Off Topic

UPDATE: Sadly the Rabbit died at 2.30 am.
Two local girls Lucy and Ruth, have brought me an injured baby Rabbit asking for the Scottish SPCA phone number. Being late and the Rabbit in such a poorly condition, I suggested that I give it some immediate treatment and will either get it to a vet or the SPCA tomorrow. It has an open wound on the back leg with a cluster of maggot eggs throughout the leg fur. I phoned Sue our Trust Avian adviser who also treats small animals, and coincidentally has 3 baby rabbits in care right now. She advised a course of antibiotics, and rehydration with water and honey, then cleaning the wound with TCP and removing the maggot eggs with an old toothbrush. Having done all that, I can only hope it survives until tomorrow.   The Scottish SPCA number for anyone needing it, is 03000 999 999

Mid-Winter Darkness

The gloom of mid- winter is upon us with weather to match, we seem to have been stuck with the worst type of winter weather, cold wet and windy !
After giving Sari a weeks course of antibiotics in the hope of saving the sight in her left eye I got a bad prognosis today from our avian adviser Sue Hulbert. I sent sue some photos of sari's eye and Sue is of the opinion that the eye sight has already been lost. 

This is a real mid- winter downer for me, the long darkness of winter is bad enough, but the darkness of blindness is far worse.
I can only hope that whatever ails Sari, that it wont spread to the other eye, and maybe the antibiotics will have helped in that respect. I will need to keep a close watch on this beautiful duck.

Wise Avian Adviser

This week I have had the pleasure of a visit from Sue Hulbert, The River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust Avian adviser. Sue has come up to Nairn at her own expense from Swindon, where she runs a wildlife Sanctuary. 

Sue does excellent work down south caring for sick and injured animals and birds of all kinds, and has been kind enough to Mentor me, passing on her wisdom on the care aspect of waterbirds in particular. 

Some of the success I have achieved has been down to her good advice gained over 26 years, caring for Waterfowl and her previous knowledge as a wildlife ranger. 

She has enjoyed her few days in Nairn inspecting our river water birds and the beach area, and has been taken by the natural beauty of the place. Her verdict on our birds..... " they are extremely healthy and in excellent condition - wonderful !"

Sue gave me a beautiful gift photograph she took, of 3 Tawny owls of different ages she was nursing, as you can see it's a beauty ! 

Above are some of the variety of cases she has successfully handled, and a pic of Sue herself taken on the river today. The Trust is grateful for her membership, Free help and advice, and has our support and admiration always.

Trust News

After 3 months The Bank of Scotland have finally set up the Trust Bank account, it has been a yo - yo application, and the Bank has apologised for the errors and delays, as a gesture of goodwill they will deposit £25 into the account, Thats nearly a week's food supply for the swans and waterfowl. 

This spring has been consistently cold, resulting in fewer ducks leaving the lower river to nest, and an increase in the feed required at this time.
Thanks to the trust membership, the Swans, waterfowl and small riverside birds are being well taken care of.

The Rescues carried out over the past year, totalled 23 birds,  8 pigeons, 7 herring gulls, 7 ducklings, and one swan. Then there was Popeye with his infected leg successfully treated.

All but 5 of these survived to be returned to the wild, but 4 of the ducklings have since been killed by predators, including dogs. 

The current pigeon 
rehabbed at home is doing well, after nearly 3 weeks it is flying about the house, but still has a balance problem on it's weak right side. The symptoms are similar to a stroke victim and it could be permanent, although I am working on the physiotherapy side. Considering it was totally paralysed 3 weeks ago, the progress has been remarkable.

Short vid below.

 My Thanks to Sue our Avian adviser for all the helpful advice. Sue is a remarkable woman who carries out extremely difficult and dangerous rescues down south, she gets frequent black eyes, gets covered in mud, occasionally loses her glasses, and has even had a broken rib from a Swan she had to rescue. Well done Sue !
Finally, I heard from a dog walker tonight that she saw a dead Drake off the path verge recently,  yet another dog casualty !
I have asked Cllr Liz Mcdonald repeatedly for a few signs between the road bridge and bailey bridge, but she says she doesn't think they will be taken notice of . The Trust feels that educating the public takes time, and responsible signage will have an effect over time, even responsible dog owners agree with this.  

Tending Her Wounds

4 days after the dog attack, this morning was again wet and cold. The swans were in the harbour and I noticed a slight change in the pen. She was creating tiny shivering vibration waves around her body and I guessed she might be either sore and cold, or in pain or both ! In relative terms the dog attack on her was the equivilent of a human getting mauled by a lion ! With that in mind I contacted my avian adviser in Swindon - a caring and dedicated swan lady called Sue. She suggested I give the pen an anti inflammatory to reduce the pain the bird must be feeling. Claire at Moray coast vets duly obliged and I managed to give the pen some this afternoon. The whole family went up river at high tide with the river also in spate, the pen is eating and with motherly devotion still defers to her cygnets most of the time ! The cob is still taking charge of the play sessions in the harbour too.