Concern over a Swan seen on the A96 road between Nairn and Auldearn prompted the Police to give me a call over it's condition. Not having a car the police gave me a lift to the scene, and the Swan was now in an adjacent field.
I could detect no apparent injuries and it seemed lively enough. It may well have clipped some power lines not too far away ( in one of the photo's.) It was just over a year old going by the colour of it's bill, so I left it alone to recover, it will hopefully take off later. Nice to know that our local police also keep an eye out for the wildlife.
Another recent casualty that did require medication was a pigeon with neck injuries and unable to swallow food. I took it home last Friday and on advice from a pigeon man gave it some flagyl for the mouth and throat infection.
This seemed to do the trick and within a few days was able to eat. The neck injury may have been caused by a Sparrowhawk initially and then it was picked on by other birds because of it's condition. At least now it has a chance of survival by being able to eat !
4 comments:
When I was on my way to inverness last Thursday there was a swan just a couple of miles outside nairn.A car had pulled to the side there was male and female with the swan.It was not the sameone as there was a lot of brown feathers over the bird it looked unharmed maybe due to the good samaritans that were on hand.
Icy weather causes swans to mistake shiny surfaces as water, they sometimes land on frozen wet roads, playgrounds etc. Winter is a dangerous time for them. Young ones are inexperienced and often get killed because of this. Sounds like the parents were with the one you saw.
Hi, I was standing looking at Suet with bird seed in it, a square, in a store here...I give our swans wild bird seed, but was wondering if they might like suet with bird seed in it? Do your swans like suet? (I think it might be based on beef fat, not sure)...Thanks, Sari Grove
Hi Sari, I don't know if Swans can process fat such as suet. Our lot seem to thrive on wheat, which I soak for 24 hours before I throw it in the water for them. They do eat it even when unsoaked grains. Naturally they would not get suet type fat in their diet, I think any grain that is around 14% protein or other seeds that have high oil
or fat content would be fine if they eat it.
By the way, Sari and Joe are doing well !
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