Latest News Friends of Wildlife.  Click here to find out more about the Swan Trust Friends of Wildlife scheme.  "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.. 23rd May 2019 Things are all systems go at the David Rollo Centre this week getting ready for our Open Day which is on Saturday 25th May from 10.30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Please do come along if you can. We only have six hedgehogs left in our care. The release program has gone very well this year with Jackie keeping the records right. We now have a little breathing space before the orphans come flooding in. We have got a few already as four little Cygnets were brought in this week. They are having to be kept indoors as without mum to keep them warm it would be far too cold outside. They are all eating well and chatter to one another constantly. They hatched fairly early in the season so hopefully these youngsters can be released in the autumn. Everyone loves these cute little ones. During the last couple of weeks the seagull shooting season has begun. We have had four in so far all have been put to sleep due to their injuries. We do get fed up with sorting out the mess these idiots leave behind. New legislation means that ALL birds are protected and cannot be shot or otherwise injured. This is the Law. A licence is required to cull any birds. Please report any incidents to the police it is their job to pursue anyone breaking this law. I feel better now that’s off my chest. We have also released several collared doves and other pigeons. The Jackdaw that has been with us for a few weeks will also be ready to go next week. She is in the Lomax aviary with a Mallard Duck that had a wound on it’s back that had to  be stitched up by the Vet. She has been enjoying a bath this week as she has had to be kept dry for the last two weeks. Now that cleaning and feeding is taking much less time we have been able to clean up and repair all the runs and cages that have been damaged over the winter. Next month some of the fences and gates will be repainted so there will still be lots to do. I shall be busy baking during the next few days. We always make jam, cream and strawberry scones for Open Day as they are very popular. Do come along and see what we are doing to help local wildlife. We rely entirely on your donations to keep going so we are in need of your support. Hope to see you there. Pat Goff 16th May 2019 Well, this is nice: sitting out in the garden sunshine, with my laptop perched on a plastic foldy table. I’m being serenaded by the  blackbird with backing vocals from the skylarks and swallows, and the gentle baseline buzz of bees in their favourite shrub at the  moment. Somehow I’m managing to filter out the plane flying overhead, a car engine rumbling past and the radio hubbub from indoors.   It’s now relatively quiet for Trust volunteers too, thanks to all the kind supporters who  either returned hedgehogs to where they were originally found or released them in a  safe spot so they could make their own way back into the wild. It may seem quiet to  me, but that’s only because Jackie has done the really hard logistical work of getting  in touch with people, leaving messages, arranging for collection, and ensuring each of  the 40-odd hogs that has left the Rollo Centre is in tip-top condition with the best  location for a successful release. It’s a painstaking process, but responsible release is  a vital part of wildlife rescue. There were some delightful pictures and a video on the  trust Facebook page recently taken by supporters Tracey Rogers and Jayne Patterson  who had come to collect and set free the hogs they had rescued months earlier. When  you read media reports of what some people deliberately do to hurt these harmless  creatures, it gladdens my heart that there is so much love and kindness for them too.   By the time I arrived to do my regular Wednesday stint, there were nine hogs in the  outdoor hutches, just ‘hardening off’ – like frost tender plants – before toddling off  into the gardens and hedgerows of places like Duns, or Wooler, or Berwick itself. And  there are just five residing in the recovery room, who have been brought in just  recently and still need to reach a decent weight. One little chap, found in Tweedmouth  in mid-March, is last in line for cleaning and feeding every day, because he has some  kind of skin condition. He’s been treated for mites and lungworm, and is eating well,  but his skin is still dry and flaky, so for the time being he’s ‘under observation’.   No doubt by our Open Day on Saturday 25 May we’ll have some tiny chicks or  fledglings to see, but there’ll certainly be hedgehogs and of course Errol the Trust’s tawny owl mascot who will be mingling with the  public from his own private aviary. Visitors will also be able to view the super-comfy new high-rise hog cages, which we’re hopefully  going to raise funds to buy more of, and all the latest work carried out by volunteers Jim and Peter to improve the accommodation and  make better use of space. And in addition there’ll be gift stalls, tombola and a raffle, and delicious refreshments.   The open day runs from 10.30am until 2pm at the David Rollo Centre, situated opposite Berwick’s recycling centre on the Ramparts  Business Park. Elfrieda Waren 9th May 2019 At last the big room is free of hedgehogs. It has been quite hectic for the last two weeks preparing hedgehogs for release. Many are  going back with their rescuers to be set free where they were found. They are packed up in a carrier or box with plenty of straw and  some handy informative leaflets.  During the last two weeks we have reduced the number of hedgehogs in our care from 54 to 15. We have 6 still indoors and 9 outside  that will be going during the next week or so. It has been hard going cleaning  and feeding so many hogs. We all have dish wash hands from cleaning so many  food and water dishes. It was taking two people over two hours to clean and  feed them all. Not forgetting all the other casualties we were looking after. Here I must thank you all for the generous donations we have received for the  hedgehogs. We are grateful for all the cans of meaty loaf dog food as well as  dried mealworms for sprinkling on the top of the bowls. Also newspapers which  we take all year round and store for the winter and the hogs. We were down to  our last few papers so please keep bringing them in and we shall be glad of  them once the hogs start coming in again in September. Jackie has been working hard scrubbing out all the huts that have been emptied of hogs and they have been put away ready for use for any ducklings, pheasant  chicks and the like.  We now have to give the big room a good spring clean. There is still an odour of  hedgehog about the place but it should clear with a sweep up of bits of straw  and a good disinfectant scrub around the room. Then it will be ready for the  stalls on our Open Day. We have also managed to release the last Tawny Owl nestling from last year. This one was way behind all the others and we did not think he was able to see as well as the other nine we had in all together. He has managed to find his food when we used a mouse squeaker so he will be able to cope in the wild and we were able to release him quite safely. We also have a Mallard Duck in that was brought in with a nasty wound on its back. It was stitched up by the Vet and needs a couple of  weeks R. & R. before it can be released.   On to our Open Day which is on Saturday 25th May from 10.30 a.m. - 2.00 p.m. Have a look round The David Rollo Centre and see the  improvements made since last year. There will be lots of stalls and of course the usual refreshments. We look forward to seeing you. Pat Goff