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... 8th January 2026 The start of the new calendar year, when the Rollo Centre is relatively quiet, feels like a good time to look back across the past twelve months and report on how many animals we have been able to help, remembering that we couldn’t have done it without the generous donations of both time and money given by all our supporters, volunteers and staff. During 2025, we admitted a total of 114 mammals and 364 birds. This is quite a different spread to the previous year when we admitted 166 mammals and 276 birds, and up by 34 in total.  Birds seemed to have got into more trouble this year.  Of course, not all of this number were with us for longer term care.  Some just needed a few nights rest and recuperation, whilst a number were in too poor health to survive for long.  Looking first at the mammals, by far the largest category was the hedgehogs of which we took in 100, this is down from 158 the previous year and is noticeable at the Rollo Centre this winter: we currently have only 37 whereas last year the shed was full.  We also took in one stoat, seven rabbit kits, two leverets, a hare and two mice!  Turning to the birds, it was a busier year in terms of swans with eleven admissions compared to only two in 2024.  Three of those are still with us, they are fully grown and starting to turn whiter.   The biggest category was the herring gulls and there were even more brought in this year than last, with a grand total of 134 coming through the door, up from 127.  This year we purchased some new “playpens” to house them in that made them easier to care for, we could isolate them when they first arrived to check their health, and they were easier to clean.  Pigeons and dove numbers were also well up on the previous year with 70 compared to 50 in 2024.  Many were squabs or juveniles that needed hand rearing until they could pick up their own grain, at which point we had to show some tough love by backing off to “rewild” them ready for release.  There were also 53 garden birds of different varieties and some game birds including two woodcocks.  Sadly, only one of the woodcocks survived, it was with us for a short time while we treated it for a sore eye where it had been clipped by a car.  They don’t cope well in captivity, so it was good it made a quick recovery.  This, for me, was the most interesting admission of the year, I had never seen one before and it was very striking.  And finally, the other bird category which saw an increase this year, and that we have written about across the months, was the raptors up to 31 from 21 which included 20 owls: 14 barn owls and six tawnies.  Is your New Year Resolution to do some volunteering, or to spend less time on your phone, or to try something new?  Then how about volunteering at the Rollo Centre?  We need new volunteers and now is a good time to join when it’s quieter and there is time to learn the ropes before the busy summer period.  Seeing the animals and birds recover and get released is really heartwarming.  If this is something you would like to try, give us a call and come in for a trial, what have you got to lose? Happy New Year to all. Gill Powell 31st December 2025 Firstly this week I must open with the sad news that our Treasurer, Derek Roughton died just before Christmas. He was a real gentleman. He was so kind and generous to everyone he met. He always enjoyed selling the raffle tickets with Terry when we had Open Days or other events. The photo this week shows him modelling a fisherman’s jersey and hat knitted by his late wife, Mavis. We shall all miss his weekly visits to The David Rollo Centre to pick up paperwork and join us for tea and biscuits. Rest in Peace Derek. Now another year has ended, we must thank all the very generous people who have helped us during 2025. Firstly all our amazing volunteers and staff who turn out, wind, rain, or shine to scrub, hose, and help us feed the animals and birds in our care. Not only that, they help with Open Days and outside events. We need more volunteers, so, if you feel that you would like to join us please ring and find out how you can help. When the daily round of cleaning and feeding is done, there is a tea or coffee and a chocolate biscuit on offer as well as time to have a chat with everyone. When we arrive first thing and all the cages are mucky and there is a rather unpleasant aroma around, it seems a daunting task. Three volunteers as well as Jackie or Barbara to keep a check on the daily task list and after a couple of hours its all done. The washing machine busy with the towels and fleeces from the small hedgehogs. Time then for a coffee break. It does feel really good when the work done and the cages are all clean, of course, it all has to be done again the next day. Which is why we need more volunteers. We must also thank the folk who call in on a regular basis to bring us boxes of food, bags of bird seed, lettuces, towels and newspapers. We are very happy to receive gifts like this it saves us the expense of buying them. Thank you also to Ford’s the Bakers for saving all the brown bread and rolls for us. When we have swans, ducks etc. in, cubed bread adds to their diet of grain, lettuce and grass. We have three Cygnets that will be with us until the spring so this is very useful free food for the birds. A special thank you here to Brian, who is a brilliant volunteer. He cuts up the bread which we keep in the freezer till needed and also looks after the garden, as well as keeping the grassed aviaries clean and tidy. All the new casualties arriving at the Centre are checked over and if we have any concerns they are taken to Galedin Veterinary Practice on the Ramparts estate, so we don’t have far to take them. All the staff are very helpful and the Vets all help us where they can. If an animal or bird can be saved we are happy to do all the necessary treatment to get it back to health so the Vets are essential to us. Many thanks. Thank you too to Direct Pets who are going to help us out with a wish list of items they stock, so that people can buy them  for donations to us. A lot of people like to give something rather than make a cash donation. As the shop is close by it is very handy for us. We also have been at events held by Direct Pets to help with promotion. We would like to wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful New Year. Pat Goff 24th December 2025 Hello everyone, I am one of the hedgehogs in the Big Room. I am quite happy staying at the Rollo Centre this winter. I am here in the cooler room so that I can hibernate if I want to but they give us such delicious food- I can’t resist it. It was very cold a couple of weeks ago and I did stay in bed then for three nights. It was so cold and I had some lovely straw to roll up in. I rolled over and over in the straw until it made a sort of duvet round me. I was so cosy. Then they gave me some tasty food and the evening was a bit warmer and the smell! I couldn’t resist it and got up to have a good dinner. I wasn’t always in the Big Room. When I first came in I was very tiny and the ground was so hard, I could not find enough food to eat and my mum said I must look after myself. I know I should only go out at night but I was hungry, so tried to hunt for a nice beetle in the day time. A kind person picked me up and brought to the Rollo Centre. I was looked at under a bright light and I heard disapproving voices say that I had TICKS. I don’t know what they are but they turned me upside down and poked coloured plastic picks at me and took off a lot of lumpy things I had on my skin. I thought they were part of me, but, apparently not, they were TICKS. I did feel better after that, but I had to have needles stuck in me every day. This was to help me get better, antibiotics I think. Kay said she was sorry every time she stuck a needle in but it didn’t stop her doing it. Soon I felt much better, and the food they gave me was delicious so I began to put on weight. I had a heat pad to keep me warm as I was only 300 grams. I had lovely food with a nice sprinkle of calciworms on the top. There were lots of other hogs in the room and at night it was quite noisy, with hogs eating and making their beds. There was a very nosy Tawny Owl called Errol, who used to look through the window at us at night. His aviary was over the window of the recovery room. He did not approve of us Hedgehogs. I just think he is jealous of the all the time the volunteers spend with us. He is a very superior animal but I think its just because he has been here for so long. Well over ten years he tells me. He has his own set of rooms specially built for him he says. We (us hedgehogs) pull faces at him though the window. Now I am just hoping to have a little time in the Hogwards Shed to hibernate and then I can go back to the big outdoors. I shall be bigger then and be able to find my own food easily. As we have straw beds the volunteers do not have to give us clean beds every day. They clean our living rooms and give us fresh food and water but don’t make us get out of bed every day, so we can get nice long sleeps. Actually, I’m feeling quite sleepy now. Everyone at the Rollo Centre wishes a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone who has helped through 2025. A hedgehog