If you find an injured swan or waterfowl birds in Hertfordshire then contact The Swan Sanctuary on 01932240790. We only primarily deal with any type of swans.
We also work with the Waterfowl Rescue Service and The Wildlife Rescue Service who can be found online. If you find an injured swan in Hertfordshire or within 20 miles of St Albans then contact Mark on 07903349792. If no answer please leave a message or contact The Swan Sanctuary on 01932 240790. Alternatively send me a WhatsApp or text so I can get back to you ASAP. Photos and videos sent are alw
ays helpful to make decisions and prioritise the most serious. If you spot something away from a public area, please consider using what3words so we can get the exact location. We are volunteers so we may have limited availability because of work. My working hours are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday 3-10pm and Saturdays 13:30-10:30pm. You can still call outside of these times however it may take more time to find a volunteer who can help.
I have one more week left on this job. Please remember that we are always looking for volunteers. If you do have time aside for driving around the county to check, assess and rescue waterfowl birds in need when calls come in directly or from the sanctuary, please contact The Swan Sanctuary. This may involve long drives depending on your areas of your choice and distance to the swan sanctuary.
Announcement: Me Mark who is the admin for this page is stepping down as a volunteer Swan Rescuer effective on the 15th of August after 7 years of service. I will be discussing with the sanctuary going forward because I know this may raise concerns and question on who’s going to cover my area. If you know anyone who is interested in wildlife rescues who has their own vehicle, contact me via email or the swan sanctuary and I will be happy to train you before I go.
I am very sorry if this may cause an upset and concerns but due to life opportunities and demands, I have found that I do not have the time to do this anymore.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you all of you who have donated and cooperated in saving the beautiful swans on our lakes. Some lived on and some did not and it has been a great pleasure to a difference in the swan population and waterfowl birds.
Today I got a message from Jacqui about the King Langley family who were at the weir outside Concept House with a cygnet down the flow. I called Swan Support because I was due to start work and they realised that it was more serious then I thought. I had to make a decision to either go and call in late for work or leave it to Swan Support to a point where he dies after a few hours. When I arrived, they had vanished and I noticed how dangerous the weir was with the grill leading to underground with a concrete block at the end of the flow coming out of the ground. I called off Swan Support saying that they are not here and I will have a look. Meanwhile Krys who is the wildlife watcher arrived, she pointed to me about the small cygnet in the photo provided by Jacqui it at the time it was more serious then I thought so I asked for a second pair of eyes to look around and all of a sudden, she saw the poor cygnet under the weeds on the side of the stream. I rushed to my vehicle to get the equipment. I called Swan Support back to say that we had found the cygnet in a critical condition. They were on route and top priority was to get the cygnet out and get him warm. Krys went in the stream and managed to pass him up to me and got him in a towel. He was waterlogged but was moving and breathing fine. Me and Krys dried him out and waited for Swan Support to arrive to assess him. Tiffany arrived and we left him in Swan Supports care.
Massive thank you to Jacqui for informing us.
Very busy time at the moment with baby season here. I am now in need of sinking food. Please have a look at the amazon page.
Swan in the road. London Colney.
This morning, the St Albans Police rang me to say they were on scene with a swan on Coursers Road, London Colney outside St Albans. The whole road had to be closed off for me to help the young swan. Luckily on second attempt the police managed to block him with their patrol car and I managed to hook him in. He had little injury to his bill which will heal in a few days. He was fully active and defensive which is a good sign. As he may have come off willows lake I decided to take him to Verulamium Park, St Albans because there are no mating with very young cygnets. As I let him go he flew off. I managed to film the scene so look out for the link or video later on.
Huge thank you to the St Albans Police officers for calling us out to save him and other drivers who could have been in a collision.
If at anytime you see a swan on the motorway or a 70mph zone moving around, call the police first and give them our phone numbers so they can contact us for advice or for us to assist them. Closing the roads is always the last resort unless we assess that peoples lives could be in danger as well.
Today I was called to Rickmansworth Aquadrome after a report of a young swan with blood on him. I was sent the photo and immediately got there because it looked like a human cruelty injury. Once I got him into the sanctuary, an X Ray was done and it was discovered that he had a bull bearing in his head. This has gotta hurt! Luckily he was still defensive and fully active so it has not hit a vital organ so hopefully he will recover after the bull bearing is removed.
If anyone has any information or saw anything in the last few days, please report it to me and the police.
Today was the first baby call of the year. I got a call while working in St Albans town centre about a mummy duck and 11 ducklings wondering around the Housing estate in Jersey Farm, St Albans with no water around. Luckily I managed to catch mum and gathered the ducklings together and I took them to the river ver near Verulamium Park. Baby season is here.
Today I had a walk down Ebury way in Rickmansworth with this stroppy young swan who crash landed on the pathway. Had to carry him a mile to reach the nearest canal. Luckily he only escaped with some scuffs and was being defensive so I released him so he can sort himself out.
Today I got a call from the Boxmoor river trust about this dead swan by old fishery lane bridge in Hemel. Luckily the property owner let me into her garden to access him. I have assessed him I can conclude that he either had a territorial fight with the pair or natural causes. No severe injuries.
Please remember if you do spot a dead swan, it is still worth letting us know so we can investigate the possible reasons why they have died but I am not able to dispose the body. Let nature take its course or if it’s causing distress to the public I can only move them out of sight until either foxes get them or the local council collect them. Most importantly if they have been killed due to human cruelty, I will need to be with them to either collect evidence to hand over to the sanctuary or the authorities for investigation.
Today this little one crashed into someone’s garden and took him to the vets surgery at Carpenters park Watford. He had a lucky escape with just cuts and bruises. Now he’s with the flock at Rickmansworth.
Today at Aldwickbury Golf club in Harpenden, this family flew into the wrong place however when we got close the adults went for the young one by biting him. This led me to believe that the parents were in the process of kicking their young off. Luckily there were no serious injuries so took him to the flock at Rickmansworth. At this time the adults are not interfering with the golfers however I will be in contact with the club to check on them.
Today this poor cygnet was kicked out of his parents territory and became trapped in the lock at Apsley. Luckily he wasn’t hurt and a boat owner informed me that his brothers and sisters were up at the paper mill so I let him go with them.
Today was another category 1 call at the grand union canal in Tring. This poor swan was seen with huge amounts of blood under his wing. It is not fully confirmed but we think it may have been a dog attack. Hopefully he will recover and bring him back to his mate.
Information:
From the 30th of September to the 20th of October, I will not be available. If you come across anything during that time, call The Swan Sanctuary on 01932240790.
Today was a high category in Kings Langley. This poor cob was brutally attacked by another couple in his area. He is well known to the Kings Langley community. He had nasty grazes and was in a lot of pain. He is now in the care at the sanctuary.
Today in the same area at Springwell Lock at Rickmansworth, one swan was tackled with fishing line which was removed successfully. 2nd one down the lock, a cygnet was spotted in the lock trying to escape the family outside. Luckily a boatman was available to assist and got him onto dry land and after half an hour getting him warm and dry, he was all good to be released with his parent.
Massive thank you to the Hardy family and Lee for your kind donations. This will keep me going for the next few months.
It has been quite recently until one call tonight about a family of ducks were spotted on a garden terrace in Hertford. They were successfully relocated to the local pond.
We have a lot items in our Amazon list that we need to keep our rescues going through this summer. Any donations will be a great help.
Rickmansworth. 30/05/2023
We are in need of more bird food to carry out our rescues. Any donations will be a great help. Please check my Amazon page. Thank you.
Baby peak is coming in with ducklings, goslings and cygnets hatching all around the country.
Today at the Grand Union Canal in Kings Langley, this poor swans leg got tangled with the fishing lure floating. Luckily I managed to remove it and he is now pain free.
Today in Hoddesdon, I was called to a swan at Rye House who had strange movements that looked like he was in pain. I thought it could be fishing tackle stuck on him. I got there within half an hour, walked down to the location to find that he died. He had no tackle or anything that would have caused him pain. I can only suggest that he may have had a stroke or had an accident and had concussion. Thank you Tilly who informed us and tried to help him.
Yesterday I went to get my vehicle cleaned out and I noticed that my swan hook was missing. I remembered that last time I used it was when I picked up the cygnet at Rickmansworth Aquadrome. Today I phoned Three Rivers Counsel and refered me to the cafe in the park. They said nothing has been handed in however I had a feeling in my gut saying that it must be so I drove down anyway. Looked at the spot where the cygnet was picked up but it had vanished. Hopes were fading! I went and spoke to Andy who is the park ranger and same again he had not seen it. Possibly kids picked it up and threw it in the lake. I stayed to have a look round until my phone rang and it was Andy saying that he had found it by the bushes in the car park. How it survived over christmas in the pouring rain I do not know and was still in a good condition. Big thanks to Andy for finding it.
🥶 Swans and Ice 🥶
Rescuers have had numerous calls over the past week regarding waterfowl being 'stuck' on ice. But birds are far, far more adapted to the current weather conditions than mammals!
Swans have 25,000 feathers, which collectively form a complete shell meaning that (unless there is a trauma and feathers are missing) their skin doesn't actually come into contact with the ice or water at all.
Waterfowl also have a very specialised network of blood vessels within their feet and legs. They have one main artery in their legs which brings warm oxygenated blood from the heart towards the feet, and one main vein which brings cold deoxygenated blood from the feet back up to the heart. Halfway down the legs there is an intricate network of smaller blood vessels, which act to bring together warm blood on its way down to the feet, with cold blood on its way back up to the heart. This creates blood of a perfect temperature which ensures that a) their feet don't freeze when standing on ice, b) their feet don't melt the ice and cause the bird to fall through and c) that blood returning to the heart isn't too cold.
Please keep feeding waterfowl during the current cold spell, and control dogs around icy water. Panicked waterfowl will flee and skid on the ice, which can cause nasty leg/joint injuries. This creates an extreme challenge for rescuers, trying to get an injured bird off ice, which is dangerous for both the rescuer and the bird 😬
📸 Fab photo by Ron Vester in Hampstead, earlier today
Donations: I have set up a PayPal fundraisers account because we need new swan bags. We also need more food from Amazon. Take a look at the links on this page. Thank you.
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Swan in the road. London Colney.
Today was the first baby call of the year. I got a call while working in St Albans town centre about a mummy duck and 11 ducklings wondering around the Housing estate in Jersey Farm, St Albans with no water around. Luckily I managed to catch mum and gathered the ducklings together and I took them to the river ver near Verulamium Park. Baby season is here.
Rickmansworth. 30/05/2023
Today in Hoddesdon, I was called to a swan at Rye House who had strange movements that looked like he was in pain. I thought it could be fishing tackle stuck on him. I got there within half an hour, walked down to the location to find that he died. He had no tackle or anything that would have caused him pain. I can only suggest that he may have had a stroke or had an accident and had concussion. Thank you Tilly who informed us and tried to help him.
Yesterday at Stanborough Lakes, Welwyn garden city, this poor cygnet was struggling to stand on his feet. I first had a report he was with the flock on the south lake and just not looking right. As I was about to give up, I had a message saying he was on the pathway at the nature reserve. He is now at the sanctuary. Massive thanks to Colby for messaging me when I was on site and to Jo from Waterfowl rescue service for keeping him for the night and taking him in this morning.
Boxmoor Hemel Rescue: Just when we though we had him but the fireman's reach pole broke.
WARNING: This video maybe traumatising for some viewers. Moment of truth.
Boxmoor Hemel: Fireman working on the first step.
Wednesday rescue in Rickmansworth.
Tonight in Ware a cygnet was washed down the weir and went on an adventure but was heading to the nasty cob with his own family. Just as I was giving up trying to get him, I heard the news that my colleagues from Essex are on their way here with a kayak. It took a lot of guts and risk but as you see we managed to get him and reunite him back with his family. Well worth staying up late for.
This morning I was called to the Amble Inn car park in Harpenden. My guess was that he was kicked off the stream near by because of mating pairs preparing to build their nests for the summer. Nothing wrong with him so took him to Rickmansworth.
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