Today started with another early morning rescue call, not as local as yesterdays orphaned goslings though, as this one saw Helen and I driving over to an equestrian yard in Hockliffe where a downed swan had been reported.
The poor bird was too weak to even try and escape, extremely underweight with an obviously damaged bill, and not so obvious puncture wound under one wing. Clearly this bird needed medical assistance so Helen said she would do the drive to the sanctuary and we went our separate ways.
The rain was horrendous so on my way home, I decided to stop by and check on Wilma’s nest as she and Sydney live on a balancing lake. So glad I did, as the water was rising fast putting those precious eggs at risk! After an emergency drive to a local pet shop, I returned with a fresh supply of straw, put my waders on and carefully waded into the lake to give Wilma enough fresh straw to enable her to raise the eggs up out of the water. It took a few goes as I had to allow her to position each layer of straw as she needed it before giving her more to work with, but with the two of us working together, Wilma was able to increase the height of her nest by several inches.
Meanwhile, Helen had popped home to get breakfast before making the drive to get our injured friend admitted to the waterfowl sanctuary hospital wing, and she made sure her guest had a much needed feed too ❤️
Once the situation with Wilma’s nest was more stable, I went home to walk my dog, and had a much needed coffee, also tried to have breakfast but most of it went to my dog when another rescue call came in. Sadly I arrived to a deceased swan which was retrieved from the water and hidden out of sight in thick bushes for nature to take its course… then I set off with an injured magpie that I had picked up as an emergency yesterday but needed more care than I could give it, so little one is now transferred to my friends at animals in need as they have the most amazing wildlife section.
Then it was home briefly before heading out to check Wilma again, but ending up at a different lake where a nest was at risk and added straw to that one too, though the pen on that nest didn’t know me which I had to be mindful of as we always want to help, not cause any upset. So she had a small amount of straw offered only, then I backed off and left her to arrange her new bedding in peace.
Finally I did see Wilma and thankfully water levels have dropped considerably so we can start to relax a bit now, I hope…