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2006 - 2007 8th May 2006 More babies The day started
with a call from Whyte & McKay's. A mallard had nested on their 7th floor again,
the ducklings had just been spotted and needed to be rescued. otherwise they
would jump from the building and land in a busy Glasgow street. Soon after Andy,
Jenny and Heather arrived back with 9 ducklings, there was a call from a vets in
South Ayrshire, reporting that they had a baby otter. Well, its never good news
when a young animal has lost its Mum, but it was good news for Sanna, the otter
cub already in care. She will soon have company, which is good. A nestful of
finches, probably green-, was blown from a conifer in Lanark, and the nestlings
have joined our growing number of young birds requiring half hourly feeds. Also
in care are blackbirds, starlings and the first of this year's magpie chicks. 1st May 2006 more orphans in care We have 5 fox
cubs now, still living apart as either they don't match up for size, or they
have injuries still being treated. There are more blackbird chicks, 3 song
thrushes and the 1st nest of starlings. The starling chicks are just a few days
old, and were removed from a loft because someone wouldn't tolerate them for the
next two weeks, the time it would take for their parents to rear them. It will
be a lot of work rearing them, and then they will need time in an aviary before
being released. Yesterday I kept thinking of their parents, delivering worms for
chicks they could not find. I wonder what the home owner thought when he saw the
parents perched on his roof, not knowing what to do with their beaks full of
food. The time to block our holes in roofs, to prevent birds nesting, is
straight after the breeding season. If it isn't done then people forget, and the
birds nest again the following year. 6th April 2006 Children's Activity Day We had an enthusiastic group of youngsters here today, learning about wildlife. First of all they discovered some of the differences between town and country foxes, then they met Fergus the fox. Then it was time to learn about hedgehogs, and help to clean and feed some of the hedgehogs that have spent the winter at Hessilhead. After drinks the children saw photos of the various owls that we care for, and found out what these owls eat in the wild. Most of the children were happy to let Plop the barn owl perch on their arm. Finally we went to the quarry pond to feed the swans and ducks; the dogs came too. The whooper swans were still there, and we identified mallards, tufted ducks, moorhen and little grebe. More children's activity days will be organized in the summer holidays. 6th April 2006 Whooper Swan We admitted a whooper swan last night. It had landed on the Heritage Loch at East Kilbride, and been beaten up by the resident mute swans. It seemed to recover its dignity soon after arriving at Hessilhead, and having no serious injuries, we decided to release it on the quarry pond today. There has been a whooper on the quarry pond all winter. It can fly, but chooses to stay here. Today it was delighted to find a mate, and the two of them swam around together, whooping. We wonder whether both will stay, or will they leave. 22nd April 2006 Start of the busy season The phone rang at 7.15 this morning; someone asking if they could bring 3 blackbird chicks. They were cat victims, such a pity, as they are fat chunky chicks. They are eating well, and having such a good start, they should soon be feeding themselves and ready for the aviary. Two more blackbird chicks came later, as well as 3 hedgehogs, a gull and a pigeon. We were running a First Aid course today, so the patients made good exhibits. Now we are waiting for a delivery of Uist hedgehogs, 31 plus a pet lamb don't ask), but the van has been diverted due to an accident, and probably won't be here till 11pm. I guess we'll be ready for bed once they have been unloaded. 20th April 2006 deer rescue It must be the
start of the deer season. We had a call from the police at 3am yesterday
morning, asking if we could help with an injured deer on the road between
Barrhead and Paisley. Bev and Clare, 2 resident volunteers, had said they would
like to come on a night rescue. They were ready within minutes of me knocking on
their cabin door; but I think they sleeping almost fully clothed! 14th April 2006 Sunny day, cats out! Even if we
hadn't been outside today, enjoying the spring sunshine, we would have known
that the weather was good. This was because 3 cat victims were brought in, so
moggies must be out hunting again. First to arrive was a female blackbird, badly
cut and with most of her flight feathers missing. It will be a while before she
is out to breed. Then came a robin, tail feathers missing and a sore wing.
Hopefully he will soon be fit to go. Last came a wren. Now they are difficult
patients. Not only is it difficult finding a cage they can't squeeze out of, it
is usually difficult getting them to eat. So in this case I opted to give the
bird one long-acting antibiotic injection, and sent it back for release in the
same garden. I know the cat will still be there, but the wren will know where to
feed and shelter. That will give it the best chance of survival. Its tail
feathers will soon grown back. 11th April 2006 Uist Hogs Zandra and Javier, our Chilean vets, arrived back at Hessilhead with 17 hedgehogs from the Uists. The hedgehogs were very active when put into their new cages, and inquisitive too. It didn't take them long to find their food. Now we need some warmer weather, so they can be relocated. 10th April 2006 Otter cub Andy and Ulrika
travelled to Arnamurchan today to collect an otter cub. The small cub, perhaps 7
or 8 weeks old was found yesterday at a campsite. The holiday maker stopped to
photograph the cub, which then followed the person's feet, and wouldn't leave.
they tried putting the cub in the sea, but she came straight back out. Luckily
they then phoned for advice. An otter cub behaving like this needs help.
Something must have happened to its mother. 2nd April 2006 Uist Hedgehog Rescue Andy and I have just spent a couple of days on Benbecula, helping to prepare for this year's hedgehog rescue. It was a pity we only stayed two days, as the weather was warm and sunny nevertheless, we had time for a couple of walks and some bird watching, giving good views of long tailed duck, hen harriers, short eared owls and merlin. The Uist Rescue Centre is being run by two enthusiastic volunteers, Joseph and Dan. They found their first hedgehog on Friday evening, and it travelled back to the mainland with us last night. It has settled in well, is eating lots, and will be relocated soon. If anyone would like to help relocate Uist hogs this year, please get in touch. 22nd March 2006 Injured swan The swan looked
dreadful when it arrived. It had been bleeding from a cut on its face, and whole
of it was blood stained. Blood still poured from the wound. Luckily we have 2
vets on site, Javier and Zandra from Chile. They set to work, cleaning the
wound, and stitching the caruncle(knob) back in place. The swan was soon looking
as good as new, and after a swim on the indoor pool it became white again. We
don't know how the accident happened. The last time we saw a similar injury, the
swan had hit wires, but today's bird was found on Hoganfield Loch, so that seems
unlikely. We'll probably never know. 17th March 2006 Leverets Found in a quarry this morning, the tiny leverets had been kept in an office all day, the workers hoping that perhaps they could put them out again this evening. They decided to phone for advice, and partly because the site had been disturbed a lot during the day, and also because the leverets had been found on rock, not vegetation, we decided it would be better if the youngsters came here. I often wonder how leverets survive when they are born so early in the year, when temperatures can be below freezing, and there is little shelter for them. Doubtless some of them do, but it seemed unlikely that these would survive in a working quarry, with no vegetation at all to hide them. They are snuggled together in a warm box now, and have already taken their first feed from a bottle. 13th March 2006 Snow Yesterday's
snow didn't seem at all like spring was on the way. Yet our blackbird chick is
fledged now and beginning to feed himself. Today a young mistle thrush was
admitted. He is older than the blackbird, and came from the middle of Glasgow. 5th March 2006 Back Again and spring is just around the corner You may have
thought I had left the country, and with recurring problems with broadband there
have been times I felt like doing just that! Hopefully all is sorted out now,
and the diary will be back regularly. 7th February 2006 sparrowhawk The raptor
influx continued with the arrival of a strong adult female sparrowhawk last
night. Apparently the bird had been found stunned. She was taken to the local
veterinary surgery, where she instantly recovered and caused havoc in the
waiting room. I gather it took quite while to catch her. 5th February 2006 Tawny returns Yesterday was
an owl and raptor day. We still have 2 buzzards in the hospital that are not
feeding themselves. They are underweight, one is still concussed and the other
has a high parasite burden. They are being fed 3 timnes a day so they'll gain
weight. The tawny that came from Kilsyth on Friday looks pretty sorry for
itself. I hand fed him on Saturday morning, but last night he fed himself.
Yesterday afternoon a small male kestrel was brought in from Denny. He is a bit
of a mystery. He is underweight, his feathers are dirty as if he had been on the
road for a while, but today he coughed up a good pellet, indicating he had been
eating well. He looks bright, and is eating everything on offer. Last night we
collected a tawny owl from Kilmarnock, and it was interesting to see that the
bird was ringed. It was even more exciting when I discovered today, that this
owl was reared at Hessilhead, and released in August 2003. Who said that
rehabilitation doesn't work? 2nd February 2006 Seal release and deer rescue Today we
released Scuddy, the seal that was found on Ayr beach last summer. He had been
up to weight for a few weeks, but developed eye ulcers, which didn't respond to
the first type of ointment. When Andy and I returned from a few days break in
the Yorkshire Dales yesterday, we were pleased to see his eyes open and bright.
We couldn't have chosen the release time better. It was high tide at
Portencross, and the sun broke through the cloud as we arrived. Scuddy soon left
the carrying box, but swam round the harbour for ten minutes or more, providing
many photo opportunities. Eventually he swam out to sea, and was last seen
swimming near the pier. 24th January 2006 Peregrine This afternoon
we released the male peregrine which was picked up injured in George Square last
Monday. The female peregrine watched from the Finnieston Crane while a Herald
photographer took 'millions' of pics. After perching on the concrete base of a
lighting unit for what seemed like a long time, the male bird evenually flew
strongly, followed soon after by the female. 22nd January 2006 Buzzard A really sad looking buzzard was brought in yesterday. Not only was it weak and emaciated, it was covered in slurry. It had 3 lots of lectade by crop tube before being allowed some food today. It looks so much better. it has been moved into a cage, is perching, and we hope that it may feed itself now. We will allow the bird to put on weight before attempting to clean its feathers. There is no sign of injury; perhaps just a young bird finding it difficult to get enough food. it probably resorted to worming, hence its close proximity to slurry, and then the feather contamination didn't help its ability to fly. 20th January 2006 some releases We had been looking forward to several releases this week, but the stormy weather resulted in some postponements. The roe buck which came from Eglinton park in December went off successfully yesterday, although it gave the release team an adrenalin rush when it headed along a road instead of following its nose into the wood. Luckily it took another track to the woods after a short road sprint. A sparrowhawk returned to Kirkintilloch, flying well after recovering from a dislocated elbow. It hadn't exactly been a good patient. It would eat when kept in a carrying box, but not when in an aviary, nor in an indoor flight. So giving it exercise meant a lot of moving from indoors to outside. I suppose it must have felt safer when in the confines of a box, and pretty stressed when in a bigger area. We tried to release a heron, but it took one look at the weather and decided to stay in the sheltered aviary, where food gets delivered regularly. When the weather got worse, we shut the door. Hopefully it will leave in better weather next week. 15th January 2006 Peregrine Andy went into
Glasgow early this morning, to collect a bird that had been in collision with a
window, and was causing some alarm when office staff arrived for work to find a
rather large predatory bird obstructing their way. Andy was somewhat surprised
to find an adult male peregrine, in George Square, right in the city centre. 13th January 2006 Swans again......and fox By lunch time
today we had 7 swans queuing for attention in the hospital. Admittedly 3 of them
weren't newcomers; they had just returned from a few days as in-patients at the
vets. One cygnet has a severe fungal lung infection, it rattles constantly and
came back with a bottle medicine. The adult swan that was run over (literally)
in Hogganfield car park last Saturday, is making steady progress. It stands now,
reluctantly, and eats and eats. The remaining cygnet is a mystery, still not
eating much, bleeding slightly from sinuses, lethargic tho' would like to be
aggressive. We will persevere with its treatment, fingers x-ed. The new arrivals
include a healthy pair of swans from Iceland car park in Saltcoats, maybe they
were sheltering from the stormy sea. An adult swan was rescued from A737,
probably crash landed, and the remaining adult came from Victoria park in
Glasgow. It has a really nasty swelling just above the foot, probably a chronic
infection. Feeling good though, eating well. 10th January 2006 woodcock It was a
relief to see rain and feel the warmer temperatures today, especially as the
last patient to be admitted last night was a woodcock. Woodcock cope with a
period in care, as long as they kept in a large box in semi darkness. A woodcock
in a cage is a disaster. The bird will constantly poke its beak through the
mesh, attempting to escape, and resulting in skin damage around the base of the
bill. The bird also uses a lot of energy in these efforts to escape. 6th January 2006 barn owl As you know,
barn owls have been increasingly frequent casualties admitted to Hessilhead in
the last couple of years. This week a female barn owl was brought in;
surprisingly it had been caught by a buzzard, which released its prey when
disturbed. Last year a barn owl was brought in after being caught by a
falconer's goshawk, so I wonder how common it is for large raptors to attack
owls. The barn owl is still suffering the effects of a head injury, but is
showing signs of progress. 3rd January 2006 Guess what, swans No surprise that swans were the first casualties of the year, but 18 in two days was more than we expected. The problem was stale cooking oil in Irvine harbour, and the swans most seriously affected were soaking wet. Luckily the swans at Irvine are used to being fed most of the day, and at high tide are easy to reach from the jetty. On Sunday, the first, we got 11, and another 7 on the second. We returned today, as there were two really wet swans we couldn't get yesterday, but they were out on a sand bar today, preening vigorously. The cooking oil won't cause any internal damage, so preening is ok, and eventually the swans should get clean and waterproof again. Bad weather could cause them problems, but the dry weather of the last few days has certainly helped. The swans at Hessilhead are taking turns using the swan pond, and between swims they are preening too. We hope that some will be ready for release by the weekend |
Last modified: 03/17/09 |
