Admissions and Releases

 

TOP TEN ADMISSIONS IN MAY         Mallard                      138         Blackbird                    38         Hedgehog                   38         Wood Pigeon               35         Rabbit                        28         Collared Dove             27         Rook                           24         Starling                      20         Tawny Owl                  19         Mute Swan                 19

TOP TEN ADMISSIONS IN JUNE        Hedgehogs                69      Mallard                      65      Blackbird                   31     Wood Pigeon               27      Collared Dove            26     Mute Swan                 20     Shelduck                    16     Partridge                    14     Rabbit                          9     Starling                        9

MAY RELEASES         Hedgehog                    8         Mallard                       5         Mute Swan                  5         Rabbit                        4         Tawny Owl                  3         Kestrel                       2         Great Crested Grebe  2         Brown Hare                2         Swift                         2         Slow Worm                1

JUNE RELEASES     Mallard                     93     Hedgehogs                14     Mute Swan                11     Rabbit                       11     Collared Dove            10     Blackbird                   10     Rook                            5     Moorhen                      3     Hooded Seal                2     Carrion Crow                2

                       

Phocine Distemper Virus:

Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV) was reported on the Danish islands in the Kattegat at the end of June.   This area also experienced the first cases of the disease in the previous two epidemics in 1988 and 2002.   Dead seals continued to be found throughout the area and fears grew that another PDV epidemic was on the way.  Contingency planning is underway and with valuable lessons from the recent 2002 outbreak fresh in our minds we feel very capable of dealing with large numbers of very sick seals in the same compassionate and professional manner.  
Fortunately we had a functional isolation unit at the start of June.  The new ventilation system was finally running smoothly and our animals were enjoying well circulated air at a constant temperature.                                     

 

DUCKLINGS
During May and June we had 165 ducklings into care.

On arrival ducklings are cared for in an incubator as above.  The incubators provide a constant temperature.

Each year we get one or two broods of Shelducks.  Although common on the coast, Shelducks are scarce but increasing as a breeding bird inland. They are a ‘hole nesting’ species, usually at ground level – old rabbit burrows are commonly utilised as a nest site. Nests will often be far away from water. Very soon after hatching the young are lead to water by the parents, so that they can feed. It is at this stage that the ducklings occasionally get in to difficulties and are rescued.

Once the ducklings are strong enough to leave the comfort of the incubator they are moved into a larger room which has 6 divided bays to cater for small groups of up to 6 to 8 birds.  Each bay has a heat lamp and under floor heating.

As the ducklings grow we move them to an outside pool with a shed.  The ducklings are locked in the shed overnight to keep them safe but allowed out in the morning to graze and swim.

Finally the birds are moved on to our covered swan pool for the final stage of rehabilitation.  Once the birds have full flight feathers they are released in small, family sized groups around Norfolk.

 

 

 

OILED SWANS:
In May we had a minor oiling incident in Wroxham which is a small town on the Norfolk Broads.  7 Mute swans arrived over a period of three weeks, all of them were heavily oiled by a vegetable type of oil.  The birds were washed and fortunately all made a full recovery and were released.   We will continue to work with the Environment Agency, as this town has an unusually high number of oiling incidents for such a small place.

 

 

PROJECT UPDATES:

Hand reared juvenile Blackbirds - 61 juvenile blackbirds came into the centre during May and June so we will be able to complete our third and hopefully final year of post release monitoring.  We aim to release the birds in July.

 

 

FUNDRAISING:

Tin Rattling at Tescos in May went very well and we raised £709, thanks to all staff and volunteers who gave up their free time to help.

“Wild about the Wensum” at Pensthorpe, Norfolk was a huge success with hundreds of visitors passing through the marquee and a few hardy souls having a go at tracking soft toy birds with us.   The event was held to raise awareness of the conservation effort along the river Wensum and the work of the many wildlife groups in the surrounding area.

 

EWWC OPEN DAY – 19th of August.  Final planning is going well. If you can help on the day and have not already offered your services please let us know.

Contributions from Kevin Leighton, Ann Smith.
Photos by Andy Fowles, Keith Regan @ Blue Reef Aquarium.
Edited by Alison Charles.