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... 1st May 2025 The sad news first this week. We had in two Buzzards brought in, from different places last week. Both had nasty fractures and sadly both had to be put to sleep. At least they did not have to suffer a long lingering death. Two Herring Gulls also had to be euthanised after they had been shot. One was found lying in a pool of blood shot through the eye but still struggling to fly. They were both found in Castlegate but we do know that they are also being shot in Tweedmouth. Every year this happens and we are able to do nothing to prevent it. Perhaps it is time that air rifles should be licenced here as they are in Scotland. We are now releasing hedgehogs. If you brought one in during the autumn or winter you will be hearing in the next couple of weeks when they will be ready to be collected. Now is also the time to repeat our reminder to watch out when using a strimmer. We had a little hog weighing just less than 400 grams brought in on Saturday with a horrible head wound caused by a strimmer. She is doing very well, although small she is eating all her food every day and is putting on weight. She is being treated with antibiotics with the wound cleaned and medicated. They are such brave little animals that keep going whatever happens to them. Two pigeon squabs that had to be hand reared are now down at the Centre and flying well. They still have too much down on them to release just yet. Jackie and Mandy did a table top sale at the Rollo Centre last Saturday to raise funds for an incubation unit for young birds and mammals. They are over £250 each and will be very useful. The table top sale raised over £350. We also received a donation of £200 to go towards a purchase. We are now able to buy two of these units but we have found that the company has an offer during May of 15% discount, so, we shall be ordering them after 1st May. Thank you to everyone that came and supported us and also for the lovely craft items that were donated. We are also having a table at Wooler on Saturday 3rd May. A tiny Leveret was brought in on Tuesday weighing just 85 grams, so only a few days old. They are very difficult to get going and sometimes take four or five days to take a bottle but we can only do our best. Once they get going they normally grow very quickly. Barbara was working on Tuesday and phoned Dick to see if he could help her with a call she had taken. A Mallard duck had made a nest in a walled courtyard and managed to hatch out her ducklings. They needed help to get to water. Dick went down and he and Barbara checked out the site. Dick said it was relatively easy to corner the duck and the babies under some ladders so she could not fly off. He then encouraged her into the box carrier they had brought and the ducklings followed mum. One managed to jump out of the box as Dick closed the door, fortunately, Barbara managed to grab it and pop it back in the box. It only took about 15 minutes so a nice easy rescue. They took the family of Mallards down to the river away from the town and the Herring Gulls, where they were released. Despite Avian Influenza we are still hoping to hold our Open Day at the end of May.  Pat Goff 24th April 2025 The Thursday team had a surprise last week when we turned up for our shift. As we went into the Big Room we were faced with an open hedgehog hutch door and the hedgehog was not where it was supposed to be. There were four of us that morning and, after quickly shutting the outside door, we spent the next twenty minutes or so looking everywhere, pulling out the washer and everything from under the cupboards. We found traces that it had been roaming around but no hedgehog. As we were beginning to get a bit desperate, Barbara found it. It was curled up in an old rolled up yoga mat, shown in the photo. Not sure what the yoga mat was doing there, but we put it back for in case it ever happens again! Jackie was one hundred percent sure she had checked and double checked all the doors before she left on Wednesday night, as she does every night, so it will now be known as Houdini. The hedgehog is fine after its adventure and, as it was obviously keen to go, we put it in an outside hutch and it was one of the first to be released. The warm weather has brought the hibernation months to an end and the release programme for all the overwinter hedgehogs started this week. We are putting them from the Big Room into the outside pens to acclimatise and are also releasing them from the shed. If you were kind enough to sponsor one of the hedgehogs, you will receive your email update with notes on its progress and a photo. It should be with you before the end of the month so please keep an eye on your spam folders to make sure you don’t miss it. If it doesn’t arrive then please get in touch. It's fair to say that it doesn’t help to be squeamish volunteering at the Rollo Centre. The hedgehog hutches can often smell fairly bad. Feeding dead mice, chicks and the occasional rabbit to the birds of prey also takes some getting used to, but it would be fair to say I found my limit this week! Jackie has been taking an NVQ course in looking after wildlife and has been learning about the nutritional requirements of different species. We have a crow staying with us that was brought in three weeks ago not able to fly because of damage to its wings. It is staying in one of the small aviaries until it starts to improve and is one of the first to benefit from this knowledge with the introduction of a new, varied diet which the empty bowls show it is enjoying. This includes raw minced beef, lovingly rolled into 9-gram portions by Pat, half a sachet of cat food, a chick, some ground insect vitamins mix and a Morio. “What’s that?”, do I hear you ask? Well, it turns out it’s a huge maggot type worm! When it reared up on its back legs in the tub I jumped back with a shriek, and it took me a few minutes to recover from the shock, much to the amusement of my fellow colleagues. I will be leaving that job to somebody else! The Easter tabletop sale on Saturday was enjoyed by a good number of people, with some lovely handmade gifts for sale. We also had some sizeable donations from people unable to attend in person. Thank you to everyone who has supported us to raise the money needed for the portable incubators, they will make a real difference. We are now able to buy two of these and Pat will give further details when they arrive. Gill Powell 17th April 2025 As I was going into the Rollo Centre last week, I noticed, as we crossed the bypass bridge, that there were a good few more swans congregating where the Whiteadder joins the Tweed. There must have been a dozen or more. Just then I saw a group of six or seven swans flying towards the estuary. These must be singletons. Swans too young to pair up, or last years cygnets grouping with other birds. This is nice to see but also, this year, a bit of a worry. Avian Influenza is only forty or so miles away and there it resulted in the death of at least six mute swans. This is one of the times of year when Mute Swans move around. They are either leaving mum and dad and setting out on their own, or leaving the rape fields now that it has grown too high. River weed will be growing now so birds will come for food. It is to be hoped the incoming birds are not bringing the disease with them. D.E.F.R.A. has announced that all keepers of captive birds in Northumberland must keep them indoors or under cover. I just have two little Silkie Chickens and I have had to make them as safe as I can. At the Centre we shall have to make further plans to keep any casualties safe and free from disease. We shall not be able to take any sick water birds whilst the restrictions are ongoing. Swans are such a big part of the town and the river scene here. Let us hope that this awful disease will pass us by. For your safety please be very careful around any sick birds and keep well away from dead ones. There is no cure for this disease and most birds will die in a day or so, which is horrible to watch but we can get no treatment for such birds and no Vet will deal with them. Some happier news now. We received photos of the Barn Owl release and it was lovely to see how well the bird flew after it was set free. Dick took an Eider Drake to release near the pier. Somehow, it had managed to fly into a wall. He had a cut on his beak which soon healed and grazes on legs and feet. He enjoyed the water in the little pond for a couple of days but refused to eat, so we though it best to send him on his way again. He was a beautiful bird in full spring plumage so hopefully, he will be back at sea, choosing a lady friend. Our hedgehogs are all doing very well. We only have half a dozen still asleep. This means a lot of feeding and cleaning at the moment. The first twelve will be going out in the next week so the numbers will gradually reduce. One of our latest arrivals had received a nasty dog bite to the back of its neck. We have been cleaning and treating the wound, which had become infected, for a couple of weeks. We noticed on Friday that it is at last healing cleanly, although it was a deep wound. Please remember that Saturday 19th April Jackie and Mandy are having a small sales table in the office at the David Rollo Centre on Ramparts, Berwick Upon Tweed, from 10.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is to be a tombola, instant raffle and lots of Easter treats. Mandy will have a craft table and if the weather is fine a Bric-a-Brac stall. Do come along. Proceeds are being used for a Brinsea Incubator for birds and young mammals. Pat Goff