July News Letter

Success breeds hectic times

The last four weeks has been even busier than any month before since the start of Wildlives. The Centre has seen dozens of different birds from the common starling to a Crested Cara Cara and animals from a slow worm to handfuls of hedgehogs and more foxes. There have been periods of serious shortage of volunteers and Rosie has been at virtual breaking point yet again. At least 70% of cases that have been brought to the Centre have been fledgling birds that have been injured by cats! Please, if you own a cat could you please not leave the cat out all night so that it can raid weak fledglings learning to fly in the early mornings - ideally, keep the cat in for a couple of days to give them a chance to fly to safety after leaving the nest, and then let the cat into your garden later in the morning. Your help in this matter over the next few weeks could save hundreds of young birds in our area alone. Of course, if you can, please feed the birds before the cat is let free!

	Dumpling The Tawny Owl		ERIC AND ERNIE
	Dumpling that we mentioned in the April Case Notes has been released having grown into a lovely bird. She returns to the Centre at night of her own accord for food.		Sadly Ernie hasn't been able to make a recovery which was most probably due to the eggs being so cold when they were found and brought to the Centre. He had problems pelleting and would get very weak and uninterested in food. Eric on the other hand is doing fine and has a very good appetite.

Fledglings	Inga
Thrushes, Blackbirds, House Martins, Green Finches, Blue Tits, Great Tits , Chaffinches, Pheasants, Partridges, Jackdaws and others too numerous to mention - all arriving with damage caused by cats. Please try and help reduce this carnage.	Inga the fox cub that became entangled in a football net and nearly strangled herself has completely recovered and has been taken down to the Fox Project in Kent where she is to stay for a short while in the company of other young foxes and will be released later in that area.

Harriet

Another female fox cub also caught her legs in a football goal netting in Harwich and was brought to the Centre where after inspection was found to have badly sprained her left front and rear legs. With her legs strapped up for a short while she soon made a very good recovery and also became a favourite of the volunteers. She was named Harriet of Harwich and has been also transferred to the Fox Project for a few Days and then she will be moved further on to a managed site in Brighton which has a purpose built den where she will learn the arts of self survival in the company of one other cub. eak and uninterested in food. Eric on the other hand is doing fine and has a very good appetite.

Hobby Falcon
A rare Hobby was brought to the Centre for priority treatment by Donna of the RSPCA after a lady called Janice found it in Coggeshall on the 14th May. The Hobby was exhausted and was in a very collapsed state after flying from its wintering grounds in Africa. The Hobby is designated as a schedule 4 bird by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and defra must be notified if any schedule 4 bird that comes into the possession of a registered keeper for treatment due to being disabled. Stringent regulations apply and the bird must not be exposed to mal-imprinting by its keeper - also it must be released as soon as possible. The patient only weighed 190grams when brought in, but 8 days later it had increased in weight to 270grams. The following day the Hobby was released back to site where it was found wearing an identification ring fitted by a representative of the BTO. He flew off strongly to find his mate who would hopefully be still in the area.
Photo by Rachel Kilby

Crested Cara Cara

Although originating in the Americas, this carrion-eating, heavy-billed member of the falcon family became a patient at the Centre. The bird was found in a field in a very weak condition and the finders managed to catch it and hand it over to the RSPCA to bring to Wildlives. He was resuscitated for a few days before being transferred to Eagle Heights in Kent who are also specialists in this type of species. It was discovered later that he had been stolen during a robbery at an exotic bird sanctuary.

Baby Hogs

There are fifteen baby hedgehogs that have been deserted by their parents due the nest being disturbed by gardeners not carefully checking that the compost/bonfire does not have a nest in its midst. Please take care and pay special attention to the searching of vulnerable sites that may contain hedgehog nests - once disturbed, it will be deserted by the parents, so give them a couple of weeks to mature and then they will be gone on their way. For the Centre to care for each baby hedgehog costs in the region of £100 for specialist foods not to mention the hours and hours of nursing, feeding and toileting which puts a tremendous strain on al the available volunteers.

David Giddings Click on pictures for larger version