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Avian Flu
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"Swan Notes" News items written by Trust members and appearing in both "The Berwick Advertiser" and "The Berwickshire News", weekly newspapers circulating in the Berwick and Borders areas. For those living outside the Berwick area, here are the last few editions...
8th May 2008
This
week it seems that spring has finally arrived. It is the first time for ages
that it has felt really warm to me. The birds must be enjoying the benefits as
the poor swallows need the insects to feed them up for the breeding season. It
won’t be long before we start to get the influx of orphaned or abandoned babies
coming in. The courtship and nesting antics of birds can be enjoyable to watch
but I did witness something a few weeks ago that I have never seen before and I
am not sure how common it is.
I had just arrived at work early one morning and looking out of the window, not much of a view just the back of the Kirk in Eyemouth, I saw two herring gulls having a tussle. We have often seen the gulls there as they like to take the leaves from the daffodils for their nests. These two were really going for each other and completely ignored me. I then concentrated on work – yes, I do sometimes put a bit of effort in. When I glanced out of the window again both birds were covered in blood and the stronger of the two had the other on its back and was standing on one wing and grabbing at the other one. I watched in amazement for a few moments and then realised that if I didn’t break up the fight there would be a broken wing to contend with. I banged on the window, my colleague did the same but they were thoroughly intent on their fight. I had to open the window and shout before they stopped fighting, took a look round and then shook themselves and flew off in opposite directions. I have never seen gulls fight so aggressively before. What did occur to me was that when in the spring we seem to get a lot of gulls in the horribly broken wings fighting may be the main cause.
We have two tawny owls in our aviary at home and they have been visited by another one every night for the past week or so. We have heard his hoots but until the other night we had not been able to see him. Dick went out in the garden with the torch and swept the light through the trees and we spotted him. He took no notice of us at all. When Dick came to bed he peeped through the curtains to see if he could still see him and he was sitting on our washing post not six feet from the window. He gave a few more hoots and then went off his eerie whoo’s sounding fainter all the time.
The vet has had a very busy weekend chasing wildlife- a swan reported to be caught up in fishing line could not be found anywhere despite several visits to the area, and a limping fox around the caravans at Haggerston. It was very lame but David told me it is impossible to catch even an injured one when it has so many places to hide. He is concerned about it and will try again if it is sighted. Dick was also out trying to catch a bird, a pigeon on the loose in Curry’s. It took three visits to get it out. He also went off looking for a load of wee ducklings someone had reported. After spending some time searching all around the area he found out someone else had been just before and collected them up. This job has some good points. The exercise is very beneficial.
All birds at the swan house are well except for one swan which may need to be put to sleep as its balance is not improving and the vet thinks it is probably some sort of brain damage.
We hope to start work on the outside of our premises very shortly so that the aviaries can be erected. The last gales we had destroyed a large length of fencing so this can be done all together.
Pat Goff
1st May 2008
Being batty about bats
I often get strange looks at work and at other times, especially when I get carried away about one of my favourite subjects – bats. I could happily write about bats every week in this column, especially as there are over 1000 different kinds of bats in the world, but I think folk might get a bit fed up with that. For that reason I try to write about them only occasionally and this week is one of those times.
The reason for this being one if those times is that I was out last Monday night armed with a new bat detector from work and using the excuse I was testing it to get out to see some bats. It was a perfect night for going searching for bats too. It wasn’t too cold and wasn’t raining, although it did get wet a bit later on. As there are not that many insects out and about yet and bats will be hungry after spending the winter months hibernating I headed to a small loch close to where I live, where there was likely to be quite a few insects and, I hoped, some bats. I arrived around eight thirty which is just about official sunset time at the moment, although there was still plenty of daylight left. As soon as I arrived I saw and heard, thanks to my detector, a soprano pipistrelle flitting about looking for insects. By the time I was leaving there were at least ten of them flying over the water, swooping down to catch insects and zipping through the trees surrounding the water. Watching and hearing bats never fails to give me the same thrill that I got the first time I used a bat detector. The noise these creatures make that we cannot hear is just amazing. The noctule bat is not only one of Britain’s biggest bat but also the loudest. The noise it produces is four times the legal limit for a night club. Thank goodness we cannot hear that!
One question that people ask me often is why are bats protected. There is a simple answer to that question. Bats are roughly the same size as a mouse and a mouse can produce dozens of babies a year. However a female bat can only produce one pup, the name for a baby bat, per year and this means they can be affected by environmental factors very easily. If it is a bad year for flying insects which all British bats feed on then the bat population can plummet.
Sometimes when I explain this I am then asked the second question which is why should that matter to us. This is even easier to answer. The soprano pipistrelle is the smallest of the seventeen bat species found in Britain and they weigh around five grams, roughly ten paper clips or a two pence piece. Each soprano pipistrelle can eat up to 3000 insects per night and a lot of these will be that favourite species of the British public, the common midge. That is a fair number of midges consumed each night by each bat from spring until autumn. If all our bats disappear then we would find it very uncomfortable to go outside on a summer’s evening. Not something any of us would like to experience I am sure.
Owls will prey on bats but man is the greatest threat to them and is responsible for destroying roosting sites, good foraging habitat and food sources through the use of pesticides. All bat species now have the highest protection possible and any work that affects bats needs a licence. In fact you even need a licence to keep a dead bat, which I have as I have a dead pipistrelle in a jar. Maybe that has something to do with why people think I am strange!
Graeme Wilson
24th April 2008
Last time I
wrote we were just about to set off to visit our son and his family in
Southampton. Whilst there we did manage to call at the Otter Trust site in the
new forest, as we were hoping to be able to see Tweed the tiny otter cub rescued
by David and Kay from the riverside near Norham. We did watch the channel 5
program about animal rescue which featured Tweed in specialist care with the
otter trust when he had to be hand fed, and we were hoping to check up on his
progress.
The good news is that he is doing really well and is now in a separate enclosure well away from the public and has no contact with humans except when vital. There are three rearing enclosures each with a pond each allowing varying degrees of independence for young cubs. He is in the ‘nursery’ pen at the moment but will be shortly moving up to the next larger enclosure for ‘primary’ training. Finally we were told they go to the rowdy teenage enclosure where they learn the final lessons and meet and know how to live with adult otters. It is hoped that he will be released here on the Tweed which gave him his name. He is not alone as another otter cub was found a few weeks after him a female brought in by some schoolchildren. The staff at the trust hoped to call her Tartan to match Tweed but the children wanted to name her Lily so Tweed and Lily are enjoying life together. When we went I was hoping to get a photo of Tweed but understood that when we visited the trust they were doing the right thing so I took one of one of their adult otters instead.
Back here we are trying to get the fence around the swan house fixed yet again after the gales that took down half a dozen panels. Thanks to Eric we have now got some hope of getting the landscaping done ready for the aviaries as he recommended some excellent young men for the work. We have furnished them with drawings and await their response. It will be great if we can get the outside area organised this summer.
As I write these jottings I have just heard that Pat Grout who has done great work for the trust with her late husband Richard has had a dreadful fall at the railway station and is very poorly in Wansbeck hospital. We all wish her the very best for a speedy recovery.
Pat Goff
17th April 2008
Keep an eye out for our summer visitors
Photo by Marc Guyt
Any
day now swifts should be arriving after their long migration from Africa. In
fact you may already have seen one.
Swifts medium-sized birds, which are superb fliers. They only ever lands to breed and even sleeps on the wing! They are a plain brown colour, but when in flight and against the sky can appear black. They have long, scythe-like wings and a short, forked tail. Swallows and martins are often mistaken for swifts but these birds are smaller in size and more colourful than swifts. They also fly much lower than swifts and will often be seen on the ground or on wires. Swifts can usually be seen much higher and if you look up in the sky during summer you may be lucky enough to see them flying there. You might even see and hear excited screaming parties of them careering madly at high speed around rooftops and houses, when they do fly lower than usual, especially towards dusk.
Swifts are a summer visitor to the UK except for the very north of Scotland. They arrive in April and stay until August when they start their long journey back to Africa for the winter. The main problem that they face is the lack of nesting sites. They usually breed in buildings, especially older ones where there is suitable access into the roof space, and lay two or three eggs. Unfortunately there are not enough good nesting sites around, as new buildings do not have suitable gaps for them to access the roof space. Older buildings have often had all possible holes and gaps filled with cement further reducing the range of nesting sites available. There is really no problem if swifts nest in your house as they are extremely clean and hygienic birds, removing debris and droppings from their nests, so are not a 'pest' species.
Another problem that swifts face is the danger of becoming grounded. Due to the length of their wings and shortness of their legs, most swifts (with exception of very few strong adults) are unable to take off from a flat surface. This means that once grounded they are trapped and will eventually die from starvation as they can no longer feed on insects. Because of this a young swift gets only one chance to become airborne. If all goes well, it will fly non-stop until it returns to breed. If you do find a grounded swift, first check that there are no obvious injuries. If the breast is sharp and thin then the bird is already suffering the effects of starvation. If the flight feathers are not properly formed then the bird is young and probably been trying to make its first flight. If the bird is not injured, take it to an upstairs window (for an adult bird an outstretched arm when standing up may be adequate) and place it on the palm of your hand, head facing outwards. Gently raise and lower your arm, thus allowing the bird to feel the air under its wings. It should then start taking an interest and they will usually takes off with confidence. If it is reluctant to leave and is either in poor condition or a young bird, keep it overnight in a box. Feed it hourly with insects, small pieces of raw meat or dog or cat food until dark. Regardless of age, they are unable to pick food from the ground and are reliant on being fed. Next morning try to release the bird again. By this time it will hopefully have recovered enough to take to the air. Swifts, being totally aerial, need their wings to be in perfect condition. If it does not take off the following day or you suspect a wing is broken, you should seek the help of a vet or the BSWT.
If you want more information on swifts go to www.londons-swifts.org.uk, www.concernforswifts.com and www.actionforswifts.com. All of these detail how to construct nest boxes for swifts and where to put them.
Graeme Wilson
10th April 2008
I am hoping to have photographs of Tweed our little otter for next jottings. We are away down to our son in Southampton and shall call in to the sanctuary and see how they are raising the wee cub. It is always good to call at other wildlife centres to see how they do things.
We are getting to grips now with our computerised projector and have had it up and running but we were in need of a new screen. Barrie managed to locate one which was kindly donated by Colin Elliot. It is a lovely clean screen and should do our slideshows justice. I just hope I can get the hang of all this technology!!
We are always receiving calls about swans being out on the road at the slipway. Alison phoned Barrie who has asked the council again to put back the barriers. The problem seems to be that people come along and take down the barriers to gain access to the slipway and just don’t bother to put them back. The barriers themselves are too high and when they are in place the birds just go underneath them. The real answer would seem to be a proper fixed barrier that is low enough to prevent birds getting through and needing a key to open them with a penalty that makes it worthwhile locking them again. People come from far and near to feed the birds here or just come along to see them but we do need to keep swans off the road. So if you see the barriers down don’t call us call the council so that we can get a permanent solution to the problem.
We have had several other calls about a swan which has difficulty in standing and has been seen around the slipway. We suspect the bird is JHN white. She is an old arthritic swan, and there is little we can do for her. We can bring her in for anti-inflammatory medicine but that would only be for a short time and would not help her very much. We have found someone who will take her on to their lake where she can have a quiet retirement with a few younger birds for company and a nice muddy bank which will be softer for her feet. Barrie has been looking for her for the past week to try to move her but hasn’t been able to find her. If anyone knows where she is please give us a ring and we will try to move her.
I hope the cold snap they forecast for the weekend will not be too harsh as we have all sorts of birds nesting around the garden just now none of which need a layer of snow to contend with. When we were clearing the tree that broke in the recent gales we found a beautiful wren’s nest from last year tight in the branches as good as new. It is amazing how these tiny birds can construct such wonderful nests in just a couple of weeks.
One last item. The buzzard which David operated on is now with our resident Buzz and seems to be a male, as it is much smaller than our bird. They are together in a large aviary and are keeing to one another. All birds seem to be so much happier if they have company. He was taking a very keen interest in my little dog Patch when we were in the garden, he probably thought it was a little black rabbit and would be good for tea.
That’s all for now till next time
Pat Goff