|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gay's Diary 2007 - 2008 16th October 2008 It is week for unusual patients. Today we had a call reporting a small seabird found on the beach at Fairlie. The bird was tangled in thread, and tangled in the same thread was a dead bird of the same species. It was lucky that one bird had managed to get ashore. I was a bit puzzled when I saw a grey and white head with a black beak peeping from the box. I had to take the bird from the towel to identify it as a black guillemot in winter plumage, so not black at all. The giveaway was its bright red feet, and the large white wing patches. The guillemot's leg and wing, where the thread had been pulled tight, are very swollen The bird is very lively though, and we hope that it will soon be back at sea.
13th October 2008 The roe deer is recovering slowly from concussion. She can stand on her own now, drinks from a bowl and eats slices of apple that we slip into her mouth. Her eye is still sore and swollen, but we think she will make a full recovery. A red squirrel was brought across from Arran today. She has
an abcess on her hind leg, probably the result of being bitten. She will be
treated with antibiotics and hopefully will be fit to return to Arran sometime
next week.
12th October 2008 The long-eared owl was really restless when I moved it to an
indoor flight yesterday, so early this evening we took it back to Crosshill, a
village not far from Maybole. The owl was out of the box
straightaway. It flew along the river then up into trees. The owl had been found
lying on the road a few days earlier. It had certainly recovered well from its
accident.
11th October 2008 Andy and I were away for a few days this week, so we've spent today getting ourselves acquainted with new arrivals. In the hospital there are more juvenile hedgehogs. Most of them were found out in the daytime, trying to find food that will help them to put on weight for the winter. There isn't much food available now, and most of these hedgehogs would die if they were not brought into care. Even in a heated cage some of them struggle to survive. They have been so long without sufficient food, and for much of the time they have been cold and wet. So all these juvenile hedgehogs are pampered. They are treated with antibiotics and vitamins, they are kept on heat pads till they weigh over 250 gms, and are offered a wide variety of food to tempt them to eat. It looks as if the next few months might be busy with over-wintering hedgehogs. We were pleased to see that most of the Uist hedgehogs that weighed over 600 gms had been released in our absence. There is no point in keeping these healthy hogs. They need to be released in time to make nests for hibernation. A young gannet had arrived yesterday. It seems strong and stroppy, so should be heading back to the sea soon. Other newcomers include a long-eared owl, an badly concussed roe deer and a guillemot. 5th October 2008 Andy had an unusual rescue today. We had a call from Saltcoats, reporting a squirrel trying to climb the sea wall. The squirrel had been in the sea and its feet were bleeding. Andy encouraged the squirrel up the wall, whereupon it ran off quickly. We wondered why the squirrel was there. The area around the harbour isn't really squirrel country. Surely someone hadn't trapped the squirrel then tipped it into the sea as a convenient means of disposal. On other occasions we have had calls from people who have used humane traps to catch squirrels in their loft, then wondered how to get rid of them. I wonder why these traps are described as 'humane'.
4th October 2008 We have had a few barn owl casualties recently. There have been road traffic casualties, a youngster found tangled on a barbed wire fence, and an oiled bird. I washed the oiled bird today, a bit of a worrying experience. Barn owls don't look all that tough, there isn't very much of them under their soft white body feathers, and I wondered how it would take to a wash and blow dry. The owl looked pretty miserable while the washing was in progress, but its feathers dried quickly in the gentle heat of a hair drier. I returned the owl to its cage with an electric radiator on high, and soon the owl was preening and looking relaxing. It isn't pristine clean yet, so I guess another wash will be required. 2nd October 2008 Andy and I are just back from Stevenston Point, where it was
pretty wild and windy. It was a good trip though. We released the Red Throated
Diver that was brought to Hessilhead last night. The diver was found sitting in
the middle of the road at Fenwick. It must have made that classic mistake of
landing on a wet road, thinking it was water. The person who found the diver
said that it was really lucky. As he drove around a bend there was the bird,
sitting in the road. It was sensible of them to stop and lift the bird. as it
would have probably been impossible for the diver to take off from land. Divers'
legs are right at the rear end of their body, designed for maximum propulsion,
not for walking or taking off. Before heading off to the coast, we gave the
diver a swim in a our seal shed. It looked 100% fit on the water, diving
straightaway. It has been a real privilege to handle such a special bird.
Certainly a day to remember.
29th September 2008 There has been an influx of fishing tackle casualties recently. First to come was a well grown cygnet, that had a length of line hanging from its mouth. Someone noticed that the cygnet had difficulty swallowing. A large tangled mass of line was pulled from the cygnets throat, but still a couple of strands of line remained, and when pressure was put on these, there was resistance. Luckily Andy arrived home then. He is the expert with this problem, and seems to know instinctively if there is a hook in the throat or not. Obviously, if there is a hook, it isn't wise to pull the line. But if the line has been down the throat for days, it does take quite a lot of pressure to remove it. Gently Andy pulled the line; nothing happened for minutes, then a swelling appeared half way down the neck, and as Andy maintained the pressure the swelling rose up the neck. Another ball of line and food emerged, much to the relief of the cygnet. A swan from Eglinton park was caught and had hooks removed from her leg, and a shag was brought up from Troon, tangled in hooks and line. three hooks were caught on its wings and legs.
23rd September 2008 The hand reared bats have left the tunnel now, and some juveniles that came have now moved into the tunnel prior to release. We had a more unusual bat visitor recently. This was a Natterer's bat, found in a factory complex at Dalry. It looked a bit sad when it first came in, but within a few days it was eating well and then we gave it a test flight in the hospital. It was much larger than the pipistrelles, and flew really well. David enjoyed releasing the bat close to where it came from, and managed to track it with his bat detector. 20th September 2008 During the last 2 weeks, we have been busy releasing the last of the summer's hand reared birds, and all of the fox cubs have gone too. The fox cubs cubs were released in suburban areas, as that is where all of them came from. They are released at night, and often we se resident foxes foraging in gardens, waste ground and shrubberies. This is an indication to us that we have chosen a good area. Our foxes will follow the resident ones, and will soon discover where food can be found, and where people are leaving food for them in gardens. Blackbirds and robins where among the last garden birds to be released, but as usual, the last small birds to go were house martins. We had reared a lot; they came mainly because their nests had collapsed in spells of rainy weather. They are time consuming to rear, but they do eat quite large helpings of mince, supplemented with mealworms. All were released at house martin colonies, so straightaway 'our' hand reared birds had adults and more experienced youngsters to follow. They have time to practice flying and feeding before heading off to Africa for the winter. The hand reared kestrels and some of the tawny owls were released at Hessilhead. Then came the birds that had been hunting for themselves, kestrels, buzzards and sparrowhawks, all taken back to where they came from.
11th August 2008 Like other parts of the country we've had our share of heavy
rain recently. Yesterday brought the first casualty from the floods. The otter
cub was noticed on the banks of the River Ayr, close to the town centre. It was
squeaking loudly, which attracted attention, and trying to scramble from the
water. The Fire and Rescue Service were soon on hand to help the cub, and by the
time we arrived at the Fire Station, the cub had rubbed itself dry in a dustbin
lined with shredded paper. He is eating well, but we feel quite sad that we
don't know where he came from. He must have slipped into the water, and been
carried downstream. If only we knew where his mum lived, we could take the cub
back.
9th August 2008 I have been away quite a bit recently, enjoying some fantastic weather in the Highlands. There was lots of wildlife, amazing scenery and hardly any people. We walked, we relaxed and we watched porpoises, otters, sea eagles, red deer, divers and lots of sea birds. Back at Hessilhead many of the patients are growing up. The shelducks, the kestrels and two young buzzards have been released. Two batches of young gulls have been taken to Troon harbour, though another 50 or so are still eating lots and messing lots. They do take quite a lot of time to care for properly. The young bats are feeding themselves now, and late at night we see them exercising in their tank. Soon they will move to the bat tunnel, prior to release. Some tawny owls have moved to a release aviary, but several young barn owls have recently come into care. The weasels have gone, and we heard that they often return to their pen for food. Finches, sparrows, robins and dunnocks have been released too. We have a long eared bat in care. It was rescued from a fly paper, and is still a bit sticky on its back. We have 4 common seal pups. Two of them came from Arran, one from Prestwick and one from Culzean. The Culzean pup had fishing hooks in its mouth and flippers, was tangled in line and lucky to be found before it drowned. The other pups must have been separated from their mums and were underweight when they came here. Two of the pups are eating well now, the other two have be tube fed with blended fish, but hopefully they'll learn to eat whole fish soon.
the Prestwick seal Brodie from Brodick Dustin from Culzean Arran no 2
6th July 2008 It is still busy at the Wildlife Rescue Centre, We admit between 10 and 20 patients most days; many of the youngsters are growing up, feeding themselves and becoming independent. In the hospital there are fewer baby birds to hand feed. Most of the finches, blackbirds, dunnocks, robins and tits have moved outside, though I dare say there will be a few latecomers. House martins and swallows are occupying the heat pads. Most came from nests that collapsed during the heavy rain of the last week or two. Some of them were close to fledgling when they got into trouble, and have already been released.
We are into the baby bat season. Rearing bats is time consuming, with those less than two weeks old requiring feeds every 2 hours. 12 came from one abandoned roost in Fife, and others have fallen from roosts and been found in the living space of houses. David and Shelby have been taking the bats home in the evenings and at weekends. This has saved a lot of time in the hospital. This evening I'll need to do a few bat feeds though. Another 7 bats have just arrived.
We have also taken in a several young raptors. There are 7 kestrels and 2 young buzzards. The buzzards were left in a black bin bag at a vet surgery in Maybole. I guess we'll never know what happened to their nest. There is also a young barn owl, still white and fluffy, that fell from a nest that was difficult to access.
It is the height of the young gull season. Some have been only a day or so old when brought to the Centre. They had fallen from rooftop nests. Most of those coming in now are well grown, and some will be flying in another two weeks. At this time of year we get a lot of calls from people wanting us to take away gull chicks, because they don't like the adult gulls coming down to feed their chicks, or swooping at people to protect their offspring. We already have 75 young gulls in care. The last thing we want to do is take healthy young chicks from their parents. If people don't like gull chicks in their garden, they should take steps to prevent the gulls nesting on their roof before the start of the breeding season. Recent releases have included the Canada geese that we reared this year. Also a leveret and several rabbits. The stoats and weasels are living outside now, soon to be released. Many young mallards have flown from our enclosure to the quarry pond, but fly back for visits. The duck that nested beside our seal tank is back on the lawn every day with her 11 ducklings. Most of the hand reared crows, rooks, jackdaws and magpies have also been released, though many of them are still returning regularly for food.
18th June 2008 An early call today saw Andy and I heading to the south side
of Glasgow, where a family of swans, 2 adults and 5 small cygnets, were camped
out in someone's garden. We discovered they belonged on a dam the other side of
the motorway. They left the dam via a burn, then walked along the tunnel under
the M77. It was a long walk for such small cygnets, and not a safe place to be.
We have arranged for a barrier to be built across the tunnel entrance, so the
family can still safely feed in the burn, then return to the dam.
There was sad news later today. The deer fawn that was injured in the fire looked very sad this morning, and has since died. Poor little thing. If only people would think of the consequences before setting fire to grassland for 'a laugh'. Two female mallards with ducklings in tow were released from Hessilhead today. We also opened aviaries for magpies and greenfinches. The Canada goslings are growing well, and seem to be intrigued by their new neighbours, a duck and ducklings rescued from the Caledonia University campus.
17th June 2008 A TV crew from Animal 24/7 have just spent another 2 days at Hessilhead. They were keen to film the 2 otter cubs, Yorkie and Brook, especially as Brook had already been filmed when he was in care at Secret World in Somerset. The otters are secretive and nocturnal now, but with patience and tempting bits of fish, they were captured on film, playing in their pool and snuffling around their enclosure. I didn't think the stoats would co-operate at all, but when they were moved to their new enclosure, they were keen to explore the branches, logs and leaf litter. They should be stars. I checked the stoats sleeping box today, just to make sure they were ok. An angry hiss made me jump back. I was certainly not invited to the house warming party. Also featured for the programme was Sausage, the little weasel that we have hand reared. He opened his eyes yesterday, just in time to look his best. By coincidence another weasel was found yesterday. It had been left on a path for nearly 2 hours, and was really cold when he came to Hessilhead. He spent the night under a heater, drank warm fluids, and looks fine today. So sausage will soon have a friend, and arrangements are to made for him to return to the area where he was found. The new weasel will be released with him. 15th June 2008 It has been a busy weekend of feeding, cleaning and moving birds to aviaries. The last thing we needed was a late call on Sunday evening. It was certainly an emergency. There has been a big grass fire on the hill behind Greenock, and the firemen have rescued two roe deer fawns. One of them is singed, both were distressed. Our volunteer in Greenock was soon on the case. The fawns were checked by a vet in Greenock, then two of Karen's helpers brought the fawns to Hessilhead. We have given them fluids, rescue remedy, and settled them in a cage for the night. One fawn has lost his outer coat, his eyelashes, and has a burn on his nose. He is certainly giving us cause for concern, but fingers crossed.
10th June 2008 It is a pity we can't stop patients coming for a few days around the Open Day. We have been really busy recently, with lots of orphan nestlings and fledglings, that demand huge amounts of time. Today there was a deer rescue too. David and Leianne went to the Diageo complex at Braehead. A young buck had wandered in through the main entrance, and had spent 24 hours pacing up and down the fence, trying to find a way out. It was unlikely he would find the gate again. Our team soon had the deer netted, and he was released in woodland away from the busy roads. This evening we released the last of the winter's seal pups, Honey. She had attained her target weight and was keen to go. As soon as she left the carrying box she was heading off to sea. she diverted to the pier at Portencross, perhaps curious to see what the anglers were catching.
9th June 2008 We are all feeling tired but very satisfied with ourselves today. Our Open Day yesterday was a great success. More than 1500 people attended, enjoyed the guided tours, chanced their luck on the games and bargained at the bric a brac stall. If you missed it, make sure you come next year. It will be held on the 2nd Sunday in June.
OPEN DAY 8TH JUNE WE ARE ALL BUSY GETTING READY FOR OUR OPEN DAY. IT IS GOING TO BE GREAT DAY. SEE YOU THERE. 7th June 2008 I apologise for the lack of news recently. It isn't that nothing has been happening. Quite the opposite. there has been so much happening I haven't had time to sit at the computer. We admitted 580 patients in May. So here is a quick update on some our patients. The best day was when we moved 46 hand reared starlings out of the hospital. Starlings are characters, but also noisy, greedy and messy. the peace in the hospital was wonderful. Yesterday we opened the starling's aviary. they got excited about that, chattering among themselves and moving closer to the open hatch. It seemed like they were saying ' Go on, you go first' . Later in the day there were starlings zooming all around the centre. We all felt proud! The hospital didn't stay quiet for long. There are blackbird
and thrush chicks, lots of blue tits and great tits, a nestful of goldfinches,
greenfinches, and even two cockatiel chicks.....no, they weren't found in the
wild. Jackdaw chicks are making even more noise than the starlings did. Most of the mallard ducklings are quite big now. there is a clutch of 3 smaller ones, and they have a little eider friend. We also have 5 shelducklings. A few mammals have been coming in too. There are two stoats,
both of them narky and independent. I don't think they will have a problem
returning to the wild. A little weasel is much more gentle. He still has his
eyes closed, is about 4" long, takes milk from a bottle and nibbles meat. We
call him Sausage.
The roe fawn that came into care last month has been joined by a really tiny fawn. I think she thinks the older fawn is her Mum. More unusual for us is a Red Deer calf. She was found beside her dead Mum at the roadside. No prizes for guessing how she came to be called Dotty ,
The last of the Uist Hedgehogs were delivered to us last Saturday. That made a total of 204 for this spring. Most of them have already been relocated. 18th May 2008 We have had a wide range of patients today, including 2 roe
deer,( one a RTA and the other bitten by a dog) 2 fox cubs from different
places, 3 swans, several starlings, a hedgehog, and two magpie chicks,
still in their nest, though their tree had been felled. Two of todays patients
have already been released. First was a swift, found on the ground with a cat
nearby. The swift wasn't injured, and must have collided with something that
brought it down. Once on the ground a swift cannot take off, owing to its very
short legs and very long wings. The cat must have just been passing when it
spotted the swift. As a precaution we gave the swift antibiotics, then it it
into the field for take off. There was no wind, so Andy threw the swift, and
straightaway it started flapping. Soon it was darting after insects. It was good
to see it, steadily climbing higher and looking so much better in the air than
in a cardboard box!
Late this morning a collared dove was brought to the hospital. It had managed to get into a squirrel proof nut feeder, and while it was being removed its wing was damaged. In fact the damage looked worse than it was. We cleaned the wound, and gave antibiotics, and after a while tested the bird in an aviary. She flew perfectly, and later was returned to the garden and her mate.
17th May 2008 Today started well. We gave the female woodpecker, that was brought to us yesterday morning, a test flight in an aviary. She flew strongly, and although her eye was still sore, we decided it would be best if she was released close to where she was found. The bird almost certainly had a nest, probably with young now, and would be really stressed if we kept her any longer. We phoned Mr Dempster, who had found the bird on the road, and he was delighted to come and collect her. Hopefully by now the woodpecker is back with her family. 15th May 2008 It has been hectic here for the last 10 days, with 10 - 20 patients admitted each day. There have been several nests of starling chicks. Most have been removed from the roof space of houses, because people didn't like the noise of chicks being fed early in the morning. One nest, containing 4 hungry chicks, was found in a skip just before the contents were to be crushed. There are quite a few blackbird, song thrush and robin chicks, mostly cat victims, and we have 3 mistle thrush chicks, all doing well. It is always the case that most of our mistle thrush casualties come from the the city centre.
4th May 2008
We had the first call of the year about nesting starlings today. Usually, we won't remove starlings from the their nest, especially if the reason for wanting them removed is that people don't like hearing the chicks being fed at 5am. That is precisely why we won't remove them. Hand rearing starlings isn't easy. It involves early starts and feeds every half hour till dusk. Anyway chicks do better with their parents. House holders need to be patient. Within two weeks of a complaint the chicks will have fledged. Then the entrance hole should be blocked, so the starlings cannot nest there again next year. Today's case was different. The starlings had built a nest, a very substantial nest, in a cupboard directly above a bed in a fairly small bedroom. At the foot of the bed was the baby's cot. The starlings had accessed the cupboard via the hole that for the central heating pipe. The people in the house didn't really want to separate the chicks from their parents, but it really wasn't a healthy situation. So the chicks are at Hessilhead, only a few days old, but feeding well. 30th April 2008 It has been a day of rescues. The first call from a sheltered housing complex, Bonnie Leslie Court, in Stevenston. Some of the residents had been watching 2 fox cubs for the last few days . They were living on a small grassy bank in the burn that runs beside the unit, and because it was raining heavily today, they were concerned that the cubs may get washed away. We spotted one of the cubs almost straightaway. It was sleeping in the grass, which was unusual on such a wet day. We could see that the cubs must have fallen off the wall on the far bank of the burn, and although their mother may have been taking food to them, there was no way the cubs would get back up the wall for weeks. Andy went round the waste ground over the burn, and tried to sneak up on the sleeping cub. He was quite close before the cub heard him, and I was horrified when the startled cub jumped into the burn to escape. It ran up the burn, fortunately keeping to the shallower parts, crossed a small island, splashed through water again, then climbed onto another grassy bank beside the wall. Gaynor and I lost site of the cub then, and hoped that it wouldn't follow the burn under the road. Andy slithered his way across slippery stones, and found the cub trying to hide in long grass. He didn't even have a net, but the cub lay shivering, and he picked it up without any trouble. Sadly we found its sibling dead.
The cub sleeping on the bank Andy carrying the cub to safety Bonnie drying out at Hessilhead We arrived back at Hessilhead at the same time as Leianne and Katrine. They had been to Paisley, where a mallard duck with 13 ducklings had been found in a garden in a built area, a long way from water. It was unlikely that the duck would successfully lead her ducklings to water, as that would involve crossing busy roads. We will keep them together at the centre for a couple of weeks, till the ducklings are bigger and have a better chance of surviving in the wild. Then the family will be released together. 53 Uist hedgehogs were delivered late this afternoon, then Shelby went to get a swan from Castle Semple Loch. She was soon back with a swan with a very sore leg. It will be taken to the vet tomorrow. 29th April 2008 A fulmar was found on the road on the island of Great Cumbrae today. It was taken to the Marine Biology Lab there, boxed and put on the ferry to Largs, and one of our couriers brought the bird to Hessilhead. A fulmar is an unusual patient for this time of year. The bird is in quite good condition, both weight wise and feather wise, but looks like it might have had line around its legs. It may be a breeding bird, so we hope it will make a quick recovery and return to the coast.
28th April 2008 A couple of weeks ago we had problem with gulls getting caught in a net over a building near Prestwick airport. The net is there to stop gulls nesting on the roof of the building, and that is perfectly understandable. We kept getting calls to say that gulls were trapped in the net; one gull died after hanging for hours, and we can't reach the gulls, as the building is 4 stories high. We reported the problem to the owners of the building, and to the pest control company that had erected the net. We thought the problem had been solved, till today. Two more gulls were trapped in the net. Late this afternoon they were rescued, but both gulls have damaged legs, this evening they are unable to stand and needless to say, are very stressed. One of the gulls arrived with net still wrapped around it, and that explained the problem. Instead of a 1" net being used, a 3" net has been stretched over the roof. This is no use, as when the gulls land on the net, their legs go through, their wings get tangled, and sometimes heads get caught. We have again reported the problem, and hope that a 1" net will replace the 3" one that is trapping birds and causing them to suffer.
27th April 2008 The busy spell continued over the weekend, with several lots of nesltings now being reared. First came a nest of greenfinches, found after a tree had been felled. The a family of robins. Their nest had been built in an old exhaust tube (robins are renowned for using unusual nest sites), but had been found by children who taken some of the chicks away. Fortunately this was discovered by the mother of one of the children. She gathered the chicks together, returned them to their nest, and called us for help. The robin family are feeding well, and they are sharing their new woolly hat nest with a younger house sparrow chick. The sparrow is younger than the robins, but is often the first to beg when we open their box. 25th April 2008 Andy and I came back from a 5 day trip this evening. It was supposed to be a break before the busy season really got underway, but there was something wrong with our timing! Our dedicated staff had been run off their feet the whole time we were away, and had dealt with 75 new patients, several of which they had been out to rescue. Among the new arrivals is an adult weasel, that was sent here by the vets in Cumnock. Apparently she was very lethargic when she arrived; some heat, TLC and food seem to have done her good. She is now racing around her cage, and looks like she will soon be ready for release. A sparrowhawk was rescued and made a very fast recovery, It was released the following day. An otter was difficult for Shelby and Leianne to catch. It was found in the middle of Ayr, and was hiding under cars. At one time it was balancing on the exhaust of our ambulance, but eventually they had it caught, boxed and back at Hessilhead. She is a young adult female, very thin but eating well. 2 more fox cubs joined the 3 in care, and 2 more leverets came. That was sad. They had been born in a garden, a garden where hares were unwelcome, and we were asked to take them on. Reluctantly the staff had agreed, knowing that really they would be better with their Mum, but that the gardeners were not going to allow them to stay.
The first 20 mallard ducklings were rescued, more baby rabbits, an adult tawny owl, 33 hedgehogs from the Uists, a buzzard and a long eared owl chick. The owl was unfortunate too. Its nest was in a badly blown shelter belt that was being clear felled. I don't suppose the trees had been checked for nests, and the first anyone knew of the family was a single owlet spotted on the ground. There had probably been other chicks, but they weren't found. At least this one wasn't injured, has a good appetite and is very inquisitive.
These pics are just to show you how relaxed the resident birds are at Hessilhead!
19th April 2008 It feels more like spring in the hospital today. The first leveret of the year was delivered last night. She is less than a week old and is in good condition. She even had a full tummy of milk. Next came a family of 3 young blackbirds. They were all chased out of their nest by a cat, one of them has bites and crushing injuries. At their last feed of the evening, half an hour ago, all were begging for food and eating well. Other arrivals included another tawny owl chick, and a young collared dove, also dropped from a tree by a cat. We admitted 2 swans today too. The first one was rescued from Irvine harbour by a our volunteers Paul and Toni. It has a serious head injury, possibly caused by dog bites, and is a swan we know, ring number 3BIP. This swan must be accident prone; she has been here several times before. This evening Andy and I went to Loch Lomond for another swan. At first it looked like we wouldn't lucky. The people who called us had fed the swan almost a loaf of bread in their efforts to keep it close to the bank. This had worked, but when we arrived the swan wasn't hungry. We only got it because she chased the geese that were eating the bread we hoping to tempt her with. I bet she feels better now though. We have removed a treble hook from her leg.
17th April 2008 Andy and I were out this evening releasing hedgehogs, when we received a call about an injured bird of prey. A farmer had seen the bird being attacked by crows, and he had managed to get it into his car. We arranged to meet and collect the bird, which is a handsome female peregrine. She is underweight, and has an old injury to the end of her wing, and another on the back of her leg. Perhaps these two injuries made it difficult for her to hunt successfully, and brought her down in condition. The strange thing is, that when we collected the peregrine, she had a full crop of food. Peregrines rarely eat any food unless they have caught it themselves, but I guess this bird must have found something tasty. She has settled in a hospital cage now, and will move to aviary in a few days. Hopefully we will return her to where she was found. 15th April 2008 It is cold and wintry at nights, although during the daytime, when the sun shines, it can be quite warm, The frosty nights and chilly days seem to be holding back the breeding season, and perhaps some of the youngsters that have been in trouble, havn't survived in the cold long enough to be found and rescued. Nevertheless, patients arrive every day. Here are the stories of some recent casualties. Castle Semple Swan Reported as having a problem with fishing tackle. David went to check on his way home from work, and was soon back with a large male swan, with the biggest fishing hook we've ever seen embedded in its leg. Apparently these big hooks are for catching pike. The hook was removed, the swan given antibiotics for 3 days, then it was taken back to Castle Semple Loch.
Fox Cub no 2 Her eyes were just opening, she had been found in a school playground, she was small and weak. I was surprised when she showed an interest in tinned food later that evening, and before long she was feeding herself. Unfortunately this little cub has taken several fits. they occur less often now, and are less severe, so hopefully she will grow out of them . Greedy Heron This bird in breeding plumage thought it handed lucky when it spotted some large fish in a garden pond. Unfortunately it didn't see the fine strands of line across the pond, designed to keep herons out. the bird got well and truly tangled, had to be cut free, and some abrasions on its wing. It soon recovered from the ordeal, and was released 2 days later, hopefully to resume rearing chicks. Uist Hedgehogs A batch of 33 hedgehogs were delivered. We had hoped to get most of them out pretty quickly, but the day after their arrival we noticed that many of them were coughing. This is a sign of lungworm, with an associated infection. The hogs need treatment for 5 days, by which time most have recovered and can be released. Seal releases 4 more seals have been released this week. That cuts down our work load and our feeding costs too. Each seal has been eating approximately 50 herring every day. Blackbird fledgling The 1st young blackbird, a cat victim, is eating well and has moved into a cage. It will soon to learn to pick up food for itself.
6th April 2008 It hasn't been a good weekend, with a buzzard, a swan and a barn owl coming in badly injured, beyond repair, and needing to be euthanased. This afternoon things got better. Andy collected the first fox cub of the year from Nicky, an SSPCA Inspector. The little cub, about 3 weeks old, has been hiding in the back of a washing machine for the last 3 days. His name is Daz. He has settled down in the hospital, eaten some tinned food, and is snuggled up with a cuddly soft toy.
The next call was from the Police, asking if we could collect a roe deer that had been hit by a car. It is badly concussed, but there seem to be no bones broken. Of course there could be internal injuries, but it does seem hopeful. It has been treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, and is lying quietly in a shed deeply bedded with straw. 4th April 2008 Andy and I have just had a couple of days away. We arrived back at Hessilhead just after the first batch of 20 Uist hedgehogs had arrived. There isn't space for them in the hedgehog hospital, which is full of the 50 odd hedgehogs we have over-wintered. The weather is warmer today, so hopefully we will start releasing these young hogs soon. The Uist hogs will be easier to release. They are mostly adult hedgehogs, that have survived hibernation on their own, and know quite a bit about foraging and nest building. We will release them in gardens with plenty of cover, and areas of grass where they will find most of their food. Anyone interested in releasing hedgehogs in their garden, either hand reared youngsters that need a pampered release, or Uist hedgehogs, that will be more independent, please get in touch with us. 27th March 2008 I'm feeling a bit sleepy this evening after last night's rescue. Fortunately we didn't have far to go. The fox had been found near Darnley, but someone had taken him home to Neilston. The fox was unconscious when we brought him back to Hessilhead at 1.30 am, so we gave him anti-inflammatory treatment and left him in the carrying box beside the heater. He was still unconscious this morning, but by late afternoon he was moving around, and earlier this evening I persuaded him to have a drink of lectade. Although he stands and turns around, he isn't aware of his surroundings. A lot of improvement is needed, but we are hopeful that he could make a full recovery. 25th March 2008 We released two grey seals today, Paddy and Sam, and the release was filmed for Animal24/7. It was predictable that Paddy, always the confident one, would be straight out of his carrying box and off exploring. Sam was hesitant to leave the box, and then he was hesitant to leave the safety of the harbour. He spent more than an hour exploring the shallows, sometimes we thought he would come ashore, and the first time he ventured a little way out, something spooked him and came back like a bullet. The harbour was drying out as the tide ebbed, and tired of waiting, the film crew left. They wouldn't have been back at their car when Sam decided the time was right to leave. He left by following the far wall, finally swimming confidently out to sea. The two seals had been good friends, interacting frequently, so we hope they met up again soon.
Paddy's release Paddy sets sail Sam in the shallows farewell seals! 24th March 2008 Andy and I returned from the sunny Uists to a cold, windy but mainly sunny Easter weekend. A variety of patients came into care, including 5 young rabbits dug from their burrow by a dog, a tawny owl, hit by a car late on Saturday night, and 3 barn owl casualties. One of the barn owls made a quick recovery, and as she had a well developed brood patch, she was released close to where she was found two days later. Another female barn owl was found at the roadside today, lying in a puddle. She has been rehydrated, had a small feed, and is enjoying the comfort of a box on a heat pad. Barn owl number 3 was taken straight to our vet, and we expect an update on her condition tomorrow. Several pigeons came into care, one of them with lots of thread tangled round her feet. It took quite a while to remove the thread, that had cut deeply into her flesh. A herring gull that had a hook embedded in the side of its mouth appeared to be asking for help when it refused to move from someone's front door. We removed the hook and the gull is eating again. Today we were called out to remove two swans that had misjudged their flight into Irvine harbour, and landed in the back garden of a house across the road. They were trying to get into the kitchen, as if they knew that was the way to the river. We were really surprised to get a call about a seal pup. Young grey seals in the wild should weigh over 50 kilos now, but this little fellow weighs only 18k. He was found on the beach at Dunure, feeling too weak to care about the crowd of people around him. Two foxes and a badly injured buzzard were also admitted, but didn't survive, and we released a kestrel and a heron.
16th March 2008 The weather was great today. It felt like spring and was really warm this afternoon. The first spring casualties arrived too. Three baby rabbits were dug from their burrow by a dog. The owner of the dog brought the rabbits here straightaway. She had them in a box full of hay, but the babies were lying on top of the hay, and were very cold. We gradually warmed them by putting their box on a heat pad, and I have just given them their first feed from a bottle. They all drank enthusiastically, so I hope they will thrive. Remember though, that if you come across some orphaned youngsters, their first requirement is heat. Put them in a box with cosy bedding, cover them with some of the bedding and put the box on a heat pad, next to a radiator or on a hot water bottle. Many baby birds and mammals cannot keep themselves warm, and certainly can't warm themselves up. They will probably get chilled in a room that you find comfortable. Keeping youngsters warm before they arrive here will increase their chances of survival
. Andy and I are heading for the Uists tomorrow, to finalise arrangements for this year's hedgehog relocation. We hope to enjoy some walking and wildlife watching too. 14th March 2008 At last, a day without wind and rain. We took the opportunity to release a chaffinch and a blackbird at Hessilhead. The chaffinch didn't look promising when it went into the aviary a few weeks ago, but it flew strongly when released close to our bird feeders. The blackbird has spent most of its time hiding in the conifer in the aviary, so we left the release hatch open, and it can leave when it is ready. Two kestrels were released too. The male kestrel returned to its own patch at West Kilbride, and the female was released close to where she was found just outside Dalry. I wasn't there, but I'm told they both flew well.
male kestrel female kestrel
I thought you would like to see a photo of the otter cub, Yorkie. He is doing well, eating lots of fish with a preference for salmon and trout. He doesn't like people, which is a good thing. When we take his food or clean out the shed, he stays in the sleeping box. If we happen to get too close he snarls, so no-one will be tempted to pet him!
10th March 2008 After a quiet week it turned out to be a fairly busy weekend. First to arrive was a tawny owl, picked up by Kirkintilloch Police during their night shift. It is probably the fattest tawny owl ever to come into our care. It was certainly in good condition for the breeding season. Unfortunately, when hit by a car, it has fractured the tip of its right wing. The wing is strapped up now, and we hope the owl will make a full recovery. On Sunday morning we had to ask the Fire and Rescue Service to help rescue a gull that was hanging from a television aerial. As usual they turned this request into an exercise, and soon had the bird down. It has a strained wing, but should recover. Sunday afternoon saw us heading to Biggar in South Lanarkshire. This is a long run for us, taking more than an hour to get there, but it did sounded like the 3 swans needed help. Last year, two pairs of swans had nested on the island in a small pond at a caravan site. Despite constant bickering, both pairs of swans had reared young, and the cygnets of one pair had flown away. The female of the other pair was killed when she collided with overhead wires, and since then, the dominant pair had kept her mate and 2 cygnets of the water. They were getting plenty of food from local people, but seemed to be trapped in a small area, that didn't give them enough space to take off and leave. We soon had the 3 swans in bags and in the back of the car, and released them with the flock of swans on Lanark Loch. They seemed pleased to have access to water again, and when we left all were thoroughly enjoying a bathe and preen. On the way home we collected an unusual adult male blackbird. It has white patches at the sides of its neck, a partial albino. Unfortunately it has a vision problem, and we doubt if there will be any improvement.
6th March 2008 Andy and I had arranged to drive down to Gretna yesterday. We were to meet up with a lady who runs a wildlife rehab centre in North Yorkshire, and collect a young otter cub from her. Although the cub was doing well with Jean, she doesn't have the facilities to care for it long term. We didn't go, as Meg, our black and white spaniel, has been really ill this week, and was still hospitalized at the Vet's. John, one of our volunteers, and a real otter enthusiast, offered to do the trip instead. So the otter, little Yorkie, is now at Hessilhead, settling in and eating well. We hope another cub will turn up soon. Otters love to play and he would enjoy some company when he's a bit older. (Meg is home from the Vet now, and on the mend).
28th February 2008 plastic This week the media has highlighted the damage that discarded plastic bags cause to wildlife. ....and there was an example on our own doorstep. We were called out to rescue a shag that had thick polythene tightly wrapped around its body. It was Tuesday, another stormy day, and the shag was standing on one of the pontoons at Ardrossan Harbour. We feared there was little hope of us catching bird; it was so close to the water we knew that it would jump in when we got close. Andy crawled along the pontoon, inching the net forwards. He was almost there when the shag jumped in, and there was nothing more we could do that day. We expected the bird to come out again, and people working at the marina, as well as the lady who had called us out, promised to call when the bird was seen again. So far we haven't heard anything. We doubt if the bird could have removed the plastic itself. The shag can still swim, but it probably won't dive and chase fish very successfully. Perhaps another unlucky victim of our throw away society.
25th February 2008
It has been wet and windy today, certainly not the sort of day we'd expect to collect our first young tawny owl of the year. The owlet was found in Coatbridge, on the ground, and taken to the local vet, who happens to be an experienced birder too. The youngster was unlikely to survive if put back out in this weather, although later in the year we may have thought that this was a good option. The chick is eating well, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that another youngster will come our way soon. Young tawnies always do better with company. 22nd February 2008 Andy and I have just had a few days away. On Tuesday we were at the Scottish Police Wildlife Crime Conference. This is always an informative and enjoyable day, with the chance to meet up with colleagues and acquaintances. We enjoyed a couple of days walking in central Perthshire, then returned home to hear the disappointing news that snares had not been banned. New regulations will be put in place, governing their use, but this will not stop the suffering experienced by every animal caught in one of these cruel and indiscriminate traps. 16th February 2008 Good news today. The egg bound heron was released on the football pitches, just outside Dean Castle Country Park. We chose to release her there in case she didn't fly properly. Herons are such big birds that it is hard to be sure they are ready for release, even in our biggest aviaries. In a wide open space we would stand a good chance of recovering her if she didn't do well. We needn't have worried. The heron went up and up, circled over the trees and then made a beeline into the park, presumably heading back to her nest.
14th February 2008 We have been working without our hospital for the last 3 weeks, as it is being completely refurbished. We have been managing well, with extra patients in the hedgehog hospital, some in the surgery, others in the mammal room, and some in cages in sheds. The last thing we really needed when we are short of space was a heron, and now we have not one, but two herons. Herons are difficult patients, that rarely feed themselves when they first come into care. So they usually have to be hand fed, but that isn't the end of it. After a feed, a heron must not be disturbed for at least 2 hours. If it is disturbed, it will probably regurgitate its last meal. After 2 hours, and the meal should be beyond the point of no return. Regurgitating food is a useful trick for herons in the wild, If disturbed, up comes dinner, and the heron is lighter for making a quick getaway. It doesn't make caring for an emaciated heron easy! Heron number one is enjoying the luxury of our heated large cabin. Talk about private health care! The second heron arrival spent a day there too, but she has moved to a shed now. We were quite puzzled why she had been picked up, lying in a field, unable to fly. She is fat and strong and apparently fit. Today we got the answer. A deep blue heron's egg lay in the corner of her shed, and the heron is much more lively. So we think the heron was egg bound. She will be released close to where she was found.
13th February 2008 It is always a good day when a patient is ready for release. Today it was time to take last week's roe deer back to Irvine. I didn't go, but I heard that it went off well, and that the release team watched it for while with the spotlight. Earlier today, David and Leianne went to rescue an owl that was trapped in a pipe in a builders yard in Dalry. The owl was wearing jesses, which told us it was an escaped bird. As it happened the owner had phoned us a few days ago, reporting the missing bird, and leaving his phone number. He soon came round to collect his pet barn owl. 9th February 2008 The first patient of today was a kestrel, brought from Lapwing Lodge, the Scout centre on Gleniffer Braes. The kestrel had been found in a water butt, but by the time it arrived here it was almost dry. I left it in a box in the surgery, and when I returned later to check on it, I found it sitting on the X-ray light box! The bird is underweight, so will be kept here for a few days . Already it is eating well, so we expect it will soon be returned to Scout HQ. The next call was about an injured heron in South Ayrshire. It had already been taken into care, and offered some tuna. We said we'd collect it later in the day. Things don't often work out in our favour, but as it happened, we had two birds ready to release in S Ayrshire. A buzzard from Barrhill had been treated by Girvan vet Alan Jeans, and then recuperated at Hessilhead till its fractured leg healed. We met the man who found the bird, and he took us to the exact spot where it was found. As soon as we opened the box the buzzard was off, flying well and landing on a tree at the edge of the wood. Another buzzard flew across to join it. We then collected the heron at Pinmore, and left a tawny owl to be released after dark. We arrived back at the centre to admit a barn owl that had been tangled on barbed wire. The wing isn't badly damaged, but the feathers are a bit of a mess. Hopefully we can sort them out so the bird can return to the wild without spending months in captivity waiting to moult. On examination we discovered that the heron had a large tear near the top of its leg, and was terribly underweight and dehydrated. It was stitched up, given antibiotics and fluids, and left on a heat pad for the night. Still the evening wasn't finished. A chaffinch was delivered from Dalry, possibly a window victim, and a very sick white dove was brought from Balloch. The last call of the evening was to say that the Pinmore tawny owl had been successfully released. 7th February 2008 David and I spent most of today filming with Truenorth Productions, making a TV programme for Animal Rescue Squad. We released a kestrel and a buzzard, which both flew really well. Look out for the TV programme soon. 6th February 2008 There have been some disappointments over the last few days. On Monday Shelby collected a seal pup from the Rangers at Culzean Castle. It was taken to the vets the next day, and they phoned later to say that, sadly, it had been put to sleep. The damage to its leg and flipper was too old to repair. Early this morning Andy and I went into Glasgow to rescue a fox. The poor thing had tried to jump a picket gate, but a hind leg had slipped between the pickets, and when we arrived, the fox was hanging by a shattered hind leg. It could have been there for hours, and was so tightly jammed that it took us a while to free the injured limb. The leg was too badly damaged to save, so the fox was PTS. On a happier note the RTA roe deer that Andy and Leianne collected last night is looking brighter this afternoon. It has even eaten a little food.
Shelby and Leianne went on a swan rescue today. They returned wet and bedraggled, but triumphant. A cygnet had been chased into a channel off the main pond at Ardeer Rec, presumably by parents who are thinking of nesting soon, and wanting the territory to themselves. They wouldn't let their cygnet back onto the pond, and it couldn't take off, or even get out of the water, from the channel. Judging from the state of Shelby and Leianne, the cygnet wasn't too keen on being rescued! 3rd February 2008 Busy Sunday The first patient of the day was a surprise, a fulmar found in a garden pond in Kilwinning. The fulmar is underweight, and was given rehydration fluids twice today. Now it is resting cosily on a heat pad. Next came a kestrel, found unable to fly in West Kilbride. This lovely male bird has a carpal injury. It will be going to the Vet tomorrow. We went to Renfrew this afternoon, well prepared to rescue a young swan, that was reported to be bleeding badly, and was staying on the island in the pond at Robertson park. Andy didn't really need the survival suit, for as it happened, the pond had been partly drained, and the water didn't reach the top of his wellies!. We didn't need the ropes either, as the cynget didn't try to escape. Neither was the cygnet as badly injured as had been thought. All the blood was coming from damaged toe nails. They always bleed a lot. Nevertheless it was a well to bring the cygnet into care. It was certainly quite subdued when rescued. We were half way back to the centre when we received a call about an injured deer. It had been moved off the road near Irvine, but no-one had stayed with the casualty. Sadly when we arrived the deer was dead. We got back to Hessilhead to find that an SSPCA Inspector was here, delivering an injured swan. This is one of the swans from Saltcoats, that has regularly been crossing the road from the Auchenharvie Golf Course to the School. One of them was sure to be injured sooner or later. Fortunately this swan has only a minor injury. Let's hope the swans go elsewhere soon. 28th January 2008 We have spent much the of time during the last few days taking everything out the main hospital building, which is to be completely refurbished over the next few weeks. Patients have been moved to the hedgehog hospital, the mammal room and the surgery. It will take a bit of getting used to, but at least we are not too busy at this time of year. By the time our busy season arrives the hospital should look like new. We had just about finished the removal work when we received
a call about a stranded seal pup at Saltcoats. Andy and Leianne were soon back
with a rather chubby, lovely pale pup, still with some of its baby white coat.
It had attracted quite a crowd of admirers on the beach......and they had
decided to call the pup Sandra. There was another trip to the 3 towns early in the evening. This was to release the fox that had been found in a bathroom. It went off at top speed, obviously pleased to be free.
24th January 2008 Andy and I have just been away for a few days, enjoying the snow in Central Perthshire. Apparently it has been pretty hectic here, with swan calls several times a day. One swan was quite badly injured when the Renfrew Ferry crushed its foot. Good news from the vet though. The swan will be ready to come home tomorrow. David and Leianne were on a seal rescue when we arrived home. They came back with one of the skinniest seals we have ever seen. It looks awful. As well as being underweight, people had been pouring sea water over the seal to keep it cool! It hasn't stopped shivering yet, but we are warming it up slowly. 19th January 2008 Fox in Bathroom! We are used to strange requests at Hessilhead, but this was the first time we'd been asked to remove a fox from a bathroom. the owners of the house often left their back door open in the evenings, so their dogs had access to the garden. Sometimes a fox wanders into the kitchen. This time the fox went further, but then became frightened. It took refige in the bathroom, and even though doors had been left open, it hadn't left. Johnny and Leianne went to the rescue. They found the fox draped across the wash hand basin taps. leianne soon had the fox by the scruff, and into the carrying box, and decided to bring it back to the centre to be examined. This was just as well. The fox has a deep scratch beneath its eye, and some cloudiness in the eye itself. It will benefit from antibiotics for a few days before returning back to its territory. It is a big dog fox, and as this is the foxes' mating season, I'm sure it will be keen to get back into the wild.
18th January 2008 Dudley the seal Good news today, Dudley has started to feed himself. It is always a relief when this happens, for the staff and for the seal. The staff would rather not force an animal to eat, and the seal must enjoy food better when it isn't being pushed down its throat. We expect that Dudley will start to gain weight more quickly now, and soon he'll move to an enclosure with a pool. 17th January 2008 This morning a deer jumped in front of a lorry near the Dalry Inn. The lorry driver stopped, knocked at a nearby house to ask for help, and the owner of the house brought the deer here. We nearly always have to collect deer ourselves. The deer was concussed and shaken, but by tea time he was standing, favouring his sore leg, but it isn't broken. Now we must persuade him to eat. 16th January 2008 Buzzards You have probably noticed, that over the past few years there has been an explosion in the buzzard population, and whereas ten years ago, you would expect to see buzzards in rural areas, now they are common in suburbia and along busy roads. Last week David rescued a buzzard from the Kilbarchan slip road onto the B737. The bird has been hanging around there for weeks. It must have been clipped by a car recently, as it has a shoulder injury and has lost some weight. It won't take long to regain the weight; the bird starting eating straightaway, and has now moved to an aviary, where it can get restricted exercise. Hopefully it soon be ready for release. Today Andy & I collected another buzzard from a farm not far from Lochwinnoch. The owner of the farm said the buzzard had been unable to fly since the storms last week, and he supposed it was injured when the tree holding a buzzard nest was blown down. This is not the case. The bird has a feather problem. This is a long standing problem, resulting from insufficient food when a chick. The feathers are weak, most of the tail feathers are broken, and the flight feathers are tatty and abraided. When the feathers are wet, it is impossible for the bird to gain any height, so it has been walking around the ground, eating earthworms, but is in surprisingly good condition, weightwise. The buzzard is now in an aviary, but will probably have to stay at Hessilhead till it moults out its old feathers and grows in new ones. This won't happen till late summer, and that is a long time for a bird to be in care.
14th January 2008 Anti-Snaring Campaign Andy and I went to Edinburgh today, to preview the cinema advertisement for the campaign to ban snaring in Scotland. There is no doubt at all that snaring is cruel and indiscriminate. If you haven't already registered your vote to ban these awful devices, please visit www.bansnares.com and do so. 13th January 2008
We finished today with a deer release. The adult roe doe was brought to the centre in December, by Karen, our reliable Greenock volunteer. Someone had knocked on her door early in the morning, to tell her about the road casualty, lying on Clune Brae, Port Glasgow. Karen was soon dressed and hurrying to the scene, and she arrived here later that morning with a concussed deer in her van. The doe made a slow recovery, responding to anti-inflammatory drugs, then being hand fed, and after about ten days feeding herself. There would be a day when the deer was jumpy, panicking when we took her food, but the next day she would be quiet again, obviously not quite ready for release. For the last 3 days there has been no doubt that the doe was ready for release. When we took vegetation or vegetables she was trying to get out of the back of the shed. So this evening she was sedated for travelling, taken close to where she was found, given the antidote and watched for a few minutes till she came round, recognised her surroundings, and toddled off to resume life in the wild. Hopefully she will be more careful when crossing the road. Other casualties taken into care today included a kestrel, a jackdaw, 2 swans and 3 pigeons. There will be trip to the vet tomorrow with some of these patients.
11th January 2008 Tawny Owl The tawny owl was found being attacked by crows on the cycle track south of Ayr. The person who found the owl took it home, then phoned Hessilhead for advice. He kept the owl warm and in the dark, till he could bring it to the centre later in the morning. We have never seen anything quite like this owl. It has a massive infection inside its mouth, that prevents the mouth from closing. The owls eyes were tightly closed, and there are swellings beneath them. Perhaps this is part of the same infection. We have cleared away some of the necrotic tissue, cleaned the eyes and opened them, and put the owl on antibiotics. We are not sure yet whether the owl will make a full recovery, fingers crossed. 10th January 2008 It seems like the quiet season is over. The first call today was about a guillemot that had been handed in to the Marine Reserch Lab at Millport. The bird was put on the ferry to Largs and we collected it from there. Its a little underweight and perhaps went ashore to escape the storm of yesterday. A short eared owl was delivered, but its wing injury was far too bad for the bird to ever fly again. Sadly it was put to sleep. An injured fox wasn't a survivor either, but a buzzard picked up from the roadside, wet and bedraggled, was looking much brighter by tea time, and a wet limping swan from Ayr looked happier once it had dried off and eaten., Two hedgehogs, delivered earlier this week, are doing very well. It is a bad time of year to get in underweight hedgehogs, so we are pleased that these two youngsters are gaining weight. 7th January 2008 Dudley the seal pup Andy and I were pleased to see all the staff back today. They'd all had a good holiday, which they thoroughly deserved, as they willingly work lots of extra time throughout the year. Having them back us a chance to catch up with paperwork and phone calls, but by mid afternoon we'd had enough of inside, and were keen to respond to a report of an injured seal pup lying on the beach at Fairlie. The seal was 200 yards along the beach, lying sleeping not far from the sea wall. It obviously had a problem, but certainly came to life as soon as Andy grabbed it. In fact it squirmed its way out of the blanket that we usually use for carrying seal pups. I'd to fetch the carrying box to get the pup back to the car. The seal is emaciated and has nasty bites around his hind legs and tail. He is getting rehydration fluids for 24 hours, antibiotics and wormer. He doesn't really seem to appreciate the care. 6th January 2008 The year got off to a quiet start as far as new patients are concerned, though there has been plenty to do at the centre over the holiday time. The 6 grey seal pups are almost a day's work in themselves, thawing fish, delivering the food and then of course cleaning out the seal pools. We are pleased with the seals' progress. All are self feeding and gaining weight. We have 6 young roe deer that are being over-wintered, an adult female roe deer who survived a road traffic accident, and McDougall, our resident roe buck. The deer eat rabbit food, carrots, turnip and apples, and every day 30lb of vegetables has to be chopped for them. Other casualties currently in care include 40 hedgehogs, 5 buzzards, 5 tawny owls, 3 barn owls, 10 swans and a variety of small garden birds.
1st January 2008 2007 came to a busy end, with several patients coming into care last night. Saltcoats Police arrived early in the evening with a swan they had removed from the taxi rank at the station. With a drooping slightly bleeding wing, it had probably been bumped by a vehicle, though why it was there in the first place we don't know. Then came an injured common gull, followed by a pouter pigeon. These brought the total of casualties for 2007 to 3332.
3rd December 2007 Seals When we released the 2 common seals, Sammy and Chubby, we were left with a grey seal pup, Paddy. He learnt to feed himself quite soon, and enjoys playing in the swan hospital pool. We didn't expect an influx of other seals so quickly. First to come was another common seal, a small, poor looking seal, dry eyed, hump backed, and really not too well. However, he does have a good turn of speed, and can clench his teeth determinedly when he doesn't want to eat. Then came more grey seal pups. Yesterday 2 came from the east coast, one from Gullane and one from Dunbar. The Gullane seal is a big dark coloured bruiser, eating quite willingly. Baby Dunbar is a young pup, still with some white puppy fur, who needed fluids yesterday, but is now eating fillets of herring. Two more pups were delivered today. Dee came from Aberdeen, looks quite relaxed after his long journey, but has some infected wounds. Another young pup came from the Firth of Forth. He has chronic infections. So it looks like we are going to pretty busy for the next week or so.
2nd December 2007 Sparrowhawk Sparrowhawks can be difficult patients, but we've worked out a good treatment regime, and rarely lose a sparrowhawk through stress. The secret is to keep the bird in an enclosed space where it feels safe. If you put a sparrowhawk in a cage, it will panic and damage feathers and face. One of our couriers, Kirsty, brought in a lovely female sparrowhawk while Andy and I were away a couple of weeks ago. Shelby diagnosed shoulder damage, kept the bird in a cardboard carrier, and hand fed it 2 or 3 times a day. We continued that treatment for a week; the bird was resting its injured shoulder, and keeping calm. After a few days it began to feed itself. That can be another problem with sparrowhawks. They usually need wild food, although we can usually persuade them to eat day old chicks eventually. When the wing improved and the bird became restless, she was moved to an indoor flight where she could get more exercise without putting too much strain on the wing. Next move was to a fully screened aviary, and soon the bird was flying perfectly. She wasn't too keen on being netted, ringed and boxed again, but it wouldn't take long for Kirsty to return the bird to where she was found. The bird had made a good recovery and was released in excellent feather condition. I guess she would continue life as before.
24th November 2007 Merlin
I asked Toni to collect a bird for us on Thursday. Toni worked at Hessilhead for 7 years, and although she now has a baby girl to look after, she still likes to keep in touch and bring casualties to the centre. She was very excited when she phoned later, to say that the bird was a merlin. Toni had noticed a mark and feathers on the window of the house where she had gone to collect the bird, and sure enough, the merlin was showing minor signs of collision. We treated the bird with an anti-inflammatory drug, kept it in a box for the night, and next day, when it was looking brighter, put it in a cage. It didn't take long for the merlin to eat. It ate a whole chick, beak, legs, everything. Then with a full crop, it had another sleep. This morning we flew the bird in a large aviary. It was magic, so light and nimble and manouverable. It seemed to be floating rather than flying. Toni and Paul collected the bird later, and released it close to where it was found. They too were thrilled to see it fly. Hopefully it has learnt to avoid windows in future
20th November 2007 Seal release
It was a big day for Chubby and Sammy today. They had achieved their target weights of 35 kilos, and the forecast was calm weather for the next few days. It was time for them to go off and fend for themselves. Chubby has been with us since August, when we rescued him from Saltcoats beach, a skinny little seal suffering from lungworm and tapeworm. Sammy came 4 weeks later, transferred from Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Somerset. The team there had saved his life and taught him to eat fish for himself. Now he needed company and more space to swim. He flew into Glasgow airport and arrived at Hessilhead none the worse for his experience. The seals were released at Portencross, and as so often happens we arrived at low tide, so the seal crates had to be carried to the mouth of the harbour. Chubby wasted no time in swimming away and exploring the sea, but Sammy wasn't so sure about this new world. He hung around the carrying box, and then stayed in shallow water for ages, returning to the box and watching us watching him. Chubby waited, looking back for Sammy, but he was impatient to get into deeper water. At last Sammy decided to go too, and we watched the seals swim to meet each other, diving and splashing and having fun. Hopefully they will son learn to catch fish for themselves.
1st July 2007 I got your number from a hedgehog. It has been so
busy for the last few weeks that we have hardly had time to keep up with the
work. We have 40 fox cubs, 33 tawny owls, 5 badger cubs, 5 deer fawns, 200
ducklings and have reared hundreds of garden birds. 4th June 2007 Never a spare moment Casualties are arriving fast. Most days bring more than 20 new patients, today nearly 40. Young crows, tits, wrens, and blackbirds are the most frequent arrivals, but over the last few days we have taken in 6 shell ducklings, 2 cygnets, a roe deer fawn and the first of the gull chicks. This evening a female hedgehog arrived with four 10 day old babies. That was in addition to the last 12 hedgehogs to be evicted from the Uists this summer; they went straight out to release sites. I am not too happy with the buzzard that came in on Saturday. Our first concern was his poor body condition. Now he is gaining a little weight, but his behaviour is odd. We suspect there may be some brain damage. The peregrine will move to an aviary tomorrow, and the little hand reared stoat should move outside too. A clutch of 12 ducklings was rescued from a deep sided treatment pool at a landfill site today, and tawny owl chick number 12 came in. So you see we don't have much spare time! 5th May 2007 Owls There was good
news for 2 adult tawny owls today. One of them has been in care for several
weeks, and for a while was totally blind. Even so, after recovering from
concussion, it learnt to feed itself in a cage. It was always easy to get hold
of, as it didn't see a hand approach, but would jump when touched. We were
beginning to lose hope that the owl would recovery, then during one of the
regular testing sessions we found it could see with one eye. That encouraged us
to move the owl outside, and it soon found the high perches, and located food
left in different places. Today we tested it again, and are pretty sure that it
now has good vision. It will return to its own territory. Another tawny owl, a
small male, has made a fast recovery from a collision with a car. It will soon
be back to help feed its family. 4th May 2007 Starlings There has been an influx of starling chicks at Hessilhead. I think the total so far is 22. All have been removed from roof spaces by house owners who were having their roofs repaired, or just didn't like having the chicks there. You can probably imagine that rearing chicks from a few days old is a lot of work, and fairly costly. Feeding starts at 7am each morning, and finishes about 10.30 at night. The chicks are fed approximately every half hour. Of course there are lots of other youngsters to care for too. Once the chicks fledge (in 7 to 10 days) they will move to cages. First they will learn to perch, then to drink, and after a week or so to pick up food for themselves. When feeding confidently they will move to an aviary, and be released a couple of weeks after that. The aviary will be left open for two more weeks so the youngsters can come back for food. If the chicks had been left in their nests for their parents to rear, they would fledge in 7 to 10 days and have their parents to show them how to survive in the wild. The roofs could have been repaired then, and Hessilhead would be a much quieter place. 28th May 2007 Buzzard and Peregrine It’s mostly juveniles that we admit at this time of year, but we've had a couple of surprises yesterday and today. A buzzard was brought in yesterday, found by a shooter while out shooting. The buzzard has an injured leg, and more injuries in its mouth and above its eye, but we expect it to make a full recovery. Today we admitted a female peregrine, a particularly bad tempered one. She has an injured wing, that is now strapped up, and we are hopeful of a full recovery for her too. 15th May 2007 Swift There is
always something to delight us at Hessilhead. Yesterday we had a call about an
injured bird in West Lothian, which is quite a long way from here. The people
who had the bird couldn't fetch it, but luckily two of our regular helpers who
responded straight away, and the bird was here an hour and a half later. 11th May 2007 Home from Uists Andy and I
have just returned from a trip to the Uists to collect more hedgehogs. There
were only 16 to come back today, but the total for this year so far is 206. We
took an extra day for the trip to enjoy the peace and quietness of South Uist,
and to watch some healthy wildlife too. We spent all of Wednesday on a white
sandy beach, watching Great Northern and Black throated divers, terns, waders,
hen harrier and arctic skua. You can imagine that it was difficult returning
home! |
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
%20(3).JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
%20(Small).JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
%20(2).JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
%20(2).JPG)
