Cygnets released on to River Tweed by Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust

And thank you to the kind person who left us £55 in the letter box on Saturday.

Jackie has put pictures up on our Facebook page too. Everything went very well.

The hedgehog was a hit, as was the magic mirror for the children. There was a competition for the children who had to find two hidden dinosaurs which was very popular. Thanks to all our volunteers that helped on the day.

Our thanks to the Mayor Mike Greener, who is also the Chairman of the Trust for helping with the hall.

The photo this week shows the two cygnets from Eyemouth that we have had on our big pond for several weeks. They are shown, packed up in bags ready to go to the river in the back of the car. They were being harassed by the cob a month ago to leave the area. One of the youngsters was unable to fly and the other was exhausted on the beach when we fetched them in. The cob and his pen have a nest already made with at least two eggs.

One of the cygnets has Angel Wing but due to problems with Avian Influenza it was difficult to find a vet to amputate the tip of her wing. We have trimmed up the feathers to make it more comfortable for her, but when she moults they will grow back in the wrong place, so we may have to trim her up again later in the year. The siblings are very friendly with one another so it was nice to release them together on the Tweed. They are ‘river wise’ youngsters so they should cope well. They were weighed checked and ringed just before release.

Some holidaymakers who saw the cygnets in the back of the car and wondered where they were going, came along to watch the release.

The next job is to deep clean the big pond pen ready for any new casualties.

The barn owl was also away on Friday last week and was a good fit bird. Brought in after being found with a wing injury, which fortunately was not fractured, he has been with us most of the winter. Cage rest was needed for several weeks before being moved to the undercover aviary to protect him from the worst of the winter weather. He then was moved to the Lomax aviary to give more room to exercise his wings and gain strength. A few weeks of cage rest may heal the muscle damage but it weakens the bird and it takes a long time to build up the muscle again. We must make sure he is strong enough to hunt for himself before we let him go. He had been ringed several weeks ago.

The next occupant of the Lomax aviary is the little female leveret that me and Jackie have reared between us. She is still having a little milk feed in the morning so is still with me at home in one of my aviaries.

The badger Maggie is being released this week. We are contacting Hugh, the gentleman who brought her in, to see if he would like to see her released. I hope to have pictures for you then.

Jackie and Barbara are now busy moving hedgehogs to harden them off. All are awake now so they are the animals that take the time to clean and feed every day. I think the first ones may be going off later this week.