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This is our 2007 intensive care diary Our first casualties of the year arrived in late April. They were 4 ducklings, whose mother walked off with her brood, but left these behind - a very common problem which we experience every year. In fact 4 days later another 2 abandoned ducklings were brought it. All have survived, are growing well and have now been moved into the barn ready to go outside soon. Sadly it is not all good news as many of the animals which have been brought in recently have not survived. We lost a very young fox cub who was found badly injured but who died before we could get him to a vet. The very mild winter and warm spring has played havoc with our hibernating mammals and we have been brought quite a few hedgehogs who have come out of hibernation in a weakened state to then struggle to find food and water, because of the lack of rain in the last few months. Week commencing 29th April On the 1st May a very young tawny owl was brought in. He had been seen sitting in a tree in Rowlands Gill. The person who found him very sensibly did not panic, but watched the owlet closely to see if the parents were nearby, but after a day of not spotting any activity near it, she decided to bring it to us. A few days later another baby tawny owl was brought in, of approximately the same age. Both owlets are doing very well and feeding brilliantly. (See photographs of their development further down this page) We also had brought in a very young Leveret, who had been caught by a cat - unfortunately he did not survive the shock and died a day later and a nest of 2 baby blackbirds, who are both eating voraciously. Week commencing 6th May Another very young abandoned duckling was brought in, a tiny baby blackbird and a young pheasant who had been the victim of crows. The person who brought it in had heard crows squawking and looked up to see them fighting in the air over something. When the 'something' was dropped it sadly turned out to be a baby pheasant. Unfortunately, he did not survive the ordeal and died a few days later. The young duckling and the baby blackbird are, however, doing well. A young blackbird and a young thrush were brought in separately and are both doing well. On Thursday we collected a young badger cub who had been spotted lying in the garden of a care home in the local town. He had been spotted at 5:00 in the morning, by mid-afternoon he had vanished, but later that evening he came back, at no time had the staff seen an adult near him, so they called us. He is weaned, but young and is at present in our intensive care unit and feeding well. Week commencing 13th May The tawny owls are growing well and have almost lost their white baby plumage. The 2 blackbirds are also feeding well and now beginning to attempt flight, so hopefully they will soon be released.
The badger too is settling down - isn't he wonderful?
On Sunday we took in a Swift with a broken wing and a very tiny sparrow baby, neither of which we are optimistic about surviving. We also took in a young hedgehog who was found in the middle of the road. He is dragging one leg, but is surviving. 2 young rooks were brought in - one died but the other is doing well and we have 1 adult duck who we are hopeful to release by the end of this week.
Week commencing 20th May Sadly
the blue tits, the tiny sparrow and the swift did not survive, the blue tits and
sparrow 2 weeks commencing 27th May The adult duck was successfully released, as were the young blackbirds and thrushes. The badger cub has now been moved out to the wildlife section to prepare him for release and the 2 tawny owls are still there and growing well. Unfortunately, both hedgehogs died, but the shelduck ducklings are all still alive and fit and well. Over the last 2 weeks we have had brought in 2 jackdaws which had been found up a chimney and which had quite a dramatic release by the houseowners (who called them Sooty and Sweep!). Unfortunately only one survived, but he is doing well. A single duckling was brought in during the second week and he is living with the shelduck ducklings, he is very small, but we hope he will survive. A student from Sunderland brought in a very young gull, who is feeding well and someone brought in a Kestrel which was found at Team Valley. We cannot find anything specifically wrong with him and suspect it may just be a young bird who hasn't quite managed to successfully hunt and is just hungry. Hopefully we can feed him up and release him soon. A nest of 5 pied wagtails was brought it, 2 have already been released and we are hopeful to release the other 3 next week, they were just a little smaller and behind in their development than the other 2. On the Saturday the 9th two ladies brought in a thrush which they had found sitting in the middle of the road. It was presumably hit by a car and very shocked and sadly it died the following day. Also a tawny owl was brought in. Unsuccessful stores were a rabbit which was very ill with myxomatosis and had to be euthanased and a nest of baby birds which (like the bluetits a few weeks ago) were just too young for us to successfully rear. Finally, we mustn't forget Barney one of our own rescued dogs, who unfortunately had to visit the vet this week and have 13 teeth removed! 4 weeks commencing 10th June There have been a lot of comings and goings while I've been away on my annual holiday. The first thing to report is that the other 3 wagtails were released. The 2 tawny owls and the badger are still in our wildlife section as they are not ready for release as yet. The Shelducks are almost ready for release and the surviving rook is still here and is doing well. Of the animals brought in at the end of May, the single duckling, the surviving Jackdaw are still here with us. The kestrel is in our wildlife section with another kestrel and the gull is also there with another gull. An attempt to release the tawny owl failed, so he is in our wildlife section. Here is a quick update on which animals & birds were brought in over the last 4 weeks and what happened to them: A Barn Owl and Little Owl were brought in separately. The Barn Owl is now in the wildlife section and the Little Owl is still in our intensive care unit. 4 baby hedgehogs which were found in a compost heap were brought in followed not long afterwards by a mother and her 3 young by a family who had disturbed them while mowing their lawn. All 7 are feeding very well indeed and we are hopeful of a successful release in the near future. A young rook which hadn't fully fledge yet and 2 seabirds were also brought in. Week commencing 9th July
During this week 3 separate hedgehogs were brought it, mainly youngsters. They are all in our intensive care unit and so far are doing well. The other hedgehogs are growing and eating well. A gentleman brought in a nest of 2 sparrows who were very young - we were not very hopeful that they would survive and one died a few days later, but at this moment the survivor is still alive. A female whiskered bat which was found in a house was brought in, followed by a tiny baby Soprano Pipistrelle which was found (along with a dead adult) in a local leisure centre. Week commencing 16th July
Week commencing 23rd July The surviving sparrow is still alive, as is the rook. A baby wood pigeon was also brought in and is accepting hand feeding with a little persuasion! A collared dove also came in and is doing well. The baby rabbits are thriving too and we are hopeful all will survive. Sadly the Soprano Pipistrelle bat didn't make it and died on Saturday. The rook has been moved into our wildlife section in the hope of release in the near future. Week commencing 30th July We were very sad indeed to discover Blu, one of our badgers dead in his enclosure. We could find no obvious cause of death. On a happier note the baby rabbits are all thriving and we released the mother hedgehog and her 3 hoglets in local woodland. Week commencing 6th August Sadly
we lost another old friend this week. Morris the Magpie, who came into our
care in 2005, but who resolutely refused to leave when he was released, but
sadly became quite a nuisance stealing visitor's food, baby's dummies and
blithely walking into our site shop and helping himself to whichever beanie toy
took his fancy, died on Wednesday. Also the baby woodpigeon died. Another
litter of 4 rabbits were brought in over the weekend, they appear to be just
over a week old and are being fed goats milk. The
Shelduck ducklings were released this week down at the seashore in Druridge Bay
Country Park and made their
way to freedom. The first litter of baby rabbits were successfully released on Saturday. Here are the photographs:
The litter of 4 baby hedgehogs brought in in early June have grown well and are now outside almost ready for release. We have also had brought in over the last few weeks a total of 4 separate baby hedgehogs, who are now all living happily together and hopefully will go outside soon to prepare them for release. A
young cygnet (one of a litter) was brought in from the River Wansbeck at Morpeth.
He had been found by the warder lying on his side, waterlogged and obviously in
some difficulty. He is at present in our barn under a heat lamp and is
making good progress. We are hopeful that he will release soon. An injured puffin was found at the nearby Druridge Bay Country Park. He is doing well and hopefully will also be released soon. A very young single duckling was brought in this week. He was placed in an incubator, but was obviously lonely, so we gave him a little teddy bear to cuddle into and he was just so happy to have some company. Here he is snuggling in. On a sadder note a very young hedgehog was brought it which had been found being used as a football by a very enthusiastic terrier. He was very small, felt underweight and we were not hopeful he would make it. Sadly he died overnight. A swift was also brought it, but he died too. The
cygnet, puffin and the duckling are all still doing well. A sparrowhawk
was brought in by a man who Unfortunately, the second litter of baby rabbits are not doing so well. They appear to have an infection and one has died. A swift with a damaged wing was brought in by a man who found it clinging to the wall of his house. Also a nest of 4 swifts was brought in through the week. When we opened the box to check them out, one of them flew away, so he was obviously ready to go. Sadly 1 of the remaining 3 died, but the other 2 are doing well. Good news is that the Little Owl brought it in mid-June has now been successfully released. The 2 remaining swifts are still in our intensive care and doing well - we are very hopeful that they will be released soon. The injured puffin brought in 2 weeks ago was taken back to Druridge Bay Country Park and successfully released. Also released was the young badger cub brought in during May and the litter of 4 baby hedgehogs brought in at the beginning of June. The 4 individual baby hedgehogs have now been put outside to acclimatise them to being released in the next couple of weeks. A very young hedgehog was brought in on Thursday. He was very cold and underweight and was put in an incubator. We are not optimistic that he will survive. Sadly 2 more of the baby rabbits have died, leaving one remaining. Week commencing 3rd September The duckling with the teddy bear is growing well and still very attached to his teddy bear. The cygnet has been sent up to the Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust following discussions with the Warden who originally brought him in. As he developed his plumage it became apparent that he was suffering from "Angels Wing" which may have been why his mother rejected him and so the warden thought it would not be a good idea to return him to the River Wansbeck, as he may be bullied by the other swans. As we have no ponds on our premises and swans suffer from not having access to water we decided to move him to the Berwick Centre where he will spend the winter being cared for there. On Sunday the 9th we had brought in 1 pipistrelle bat, 4 hedgehogs and a pigeon. Unfortunately 2 of the hedgehogs died, but the remaining 2 are doing well. Week commencing 10th September 2 of the 4 hedgehogs which were outside preparing to be released decided themselves that it was time they should go and so they dug out of their enclosure and off they went! The 2 remaining hedgehogs have been joined by the 2 survivors brought in last week and they will be released in the very near future. On Saturday a lady brought in a young hedgehog which was wandering in her garden during the daytime and we also had brought in another full grown hedgehog. 2 very young hedgehogs were brought in through the week, but again sadly 1 died on Saturday and the other died on Sunday. The warm dry spell we have just experienced appears to have affected hedgehogs quite badly. A tawny owl was found in the river at Druridge Bay, but sadly it died through the night. A Widgeon was also brought in from Druridge, but it died barely an hour later. A jackdaw was also brought in through the week and it is doing well so far, as is the surviving rabbit who we hope to release very soon. 2 weeks commencing 17th September We have had quite a few successful releases in the last 2 weeks. The bat was released on Monday evening - he was making so much noise when we did our last intensive care visit of the night, that we thought he must be expressing his wish to leave and he flew off without a second glance. Both the tawny owls brought in in April and the one brought in during July have now been released, as has the kestrel brought in during May. The remaining hedgehogs have all been released, as has the remaining baby rabbit. The duckling with the teddy bear is still here and is now bigger than the teddy bear, so will be released soon. The adult hedgehog and the young one brought in during July are still in intensive care, as is the jackdaw. A baby woodpigeon was also brought in during the last few days, together with a pair of young pigeons. 2 weeks commencing 1st October In the last 2 weeks we have had brought in, separately, 5 young hedgehogs in various stages of fitness and age. Sadly one hedgehog died quite soon after arrival, followed by 2 more within the next few days, but the 2 remaining young are doing well. The young pigeons are all feeding and growing well and the baby duckling has now been released. 3 weeks commencing 15th October We are now entering our quietest period and a lot of our animals have now been safely released or moved to their permanent housing. Over the last 3 weeks we have had brought in a Peregrine Falcon with a broken wing, a Buzzard, 4 hedgehogs, all too small to survive winter hibernation and a young collar dove who was not flying. Sadly 1 of the young hedgehogs didn't survive, but the other 3 are all doing well. We also had abandoned on our doorstep, 3 beautiful rabbits. Sadly this is an all too common occurrence. People telephone us to ask if we will take their unwanted pets (which we do if we have the space,) but when we refuse because we do not have the room and housing to take them, they are brought and left anyway! Fortunately, one of our volunteers has taken them all home to see if he can re-home them to a good home.
The animals mentioned above are by no means all the animals and birds we have had brought in over the summer - it is impossible to mention them all and there are obviously those which die within hours of being brought in. So the above are a 'selection' of those brought it. We will endeavour to keep this page updated with news of animals/birds which have been brought in to us and those which have been successfully released, so come back and visit this page again to keep updated. This page was last updated on Thursday, 10 January 2008 and has had
visitors since 21st November 2005
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On
Saturday 14th two very young red squirrels were brought in by a local protection
group. Their drey had been found in a holly bush broken in half and the 2 young
squirrels found lying on the ground - there was no sign of their mother. They are both very young (we
estimate 14-16 days old) and one has a broken leg, so we are not sure how they
will fair, but they will be given the very best
chance we can give them. Because they are so young and need round
the
The surviving sparrow is
still alive and the seabirds have now been moved into our wildlife section.
An adult Tawny Owl was found by the side of the A1 road at Swarland and is at
the moment in our
