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In spite of the virus restrictions, the Trust fulfils it's obligations as usual.
As part of my daily exercise regime, feeding the river birds to ensure their good health ( and mine ) at this critical time of year.
Nesting is underway and many Ducks have already started.
Disco, our disabled duck has already laid 8 eggs and more to follow. Our new Swans, Slim and Sue, are still happily enjoying their new domain, and the new feeding regime.
The injured pigeon is now well on the way to a full recovery, and has taken pride of place on my ornaments shelf in the kitchen! Doing the rounds, checking out the kitchen sink and living room.
Although able to fly, I will not make the mistake of letting it go too soon, as the Sparrow hawk will still be able to single it out with missing tail feathers etc. Virus or no, I still have things to occupy my time. I hope all our Trust members are keeping fine and enjoying the blog updates. Take care .
After the tragic demise of Faith, the duck that lost it's bill to an Otter, her offspring were returned to the river today. She had 3 surviving ducklings, I reared alongside 4 motherless ones for the past 7 weeks, it was time to introduce them to the other young ducks on the river.
One of them is a female, so hopefully Faith will live on !
Meanwhile on the way home I discovered yet another injured pigeon wandering out of the Candy cabin on the brae. It appears to be a young one that may have been hit by a car, right wing drooping but not broken.
I will give it some TLC for a few days and see how it goes.
Sunshine, fresh crisp air and Happy wildlife on the River, what more could we wish this Good Friday.
A variety of birds feasting together, getting ready for nesting by building up reserves.
Quite a few ducks are already nesting and within a few weeks there will be few to be seen on the tidal reaches.
After one week, the injured pigeon is giving me optimism by increased use of it's left leg.
It is able to push it's way around the box, and when sitting on my hand I can feel the grip from both feet.
All other bodily functions are normal.
So go's the old saying, but maybe it's an ill wind that might have benefits later. Many of the ducks are back to the lower river for food and appear to have put nesting on hold due to the cold weather. When nesting resumes, there might be more cover and natural food around for the ducklings. The water is icy, and Winter is with us for a while yet, although we have faired much better than most in the UK.
Yet another pigeon casualty I picked up from my street yesterday, this is the 8th pigeon in the past year, 6 of which have survived so far. This one has either hit a car or window, but does not appear to have any broken bones. However it was bleeding from the mouth, I think it's brain has been scrambled resulting in partial paralysis of it's legs, more so the left side.
It is out of immediate danger, and managed to have a drink this morning. Time will tell if it is going to recover completely.
I also noticed that the light coloured Call duck has disappeared since around the 17th.
This is a great pity because the 4 call ducks were inseparable and I thought they might manage to nest and give us some young ones. I know there is a chocolate labrador called Dexter that is untrained and in the river trying to catch ducks. I had a word with the owner and told him that the dog MUST be kept on a lead near the river. I don't know if this dog is responsible for ducks that are going missing, but owners MUST keep their dogs under control near wildlife !
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 !
The young injured pigeon that I received last week is improving, it has an injured left leg which made it reluctant to use or walk with. Today it managed to stand and cling onto the edge of the box. It has been eating well, and I should be able to move it into the Aviary in a day or two. As for eating...another mouse that lives
in a tree - was unafraid and sampling the daily food as usual.
