Latest News"Swan Notes" News items written by Trust members and appearing regularly in "The Berwick Advertiser" and "The Berwickshire News",two newspapers covering the Berwick and Borders areas. For those unable to read these items, and those living outside the Berwickarea, here are the last few editions..2nd February 2012This week we have been able to release four of the eight swans currently in our care. They love tobathe as soon as they are in nice fresh water but the one in the photograph this week enjoyed reallystretching its wings. It is last years Cygnet and although it is still quite grey on its back and the top ofits wings the lovely new white feathers underneath can be seen in the picture. The other swans with us are still in need of a little bit longer being monitored before they can go.One swan which came from Eyemouth after being becoming oiled and grazing a leg is doing well. Itneeds another week or so to recover but after its wash in fairy liquid last week is looking very good.Fortunately we get very few swans in now that become oiled and need washing so we made the mostof this one and gathered some of the newer volunteers that had not been involved in this job beforeand gave a lesson in swan laundering. After a nice long wash in a bath of nice warm water, fairy liquid is worked through the feathers toremove the oil. Two or three people can help with this part of the task but the rinse process needs only two. One person to sit on a highold bar stool with the wet soapy swan on their lap, the other takes the shower spray on its firm setting and thoroughly hoses thefeathers working from tip to quill to make sure all the detergent it removed. Once the water beads on the feathers the bird iswaterproofed again.A swan is a large bird and this process takes a long time. Since John had an awful cold I said I would sit and hold the bird. I wear glassesso after ten minutes or so I can see very little, the water runs up the sleeves of the waterproof jacket and I am wet. Once the bird is‘proofed’ it is towelled lightly and put in a nice clean pen with a heater to allow it to dry they soon preen all the water out. I just wenthome very wet and cold! The volunteers unanimously decided they would not mind doing it in the summer when we work outside butthey all now have a good idea of what to do. Graham took photos but I haven’t seen him since to use one this week but will perhaps useit next time.The Barn Owl that was caught in a fence is slowly improving. When we are in the room it lies almost flat but when I went to the shed toshow a new volunteer round the little devil was sitting bolt upright on its log as if it was perfectly well. We are very pleased because nowit is beginning to sway its head and hiss in a typical Barn Owl threatening way.This week we trapped a new volunteer, Martin, he is young, keen and assures me he can run. That is all we needed to know! Those of us that go to call outs are all getting slower. So welcome aboard Martin. If you are youngish, and relatively fit and don’t mind getting wet,dirty and sometimes a bit smelly please contact us you will be very welcome to join us.We are getting the fencing done on the site and this is making a nice muddy mess but will be well worth it once it is done and then atleast the fence wont keep falling down in the wind.Pat Goff26th January 2012Eyemouth swan, a hero, and good news for the TrustLet me first of all reassure Eyemouth readers that the young swan that was sitting onthe slipway at the top of the harbour last Thursday is perfectly all right. I noticed at 10am that it was covered in oil but had no swan pole with me and it would have justslipped into the harbour if I had approached it. I rang Dick and he went to check it outon his way into work. By that time the bird was off the slipway and on the road whereDick was able to grab hold of it quite easily. By this time several calls had come in andDavid and Kay were prepared for Dick's call to collect it. They arrived at the shed while Iwas still there discussing Trust business with our Treasurer, Derek. Pat rang round ourvolunteers and amongst us we instructed new volunteers and got the swan washed onFriday morning. As I write this on Monday the swan is looking great and will be releasedonce it's feathers regain their waterproofing.My photo this week was taken by a swan rescue volunteer in Chester le Street, DenLilley, and shows a member of the public, Malcolm Lormor, up to his neck in icy waterjust before Christmas. Our volunteers and the fire brigade were in attendance at HettonLyons Country Park in County Durham and the fire brigade said they had no means ofreaching the swan and left the scene, whereupon Malcolm waded through the ice andbrought the swan out of the water and handed it over to Linda Charlton to deal with. Unfortunately the poor bird died later, but I thinkMalcolm deserves a medal for braving the icy waters.For some time we had wondered why the grass outside our fence never seemed to get cut unless we did it ourselves. I wondered ifperhaps we owned it but the previous owners had simply failed to include this narrow triangle within the perimeter fence. Trying to finddetailed plans of our land holding proved to be almost impossible until some time in July last year one of the many people I spoke to atNorthumberland County Council came up with a plan showing land owned by the Council shaded in red. This awkward bit of sloping landwas shaded red. Now I had something to get my teeth into. In August I wrote a letter to the Council, asking if there was any possibilityof us acquiring this plot of land. A lady came up to see exactly what land I was talking about and then at the beginning of December Iwas contacted by James Clare, a council surveyor. My file had landed on his desk; how could he help? On 6 December he came up andinspected the site. I showed him round our facilities and explained to what use we would put the extra land and how there was now some urgency as our existing fence was suffering from storm damage and if we were to move our boundary we didn't want to waste money onrepairs in the fence's present position. Since then James has cut through red tape like nobody's business and in the past few weeks wehave been informed that legal processes are under way to transfer the land to us.This will not be without cost. We are looking at a total bill for new metal fence posts and all costs incurred in the acquisition of thefreehold in the region of £10,000. Thankfully we have a very good treasurer who has been careful with our money and we have enoughin our contingency fund to go ahead with this project. That is not to say that we will not need support to replace our reserves as wenever know when something major will crop up. The main reason we need more grassland is that young cygnets and ducklings reallyneed to be on grass to thrive and grow up fit and healthy. We think this expenditure will be a good investment for the future work of theTrust and would ask you to visit our website, click on “How to help us” then scroll down to “Make a donation”. No writing of cheques orbuying postage stamps; you will find that giving us a donation has never been easier. While on our website, take the time to look around. Terry, our volunteer webmaster, has re-vamped the site and it looks quite posh now.By the time I speak to you again I am hoping the new fence will be in place and Brian, our volunteer groundsman/gardener will beputting his own mark on the extra land. If anyone will have any shrubs or cuttings in the Spring that will be useful for providing a bit ofshelter inside the new fence, please get in touch; Brian likes to keep busy.BARRIE MORTIMER19th January 2012Mild weather leading to a few surprisesTypical that just when I decide to write about the effect the mild weather is having we have a wee cold snap! However that isn't going to put me offas if the rest of the winter is anything to go by this cold weather will not last for long and the plants and animals will continue to be affected by theunseasonably mild weather.In my job as manager for a local biological records centre I get to hear about all sorts of wildlife sightings that would not normally cause a raisedeyebrow, were it not for the fact that we are supposed to be in the depths of winter. The centre that I manage is currently carrying out a hedgehogsurvey of the Lothians and Borders and we have had quite a few records of hedgehogs being seen around about Christmas and New Year time. Theyare supposed to be hibernating at this time of year and, although they are occasionally active during winter, there seems to be a higher number thanusual out and about. I have even seen one myself. Unfortunately it was a dead one at the side of the road just after Christmas. I could tell that ithad only recently died and had not been there for long. Quite a few of the hedgehogs that have been seen seem to have been on the small side so ifthey are not able to find enough food then they may find it difficult to survive the winter, especially if the mild weather is followed by cold snaps suchas what we are having just now. The Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust has had quite a few late born, therefore underweight, hedgehogs in our careover this winter and this seems to be quite common across the UK this winter.It is not only hedgehogs that have been putting in an unusual appearance. We have had to care for a turtle dove that suffered a broken leg afterflying into a window just before Christmas. Although Christmas time and turtle doves go hand in hand (think Twelve Days of Christmas) they are asummer visitor to the UK so are not usually found here during the winter. The dove has now recovered but we will continue to care for it until there ismore food around.We have also had other young animals to care for, such as a young barn owl that now has its adult plumage but we will again keep in our care untilspring. It is amazing that after such a harsh winter last year that lead to so many barn owls dying of hunger that the 2011 breeding season has beenso long that barn owl numbers are doing quite well.As well as birds and mammals I have heard reports of butterflies and bumblebees being seen on the wing. In fact we had a small tortoiseshellbutterfly in our house just before Christmas. It may have been hibernating in our house somewhere but it is usually spring before they becomeactive again and start flying around.Plants are putting in an early appearance too. A colleague at work told me that they had seen ransoms, or you may know it as wild garlic, in flowerlast weekend. I certainly cannot remember seeing spring flowers out that early in the year.Plant and animals putting in unseasonal appearances is not just an excuse for me to write a column about how strange it all is. As I said earlyhedgehogs may find it tough getting through the winter if they are under weight. As wildlife that we don't normally see until spring is out and aboutthen it might be an idea to put food out for them. If you put food out for hedgehogs then it might make all the difference in helping them throughthe winter, especially if they have been born late in the season and are underweight.Graeme Wilson