Tuesday 15 December 2009

We are Moving!

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed that we haven't been around much! The main reason is that we have been snowed under, it is the week before Christmas and we still have loads of kids in.

We have come to the conclusion that we have to try to turn ourselves into a more efficient machine to attract more volunteers and maybe enough donations to be able to pay a few people to help. The alternative to this would be to pack it in which we can't do...we committed ourselves and we fully intend to see it through.

We have managed to get a few more volunteers but not enough so we have to do something. One of the changes we are making is to do away with the blog and we have started a Facebook page instead.

Although we love the look and feel of the blog, it is too much one way traffic as it is not very user friendly for you, the readers and supporters. We would love people to get more involved and all that you can do at the moment is post the odd comment (there have been some odd ones as well :) )but not the ability to become a part of what is happening.

We are still working on our Facebook page, but it is up and running.

Please please come and join us. Go to the link at the top of the page, click through to Facebook and become a fan of the Haven, you will then be able to post, join in discussions and upload pictures if you wish.

We would love to see you all there and we thank you for your ongoing support.

EB has been tasked with getting the cams sorted as the rain has gotten into them,

Lots of love OwlMomma & Eaglebeard

Wednesday 26 August 2009

The most bizarre....you will love this!

Remember Bo Peep? well, as it turns out, Bo is a boy (we think) and since he has grown up, he just hangs out in the garden and hospital a bit like my shadow, usually making a total pest of himself. Everyone knows him, he is a part of the furniture really.

Three days ago, Bo went missing. He just wasn't there in the morning, whereas he usually sits on the roof until I come out and then flies into the hospital with me but there was no sign of him anywhere.

We searched everywhere for him but came to the conclusion that a sparrowhawk must have taken him. Until he went missing, I hadn't realised how much I loved him to be honest so we have been a bit sad to say the least.

This morning, my friend and next door neighbour came round and said she thought there was something down her chimney as her cat was sitting on top of the woodburner, just looking up.
The chimney is sealed at the bottom as the fire is a woodburner and so we had to break the seals and start breaking it open. We looked up with a torch and saw a beak so we knew we were right about there being someone there. My heart leapt when Pam looked in and said she could see a white head! We managed to make a big enough hole for me to put my arm in and grab him......It was Bo!!!! Alive, well and biting me :)

He is now back in the hospital having some breakfast and acting as if nothing has happened...he is such a dope, I think he must have just overbalanced and fallen in...he is that daft, honest. I love that bird :) xxx

Welcome home Bo !!!!!!!

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Still here

Newbies still coming in but more injuries than anything really...oh and baby pigeons, they keep coming until quite late on really.

We have released quite a few recently, including 4 little partridges running around the garden with the rest of the crew. Oh and we took in 10 ex battery hens on Sunday, sweet girls :)

Monday 17 August 2009

Rikster

Forgot to say, the Rikster is fab. he spends his days in his aviary and the pops through the window in the evening and spends his time alternating between preening and kissing us and dive bombing everything in sight.

Georgie has had to go into an outside aviary as he is extremely....shall we say.... "in breeding condition" and wants to mate with everything, humans, cats, dog...he really isn't fussy. The thing of it is though, we tried putting him with Lucy, another barnie and he doesn't know how to do it, just kept beating her up !!!!!

Sorry Everyone

I really am sorry but we have been so busy, we honestly haven't had the time to do anything other than look after the little critters!

Year to date, we have taken in over 260 of the little blighters, lots of tiny babies and now they have slowed down, we seem to be getting a lot of injuries.

You are going to be even less pleased with me when I tell you what you have missed, we have had all sorts of things, including a Rhea, kingfisher, woodpeckers, baby seagulls, little owl, tawny owls, barn owls.....the list goes on and on.

I haven't even had time to take pics of a lot of them, start at about 7.30- 8.00 each morning and finish around 10-30 pm if we are lucky. Tea time is around 11.00 pm! No problem with obesity here, we have both lost loads of weight. The only fat people around here are the animals.

It's official, we are knackered!

We have had some volunteer help ( thanks loads to Anne, Jacki, Hannah, Chelsea and Kelly ) and we have quite a few more starting soon, looks like the numbers will go up year on year and I am not at all sure we can cope with any more than we have this year. It isn't just the hospital kids either, we have all the outside ones to care for as well and there are a fair few of them I can tell you, but all of the volunteers do a grand job.

We have also had a breakout of Ornithosis, we aren't sure which critter brought it in but we have lost several pigeons and doves to it. We have tried everything but nothing seems to work for it at all. We think we have got rid of it finally but it was a nightmare whilst it was going on, trying to keep everyone isolated from each other and all the equipment sterile.

On top of everything else, the computer that we use for streaming has gone on the wonk and neither of has had time to fiddle with it to see what is wrong.

I have had a few emails recently from you guys asking if everything is ok and it is, nothing to worry about at all, as I say, just very busy.

Loads and loads have been released so far with loads yet to go. We have had to convert all of the safety corridors so that they can double up as release pens!

We started off just taking in a few birds and we are now in the position where we seem to have a fully fledged bird sanctuary up and running....not bad to say most of it is down to our small associtaion with no money! Seriously, I am very proud of what we have all achieved in the last two years, the place is un recognisable.


We have also painted the outside of the house and stencilled it so it looks fab, we needed to get it done before winter, and EB has built a garage with owl boxes in the roof, that looks great too. Garden is looking good and just last week, some lovely people donated a ride on mower so EB has been able to cut all the long grass at the bottom of the garden.

We also managed to buy the life support cabinet we have been after, Brinsea kindly let us have it half price and I stuck it on my credit card. The next week, a lovely lady donated the cost of it to us...thank you Cynthia.

Right, back to baby feeds and meds I guess. I should be able to update a bit more as things finally seem to be slowing down a bit, we only have 18 in the hospital bit...we got up to 40 at one time, most of them being hand fed!

We have one cool dude at the moment, a stone curlew. He / she is a juvenile, part of an RSPB project to increase the numbers. It was found with an injured foot by one of the people on the project. She brought it in and we had big debates as to whether it should be euthanased as the foot had gangrene and need to be amputated. We took the decision to go ahead with the amputation and see what happened. Three weeks later, it is now putting weight on the damaged leg, the stump has healed very well and now just has a small dressing on the end to protect it. As soon as I have free space, she will go into an outside aviary to see if she can fly. If so, she will soon be ready to be released back into the wild in time for migration!

Right, catch you soon peeps,

Owl Momma xxx

Monday 25 May 2009

Evenin all

Well, things have certainly hotted up round here! rushed off me little feets I am.

Not sure where I got to on my last post so I will just update on what we have at the moment.

Jenson has been released AGAIN, bless him, flew straight off and sat on top of the tawny owl aviary with Button :)

Licorice, Allsorts and the little one have all been released, also 3 of the Dunnocks, little one is still too small.

The two small pigeons are now outside with two collared doves and another juvenile pigeon.

We are now up to 95 so far this year, going round the hospital we have :-

2 baby crows, doing great
1 baby blackbird, got by a cat, bandaged up and on antibiotics
1 young collared dove, got by something and quite badly injured. On antibiotics and doing ok
1 baby pigeon, fell out of it's nest in our garden and ripped itself up quite badly. Bandaged up and on antibiotics
4 Ducklings, Piglet & co, all doing great, going out in a pen in the day time
3 Lapwing chicks, all doing great
Bo Peep, STILL being hand fed...gorgeous and in with her are a baby pigeon with a damaged wing, should be ok and a baby collared dove, mauled by a cat but fine now.
Ollie the Rook and Minstrel the magpie, both sharing a cage
Sandy the baby tawny owl from Sandringham, doing great and cute as they come
Two starlings, fab but still being hand fed
Four chaffinches, two sparrows and a greenfinch all sharing a big cage

Grand total as of today = 27 I think, the majority being hand fed !

Got some fab pics of Rik showering in the rain, I will post them as soon as I have downloaded them.

Sorry no pic on blog, I was moving cages around and cleaning them all day and by the time I wa sorted, it was nearly lights out time. I will see what I can rig up tomorrow, it may just be the baby crows who are adorable.

Thursday 21 May 2009

Up to 89

Today we got in three baby Lapwings found at the side of the road and a juvenile collared dove called Baz. Top shelf is now full!

Everyone in the hospital doing well, all fabulous impossible to choose a favourite. :)

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Two more today

Tiny Blue tit and a young sparrow.

Everyone doing well

Monday 18 May 2009

Getting Busy

Up to 82 now. Sadly, the little moorhen didn't make it through the night. It seemed to have something wrong with it's throat, couldn't swallow. RIP darling xxx

Going round the room, in the brooder we have..top deck, the two tiny pigeons, both doing great now, and a young blackbird, cat cot him but seems ok. Bottom deck we have the most adorable creatures, two baby crows, baldies. If they are ok, I will put them on cam in a day or so, well funky dudes.

Then we have the two starling youngsters, also doing well. Baby pigeon which came in tonight, bigger than the other too but still a nestling. A cat bit this one too but I think she is ok.

Then we have the chaffinches, three of the sparrows went out into a cage outside today, the small sparrow and the greenfinch, all great.

Then Jenson and another young collared dove. Jenson doing great apart from the fact that he wants mummy to feed him again!

then we have the four ducklings, as you can see on the cam, they are fab. Then we have Minstrel, the baby Magpie who is the most adorable creature. Followed by Ollie the Rook, mischievous little devils and then a young pigeon, not quite weaned.

Bo Peep has two young wood pigeons for company, all great.



Think thats all today! 22 in total in the hospital


XX

Saturday 16 May 2009

More In Today

We are now up to 76 so far this year !

Today's intake was two tiny pigeons who have been bitten by a cat and left out in the cold. They have had antibiotics and are in a brooder but their food from this morning is still sitting in their crops as they got so cold they couldn't digest it so bit of a problem

Also took in a juvenile pigeon who needs to be released gradually.

Then tonight, I got a call to see if I would take a duckling which turned out to be three, all about the same size as Piglet.

Everyone else doing really well.

Friday 15 May 2009

pics




Winston



Apologies

Big apologies everyone, I have been so busy, I have neglected the blog and the cam but we have been a bit swamped.

We are really sad to report that we lost all of the peanuts. I have no idea what we did wrong but they all just faded away one after the other which was very stressful and caring for them took up a huge amount of time.

The "bullfinches" turned out to be chaffinches, all four doing really well as are the four dunnocks and the little greenfinch.

OK so an update on everyone:-

Bumble Bee (duck) is now outside and spending some supervised time with Donald who doesn't seem to realise she is a baby and keeps wanting to play grown up games :)

Licorice, Allsorts and Littleun, the blackies went out into the release pen today and should be there for a week or so prior to release.

We have two little starlings, still nestlings, doing fine

Another baby duck, Piglet, also doing fine

Jenson (not Button after all) is still in the hospital and wanting to be treated like a baby again but is getting better each day. He can fly again now but still a bit wobbly on his feet. the others are out in the garden still, waiting for Jenson.

Another young dove in, got by a cat but doing ok.

Bo Peep doing great and has two young wood pigeons in her cage with her now.

We have a Jackdaw who has hurt his wing also.

Ollie the baby rook is a delight as is is new friend, Minstrel, a baby magpie.

Amy the pigeon has been released and went off fine

Rik is great and I got an email from Kirsty and Craig, Winston (aka Neil) 's mum and dad saying he is great, along with some pics which I will post.

Micro and Georgie fab too so all is wll. just very busy. We have taken in 70 sa far this year !

Love to all,

Owl Momma & Eagle Beard xxxx

Monday 11 May 2009

Bad Day

We lost one of the Peanuts this morning, down to three. We took the decision to leave them in the nest as we thought we may hurt them if we picked them up as they were so small...wrong move as it turned out. One of them had got his tiny foot caught in the bottom of the nest and it looks like he damaged it trying to pull loose. The infection spread up the leg and he died this morning :( :( :( :( They are now in a man made nest.

Really angry with myself for being so stupid.

We also had a horrible experience yesterday, the little doves have joined up with the tumbler pigeons and are spending a lot of time around the dovecotes. A sparrow hawk swept down and grabbed Button. Luckily, we were in the garden and managed to frighten him off and he dropped Button but he has injured his back and is very frightened. He is in the hospital on pain killers and antibiotics. I will keep you posted.

New additions today...a tiny duckling called Piglet. I have put him in with Bee to see if she with mother him. They are cuddled up together at the moment.

Also got in a Jackdaw with an injured wing.

All other babies doing well...what we thought were Bull finches have turned out to be Chaffinches and they have moved into a cage with a heat lamp. The cam is on them at the moment.

Saturday 9 May 2009

Update

Phew, bit intense here!

All 5 peanuts hatched but one was smaller than the others and we lost it yesterday. RIP little one xxxxx The other 4 seem to be doing ok although it is very early days and they are still very very tiny.

The babies in the brooder with the cam on them are doing great, still not sure what they are though.

Blue tit in the nest box has so far hatched 6 out of seven eggs, babies seem to be doing well.

Bo Peep has just started pecking seeds today so also doing well.

Bumble Bee is now out in a run in the garden and just coming back into the hospital at nights.

Licorice is now feeding another blackie youngster, Allsorts is doing well and is about ready for out side. I am keeping Licorice in for a bit as she is so useful with the babies and she seems happy doing the job.

The little greenfinch is amazing, first in the queue for food and singing all the while.

All four Dunnocks doing great although the little one has a couple of times, gone very lethargic and had to be put under a lamp and rubbed a bit, almost as if she is having mini seizures...bit worrying but the rest of the time, she is great.

Ollie Rook is doing great, feeding himself.

Amy the pigeon is also doing well, soon be ready to go I think.

We lost one small black bird today, neither us or the vets could see what was actually wrong but she couldn't seem to stand, my theory was that she had been clipped by a car and had a broken pelvis. Anyhow, she has been very weak from the start and she just gave up in the end. RIP sweetheart. xxxxx

All the garden people are doing well and Rik is spending some time outsixe each day in a spare aviary which he loves.

Best bit is, I got a lie in this morning as EB did the early shift.....way to go that man ! xx

Friday 8 May 2009

All still with us this morning

With trepidation, I just peeped in at the Peanuts, all still ok and wanting breakfast :)
Everyone else good this morning, including the adorable baby Rook, Ollie who Kelly brought in last night.

Thursday 7 May 2009

Doves

Just spotted Jenson, Button and Bobby by the feeder in the garden, all three looking bonny.

No sign of Simon so far but I have been in the hospital most of the day so I may have missed him

Hotting up now !!




Well I am staggered. We took in a nest of five chaffinch eggs at the weekend. Popped them in the incubator thinking they wouldn't come to anything. I have been turning the eggs, and took the lid off last night to check them and lo and behold, one had hatched. Since then, another 2 have hatched.

They are miniscule !

This morning, we took in another young blackbird who had been got by a cat but looks as if he will be ok, and a nest of four small bullfinches.

We have the cam on the bullfinches at the moment and will pop the tiny chaffinches in when they are eady to come out of the incubator.

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Doves Released

When I went out this morning, the sun was shining and the four little doves were flapping to get out of their release aviary. I took the plunge and opened the door.

Jenson and Button went off straight away, together, up and away, followed by Simon and then Bobby.

Hopefully, they will all be back for tea :)

Good luck little ones xxxxx

Still with us

Poorly Blackbird and Greenfinch still alive and kicking this morning :)

Sad News

We lost Jack the Jackdaw tonight. He died about an hour before his scheduled vet's visit.
Having spoken to the vet though, she thought that with the injury being so severe she would have had to put him to sleep anyway. At least he was comfy and warm. RIP Jack XXXXX

We also got in another young blackbird tonight, number 50 (birds taken in this year so far)
She is quite sick so not looking too good. Green finch is still fairy poorly too. Both victims of cat bites.

Everyone else doing fine.

Monday 4 May 2009

Pics



Poor Jack's Beak

Amy

Baby Greenfinch

Oldest Dunnock

Baby Dunnocks

BoPeep

5 Peanuts

Just taken in a nest of 5 chaffinch eggs the size of Peanuts!

A tree was chopped down and the mum scared off the eggs and she didn't come back. No idea if they are fertile or not or if so, how long till hatch is due but I have popped them in the incubator and we will have to wait and see.

If they do hatch, I think it is going to push my know how to the limit though, Lord knows how small the babies will be.

Watch this space!

Two More

Adult Jackdaw came in yesterday in a terrible state. He has broken his bottom beak at the jawline and it is just hanging down so he can't eat or drink. Vets are closed till Tuesday so I have medicated him with painkillers and antibiotics. I am managing to feed him with difficulty but we are getting there. He likes rat pups apparently. Bit of a struggle but he is starting to trust me a little more which makes it a bit easier as I have to wrap him in a towel and pop bits of food into the back of his mouth for him to swallow.

I am not at all sure what the outcome will be when he sees the vet. It may be possible that the jaw can be pinned or glued but it is just as likely that he will have to be put to sleep but even if that it the case, at least he won't have starved to death.

Young Green Finch was brought in this morning with a cat bite. He doesn't seem too bad but is still very nervous. I have popped him in with the Dunnocks and he has taken a bit off food from me.

Saturday 2 May 2009

Kestrel Released !


Mike, the guy who brought in the kestrel a couple of weeks ago, collected he and took her back to where she came from ad released her. She flew off really strongly which is an excellent result. Job well done :~)

Thursday 30 April 2009

Newbies

A juvenile blackbird with a damaged wing and leg (cat got him) came in today and we also got a young wood pigeon who looks as if he might have been clipped by a car. Both will (I think) be ok long term.

Thanks Claire, David and Steve for collecting and bringing them in :)

All's well..................

this morning :)

Babies all doing well

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Another Dunnock

Just picked up another one from the vets. Little juvenile, older than the three we already have but still quite young.

Popped him in a cage and fed him, he is still gaping for food.

Babes

The three baby Dunnocks are still doing well, the two biggest even have feathers now :)

Tuesday 28 April 2009

New Babies Update

The three baby Dunnocks made it through the night and look strong and healthy this morning :)

Monday 27 April 2009

Licorice

Bumble Bee

Bo Peep

Rik's Piks


New babies


Three little Dunnocks (hedge sparrows) brought in this morning. The nest was found with 5 babies in it but unfortunately, two were already dead. The other three came in first thing this morning, little nestlings. They all seem ok and are eating well. If they survive until tomorrow, I will put them on the cam.

Sunday 26 April 2009

Lovely sunny day

We had a lovely day today. Kelly was in to help...we had a little crisis, Jenson got out of the release pen when Kel went in to clean them....she was worried sick that she had let him out. he went or a walk around to see if she could see him and came back looking dejected, we turned around and there he was, sitting in a shrub next to the release pen, little darling. I just picked him up and popped him back in, smiles all round.

After that, we decided to release the seagull as he was back to normal and wanted to go. Off he flew, large circles around the garden, getting higher and higher then off he went.

We then decided to take the net off the stock doves (which we have been told are actually Tippler pigeons!) Off they all went and we thought we wouldn't see them again as they just disappeared....late on this afternoon, low and behold, back they came! We aren't exactly sure if they all cam back as some have gone into the dovecote but at least 8 of the 11 we know are definitely back so that was good.

All the babes ae doing well, as is the kestrel. Onion is sitting on eggs (chicken ones though as we don't want to hatch any turkeys) oh and Bumble Bee had a swim on the pond today for about quarter of an hour and loved it.

Bo peep is growing well and seems fine now too so all is well :)

Saturday 25 April 2009

Update

All doing well, a new volunteer started this week, Jackie which is excellent, thanks Jackie.

Blitz is now in with Hamish, the Scottish Cow and that seems to be going fine, settled nicely.

The four doves will be going into an outside aviary today or tomorrow and Licorice is almost ready to go out too.

Bumble Bee is doing fine although we have had to take her out of a cage a she has hurt her eye (not serious) sticking her head through the bars! She needs to stay in a plastic sided cage!

Bo Peep is coming on in leaps and bounds, I am sure she will be fine now.

The Blue Tit in the net box has 7 eggs so far.

Had another cat spit baby blackie in but the infection took hold and we lost it overnight.....I wish I could find a way of saving these one, we seem to lose every baby that has been bitten by a cat. I think next time, I will give antibiotics regardless of age, not much to lose I don't think. :(

Kelly is coming in tomorrow, not sure about Hannah.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Crow

Had a crow called Blitz brought in last night. Nothing wrong with him, he is last year's and was raised in captivity. Like Micro, he has trashed his feathers. Unlike Micro, he is not tame so he will just live here until he get his new feathers then he can be released. He is in with Hamish the scottish crow, also due to be released this year.

The Kestrel i doing well, all the bugs are gone and she is eating like a horse.

Bo Peep the baby dove is also doing much better.

Licorice is fine as are all four doves. All bearly ready to go outside in aviaries.

Bumble Bee the duckling has doubled in size since she got here so no problem there.

We may be getting a baby squirrel in so watch this space. :)

Rik is being a munchkin, pouncing on everything in sight...love him xx

Monday 20 April 2009

Kestrel

Had a female Kestrel brought in today. She has damaged her wing but it appears to be ligament damage rather than a break. She was covered in lice and starved, she ate two mice within a couple of hours of being here.

With a bit of luck and a couple of weeks cage rest, she will hopefully be fine. Once recovered, we will try her flying in an aviary and if she is ok, she can go back to where she came from.

Busy Weekend

We are spring cleaning aviaries so a busy weekend was had by all. Hannah came over which was great, thanks Han. Crews were in building some aviaries which are looking good.

All babies doing well but we did lose old Grandpa pigeon a couple of days ago...RIP old fella XXXX

Baby Dove (Bo Peep) is coming on well although still breathing a bit oddly. Licorice is huge, as are Jenson & Button. Bobby is now in with them and Simon, and all four will soon be moving outside.

Bumble Bee the duckling is a sweetie and is growing daily.

I will have a bash at taking some more pics later today if everything doesn't get too crazy.

Oh and Rik....well he has now added pouncing on cats to his repertoire, little devil :)

Thursday 16 April 2009

Update

Bobby is now in the big cage with Jenson, Button & Simon, all getting on well.
Licorice is doing fab, growing lots.
Grandpa Pigeon not doing so well, but I think he is just really old.
Baby Dove seems a little better which is good news.

I had to go collect two new ones yesterday...a just hatched starling which died before I got it home and a fledgling blackbird which died overnight. I think whoever found it had given it water which had got into it's lungs...Please, please don't give baby birds water. The air hole in their mouths is so large that water frequently goes into it and they die. Soak some cat biscuits in boiling water, leave to cool and then break pieces off, they will get all the moisture they need from that until they can be taken to a rescue centre.

Today's new addition is Bumble Bee the duckling who is extraordinarily cute....Spring has Sprung!

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Bobby

Seems to be getting better each day :)

Baby Dove

She is still with us this morning, still breathing badly though, on the critical list but hanging in there bless her.

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Baby Dove Poorly

Baby seems to have got a respiratory infection.....don't know how or why. Will keep you posted

Monday 13 April 2009

Wild Bird Condo

We have a huge multi storey bird house at the bottom of the garden, massive it is...bit of a story attached but not important really. Anyway, I went down there today and on the back side, six of the boxes have nests in them, not all finished but well on their way. The holes at the front of the boxes we think were too big so EB has modified them toda, hopefully they will start being used now too.

We also have a blue tit making a nest in the box on the patio. We are pretty sure it is one of our last year's babies which is excellent. Trouble is, cam needs focusing and we can't really do it while she is in there but if we get a chance, we will do it.

EB now trying to set up a cam on the condo, difficult as the bottom of the garden is a long way away. If he manages it, we will be able to see exactly who is using it.

Bobby

Is looking better. He is managing to perch today so that's a big improvement :)

Sunday 12 April 2009

All doing well

Baby Dove is doing well, we went out to see family for a few hours today and she came with us in the brooder. Rik came too but he wasn't too keen on the car journey, it seems he gets travel sick poor baby. He spent the whole time cuddled in my arms on the way home. He was fine while he was there though and is ok now :(

Licorice is doing well, he is in a big cage now. J&B and Simon all doing fine in a big cage together, little ones starting to feed on their own.

Grandad Pigeon is fine too, just old really. We also have one of the stock doves in the hospital...the rest are all netted into the dovecotes but the males were a little over enthusiastic with this little girl and she needs a rest. She seems to have hurt her leg too but nothing serious I don't think.

We have two new additions to the Haven, a pair of Barn Owls aged 15 & 14. There were living with a lady who can no longer take care of them and so they have come to live out their days here. they seem to be settling in ok.

Saturday 11 April 2009

Brooder Cam

Is on the tiny baby stock dove...see post further down the page, "New Baby at the Haven". Now 2 days old :)

Jenson, Button and Licorice

All three doing really well. J&B are in a big cage now with Simon, the dove with deformed legs. They seem to be getting on ok with him.

Licorice is due for another cage move maybe tomorrow as he is getting a bit big for the one he is in now. He flew across the room this morning.

Coming thick and fast....Bobby

Young Dove just brought in, name is Bobby. Found in the ground under a bush, just about fledged. Very hungry and looking well the worse for wear. We have fed him and he is now snuggled under a heat lamp.

19.00
Just had another feed and looking a bit better, still a long way from right but better than he was.

Baby Pigeon Didnt make it

RIP sweetheart xxxxxxx

Looking closely afterwards, it looks as if it's crop had ruptured when it fell from the nest poor baby

And Another

Little baby pigeon just came in, very cold and almost lifeless. He has had something to eat and is now in with baby dove warming up.

Fingers crossed for this one as he is very weak

New baby at the Haven

It's all my fault. Ever since the Rock Doves got here, they have been mating and laying eggs like crazy. I have been taking their eggs and putting in dummy ones but I missed one and by the time I realised, one egg had started to incubate.

Anyhow, Dovecotes are up and yesterday was the day for moving the doves. When we went in we found that the egg had hatched during the night and there was a tiny baby dove. A little later, we noticed that another dove had pushed mum off the nest and then another one pushed that one off, the result being that baby dove was just sitting there, freezing cold with no mummy bird.

We took the decision to bring the baby into the hospital as mum was showing no signs at all of going back to it. Also, somehow in the fracas, it got a small wound on it's side, not serious but enough to worry it might get hurt in the squabbles :(

Very nerve wracking as it is such a tiny but it made it through the night and seems quite chipper this morning.

Rock Doves are now in the Dovecotes, netted in for a week or two and seem to be settling fine.

Here is the babe

Update on Rik


He is fab, beautiful, gorgeous and adorable......did I say? he is stunning?

Thursday 9 April 2009

Both Flying

Jenson and Button are both now flying but Button gets in a tizz and gives herself a fright each time bless. Both flying from their cage to me for dinners now tho :)

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Jenson

Jenson flew across the hospital this morning. I had sat him on top of the cage while I fed Button at the other side of the room and he flew over to get his breakfast :) First flight and it was perfect, landing was pretty good too!

Tuesday 7 April 2009

The Hospital



Here are just a couple of shots of the new hospital just to give you an idea of the decor :)

Jenson & Button Update


Little people are now living in a cage as they are far too big for the brooder. They have over doubled in size in just over a week. Another day or two and I think they will be able to fly.

Licorice



Licorice, so named by camstreams follower, Godmother, is doing very well. Got through his first night ok so I think he will be fine.

Monday 6 April 2009

Baby Blackbird

Newbie in today, cutsie little thing. Looks like he has just fledged but the people who foun him think a cat got him. No injuries but better safe than sorry. He is cheeping away happily and eating like mad so he should be fine.

Jenson and Button

Are doing really well. They are now out of the brooder during the day and perching in a cage bless em :)

New Volunteer

Yippee, we have a new volunteer, Darren who will be coming in on Monday mornings to lend a hand with cleaning aviaries etc.

Welcome to the team Darren

Thursday 2 April 2009

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Another Onion Egg

She laid another one today, once again with Donald in attendance.

Both baby dove doing really well as is the poorly pidge

Sunday 29 March 2009

Onion & Donald

The sweetest thing happened yesterday.

Onion the turkey went into the hen house to lay her first egg. Donald, the runner duck (who never leaves her side) was in there with her and just stood beside her until she laid the egg.

As soon as it dropped, he ran out of the house, running round in circles, shouting as if to say, "it's an egg, it's an egg". Then after telling us all, he went back in nuzzled her with his beak them plumped up the hay around the egg. The chickens tried to go have a look at the egg and he shooed them all away and stayed with her, guarding the egg until she came out of the house.

He is such a sweet boy, it is magical to see different species taking care of each other, he really loves her bless him :)

Sage was outside the house while all this was going on, stopping anyone going in. Quite a little delivery suite we had going on, all that was missing was a cigar for Donald!

Start of the baby season !

We had two baby collared doves brought in this morning by a lady called Gillian. A Rook or Crow had taken them from their nest and then dropped them. One of them has a wound on it's side but I think it will be ok.

They are less than a week old by the looks of them, sweet little babies. We have them in the donated brooder and they are snuggly now. They have had two feeds and already, they are begging for food so getting the formula into them will be no problem.

Now they are warm and fed, they are very lively, snoozing between feeds but as soon as I open the door, they are up on their little feet.

EB is setting up the cam later today and we will be streaming them on the web during the day. I will try to feed on cam but we will have to see how we go.

I have to say that having the hospital is amazing, already it has made a huge difference. Having space, cages set up and everything to hand is wonderful, I love it. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped to get it ready, especially EB who has worked his socks off to get it ready for the spring babies...we made it, just in time. We now have hot water, drainage and everything. Big Smiles from Owl Momma.

Kelly (our duck rescue helper) brought in a sick pigeon the other day and we all thought he had had his chips but after antibiotics and crop feeding he is looking much better. Very thin but I think he will be ok now thank goodness.

Kelly also came in today to help which was great as we were a bit worse for wear after EB's Birthday dinner last night, we only realised at midnight that the clocks had to go forward....bad timing!

Thursday 26 March 2009

All quiet

Nothing much happening on the bird front. We have Magic the crow here for the weekend but no other newbies.

Micro is out side all the time now, back in his aviary at night and loving it.

Rik is coming on in leaps and bounds, lovely little person he is, not on cam much now though, prefers flying around like a loonie.

EB spending all his time building in the hospital block, making an outside loo and freezer room bless.

Happy Birthday

It is my big brother's birthday on Friday and then, on Saturday it is....Eaglebeard's birthday.

Happy Birthday both of you, love you lots xxxxxxxxxx

Monday 16 March 2009

The Weekend!

Traditionally, the most relaxing time of the week....oh no, not here it isn't!

we had a work crew in and they did well, getting on nicely with the next aviary and laid the base for the new toilet room in the hospital block.

Kelly came over to help again and did loads.

Vyvian went to her forever home and seemed fine with it. Rik doesn't seem to be missing her too badly but then, he has had loads of cuddles.

Just had an email from a lovely company, agreeing to donate the underground drainage that we need to connect up the hospital block :0) Thank you Neil :0)

Friday 13 March 2009

Beautiful Wall Stickers

I cant remember if I told you but a company called Walls of the Wild said that they would donate some bird stickers for the hospital...well they arrived yesterday and they are lovely! Just waiting for a frieze that I ordered before they agreed to donate and then I will put them up and take pics :)

Also, the freezer that Whirlpool donated arrived yesterday. The freezer room floor has been laid and the new window has been put in, next step is to lay some more of the non slip flooring and put up wall cupboards then we can move the freezers in.

Primrose the little quail with sore feet went home last night so we only have 3 little ones in there at the moment.

No accidents yesterday but I have to say, I still feel a little dazed....or is that the normal me?????

Babies doing brilliantly, when we get visitors, they fly to them and cuddle up...how sweet is that eh? :))

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Accident looking for somewhere to happen

Don't know what's wrong with me but I seem a bit accident prone. Yesterday, I fell over, really heavily and went face first into the patio door! I thought I might have broken the bridge of my nose but I think it is only bruised...hurt knees and wrist too...then this morning, opened the lid of the food bin where I keep wild bird and chicken feed. It is a really heavy lid and as I was bending into the bin to get food, the blessed thing fell down and cracked me on the head. Big lump and seeing stars...again.

I think the best thing for all concerned and me in particular would be for me to go back to bed and stay there!!!!!!

Poor Blackbird

Poor little fella died yesterday but to be honest, I am not really surprised, little thing like that being hit by a car didn't really stand much of a chance. At least though, he knew people cared, had a warm bed and food in his tummy, better than dying at the side of the road. RIP little sweetie XXX

Pictures

I have changed the way I put pictures on. You should now be able to click on a picture and it will take you to the high resolution pic on the web site so that you can download them. Please feel free to use them for yourselves but I would be grateful is you refrained from using them anywhere else, publishing them or anything like that. If you do want to use them for anything other than personal pleasure, could you please email us through the website and maybe make a small donation to the Haven?

I have not gone back through all the pics as I am a little busy but if there are any particular photos that you would like, let me know and I will upload the high res pic for you.

Monday 9 March 2009

The Ducklings
















Just had an email to say that the ducklings are doing well.

Picture of the Babies

Quite a few of you have asked for a photo of the babies. If you look at the links on the left, we have put in a link to a high resolution picture which is on the web site. As you look at the pic, Neil on the left, then Rik, then Vyv. You can either print the pic direct or download to your pc. Those of you that have said you would like to use it on your desktop, go to pic, right click and save as desktop / wallpaper.......Enjoy :)

Good Morning

Hello everyone,

Lovely sunny morning here in Norfolk.

Another crazy weekend here at the Haven, loads of people milling around, lots of work done. Hannah was in on Sunday and we had a work crew who are building a new aviary ready for a couple of Barn Owls who would like to come and live here.

Neil, now Winston, went to his forever home on Saturday. His mum and dad are lovely and Winston seems to have attached himself to them straight away. No change in either his appetite or cuddleability. Good luck little man, have a lovely life sweetie xxxxxx

Vyvian is here until Saturday when she goes to her new home. Rik of course is staying and what a little darling he is, he spent most of Sunday cuddled up in my shoulder....terrible burden to have to carry around but I managed :)

Life is already better now that the Hospital is up and running even though we still have a few jobs to do in there and we are not yet "plumbed in". Much easier having a bit of space and all the bits and bobs in one place.

We are working on the rest of the building also as we need a freezer / examination room and a toilet etc.

Current occupants of the hospital are Simon the collared dove who has wonky legs, (strapped up), Primrose the quail who will soon be going back to her proper home, the pigeon with the broken foot who is getting on great and another pigeon who appears to have flown into a window and keeps bleeding from his beak. Another few days cage rest and he should be good to go.

We got a call last night about a blackbird who has been hit by a car. He seems perky but can't stand. He/She is coming over this morning.

So...another busy week ahead!

Thursday 5 March 2009

Sharing a moment

Lovely moment tonight. Babies were playing pounce on the sofa in the dining room.
Eb came home and came into the kitchen where we were having a chat and making a coffee. Next thing we know, Rik runs in and goes to daddy for a cuddle. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. We then went into the living room and the other two came running through! I think Rik knows he is staying :))

Here's Whats Happening

Sorry I haven't posted much but I have been really busy and have spoken to most of you on Camtreams anyway :)

We no know the sexes of the babies, Vyvian is a girl and the other two are boys. Since we really wanted a boy we have decided to keep Rik as he is the baby. Neil...now to be known as Winston, goes to his new home on Saturday and Vyvian who is keeping her name, goes to her new home the following Saturday.

We are going to miss them very much as I know all of you are but they have got lovely homes to go to and I can't cope with three of the hooligans once they start flying :)

All else is going good, we have had a dove called Simon with deformed feet brought in and we are just waiting for vet opinion to see if anything can be done, also a pigeon which appears to have hit a window maybe but is otherwise fine. Another day or so of recovery and it can go free.

We are now up to 27 so far this year.

Got more good news today, Whirlpool, god bless em, have agreed to donate a freezer for the owl food. We have several very old ratty ones which use a lot of power. This is a large one an along with another couple of nearly new smaller ones that some friends have given us, we should be sorted.

Hospital is now occupied although we have a few bits and bobs to do yet. I have bought a big friexe of various birds to go on the wall and a company called Walls of the wild have also agreed to donate some individual bird decals so it should look good and pretty by the time we have all of them up.

Other good news, we have had a reconditioned computer donated to us which should be here next week and this will be used to stream the cams so those of you who watch them will be pleased to know that their should be no more system crashes!

Just a thought, we keep being asked if we have any video's of the babies and other critters. We don't as we don't have a camcorder. If any of you out there have one that you don't use, we would be grateful for it please.

Thats all for now, have to do the dishes since it is the maid's year off!

Wayhay......Just this second got a call from Numatic to say that they are donating a Henry Vacuum cleaner for the hospital.....OMG it all seems to be coming together all of a sudden.


I should be so lucky, lucky lucky lucky....humms off into the kitchen to do dishes with silly grin on face.

Thursday 26 February 2009

Still keeping busy

Had a pigeon in with a broken foot. Made him a little snow shoe and he seems to be doing well.

Last push to try and get hospital finished....comandeered some friends last nite and had a Pizza / Painting party...got loads done. Should be up and running in the next few days.

Babies brilliant :)

Sunday 22 February 2009

Busy Old Week

It seems to have been a chaotic week,.

Babies are doing really well, Vyv and Neil can walk now and have just started to pounce on things.
Rik is coming on in leaps and bounds, I think it helps having the older ones to learn from.

Unfortunately, we lost little squiffy duckling. :( He just went to sleep and didn't wake up but the longer he was here, the more it became obvious that there was something really wrong with him, so maybe it was for the best, still sad though. Katherine who took the otherthree ducklings has emailed to say they are doing fine and sent some pics which I will put on the blog.

We had another gull brought in, this one had been hit by a tractor and his wing was hanging off. He has been to the vet and had the rest amputated and the wound stitched and seems to be doing really well. He will obviously be a stayer.

Hospital is coming on really well, in fact I am sitting in there at the moment typing this while EB is staining beams. Another week and the birds should be in here. Georgie loves it in here, he is sitting on the desk at the moment watching me type. The worktops and the rest of the wall tiles should have arrived this week but the guys couldn't make it so we are keeping our fingers crossed for Tuesday, that is all that is holding us up really. Once tiles are on and worktops fixed, good clean and we are there.

Hannah was in today and Kelly (duck rescuer extrordinaire) came in for the day to help too. Brilliant, we got a lot done although they did most of the grafting.

Kelly....sorry, I forgot to pay you for the milk!!!!!!!!! Will give it to you next time.

Everyone else is fine, little pidgy/dove is now outside in the aviary with the stock doves, two of which are sitting on eggs already. I have switched them for dummy ones though.
We still haven't found anvone to collect the dovecotes from Lincolnshire but I still live in hope.

Other gull is doing really well and he didn't lose his eye after all. Another couple of days and we will test fly him, if ok, he will be released.

Right, off to do a pizza for tea....its only 9.00 ! :)

Thursday 19 February 2009

That'll teach me

She is looking cronky again now. Hand fed her again and keeping her seperate from the others as they sit on her.

Worse than that though, went to give them all their bath, put little tiny in the box ready to go and she suddenly had a seizure and keeled over dead. Tried kiss of life for quarter of an hour but nothing. :( Looks like there was a reason she was so small after all.

Gutted now :((

Well I never!

I was really worried about squiffy duck last night, just laid there and not doing anything. I got her out in a towel and thought I would try some hand rearing formula on her. Took quite a while but I got some down her. She still looked really bad so snuggled her in with the others but expected to find she had died this morning.

Went in and uncovered them and lo and behold, there she was, up on her feet and first at the food bowl.

Fingers crossed she doesn't go back to how she was but she is certainly looking good this morning :))

Tuesday 17 February 2009

More duck news

OK....so the three turned in to four lol.

One is fine but tiny compared to the rest, one only has one leg, think he lost the other the same way Mildred would have done, one had a squiffed tail, off to one side and one has a deformed beak, right little lot! Very sweet, all of them :)

Next task is to explain to the lady that she isn't getting exactly what I told her she was getting :)

Never mind, if they are too much for her, I will find them somewhere else or they can stay here, not sure our pond is big enough though...watch this space for more developments lol.

Duck News

Mildred is doing really well, she came from a farm where the ducklings (specifically large breed) are culled at five weeks old for meat. Mildred was rescued because she had some twine around her leg which was removed and she has made a complete recovery. However, there are three more on the farm, deemed not large enough!

Well the good news is that the lady that rescued Mildred is also going to rescue the other three tonight and I have found a lady who lives not too far away and has two large ponds who is going to take all four!! HOWZAT?

Everyone else is fine, babies are divine and the gull who I thought had lost it's eye, now looks as if it hasn't. Still not sure if he will be able to fly, assuming he survives his other injuries but it is a start.

Not much happened on the hospital the last few days as we have been busy with lots of other stuff. The worktops which were supposed to be coming today are now not arriving until Thursday.

Sunday 15 February 2009

Heron

We lost her this evening, just too weak. Poor baby xxx

Busy Busy

thinks hotting up, we had another black headed gull brought in Saturday, looks like an RTA, lost an eye and damaged a wing. Looks a bit better today.

Also a three week old duckling, I think an American Black which are huge. Size of a shoe box already, she is called Mildred and is doing really well.

Dove/ Pigeon from the other day is doing really well, she can perch now so she should be ok.

Today we had a heron brought in, totally emaciated, not sure that she will make it, she is so weak. I am having to put a tube down her throat and giving her re-hydration fluid and tiny bits of pilchard.If she makes it through the night she will stand a better chance I think.

Babies are doing very well, plump and healthy.

Thursday 12 February 2009

New Pidge

Had a pigeon...(well looks like another rock dove to me) brought in the other night, thin as a rake and green poo.

I am feeding her twice a day with hand rearing and she is on antibiotics. She is pecking seed as well so hopefully, she should be ok.

Babies are just stars, they are so good, so beautiful and doing really well. Vyv stood for the first time today :)

We do have a bit of bad news though, we were supposed to be taking Georgie to the children's hospice next week but we have just found that the public liability insurance is going to cost too much to be able to justify it. They can't do it without so looks like it's off :(

Monday 9 February 2009

Everyone well

Babies are doing very well, Vyvian (correct spelling I am told by Greta) weighs over 50 grams now.
Their favourite food is quail.

Vyv's eyes are turning golden and Neil's are now open. they spend a lot of time cuddling the baby and they are sitting up quite a bit and preening. Very very sweet little kids.

Everyone else is fine...no new arrivals so fairly peaceful.

Hospital is coming on really well, EB did skirting and started fitting some cupboards tonight...thank you sweetie.

Soon be in there!

Saturday 7 February 2009

New Arrival

#4, aka Rik arrived in the world yeasterday afternoon, weighing in just over 15 gms.

She also had a difficult hatching but seems fine now. We put her in with Vivian and Neil this morning and she looks so tiny compared to them.

She will have her first feed at 2.30 pm. The other two are eating well and packing on the weight, both over 28 gms this morning.

Everyone else at the Haven doing well, I still have a bit of flu but getting better each day.

In other news, the driveway has now been laid, looks a little muddy but as the rain washes it, it will get better.

We had the non slip flooring laid in the hospital yesterday and it looks brilliant. EB is going to fit the new window today, we had some donated and we have painted stained glass pictures on them so hopefully they will look pretty.

Skirting to go on next, then units, still trying to beg some worktop and tiles for the kitchen but it is getting closer to being finished every day.

Thursday 5 February 2009

Thursday

Vivian and Neil doing fabulous and putting on weight nicely.

Viv has both eyes open and Neil one.

#4 is in the process of hatching so watch this space.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Tuesday

Both babies doing very well and gaining weight, almost 2 grams each.

We lost #3, looks like he piped into the air sac and ran out of oxygen before he could hatch...RIP little sweetie

#4 looks fine but not pipped yet

Monday 2 February 2009

Vivian & Neil

Both babies doing well, eating, pooping and being generally beautiful.

Sunday 1 February 2009

The Babies

We now have two little treasures, Vivian and Neil, weighing in at 17.7 and 17.1 grams respectively.
They are absolutely gorgeous.
Numbers 3 & 4 not hatched yet
We are running live footage on the web cam

Sorry haven't done pics yet but we are soooo tired, virtually no sleep for 3 days and nights.

Early night tonight and I will hopefully be better tomorrow so will do them then
Mind you...think I have Flu now !

Thanks Eva

Thanks to Eva on camstreams, we have a whole load of pics of Vivian hatching.

I have put one up and will pop a slideshow on tomorrow.

Too tired tonight trying to get #2 out of her shell

Saturday 31 January 2009

Congrats in order

Egg #1 has hatched and is snuggled down in the brooder. 66 Hours in all.

He seems healthy and well though and soooo adorable. I will take a pic in the morning and put on the blog.

We are calling him Vivian as in the young ones lol.

Egg #2 is ok too but still has a way to go and will probably take most of the night.

Egg #3 is still sleeping after intial pipping.

Another night on the sofa but worth it all !
Made holes in both eggs.

#1 is a lot happier now he has more air. He is trying to get out on his own but not doing very well lol.

#2 is also happier. She has blood inside her egg, must have nicked a vessel when she pipped and I think she may be stuck to the inside of the egg.
I am pretty sure I will have to get her out manually....C section lol.

#3 has now pipped also

I think the main problem is that the eggs are very hard, hardest I have ever come across...high calcium, must be feeding mum too well !!

Now that they have more air, we have to give them time for the blood vessels to dry up inside the membrane so it will be a while yet before they get out.

The followers on Camstreams are amazing, some have been watching right from the start of the hatching and are still waiting !

How stressful is this!!!!!

OK, situation with the scops eggs is this.

Egg #1 is nearly at 60 hours and does not eem to be making any progress.

Egg #2 is at 48 hours and seems to be doing a bit better.

I have spoken to a lady called Jemima Parry-Jones who has hatched more bird of prey eggs than I have had hot dinners. I have done all this with bigger owl eggs but never with any so small so I thought I would ring and see what she would do.

Decision is this, I am going to feed the other birds then I am going to sit calmly and start helping #1 out of his shell. I will give him an air hole to start with in case his intake is restricted. If that doesn't get him going then I will start picking him out completely.

If the air hole goes ok with #1, and nothing else has happened with #2, I will do the same for that one.

Fingers crossed and wish us luck....now I now why they said these little guys were hard to rear!

Thursday 29 January 2009

And they're off !!!!

Two of the baby owls have started hatching !

They started this morning and having never had these before, I am not sure how long it will take. Looking at their progress, I would estimate late tonight or tomorrow.

I will get EB to set up the cam on them again when he comes in. Be patient though, not a lot to see until right at the end.

Please please keep everything crossed that they get out ok.

More good news !

Well we have had a brilliant week for equipment donations.

The brooder arrived Wednesday and is great, all set up ready for babies. Then yesterday, I went to see a company about flooring for the hospital and he has very kindly donated enough non slip flooring for the whole hospital, complete with adhesive.

To top it all, a lovely guy came over today to discuss the cost of doing the roadway that runs through the haven with reject stone which we thought would be the cheapest option and bless his heart, he has said he will do it free of charge.

I am totally overwhelmed with the gifts, they will make such a difference from having to make do and mend.....thank you guys from the bottom of my heart xxx

Hospital is looking good, top coat of paint went on most of it today and it looks sunny and bright. EB is out there banging away making a new door frame as I type. Next thing is floor leveller, then our new flooring when it arrives next week and we can then start putting in the kitchen units.

Oh and a friend has given us a loo and basin ready for that bit and some other friends have given us a couple of almost new freezers!

Andrew and Twinnie pigeon are coming back most evenings and sleeping in the release pen which is really sweet. Everyone else is fine and dandy.

All in all, an uplifting week!

Monday 26 January 2009

Only Good News Today

I released 3 kids today, weather forecast is good for the week and they were getting a bit restless.

Andrew, the other collared dove that came in just after him and one of the twinnie pigeons (2nd release for this one) Good luck little ones.

I also got an email from Rosemary this morning, she has released Hope, cheered on by all the family so that is four more out there today that wouldn't have been....Yaaaayyyyy, you go kids.

EB has set up a webcam on the bird feeding station so you can watch all last year's little ones having their dinner. We will probably run this one until the fluffy bums hatch towards the end of the week. Link top right of this page.

Other good news....well great news really, a company have agreed to donate a nursery brooder for all of the tinies. If you remember, I was trying to get one last year without success but at last, we will have one. The fluffy bums will be the first occupants, followed by whichever tinies come in.

Thank you very much, www.livefoods.co.uk thoroughly nice people.

Sunday 25 January 2009

Good News and Rotten News

We lost Nelson overnight. No idea why, he was fine when he went to bed. There must have been more wrong with him than we could see bless. Really miss him, he was a darling.

Hope's mum came and fetched her today, ready for release tomorrow so that is good.

Friday 23 January 2009

Good News

A lovely man who has a company in Lincolnshire is donating two single storey ex demo dovecotes !!!!

Only problem is that we have to get them from Market Rasen in Lincs to Norwich but I am sure we will sort something out :~)

Thursday 22 January 2009

Well that was right nice !

I just sat outside for a bit, I have a helper today cleaning the aviaries and it is a bit warmer today so took half an hour off.

Loads of our kids were out and about, Chips, Pin and loads of the pigeons and doves along with all the normal wildies. The muskateers are always there but I haven't seen d'Artangon the greenfinch for ages....then there they were, all four together....magic!

Juat Had a Thought

I was saying eggs are due to hatch about Monday but thinking about it, the first egg wasn't fertile so more like Wednesday / Thurs next week.....sorry folks :(

Also, having a bit of trouble with camera angle and keeping the stream going, we were hoping to get a new computer over winter but that hasn't happened so we are stuck with what we have.

Bear with us, we will get there...that's why we started streaming early really, give us time to sort out the wrinkles before they hatch.


On a totally different subject, my daughter had a biopsy the other week and she got the news that it was all clear yesterday so we are all breathing big sighs of relief...nothing to do with the birds but I thought I would share the good news anyway :0))

Tuesday 20 January 2009

Let the show begin !!!!!

Well here we are in a new year...and what happens each year? why we get babies of course!

We are back live on Camstreams and the web cam is showing on the website too.

For your delectation, we have four eggs from White Faced Scops owls.

They are cutsies, for anyone who has been to the haven, they are the tiny grey jobbies.
The base of the incubator moves very slowly and so the eggs will not always be fully visible. However, once the first one starts to hatch, we will stop it turning and the cam will be pointed exclusively at said egg!

Although we aren't planning to rear many of our own baby owls this year, these are kind of special as we have been waiting for them for three years.

They are due to start hatching about the 25th Jan but we have set the cam up early in case of any glitches in the technical dept (EB)

We are going to hand rear them, fingers crossed, the fun is about to start again!

Sunday 18 January 2009

Rock Doves

We took in what appear to be 12 Rock Doves last night. Lovely little chaps.

The people who owned were moving and didn't want to take them, they destroyed a few that were hanging around and then burnt the Dovecote.

The new people moving in didn't want them either and were going to shoot them so we said they could come here and went to collect them last night.

After a bit of a shuffle round, we sorted an aviary for them. I think we will have to keep them in for a few weeks and then build them a new Dovecote here.

We also got another quail last night, Queenie, who is keeping Primrose company.

Other good news is that we think that we are going to be able to register to get charitable status which means that we will be able to get gift aid etc so that may help us on the financial side this year.

Nelson is doing well and is now spending time outside during the day but he will have to stay on soft food until his beak re-grows.

Percy now has the bandage off his wing and is doing well, another few days and he should be ok in an aviary. Hope is great. I will leave her another day or two to make sure the canker doesn't come back and then she too can go in an aviary ready for release.

Hospital is ready for plastering which EB thinks he can get done after work this week so we are back on track. :)

Thursday 15 January 2009

Nothing exciting to report, same old same old.

Everyone doing well

Sunday 11 January 2009

Everyone doing well. Amazingly, Hope's mouth and throat are completely clear now so she should be fine. Percy's wing is healing and Nelson is adorable.

All the others are fed up with the cold I think but otherwise ok....that goes for us too lol.

No crews in since before Christmas so we are getting behind on the hospital conversion......if there is anyone out there with any building skills and time on theirs hands...please come here as Eaglebeard is trying to do it all on his own, doing well at that but he only has weekends.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Black Headed Gull

Had one brought in tonight, cute fella called Nelson.

He has no apparent injuries, I think he may have flown into a window and stunned himself or something. We will kepp him for a couple of days, feed him up then see if he can fly. Very friendly little chap :)

Hope is doing brilliantly, early days but it looks as if the gunk in her mouth and throat is clearing up, she is certainly a lot better than she was.

Percy pigeon also doing well, his wing is healing nicely.

Monday 5 January 2009

Fabulous Exciting News

Stop Press

I would like you all to join with us in congratulating

Hannah

I am sure that you all know that our Hannah wants to be a vet. Well she applied to various universities and on Saturday, she got an offer from..................

CAMBRIDGE !!!!!!!!

The offer is conditional on her getting A's in her exams but I am sure she will walk it.

Well done love, we are very proud of you

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Redwing

Just seen a Redwing in the garden!

May be common elsewhere but it is the first time I have seen one so I am excited lol!

Hope still with us, no better yet but no worse.

Percy pigeon is doing fine with his wing strapped up. Eating and pooping well!

Everyone else fine and dandy :-)

Sunday 4 January 2009

And another one

Poorly pigeon broght in today, he has been bitten quite badly on the wing by a cat but I think he will be fine.

Hope is doing well, still hanging in there :)

Saturday 3 January 2009

Ist Bird of the year

We had our first patient in today.

A little collared dove called Hope. A lady nearby found her looking distressed and brought her over. She is suffering badly from Trichomaniasis (Canker). Her chances are not very good but we are giving her a go. She is being medicated and crop fed and is snuggled down on a heat pad.

Fingers crossed for her eh?

Thursday 1 January 2009

Happy New Year

Here's Wishing you all
a Happy and Healthy
New Year

All the best for 2009
From Owl Momma, Eaglebeard
and all the critters at the Haven
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