Yorkshire Swan Rescue Hospital

News Items

To view blog version of news Click Here

News for April 2007

We have started 2007 as we mean to go on, having treated well over 300 swans in the first few months of this year already, and the busy summer months are yet to arrive. To everybody who has alerted us to the injured swans; thank you for caring.

A sad case was brought to our attention by the RSPCA in November. A pair of swans were brought in from the Ripon Canal completely covered in vegetable oil. We were joined by our Saturday volunteers Julie and Faith to rescue the suffering pair. Having been 'washed' a few times with plenty of Fairy Liquid on hand and the appropriate medication administered, they are slowly responding to our hard efforts. Unfortuently the high level of lead in their blood has not helped matters, but we remain hopeful.

An urgent call from the Highways Agency and Police brought us to a pair of swans which had crash landed on the M1 motorway in early December due to high winds. It was amusing to see the warning boards over the motorways alerting drivers to the swans in the road! They were quickly caught and placed on the pond they were trying to land for.

A very late Christmas Eve found ourselves at Beeston Marina in Nottingham, trying to reach an injured cygnet which had hit lines and gone back onto the River Trent. After some careful luring with some of that magic stuff - otherwise known as bread - we managed to capture the young swan. Back at the hospital we found a number of large wounds and burns under his wings and immediately started him on antibiotics, pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs. This lucky swan responded well and has since released at Fairburn Ings at Castleford.

Another call on Christmas Day took us to the outskirts of Rotherham, to yet another cygnet with a large amount of cruel fishing line trailing from it's beak. We successfully removed the line and he swam back to his rightful place. Thanks to the rings on his legs, we were able to confirm he was a cygnet which came into our care earlier in the Summer from Cheshire at 3 weeks old and couldn't walk properly. We had helped him back on his feet and reared him until he was old enough to be released back in August. It was a joy to see him again, but such a shame it wasn't in more pleasant circumstances.

A number of swans were brought to our care from a park in South Sheilds near Newcastle in a very poor condition during November. Water quality is horrendously bad and with the discontinuation of feeding by the council twice daily on the suggestion of an apparant swan expert, some of the birds were grossly underweight and wondering into the town in search for food. One of these swans which is still in our care was suffering from a horrendous high level of lead poisoning, but is making a good recovery. The swans in the North East are looked after by two truely amazing women called Linda and Carol, who have now become regular volunteers for us. With very little help from any others, they assist swans throughout the North East, and even though neither of them hold a driving licence they never turn a call for an injured swan away. Once they rescue these injured swans, the birds are then transported to us for care until release, when they are returned back to their place in the wild again in the place they orginated from in the North East.

A call from a member of the public for a male swan from the canal at Braithwaite, Doncaster was one of 10 swans treated by us in the first two days of January. His right leg was badly smashed, and was rushed to our vet Johanna for emergency treatment. As we watch and assist in all the operations Johanna carries out on the swans, we finally finished operating on the birds leg at 10pm. Because of the time she arrived home after operating on our swan, Johanna went without sleep that night in order to catch her flight to the States at 6am; we thank her for her support and dedication once more. Now with the assistance of the pins and metal work in the swans' leg, he was able to stand as soon as he came round from the operation. The metal work stayed in his leg for a further 6 weeks, until the bone healed. We are pleased to say he has now been returned back to the wild.

Another swan from Derbyshire with a dislocated right leg has found a new sanctuary here. After his accident, he paired up very quickly with a female swan brought in a few weeks before which now only has a partial wing after a flying accident. We released them onto our large lake here at the hospital, and they really are enjoying their new home. At the time of writing, they have begun building their nest, so we hope they will successfully rear cygnets in a few weeks time; we'll keep you posted.

A female cygnet was collected with a broken leg from Bedale in North Yorkshire. We carry injectable painkillers with us in the vehicle, in cases such as these so we can releive any pain as soon as possible. Unfortuently Johanna was away working abroad for a week, so he was transported down to the National Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton, Surrey, for emergency treatment along with a few other cygnets, a few of which only had one wing after breaking them in flying accidents. These cygnets will live out the rest of their days at Shepperton unless they find a mate and will be relocated to a private lake. We are ever thankful to Dot and Steve at the National Swan Sanctuary for all their wonderful help and support.

Unsuprisingly, more swans were found injured with air gun pellets in the last few months. All of these incidents have been reported to the Police and RSPCA, whom we work with closely. Unfortuently, still no evidence has been brought forward to try and catch the culprits. A female swan was found with two pellets in her neck at Allerton Bywater in Castleford. Another young swan which we had reared here at the hospital in the Summer was found dead by two of our volunteers at Fairburn Ings, with a pellet lodged in his head. This was joined by another at the same place with a pellet lodged in her windpipe. A large male swan was rescued and brought to our care from the workers at Far Ings Nature Reserve in Lincolnshire with a pellet in his head and neck with a lot of swelling and infection. A lone swan acting strangely was rescued from a drain at the Corus factory in Leeds, and a later x-ray revealed this has been shot in the face.

Yet another swan brought into care from the River Ouse at Rawcliffe in York was found to be suffering from 5 pellets around it's body, one smashing the hip quite badly. It's injuries were so severe that Johanna doubted if he would ever walk again and we may have to consider putting him to sleep. With a high level of lead in the blood, the odds were against this swan who had a mate left behind on the river, but we decided to give it a go. He is now walking well, and has recovered from his injuries and the poisoning. We hope to return him back to his mate very soon. All of the swans above were succesfully returned to the wild after the pellets were removed and the appropriate medication and care given.

We were alerted to an injured swan at Newmiller Dam in Wakefield by the Wakefield Council workers. Unfortuently the swan had received a broken wing as part of it's injuries, which was later amputated by our vet. She has now been released on a private lake nearby with a male swan she paired up with while in care. Speaking to the owners of the lake yesterday, the female is now sitting on eggs; a fantastic result.

The RSPCA brought us a very sick swan in late January from Hull. He was unable to stand and desperatly ill suffering once again from Lead Poisoning. After weeks of treatment he stood for the first time, and now you wouldn't believe it was the same bird. He is still sometimes unsteady on his legs, which is understandable, but we are sure he will return back to the wild in a couple of weeks time. Also brought to our care were a couple of black swans from York Universirty for treatment for various injuries. These swans were corrected and were returned back home. Thanks to York Univeristy for the kind donation towards the swans' treatments.

Two Whooper swans were brought into care in the last few months. One was very out of place and unwell at Whitby Harbour. The other swan was collected from a vets in Pontefract, having been involved in a territorial fight between other swans. Both have been released, and we hope they make it back on their migratory route. We have rung them, so it should be interesting to see if we get any sightings back from bird watchers abroad.

We attended a big oil spill on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Burney in Lancashire in February, which coated a pair of swans and a number of ducks in black oil, tipped in the water by vandals from a nearby work site. After much washing and fairy liquid, we corrected the swans' white plumage again. Unfortuently the male swan has a frozen wing as a result of an old injury and couldn't fly, and was therefore decided we would release the pair on a lake where they could be looked after. They were released locally at Sheriff Hutton Hall on a beautiful lake.

The RSPCA called on our help to an seriously injured swan at Driffield. Somehow this swan had flown through a glass pane of a portacabin, and was drenched in blood. The swan was brought back to the hospital and treated accordingly, and seemed to be progressing well. Another female swan was rescued from Warrington in Cheshire after colliding with a power pylon, shattering her wing which was removed. Unfortuently neither swans made it through their injuries - probably due to internal damage. A beautiful female swan from Chester-le-Street in Durham was found with serious injuries after being savaged by a couple of large dogs. Another swan mauled by dogs died before we could reach it at Rother Valley Country Park in Sheffield. And uncontrolled dogs attacked a male swan at Watergate Park near Newcastle, leaving behind a nesting female. He has now been returned and is the pair are progressing well with their nest.

As always, we have delt with a high volume of swans suffering from fishing line injuries. One particular female from Scunthorpe was grossly underweight and would have starved to death had we not reacted from a call from a member of the public. A large amount of line was down her neck and wrapped around her beak.She has now recovered and returned back to her lake. Lead posioning has also played a big part in many rescued swans; we continue to battle on.

A swan from the Selby Canal at Brayton was found suffering from burns after flying into the lines. He was still alive, but for 3 other swans which had hit the lines at the same place weren't so lucky. We have made contact with the power company and we hope that reflective bird diverters will be placed on the line shortly. Another swan was brought to us from Wendy at the Cedar Wildlife Sanctuary at Sutton-in-Ashfield which she had rescued from Center Parks in Nottingham with a badly infected leg; he is progressing well.

Of all these hundreds of swans brought into care in less than 12 months - 742 to be precice - we have saved all but 16 of them, making our success rate very high. These 16 are gone but certainly not forgotten, making us more determined to help even more swans, whatever their problems and wherever they are.

The Range Rover donated by the National Swan Sanctuary for us to use as a veterinary ambulance is sadly no more. While collecting it from the garage after repairs, we had quite a nasty road accident which resulted in the vehicle being written off. All people in both cars escaped uninjured, only badly shaken. We were stuck without a vehicle for a few days wondering how we could possible replace a 4X4, until our wonderful volunteers Linda along with Carol and her husband wasted no time in searching for a new 4X4. We were purchased a Vauxhall Frontera, which is great at the job we need it for. Thank you so much to these truely fantastic people.

We have remained lucky with continued press and television coverage in recent months. We are currently filming for the new series of BBC 1's Animal 24:7, which will be shown on national television later this year on weekday mornings. We have also finished filming for ITV's Dales Diary with Luke Casey, and are about to begin filming with BBC's Inside Out for their new series in the Autumn. Continued coverage on local news including BBC Look North and ITV Calander News has also aired recently. Although some what daunting at first when you are attached to a mic for hours on end, we quickly get used to a television crew following our every move, and it can be quite enjoyable. Large feature articles have appeared in most local newspapers, as well as general stories about the swans brought into care. A story of one of the shot swans even reached The Sun newspaper, and a large article about the swans in the Sunday People was published in February.

Our always grateful thanks to our wonderful volunteers, who give their time selflessly on a regular basis, cleaning out, rescuing, repair works and fundraising; our Saturday volunteers Julie & Faith, Sunday volunteers Lynne & Barbara and our other frequent volunteers Annabel, Lawrence, Ian and Rob. Thanks also to the other organisations which have invited us to do a talk at their meeting. A talk at the Galtres Centre in Easingwold to the Yorkshire Country Women Association earned the swans a few pounds, as well as allowing people in to a small insight of the work we do and carry out, and what they can do to help.

Finally and most importantly many thanks to all those people, who have sent their donations, contributions and support. We remain forever grateful for you help; without you we simply would not be able to continue.

Dan & Joe
Founders, Yorkshire Swan Rescue Hospital

Back to News Page