skip to main |
skip to sidebar
About 5 days ago I saw a duckling trapped under the wire mesh at Merryton bridge. It had squeezed between the mesh and got stuck. I watched for several minutes as it tried to squeeze through.
Eventually I decided to wade across the river and free it, by the time I crossed the river it had gotten free.
However over the last 3 days I have watched one duckling from the same brood struggling to keep up with the others, with difficulty walking. It has been in obvious pain and occasionally being picked on by other adult ducks.
It is smaller than the others and not getting enough food. The mother duck has been looking after it and gave me a merry chase this evening as I attempted for the 3rd time to catch the wee one and get it some treatment.
Tonight I finally caught it and is now safely in the warmth of the Trust brooder. The hock joint is swollen on the left leg but not broken, I have given it some painkiller anti inflammatory, and will see how it is tomorrow, perhaps a visit to the vet is next.
The Injured Duckling given to me on the 13th by Hamish Reid, has made steady progress every day, it now has some use of the injured leg.
The antibiotic given by Moray coast vets and the painkiller I have given it daily seems to have done the trick. I expect it will get full use of the leg eventually, as it grows and learns to adapt and manipulate it.
Meanwhile woody the wood pigeon although free, comes back almost everyday at some point for his favourite sunflower seeds.
He is such a lovable character and plays to the camera, to the point where he wants to fly and land on it !!
With the nesting season in full swing, it's the time of year that many of us dread due to the carnage of young birds to predators or on the roads etc. Yesterday it was the turn of a gull which I found along the riverside trailing a wing. I took it home and called the Scottish SPCA who promptly picked it up.
This is their busy time of year with numerous calls about birds having fallen from buildings and road accidents etc. Their new number is worth noting 03000 999 999, for some of you will find injured birds this summer. Three days ago I found another gull bleeding from the chest, it died shortly afterwards. I think the increased traffic on the A96 is adding to the casualty numbers, since birds fly over the bridge and collide with vehicles.
Earlier today it was the turn of a duckling handed in by one of our long standing electricians. He found it in his garden with an apparent broken leg, perhaps dropped by a gull or a crow.
I could not determine if it was a break and took it to Moray coast vets who quickly established that it seemed to be a bite to the thigh possibly by a cat or a rat. The puncture wound was infected and was promptly administered antibiotics, I have to follow this up with an anti inflammatory and hopefully the duckling will survive - which is more than can be said for most of the ducklings on the river. One of our Trust members saw a crow take the last one of a brood trying to reach the water yesterday, and I saw a gull take one earlier in the week from the water, seems there is no safe place for ducklings at all.
At least the Cygnets are doing well with two very protective parents and many watchers.
After nurturing the woodpigeons with such care for the past few weeks, I had hoped their release to the wild would be OK. Sadly, Alan the most able of the two has been killed by a Sparrowhawk the day after release.
I found his remains in Viewfield near the tennis courts, which was the direction I saw him fly to when released. Woody returned the next day and I was relieved to see it was alive, he has since been away again but returned again today. He is not yet savvy to the wild, and I will keep him in the Aviary for a while longer until he is more mature.
The paraplegic pigeon has also returned with the flock of feral pigeons and has survived being released. This bird you would not have given Tuppence for his chances, yet he has survived and can fly as well as any other pigeon, it's walking that he has a problem with.
Meanwhile Woody is company for the miracle duckling with the broken leg. Astonishingly the leg has healed into a usable limb once again ! After consulting the vet and our avian adviser Sue, I kept it confined to the coop for 5 days with no disturbance of any kind, and gave it painkiller medication once a day.
It sat motionless for much of the time only moving to eat and drink.
Incredibly after the 5 days I let it into the Aviary to see it walk, using both legs and feet albeit with a limp. It can also paddle with the broken leg and I have seen it scratch its face with it, and jump down from a ramp.
Sue was planning to take the duck into her Sanctuary where she has several one legged ducks, in the event that this duckling was going to end up the same way. I will now return this duckling to the river very soon.
With the arrival of the Cygnets, and the death of Alan the woodpigeon, this has been a bittersweet week for me.
