Just a quick update to say that our Tawny Owl that got himself tangled up in Christmas lights was released last night. After some weeks of getting him used to the local owls in a large aviary we left the door open overnight and left it up to him. We keep a supply of food in the same spot so that the transition isn't too stressful, but other than that he is off roaming free now. Such a wonderful sight to see them successfully rehabilitated and released back in to the wild!

Warm regards,

Ray

Two long standing friends and members of the charity called me up on Thursday to say they had a bewildered pheasant who had taken residence in their greenhouse. They told me he seemed quite happy and was eating the bird food they were putting out for him but were worried in case the local foxes came and picked him off. So off I went nets in hand to try and catch him. 
He was really quite easy to catch, wasn't too scared of me. But upon closer inspection he turned out to be a Grey francolin (also known as a 'Teetar', so called because of the calls they make - a loud and repeated Ka-tee-tar...tee-tar"). He immediately settled in at the center and very much enjoys all the attention he gets as he is definitely an unusual sight.

Well done and a big thank you to all of our members and helpers.

Warm regards,
Ray

Today we got a call from 'YourVets' (Wythall branch) to say that a young deer had been hit by a car and wondered if we would be able to take it in. They X-ray'd him and there was no sign of any broken bones or internal injuries. Of course I went straight out and collected the little darling. Straight from there I had to go and get some goats milk to bottle feed him with. He took to this really well thankfully, as this is the hardest part. We will rear him, keeping him as wild as possible and hopefully release him back in to the wild if he makes it through!

Warm regards,

Ray

Rosie, a fantastic friend of ours, who attends the local primary school very thoughtfully put our name forward as a beneficiary of a charity cake sale the school were holding. They did extremely well raising £40 for us. Below you can see Rosie and I when she brought the money to us after school. I had no idea about this until she turned up at the door with the donation!
Our connection with Coppice run very deep as all three of my daughters were taught there. Thank you very much to everyone at the school who was involved, as the saying goes every bit helps and this will certainly be put towards the welfare of the animals in our care. 

Warm regards,

Ray

What a day! Caught two separate familes of ducks and then had a clutch of chickens brought in on the evening!
The one family had nested in the roof garden of John Lewis in Solihull, which she has done for many years, the staff were worried that the magpies and crows were going to pick them off. The other family was from Shawhurst Lane in Hollywood with not a pond in sight.
Then on the evening we had a clutch of young chicks brought in who instantly took to the orphaned ducks as you can see!
The ducklings will all be raised on to approximately 6 weeks before being released back in to the wild. Nature starts to take over at about 3 weeks old as they become less trusting and dependent. The chicks will be raised on and re-homed.
All in all another very busy day at the centre!

Warm regards,
Ray

Another very busy day as more baby birds arrive at the centre. Firstly we had a baby pheasant brought to us. Sadly the local fox had took off with her parents and she was the only survivor from the nest. She is a fiesty little devil! She is feeding for herself which is a good sign, and hopefully we can keep her wild enough that she can be released when she is old enough.

Then we had a juvenile blackbird brought in (pictured below). Thankfully he has taken really well to being syringe fed. Sometimes they get stubborn and switch-off, due to fear presumably, but this guy is being good as gold. Once he is feeding for himself we will keep him in an outdoor aviary to weather off and go wild before being released. We actually have a blackbird who came in roughly the same age who is due for release very soon. Hopefully this little guy won't be too far behind!

Well done to all the people who are rescuing these young birds!

Warm regards,
Ray