News for October 29th – November 9th 2007

The last couple of weeks, as always, we have been inundated with emergency rescue calls alerting us to injured swans. The main of these calls are for young swans which are just leaving home.

The week began with our volunteers attending to three swans at Ashington Lake near Newcastle. One of these swans was terribly unwell after hitting power cables and very shaky as a consequence, another with fishing line from it’s beak and another with a hook in it’s leg. We were able to remove the fishing line and hook and the scene, and the swan which hit cables was brought in for treatment.

Another young swan was collected from a Vets at Chester-le-Street after being mauled by a dog at Mowbray Park near Newcastle which was rescued by the RSPCA. This young swan received some horrendous injuries to it’s body, and required stitching back together. We hope he’ll make a steady recovery. It is vitally important that you walk your dogs on leads while around waterfowl, avoiding injuries like this and a possible conviction for not controlling your animal properly.

A swan on the Aire & Calder Canal in Leeds was found with a horrendous amount of line from it’s beak. We were able to remove the line and release him back to his waiting mate. Another young swan at Melbourne on the Pocklington Canal near York was found trapped in a disused lock. We were able to hook him out and release him back to his parents and brood mates. We responded to a call for yet another swan injured by a dog at a park in Preston. This swan sadly didn’t win her fight for life. Another call took us to the River in Lancaster for a young swan trapped in an overflow pipe after territorial fighting between another pair of swans. She was brought into care for a few days and has since been released.

We responded to a call from the RSPCA for a cygnet in Pickering which had crash landed into a back garden. The owners of the house secured the swan in their garage to ensure it was safe from any dogs and children. Another emergency call from the RSPCA landed us at Scarborough Mere for a swan with a damaged foot. While we were rescuing this swan, we spotted another with a large fishing hook in his neck, which we quickly removed. A swan with a broken leg was also rescued from Manchester after landing on a road and then hit by a car. And another swan was collected from Pateley Bridge with terrible burns after hitting cables.

Yet another call for a swan with a damaged wing came in from Cleethorpes Country Park. We located the swan and found his with a dislocated shoulder. His mate was also found with a terrible limp to her left leg, and on closer inspection we found some tight fishing line around her leg. Both were brought into care for treatment and are making a good recovery. Another swan from Scunthorpe was observed not eating for three days, so we were called and managed to rescue the bird. Leaving behind her six cygnets and mate, we rushed her straight to our vets for treatment. A large amount of vegetation and fishing hook were removed from her neck. After a few days recovery, we were able to return the swan back to her rightful place. Another swan at Market Weighton was also treated after suffering with a fishing hook in it’s leg.

More broken wings (it’s that time of year!), after a swan hit a lamppost at Parkgate in Rotherham. We rushed to collect the swan, and after an X-Ray found the tip of his wing to be broken. Johanna our Vet has used a splint to keep the wing in the correct position, which is then bandaged to the body. This will remain like this for 4-6 weeks where it is hoped the bird will be able to fly once more. Another young swan was rescued from the RSPB Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve after flying into overhead power cables. This was a very nasty break, but Johanna has once again managed to save the wing by using pins by external fixation. It is hoped that this swan too will make a full recovery. Another cygnet was not so lucky when he was rescued near Selby. A kind landowner found him under a powerline and took him home into a stable to contact us. We collected the swan, but sadly he didn’t make the night. Another call for a swan with a broken wing took us to Hempholme near Hornsea. We were unable to locate the swan even after launching our rescue boat and searching until 6pm. We responded also to a swan at Lincoln with a broken leg, and another swan at Hornsea Mere, again with a broken wing. This swan was very unlucky after it’s wing was caught by a rope attached to a boat and was left struggling for some time in distress. We hope to return both swans to their mates as soon as possible.

A call from the Highways Agency late one night took us slightly by suprise; a swan was wondering around the Motorway. This is a frequent occurrence for us, but not so much the location of the swan – Windsor, near London! We were able to pass the call on to a swan rescue centre nearby, who responded to the call instead. Two swans from South Sheilds were also found very underweight and in a poor condition, so will be treated accordingly. Another cygnet from Bishopthorpe in York had wondered into a warehouse and looked very poorly. Unfortuently he was about a quarter of his body weight and was found suffering with fishing line. He’ll be kept here until he is heavy enough for release. And a sad call was received from the fishing pond at the Corus factory in Rotherham, after rangers found one of the swans shot dead. We had only saved this birds’ life a few months previously from a fishing line related injury. Very sad. This case has been reported to the Police.

And finally, we have also cared for a poorly hedgehog from Leeds, a rabbit suffering from terrible myximitosis which had to be put to sleep, and a Canadian Goose with a terrible broken wing. And we have been able to return 20 swans back into the wild again this week, leaving us with a total number of swans in care at 41.

Thanks to all of you for your support as always.

Dan, Joe and the Swan Rescue team.