Latest News Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Sadly bird flu is now moving on from sea birds, to other species of birds, including geese, ducks and swans, and the Trust is receiving many calls from the public spotting sick birds. There is no treatment available and sick birds will often die within a day of showing symptoms. We cannot rescue or accept sick birds at the Centre as this would compromise those birds already in our care and could lead to the Centre being forced to shut down. Our advice, painful as it is to give, is to leave the bird and let nature take its course. Do not touch a dead bird or let a dog near it. The local Council is responsible for collecting them in a controlled manner. In some cases you may report findings to DEFRA on 03459 335577 or visit their web site for detailed advice here. *************************** "Swan Notes" News items written by Trust members and volunteers and usually appearing in the “Berwick Advertiser" newspaper each week. For those unable to read these items, and those living outside the Berwick area, here are the last few editions... 11th December 2025 Hi all, it’s Errol here.  I often get asked to the write the jottings at this time of year, I guess the usual jotters need a well-earned break!  The beginning of winter is my favourite time of the year as it quietens down around the Rollo Centre.  The cygnets are here throughout the colder months, but they are fairly quiet apart from a bit of hissing and splashing.  The hedgehogs are obviously here; they can spend the winter in their lovely shed and are lucky enough to be able to sleep from late November through until March which is a talent I’m a bit jealous of.  I don’t feel the cold though, my feathers are thick and fluffy like I’m wearing my own duvet, and I draw one leg up inside so all that peaks out is a bit of one foot – usually my left.  I’m also fairly waterproof thanks to the oils in my feathers, so can sit out in the drizzle but I can move under the shelter if it rains hard. Whilst I’m sad some of my fellow owls have got into difficulty and been brought in for help, it has been nice having them passing through in quite large numbers this year.  As I’ve been here for many years now, I try to pass on my wisdom after the staff and volunteers have gone home but I’m not sure they always take heed.  One of the pieces of advice is to always eat the food overnight or the volunteers remove it the next morning and you’ll be hungry until teatime.  If they can’t eat it all then I recommend they hide it away somewhere, in their boxes or under a log.  I generally eat all my evening meals, but I find it entertaining to leave a few bits and bobs around the place for the volunteers to find – I think they like to feel useful and am sure they like the odd chick leg to be left on top of my house to be gathered up. It was a very busy summer this year with far too many gulls for my liking.  Obviously, I’m very happy we are helping them, but the noise and the smell is pretty bad.  I guess anything on a diet of raw fish is always going to be a bit anti-social in that department.  On the plus side, the young birds do learn to fly fairly quickly and once they can get off the ground the staff move them out, but they are still around creating mess for a couple of months.  Worst still is that the adult gulls from the local area all turn up and scream.  Glad they are gone now until next June! Seeing the volunteers and staff going about their work is the highlight of my day, they always stop for a little chat as they go past, and I suspect that there is a bit of a fight over who gets to clean out my aviary every day and get up a bit closer to admire my beauty.  They all work exceptionally hard, turning up whatever the weather, and I would like to take this chance to thank them for all their efforts throughout the year, the Centre couldn’t survive without them.  Season’s Greetings to everyone. P.S. Jackie and Mandy are holding a Tabletop Sale at the Rollo Centre on Saturday 13th December from 12pm to 2:30pm.  There will be homemade gifts and calendars for sale as well as a tombola, a raffle and opportunity to sponsor a hedgehog.  Please come along.   Errol the Owl 4th December 2025 The two Muskovy ducks that came into the Rollo Centre as ducklings in mid-September were released this week.  When the siblings came in, they both had one bad leg – one the left and one the right - which we thought was probably why they had been abandoned by their family.  Fortunately, they were able to grow out of these injuries whilst in our care and are now fit and healthy large birds.  As they are quite tame, we thought carefully about the best place for them to go and are pleased to have found them a new semi-wild home.  They have a shelter to go into at night, lots of land and a pond, where a kind landowner will keep an eye on them until they have settled in.  They will be free to fly on to pastures new if they wish, or to remain in this spot.  We will miss them at the Centre as they were a nice couple of youngsters to watch growing up.  With them leaving, it means that there are not many birds remaining with us over the winter.  The two wood pigeon youngsters, who featured in the picture last week, are ready to be released and will go somewhere with supplementary feeding to get them through their first winter.  This leaves the barn owl, which is flying well now, and the three cygnets.  The cygnets will definitely remain with us until the spring as, whilst one or two are stronger and starting to stretch their wings, they need to be released together so they can support each other to find their own territory on the river. There are currently just over 30 hedgehogs at the Centre, the majority are too small to hibernate and are inside the warmer rooms. There are a number in the colder big room that are starting to sleep intermittently, missing getting up some days but then getting up to eat on others.  This is a frustrating phase as food can get wasted, but if they are sleeping it means a bit less work cleaning their huts!   And finally, there are now four hedgehogs hibernating outside in the big shed.  They went to sleep during the cold spell and have not woken up during the milder days this week.  A few people have enquired about whether they should still be feeding the hedgehogs or whether they will now all be hibernating, and our advice is to keep feeding them for a little longer as there are still some awake in the wild with the weather having been so unpredictable.  People also ask how they can be sure that it is a hedgehog they are feeding and not another type of mammal, the answer is that you can’t really, although hedgehogs do tend to turn their saucers over and create a mess, whilst other animals might not. We would like to thank everybody that came to the Guildhall Christmas Fair on Saturday and visited our tables.  Despite the awful wet weather, a lot of people turned out to support the various charities and to visit Santa.  Our tombola proved really successful, so a big thank you for all the great prizes that were donated.  Amongst the many lovely craft items that were made for us to sell this year, we received some little knitted “pigs in blankets” which were a great festive play on words and sold out quickly for stocking fillers.  We have also recently received a number of items donated via our Amazon wishlist and this too is greatly appreciated. Gill Powell 27th November 2025 This year, as well as the many owls, we have had a significant number of pigeons into the Rollo Centre: wood pigeons, feral pigeons and doves.  They have come in steadily throughout the year with a range of ages from abandoned youngsters needing hand feeding, to adults just needing time to grow new feathers and put on weight.  Pigeons can be quite divisive, a bit like gulls and Marmite – some people love them and others not so much, particularly when they gather in large numbers in city squares which they do right across the world.  Hopefully, after reading the jottings this week, there will be a few more that appreciate them. Pigeons are intelligent birds and in studies were discovered to be able to recognise themselves in a mirror which very few species can do, and they can recognise people by their facial features - which perhaps explains why they seem to bond with certain members of staff at the Rollo Centre, although this may also be related to who provides the food!  Academic research has proved they can also recognise the difference between a Monet painting and a Picasso, and more impressive still, in America, some were also trained to learn biopsy slides and identify cancerous tumours with high accuracy. Pigeons have an incredible sense of direction called “homing” and they can find their way back to their nests from thousands of miles away travelling very swiftly at 50-90 mph.  Nobody knows exactly how they do this; some think they have an inbuilt type of compass that relates to the angle of the sun, others think they may use the earth’s magnetic field and others suggest maybe infrasound where they listen to the noises of the earth that humans aren’t able to hear.  This mysterious skill led to them being used as deliverers of mail as far back as the Egyptians 10,000 years ago.  The Egyptians gradually trained them by taking them further distances from home and watching them return to base.  Pigeons were used more recently as vital messengers during the two world wars that saved many lives; 32 of them were recognised with the Dickin medal, an award often called the animals’ Victoria Cross for devotion to duty.  Only 75 medals been given out in total. Pigeons mate for life and are inseparable, often seen being “lovey-dovey” on rooftops.  The male tries hard when trying to attract a mate, strutting and marching about.  Once they have got to know each other they will mate and build a nest.  Both the male and female incubate the eggs with the young taking up to two months to leave the nest, waiting until they appear pretty much full grown.  Wood pigeons are the largest pigeon in the UK and they have spread from being woodland birds to being found in fields, parks and gardens.  The nests they build are flimsy twig nests, usually in trees but also on ledges or the ground.  After the storm earlier this autumn, a number of young came in as their nests had fallen down.  There are still two youngsters at the Rollo Centre, they are currently being rewilded with staff are under strict instructions not to interact with them to break any bonds to humans.  So, to sum up, pigeons are gentle, skilled, intelligent and loyal.  Doves, particularly white ones, are the recognised symbol of peace and love.  They are all vegans and unlikely to contribute to global warming.  What’s not to like? Look forward to seeing you in the Guildhall on Saturday at the Marie Curie Fair. Gill Powell