awareness and of course raise the all-important funds to keep the centre running.  Sadly we’ve been unable to hold any open days this year - but that hasn’t  stopped our incredible supporters from continuing to help whenever they can. In addition to the fantastic donations of food, old newspapers, hand towels  which have been left in our blue box at the door of the Rollo Centre, Jackie has  asked me to thank all the supporters who have so kindly bought items from our  Amazon Wish List account.  There are plenty of items to choose from on the wish list, from a tub of  mealworms for £5.75 which we use to sprinkle on top of the hedgehogs’ meaty  pet loaf, to £43.29 for an electric heat pad which we wrap in a fleecy blanket to keep the young or particularly vulnerable hogs extra  warm and cosy. Equally important to operations at the Rollo Centre are items that keep the premises clean and well maintained, and the wish list  includes items such as paper towels, disposable plastic gloves and washing up liquid. If you’d like to see our wish list, go to our website www.swan-trust.org and click on the Amazon Wish List button on the main page. Elfrieda Waren 15th October 2020 The autumn is turning into an Owl and Hedgehog season at the David Rollo Centre this year. We have released the Tawny Owlets that have been with us during the summer but these birds have been replaced by ‘August’ the very  young Barn Owl with a fractured leg who is now making excellent progress. He is now in an undercover aviary outside so that he has a  more natural environment. He is flying very well.  Another Barn Owlet came in last week named ‘Ollie’ by the family that found him. He has no injuries and is half fluff and half feathers.  He lies in a corner of his cage with his legs out looking dead during the day, but at dusk he is a changed bird, chomping through the  chicks and mice put out for him. He is eating two chicks and two mice a night so should be growing well.  We also have a Tawny Owl sent to us from the Vets after being found at the side of the road.  He has a problem with one eye which we  are dealing with but we think he may be blind at the moment. This may be due to being hit by a vehicle or it could be some long  standing infection in his eye. Only time will tell with this bird.  The Peregrine that had a broken wing is making good progress too. A couple of weeks ago he  was only able to fly a short way and mostly drifted downwards. Now he can fly up to the top of  the Owl box in the big flight. This is a big improvement but he still has a way to go before we  can think about releasing him.  Hedgehogs are still coming in. One or two a day is average now. Some are really tiny and have  come in very poorly. We have lost several during the past couple of weeks.  We have nineteen at present inside and four outside These four will certainly get away before hibernation time. The  ones inside are still quite small and we are using all our mains powered heat pads. We always  have this problem at this time of year and panic that we are not going to have enough. We did have a swan brought in by the R.S.P.C.A. The poor swan had landed in a field of Highland  Cattle, and one of the cows must have trodden on the bird’s foot. This has caused severe  bruising and a swelling to the swan’s middle ‘toe’. The Vet practice where the bird was initially  treated about 50 miles away sent up his notes and described him as a very nasty tempered bird  and difficult to handle. We have found him an absolute sweetie and quite placid. He hisses a bit when first approached but then he’s had  a few problems with cows, and Vets, and our volunteers. He is now in the small pond enjoying the water. Pat Goff