Growing Up.

 This young Mistle Thrush is out in the shed , just beginning to feed itself. Flight feathers still growing , won't be long before its off. It has a blackbird friend and they are both learning to fly and wild up in a bigger space. They need some time and some warmth to get going properly.

4 young Tawnies are now out in the avairy.They're not good flyers yet but getting there.
I had an early one which was ringed and released earlier this week.

DO NOT TOUCH

This days old roe deer fawn was picked up by a Staffie dog walker who boasted to his neighbours he'd chased the mother off. He left this nervous youngster in his house with the dog whilst he went off to do a days work. The RSPCA were called and waited and waited to try and recover this wild mammal. Eventually the dog owner sent his keys by taxi for the RSPCA ACO to help this enforced orphan. He came here shocked and flat . He never recovered and sadly after lots of careful TLC died quietly under a heat lamp.Roe deer are very nervous creatures and give birth in meadows and woodland at this time of year. They leave their newborns in the long grass and keep coming back to feed them. After a few days the youngsters follow their mothers browsing the greenery around them. These newborn wild deer must not be touched or moved  by humans or their dogs as the mother deer may not continue with their care. So please leave them alone , their mothers will be close by and will continue to look after them if they are left alone.

Juveniles

Juvenile time of year with lots of young wildlife in to care for.
This little stoat came in with a nicked ear, still blind and needing warmth and lots of food.
She's doing well.

This fat Mistle Thrush is thriving, eating mealworms and cat food.

Young Tawny Owls come out to branch from their nests.
The parent birds are usually about but walkers pick them up and bring them in . They should rear well but would be far better off parent reared .

Mallard ducklings enjoying the sunshine. They will be ringed and released on the Lower Derwent Valley soon.

Spectacular Swift Release.

A long distance summer visitor was found floored last night by a dog walker close to home. This adult swift was wet through and being closely watched by the local cat population. The bird arrived here this morning , weighing 47g.It had dried out overnight and was tube fed with critical care.It flitted across the kitchen and looked bright and alert.

So off into the back field for release. Swifts cannot take off from the ground , their little legs are too short for them to gain momentum. Swifts have to be enthusiastically thrown into the air to return them to the element they are most at home in. So it was with this one , off it went wide and high , spectacular !

North Yorkshire Badger Cubs.

 These 2 little sweeties were found running the road alone and lost, sow badgers do not leave their cubs to chance.
A lady taking her children to school near Robin Hoods Bay found them and picked them up on her way back.
The RSPCA collected them and brought them here.
They were alive with fleas and lice but front line soon sorts that out. I tried bottle feeding them but they were too big for that.
I managed to syringe feed them and left them to rest in a warm pen with a straw filled hidey hole for the night.
They are about 8-10 weeks old, brother and sister and in wonderful condition, but where was there Mum ?

It is possible to put cubs back if you know for definite where they come from and can wait at a distance to make sure. This is a job for the more experienced badger worker.

These 2 were very mobile and could have come a distance from their home.
The protocol with rearing wild badger cubs is to tb test them 3 times before they are released in the autumn. The first test is done before they move and are introduced to other orphaned cubs. It is a sin to keep them alone , they are social creatures and need to be reared together.
I took them for tb blood testing to Mike Jones , Battleflatts Vets , Stamford Bridge, York. He's used to dealing with badgers with me and has shown great kindness over the years having to deal with persecution post mortems as well as the more pleasurable task of helping with cubs.

Badger cubs like Mike , they relax and trust him.
They ate well and settled down in the pen next to the big badgers which have now been released.
It was the Badger Trust Agm at the weekend and I took the cubs with me to Staffordshire . Secret World in Somerset are nationally known for badger rehabilitation and Pauline Kidner is the best person I know to care for orphaned cubs.They were much admired at the meeting where I kept their appearances to a minimum.  So they travelled down to Somerset after the meeting with Andy Parr, Secret Worlds release manager. Pauline's e mailed me to say they have settled well, and have eaten straight away .............they are Yorkshire badgers after all !

2 More Snared Badgers.

 This pair of badgers were found 100yds apart both in snares on a fence line, over looking the sea near Scarboro'.The boar had the snare round the neck and the sow was caught around the chest.

Mike Moor of the North Riding Badger Group attended and managed with great care to release and box both badgers working alone. He took them both to the vets where the instruments of torture were removed under anaesthetic.

 This was the site were the boar was caught, he'd tried his best to get away and chewed up the ground desperate for release.
It is illegal to set a snare to catch a badger so North Yorkshire Police WLO P.C. Graham Bilton and RSPCA Insp Geoff Edmond are investigating.
The badgers came here for treatment and I waited to see if the snare wounds opened up. I managed to inject them every other day with antibiotics and they settled and ate well, taking comfort from one an other in rehab.
After 8 days the dreaded pressure necrosis wasn't too bad and they were ready for release.
I took them back to the release site and met up with Anne and Mike Moor, the family that found them and Geoff Edmond.
It was raining hard , badgers like the rain , more worms to eat.

Here they are lined up and raring to go.
The sett was 80/100 yds away on a steep bank below the snare line where they were caught.
As you can see by the photograph they knew exactly where they were and were keen to go home.
They both left the boxes immediately, moved well and shot off down the slope for home.
Lovely to see them go but the thought of those dreaded snares damaging our wildlife rankles me no end.

Common Scoter

 An unusual and rarely seen sea duck , a Common Scoter, was found sulking in a garden at Bransholme, Hull this week.
The bird a last years female was migrating overland and heading to quiet breeding grounds.  The reason for her coming down in such an unlikely spot will never be known.
She spent a few hours here bobbing on the swan pond.
I rang Craig Ralston for advice and he said 2 Velvet Scoters were presently on the sea in Filey Bay and it would be a good spot to release this sea diving duck.

Craig and Lucy taking a close up before ringing and release at Filey.

About to go, Bella was more interested in the donkeys !

Craig releasing the Common Scoter into the surf. She flew/ paddled with ease, ducking under the breakers and headed off to the calm water beyond. Mega !

Thanks to Craig once again and Lucy got a ringing tick !

Bella on a donkey, we went on for fish and chips and a go on the swings, so all in all we all had a good day.