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.. 20th September 2018 September usually means we have a slow down in the amount of animals we have at The Rollo Centre. Late summer we are usually able  to release young orphans we have been rearing. This year however we already have sixteen hedgehogs inside too small to go into the  outdoor hutches and we have four outside that will hopefully be released before the end of the month. We are still seeking sponsors for  some of the hogs and loaf dog food would be much appreciated. Dick and Kay have both been called out for rescues this week. Kay had a call from  Haggerston Castle saying a swan was stuck between a fridge and a metal railing.  No-one there was able to release the bird themselves so Kay went along. She could  not understand why they needed help but said she would come as long as there  would be someone to help her. When she arrived she saw the problem. The fridge was a large industrial cooler unit outside the restaurant fenced with  metal railings. Several lads were there to help. The swan had landed on the cooler  unit top and slid down between it and the railings. It’s neck was wrapped around  two of the rails.  She managed to free the bird’s neck but the only was to get the  bird out was to push it up to the top of the railings. She asked the lads to help her  but they would not touch the bird. She managed to push it so far but she was not tall enough to get it to the top . This  is where the lads were helpful as they fetched a step ladder for her. It took her  some time to get the bird out but when she eventually did she was pleased to find it was unhurt although shaken up a bit and was needing to sort out his rumpled  feathers. I think the lads were impressed with Kay as she was not afraid to handle  the bird. He came back to the centre for a bed and breakfast stay and released on  the river the next day none the worst for his adventure. Dick was called out by the police to an injured Osprey found near Wooler on an estate. The gamekeeper took Dick to where the bird was.  It was very weak and thin. The gamekeepers were very helpful and had called the police when they could get no response from  R.S.P.C.A., so there had been a delay in picking up the bird. Dick picked up the bird which was double ringed and had a tracker device  fitted. He took it straight to the Vet, ringing on the way to let them know he was coming. By the time he reached the Vet the bird had  died. It was x-rayed to see if it had been shot or there were any broken bones but this was clear. We have reported the ring numbers and the body has been collected for post mortem. The tracker was collected. I took a photo of it. It looked quite large on the bird’s back but  only weighed 25grams. When we get details of the history of the bird I will let you know. Pat Goff 13th September 2018 Now that autumn is well and truly with us, the Trust volunteers aren’t anticipating any more young chicks coming in – although we  sometimes get the odd late arrival.  The three ducklings that were admitted about a month ago are growing fast and have now been transferred into the small pool  enclosure. This gives them a lot more room to move about and of course a nice area of water to paddle in which they didn’t have before.  I suppose it’s human nature – or perhaps it’s just me – but names often come to mind for the various animals that arrive at the Rollo  Centre. When I saw the photo I’d taken of the ducklings, with all three in a row caught in almost exactly the same pose, I decided to call  them Wilson, Keppel and Betty after the famous 1930s sand dance variety act. Most readers may be too young to know what I’m on about, and even I had to check the facts on Wikipedia. I never knew that after her  career on the stage, Betty Knox of Wilson, Keppel and Betty became a war  correspondent for the London Evening Standard and subsequently covered the  Nuremberg Trials.   You will no doubt be thinking all this is fascinating but irrelevant, but it perhaps  demonstrates that since I became a Trust volunteer I’m picking up all sorts of  snippets of information, some more pertinent than others.  These days, news items and articles on wildlife tend to catch my eye much more,  such as a piece by Tom Holland on The Guardian website recently about the  collapse in hedgehog numbers in Britain.   To look at the Trust recovery room, you’d wonder what the problem was; we  already have around 16 young hogs for overwintering who will probably be joined  by many more in the coming weeks.   In the Berwick area, we still seem to have a relatively healthy population size.  But at a national level, the future looks grim for hedgehogs. Tom Holland reports  that a survey had found evidence of hedgehogs in only 20 per cent of 261 sites,  with none at all being found in the south-west of the country. The figures are depressing, but if nothing else it shows the Trust’s efforts are  more important than ever before to the survival of the species.  Another thing I have learned as a Trust volunteer is that while the shocking statistics of decline make the news, the kindness and caring  of ordinary people goes largely unrecorded.  So here’s to the many Trust supporters who raise money, sponsor animals, donate food, or  bring in sick or injured wildlife for treatment. And not forgetting my fellow volunteers who care for the animals, keep the Rollo Centre  looking good with their gardening or building maintenance work, or ensure the admin is running smoothly.  Jackie has asked that I prevail on that kindness once again by putting out an appeal for tombola prizes – so anyone who can provide  suitable items, please drop them off at the Rollo Centre.  Elfrieda Waren 6th September 2018 If you are willing to believe a quick Google search, there are at least four collective nouns to describe a group of owls. So depending on  which one we choose, we can now say that the trust’s very own ‘parliament’, ‘wisdom’, ‘study’ or even ‘stare’ of owls has now been set  free. For many of them, it’s a return to the area they originally came from as fluffy little owlets. The lovely people who brought them in back  in the spring have returned to collect them and release them where they were found, in places such as Duns, Coldingham, Tillmouth Park  and Wandy Law. One man, Sandy Moor of Foulden, popped by to bring back the pet carrier he’d taken his owl away in the previous evening, and he  showed us pictures of the release. Sandy said: “When we opened the lid the owl seemed confused at first by the wide open space and just sat there. Then he spread his  wings and took off, circling over the woods. There’s lots of undergrowth  around there so he’ll have plenty to eat.” I’ll particularly miss the three that have been in our new Longridge indoor  aviary for a few weeks. Two of them were siblings, and most mornings they  could be seen perched very close together, gently grooming one-another’s  heads and necks, or squabbling noisily about who got the best spot on the  perch. The third little owl in that group never uttered a single sound and much  preferred sitting by herself, watching the humans as they went about their  business. I think the only one who will be glad of the owls’ departure will be Errol, our  resident tawny ‘mascot’. We strongly suspect although he couldn’t see any of  the other birds from his custom built personal aviary, he could certainly hear  them, and didn’t take too kindly to some ‘tawny-come-lately’ muscling in on  his territory.   The rest of us are very grateful to all those who sponsored our ‘parliament’ of  owls, helping to pay for the huge number of mice and chicks needed to feed  them.   Things are not looking so good for the short-eared owl with the broken wing.  He’s alert and eating, but he will be going to the vet’s soon to have that  broken wing looked at. It was bad news too about a young crow my partner Colin found while out running at the weekend. Unable to fly and extremely weak, we took him in to Kay at the Rollo Centre and she checked him over. He was painfully thin, and a rattling, gurgling cough confirmed he was  suffering from a severe lungworm infection. Despite receiving treatment for the lungworm, sadly he didn’t pull through.  Going back to collective nouns, this autumn is already shaping up for us having an ‘array’, a ‘prickle’ or a ’nest’ of hedgehogs, with no  fewer than 16 now resident in the recovery room. I knew I’d spoken too soon when I said things had quietened down. Elfrieda Waren