🌻 MY FAVOURITE TIME OF YEAR 🌻
After the chaos of breeding season, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear the return of the Pink footed Geese!!
You will all have no doubt have either heard them calling, or seen them in the hundreds in the sky!
Over 400,000 of these birds are making their way back to the UK after a brief stop off on the Faroe islands, to spend the winter here.
Winter is officially on its way!!
Turn the volume up!! My favourite thing to do on an evening!!
🌻 THE LIFE OF A SPY IS TO KNOW- NOT TO BE KNOWN 🌻
When you're cleaning out patients, but you're not alone!!!
This adult woodpigeon who came in soaking wet and not flying is definitely on the mend!! He is watching my every move.....
The incubators have eyes!!!!! 🤣🤣
He's not going to be happy in a minute, it's his turn next!!!
🌻 SQUEAKING IS MY MAIN JOB 🌻
When you're just a baby pigeon and all you need to know is, 'when is dinner ready?'
Baby pigeons are some of the greediest little things!! Once they get used to their routine, there is no stopping the relentless squeaks while they wait, not so patiently, for their food.
I've got a fair few baby pigeons in at the moment who have been blown from nests, had their nests destroyed, been got by cats etc etc. They are all fed at intervals ranging from 3 to 4 hours, using a special hand rearing formula designed for young birds. They can't eat alone just yet and so require me to act as mummy pigeon and do it for them.
Once they are a bit bigger they start being weaned on to seed and fresh food with me 'teaching' them. If I've got other adults in that don't have anything contagious, sometimes the babies can learn from them by watching. Which definitely makes my life easier 🤣
There are lots of different methods of weaning pigeons, and to be honest i don't favour a particular one. In fact, quite often I'll use several different methods depending on the bird. Some do well with one method, some with another. But the goal is to get them pecking and eating alone.
The birds in this video are feral pigeons, the type you see in city centres. The young wood pigeons tend to not be as eager and choose instead to hit you with their wings! Attitude or what!
They are very cute when they are this age! Don't you agree?
🌻 THE HURRIER I GO, THE BEHINDER I GET 🌻
Anyone know where the title quote is from? One of my favourites 🤣
Yesterday was a busy one!
These 2 rabbit kits found their way to me with the help of my friends over at Hull Wildlife Protectors who very kindly went and met the lovely lady half way and then brought them over to me. She had found them uncovered and cold, one of them had a very poorly leg. There were 3 babies but unfortunstly, the 3rd babies leg was too damaged to be able to help and so had to cross the rainbow bridge. Thank you Norwood Veterinary Group for helping him pass.
Rabbits breeding season runs right through from spring until late summer and so it will be quite common in the next few weeks for more orphaned or injured kits to arrive with me.
It's important to know though, that unless the babies are in immediate danger or you've observed a nest that has been alone for longer then 24 hours, to leave them be. Rabbits are very different to other mammals in that, the mother Rabbit only feeds her babies for about 5 minutes, sometimes just once a day. The rest of the time she stays away from the nest to ensure predators don't follow her back to the kits. So it's not uncommon for a nest to be alone for the majority of the time.
A Rabbits milk is very very special. We as humans, can't replicate it. There is nothing we can use that is as fat and nutrient dense as a Rabbits milk. Every rehabber has their own way of doing things, but here I use a kitten milk with added cream and a pre/pro biotic powder mixed in.
This isn't my first rodeo with baby Rabbits, and if you've followed me from the beginning you'll know that Rabbits are incredibly difficult to hand rear. I would ALWAYS recommend getting baby rabbits to someone who has experience instead of trying to do it at home.
Thank you to everyone from the lady who found them, to the guys over at HWP for helping get these babies safe! ❤️
🌻 THE COMEBACK IS ALWAYS STRONGER THEN THE SET BACK 🌻
It's been a while....
I can only apologise for the lack of updates on here and assure you that it's for no other reason then the sheer intensity of my work load 😂
The winds brought in many casualties in the form of baby pigeons blown from their nests. I've also had a massive influx of Canker cases come through. While Canker is treatable, a lot of the time the birds get into such a bad state before they get to me and it's simply too late. I've lost a lot the last couple of weeks, which is both frustrating but also very sad.
On the plus side of things, I've managed- with the help of some amazing people- to get some releases done. One of which was a beautiful Pink footed goose who had to have surgery in her mouth. She had a fishing hook lodged under her tongue and it was that embedded she had to have it cut out and stitched. She recovered very well and is now back out awaiting the arrival of her friends when they come back this year.
I've had lots of fox call outs, yesterday 2 of the Alliances amazing volunteers went and helped a very frail looking fox getting him to the vets in record time. Unfortunatly, he was another victim of poisoning and was too far gone to help. Never gets any easier.
As we reach the end of the season I can safely say I'm looking forward to being able to venture into the other rooms of my house and not just the hospital 😂😂
Please enjoy this video of the cutest mouse you ever did see!!
And just to add, he had just been fed his milk and was going back into his house when I took this video which is why I didn't have a glove on! My hands were sanitised straight after with #safe4disinfectant and I ALWAYS use gloves when feeding! It's just such a beautiful video, I had to share it!!
🌻 IVE TRIED TO KEEP GOING 🌻
With immediate effect I have had to make the decision to close the doors to any further intakes.
The group of people who know me best, know what I'm like. I've said, probably about 8 times this week "that's the last one, nor more now", but it's never that easy. I judge everything case by case and if I think I can safely take an animal in that needs help I will- never to the animals detriment, but definitely my own.
I'll be completely honest and give you some idea of what life is like over here......
I havnt had a full night's sleep in weeks, and when I do have chance to sleep, I have to be up regularly to feed babies through the night. Or check on critical patients that need a little bit more monitoring or take calls from the police at 2am to help with deer that have been involved in car accidents.
During the day I receive anywhere from 10 to 30 calls and messages from people who need help with injured wildlife.
I'm missing messages and calls because I simply can't keep up. I havnt been able to cook my family a meal in a while and that really upsets me.
The financial side of things is incredibly difficult, and you all probably get sick of me asking for donations and help. But it's so hard to keep up. A donation comes in and it goes straight back out. The more animals I take in, the more money I need to keep going and it's a major factor in whether I stay open or close. I'm doing a fantastic event at Bempton in August which will definitely help! I'll do a post on that later!
I'm so grateful to everyone who has donated, either with money or dog food or blankets and towels. You've all been an incredible help!
I'm not looking for sympathy I can assure you of that, I just wanted to explain a little bit.
For now though, I need to stop and catch up on things. Exhausted is an understatement and I can't safely take anything else in.
If you are stuck and need some help, please contact your nearest vet for advice. There is Re
🌻 BE LIKE A GULL, ALWAYS SEEKING THE BEST VIEW 🌻
The season has many different waves. We have waves of garden birds, waves of corvids, waves of different mammals and then we arrive at sea birds.
I quite like when we start seeing the baby gulls. Not only are they incredibly cute, but it means that we have arrived at the latter part of the hardest few months of the year. We are nearly done with the chaos.
Of course, gulls bring their own chaos in the form of projectile poo and scraps over food. But they are very entertaining and a pleasure to watch develop.
This year rescues have been inundated with babies. We had a massive help from our friends over at Mablethorpe seal who took the first few arrivals for us to join their gull army! The guys over there are absolutely brilliant and it was such a help!!
But over the weeks, even they filled up. I don't have an awful lot of space here so I can only house a handful safely until they are ready to leave. While they are here, they have fresh fish and meat daily with added vitamins specifically designed for sea birds. This is massively important when keeping seabirds for more then a few days. They have salt glands which if left unused can atrophy and cause problems.
There are a few different types of gulls along our coasts, these guys are herring gulls- the big white ones that steal your chips 🤣
Gulls are a red listed birds- which means their population is in decline. For me, it makes it all the more special to grow healthy babies that are fit and ready for release to contribute to their declining numbers!
It won't be long and these babies will be on their merry way!
🌻 STARS CANT SHINE WITHOUT DARKNESS 🌻
Little Star 🌟 update for you tonight while I sit and wait for the arrival of a Kestrel.
He's doing really well and moved onto big boy food. I offered him a chick but he wasn't sure so we opted for some chunky meat instead. He will stay on some probiotics for a few days while we worm him and we will gradually acclimatise him to be in a pen instead of the incubator.
He's also still drinking oralade just so we know he is getting the hydration he needs. Oralade is a staple here at HQ and we are running very low on it! If you can help, you will find it on our wishlist which I will post below. Alternatively, please consider us for a donation so we can keep topped up on necessities. I'd definitely recommend everyone has a bottle in for their fur babies, especially in the summer months! It really is a wonderful product.
For now, turn your volume up and enjoy the chompings of our little star 🌟
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2JRLZU2QRMSJ?ref_=wl_share
🌻 LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT, FIND YOUR PATH TO FULLFILLMENT 🌻
To be a part of an animals life is something you just can't replicate. But to be a part of something much bigger is humbling and sometimes quite emotional.
Birds of prey are very special. That's not to say that any of the other birds that find their way to us aren't special. There is just something magical about this species.
They not only deserve respect, they demand it. They are not only majestic and and agile, but dangerous and moody!
All 3 of these stunning birds came in seperatly. Not directly to us- but via 3 different vet practices. Unfortunatly, no details were recorded as to where they were found, aside from the youngest male. It's so important that if you find an injured animal and take it to the vets, you ask them to record the location it was found. This means that when released, they can be taken back to where they were found.
We ALWAYS try to make sure that is done from our end, even if it means driving for an hour or more.
We had no choice with these guys but to find a suitable location for release. This does happen occasionally and it's our responsibility to ensure the environment is suitable for the species to live and thrive.
The larger male who you will see first in the video had absolutely no intention of waiting any longer, hence why he's already out before we even managed to open the carrier 🤣
The second two, a female (who we actually didnt think would make it) and a younger male were a little more cautious, but still eager to leave. All 3, flew incredibly well and we had quite the show for 10 minutes afterwards before they all disappeared into the distance.
A MASSIVE thank you to all 3 vets for giving them full checkovers and addressing any concerns they had. We couldn't do this without the teamwork involved with various parties.
Thrilled with these 3 birds! A fantastic end to their stories.
