Blyth Wildlife Rescue

Last week, we received a call regarding an injured fox cub near the A189 spine road on the outskirts of Blyth. The young fox had been found unable to move in an area of woodland frequented by dog walkers.

Following careful advice via our large animal emergency line, the finders were able to transport the fox to Moorview Referrals for a vet assessment.

Following assessment and emergency first aid at the vets for dehydration and hypothermia, the young fox was transferred to our centre where we continued intensive care over the coming days.

Once the fox was stabilised and eating well, we had concerns over the use of her back legs. Vets4Pets Morpeth ran further diagnostics including several xrays, ultrasound and blood tests to try and find out the cause of the fox’s injuries and poor condition.

After further assessment, the full extent of the fox’s injuries came to light - she had sustained numerous bite wounds along her spine, tail and rump indicating an attack by a dog, causing numerous injuries and leaving the fox with minimal use of her back legs.

The inflammation and bruising was extensive, but we continue to fight for the young fox who remains in our care under treatment and is showing some progress in recovery.

We are still uncertain as to what the final outcome may be for the young v***n, but we continue to pull out all the stops to rehabilitate her back to full health.

Wildlife casualties like this young v***n are frequent especially during the summer months. It is an enormous task to maintain the hospital and rehabilitation facilities and ensure we bring in enough donations to fund our operations.

Please consider a donation today to help us continue our work in the rescue and rehabilitation of North East wildlife! 🦊

Please vote for Blyth Wildlife Rescue to share £300,000 in grants from MyGivingCircle!!! 🙏

Vote for Blyth Wildlife Rescue to share £300,000 in grants from MyGivingCircle Help them share in £1,000,000 worth of grants this year

Yesterday, we had an eventful day here at CLC headquarters when we sadly spotted a distressed baby seagull stuck in the gutter of our office building 😞

Thankfully, a call to Blyth Wildlife Rescue brought John to the rescue! The seagull is now receiving care for a wing injury and we're hopeful for a full recovery 💗

Thanks again to John at Blyth Wildlife Rescue ⭐

Today, we managed to successfully reunite one of the Killingworth cygnets back with mum and siblings, after a short period in care for an eye infection.

Regular visitors to the lakeside park will have noticed the family unit have been short of one cygnet for the last week. As with any wildlife casualty admitted for rehabilitation, we can never be sure if we will be able to get the animal back to full health.

While avoiding the repeated heavy downpours throughout the day, our volunteers managed to track down the family on the lake and reunite the cygnet successfully back into the group. The birds were observed carefully from a distance over several hours to ensure the youngster was accepted back into the family.

At around 7pm, the family were last observed swimming all together on the larger lake, with mum and cygnets happily reunited and content on the water.

Volunteers returned to the centre and returned to other duties of the day until 8pm, when we received a call to say one of the cygnets had been hit by a vehicle and killed between the two lakes.

Given our cygnet had been released only hours before, we quickly retreated back to Killingworth to retrieve the body and check on the welfare of the remaining birds.

We are fairly confident that the deceased cygnet is NOT the bird we had released just hours earlier. However, understandably, the team are shocked and saddened by the event after an otherwise successful day of returning an animal to the wild.

The road that divides the two lakes has a speed limit of 30mph with ample signage and road markings warning of waterfowl crossings. Given the other cygnets and adult female were able to make it across successfully, we can only assume the deceased bird was struck by a vehicle travelling too fast or with the intent of hitting the animal in the road.

This stunning woodpecker came in for care last month following a window strike incident, rendering the bird heavily concussed and unable to stand or fly successfully.

Great spotted woodpeckers haven’t been common patients for us in recent years, however the month of June gave us three birds at once!

The birds can be highly stressful patients, meaning it isn’t always possible to get every bird back to the wild, especially for individuals with sickness or injury requiring several weeks in care.

Thankfully, this particular bird has now been released into a fabulous location for its second chance at life following rehabilitation.

Did anyone else get caught out in the heavy rain this weekend?

This photo captured yesterday afternoon shows some of our very soggy tawny owlets who managed to get a good soaking in the downpours yesterday.

The youngsters, hand reared from small balls of downy fluff, have recently been moved into an outdoor flight. This is to allow for extra flying space and acclimatisation before being released back into the wild.

During heavy rain, you’re very unlikely to see a wild owl flying - this is due to their lack of waterproofing, with their lightweight flight feathers designed for silent flying in order to catch prey! 🦉

We are in desperate need of cat food in jelly, tinned cat/dog food, puppy pads and many other items. We have over 150 patients currently in our care at the moment and are flying through our stock.

If you are able to help, please take a look at our our Amazon Wishlist: http://tinyurl.com/blythwildlife.

Alternatively, we have a drop off point at the Jollyes Blyth - The Pet People and Pawfectly Natural - Raw & Pet supplies in Ashington! 🦔

As June is finally drawing to a close, it’s about time we play catch up with what’s been going on in this past month!

We’ve recorded 2,030 calls to our helpline this month with 215 new patients coming in for care and rehabilitation.

As ever, summer months are particularly challenging to all involved with our resources being pushed to the max in trying to keep up with demand.

June has brought us even more ducklings to hand rear - the youngsters often displaced or separated from mum and in need of help. This has meant we have to separate all ducklings into age groups as they move through different areas of the centre before release.

It has also been a very good month for rabbits, with countless numbers of single bunnies and entire litters coming in for care. The most common scenarios are recorded as cat attack and nest disturbances.

The hotter weather has also seen many hedgehogs coming in usually after being found out during the day, some with very extreme injuries that are too graphic to detail here.

As with other patients, space is always limited when dealing with steady influx of casualties, so we are constantly assessing current patients and moving them out for release back to the wild.

There have been plentiful rescues to attend to, often involving larger animals that require more experienced personnel together with rescues on water or from a height.

Stay tuned throughout today and look out for our next posts and featured patients.

Please consider supporting our work today by making a donation via Facebook or head over to our donate page on the website: www.b-w-r.org.uk/donate.

Today we are at Holywell Village First School Summer Fair. There’s plenty of activities for children and lots of fantastic stalls. Pop along and say hello! 👋

We are all set up at Freeman's Summer Fair & Girls Football Tournament. Pop along and say hi to our volunteers. Our fabulous volunteer Jan will also be performing here with Rock Choir North East • Choirs led by Rob Slater! 💛

It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Simon Cowell MBE, conservationist, founder and CEO of the Wildlife Aid Foundation, and presenter of Wildlife SOS. Simon passed away peacefully on Sunday (9th June), surrounded by his daughters, his partner and his dogs, after a brave battle with cancer.

He dedicated his life to British wildlife and worked tirelessly to ensure countless injured and orphaned animals were given a second chance in the wild through rescue, clinical treatment, and rehabilitation.

His loss will be greatly felt by his loved ones, 2-legged and 4-legged, alike.

wildlifeaid.org.uk/simon-cowell-tribute

In loving memory
Simon Cowell MBE,
19th April 1952 - 9th June 2024

During the summer months, we can expect to have numerous calls for young kittiwakes found grounded around the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle.

Last week, we received one such call for our first kittiwake of the year, but surprisingly enough we were greeted instead by an adult bird.

On examination back at the centre, the bird was found to be heavily concussed following suspected head trauma. Given the location, it’s quite possible the kittiwake was struck by a vehicle crossing over the Tyne Bridge.

The bird remains in our care and has shown good progress so far.

Kittiwakes are a very under appreciated gull species; Newcastle and Gateshead provide popular nesting locations for kittiwakes who nest here during the summer months.

Their numbers so far have suggested huge losses as a result of the avian influenza outbreaks seen last year.

Kittiwakes remain a red listed species, granting them the highest status of conservation concern.

It is hoped our adult kittiwake will make a full recovery, which will see the bird ringed by Northumbria Ringing Group before release back into the wild.

At the beginning of the week, we began to receive reports of an incident involving oil and the family of swans at Royal Quays Marina, North Shields.

Events such as this involving a water rescue of several oiled birds require a lot of resources and planning. At this time of year, the team are already hard at work with normal daily duties, dealing with a high influx of wildlife casualties from across several counties.

We managed to pull a team together to convene at the marina area later in the day, allowing volunteers time to work with animals already in care and check over equipment needed for the rescue.

Unfortunately, with operating 3 ambulance vehicles, we are used to unexpected surprises and found ambulance 2 complete with kayak to have a flat battery. A replacement was sourced and fitted in the same afternoon, just in time to get down to the marina with the rest of the rescue team.

2 kayaks accessed the water alongside teams on land ready to assist in the capture of the 2 adult swans and their cygnets, now with a visible heavy contamination of an oily substance. The rescue was vital to ensure the birds did not succumb to further waterproofing damage and to prevent further ingestion of any oil.

Our rescue effort was hampered and we were at risk of having to suspend efforts when youths started throwing large stones from under the nearby road bridge, with some rocks landing only feet away from rescuers before the youths were chased away by bystanders.

Within the first hour of the rescue our team managed to capture and contain the female swan and her 3 cygnets. The male swan, however, proved much harder to capture on the water and appeared to be the least affected by the oiling.

Despite 3 hours on the water and numerous attempts, we had to postpone further rescue efforts and get the female bird and cygnets back to the centre for cleaning.

Once at our ICU, each bird was assessed before being given fluids and undergoing their first wash and allowed to dry in an isolated enclosure fitted with CCTV for monitoring.

It is hoped the family will be reunited once the male swan is captured and brought in for treatment.

It is beyond measure to know the true cost to the charity to fund operations like this - from maintaining and running vehicles, equipment, insurance, the running costs of the intensive care facilities - we hope you can help us raise £1000 from highlighting this one story out of so many in the first week of June! 🦢

Final push everyone. Please vote for us on the original post! 🙏

Ooh, these charities were voted the most :

Dogs First AND Blyth Wildlife

Which charity do you want us to support? Vote in the comments 😍

We have made it through to the final round of voting. Please can all of our supporters click on the original post and vote for the Blyth Wildlife Rescue again. We would love to keep our donation drop off point at Jollyes Blyth - The Pet People.

Thank you to everyone who has voted so far! ❤️

Ooh, these charities were voted the most :

Dogs First AND Blyth Wildlife

Which charity do you want us to support? Vote in the comments 😍

May has started with a bang for us, with a rapid surge of new patients needing our care and attention over the last 2 weeks.

So far, in the first 12 days, we have handled just over 600 calls so far in May with a current total of 55 new casualties coming in for treatment.

At present, we are currently caring for around 90 patients, including hedgehogs, various garden bird species, tawny and barn owls, several swans, 18 mallard ducklings, 14 rabbits, 1 leveret, 3 fox cubs, 2 badgers and our first otter cub of the season earlier this week.

Working with such a wide and varied range of wild animals is an absolute privilege for all involved and ensures we are always kept on our toes!

As you would imagine, dealing with such a large variety of demanding cases is very costly to our small charity, with costs far exceeding our income in donations. As usual for this time of year, we have little time available for posting updates online, but please bear with us and stay tuned for our next updates.

A number of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of releasing our first leveret of the season, following several weeks in care.

Leverets (baby hares) can be quite challenging youngsters to rear - thankfully, we have enjoyed brilliant success rates over recent years which has seen numerous leverets released back into the wild.

It is still important to note that any leveret found out in the open and seemingly abandoned does not necessarily require rescue - unlike their rabbit cousins, it is normal for leverets to be left alone in shallow divets in the ground with only occasional feeding from mum.

If you happen to find a leveret in similar circumstances, pelase liase with a reputable wildlife centre to determine the best course of action.

Our first leveret this year came in from Wrights’ Vets (see photo) and went on to be released at a safe location in County Durham.

3 weeks on from their rescue at a North Shields school, here’s our 3 fox cubs as they are today.

The cubs continue to progress well and have now been moved into an outdoor, sheltered pen where they can play and exercise more naturally.

Stay tuned for further updates on their progress!

We are looking to recruit new Casualty Collection Volunteers to join our team. This will involve collecting and transporting boxed wildlife casualties with the opportunity to progress to other volunteering roles.

There is a minimum commitment of 2 collections per month but this will depend on the volume of animals requiring our care.

We cover a huge area of the North East including Northumberland, Newcastle, Durham, North Tyneside and South Tyneside.

Please drop us an email to [email protected] or send us a private message if this sounds like something you could help us with or if you require further information! 🐾

We have had our donation bin at Jollyes Blyth - The Pet People for many years now. The donation bin has been a massive resource for the charity and many of you will have visited to drop items off for our patients.

Please could our supporters click on the original post below and nominate Blyth Wildlife Rescue to ensure our drop off point isn’t lost! ❤️

Calling all pet parents! We’re on the hunt to support a charity of your choice! Nominate the charity you’d like us to support in the comments below!

Our next patient highlight of the week introduces our first group of fox cubs of the season.

We were contacted by a concerned teacher at a school in the North Shields area regarding a young fox cub that had been seen out during the day behaving in an unusual manner.

Following our instruction, the finder was able to send us a video of the cub via Facebook, where charity medics were able to determine the health of the youngster and organise a rapid response to investigate further.

Charity medics attended the school the same evening and located the den under a wooden shed. After locating the cub underneath the shed, medics were able to use an endoscopic camera to inspect the earth and locate two other cubs also in dire need of help.

Whilst trying to minimise damage to the shed building, we removed several panels in order to gain access underneath the building where each cub was carefully retrieved with the use of a long pole grasper.

Once each cub had been retrieved safely and placed into a carrier with a heat source, we set about restoring timber panels to the shed, making the area safe for the school again before heading straight back to the centre with the cubs.

On arrival at the centre, the cubs were given emergency first aid and fluid therapy, together with recording all of each patient's vital statistics. One cub, that was initially seen on the video footage, was notably much more poorer state of health than her siblings.

Now, after just 72 hours in care, we are pleased to report that all cubs are responding well to treatment so far. The young foxes are housed in our newly refurbished isolation kennel, where youngsters can continue rehabilitation with minimum human contact and constant monitoring via our remote camera system.

Keep an eye out for our next video featuring the rescue of the cubs and their journey so far!

Two of our rescued owls are nearing the time for their release following rehabilitation spanning several weeks in our care.

Our barn owl was reported to be sitting precariously in low bushes in a field near Ushaw Moor in County Durham following a stormy weather period.

The finder was able to send us the location of the casualty together with a photo to help us decide on how best to proceed.

As you can see from the initial photo, the bird is clearly wet from recent heavy rainfall and did not move away when approached - a clear sign that something is very wrong.

Volunteers Michael and Pat attended the location and retrieved the bird and made an initial assessment before heading to Wrights’ Vets in Birtley.

The barn owl was found to have a fracture to one of her wings, but thankfully the injury did not require surgery and so we were able to continue treatment back at the centre.

Our tawny owl was reported to be seen at the side of a road in the Gateshead area. One of our volunteers was able to attend the location and retrieve the bird safely before returning to the centre for further assessment.

A large number of the bird of prey casualties we deal with are found by roads and have typically suffered some degree of traumatic injury as a result from being struck by a vehicle.

As you can see, the owl has made excellent progress and has been recently moved out to an outdoor aviary for further exercise prior to returning back to the wild in County Durham.

We were recently called out to the North Seaton branch of Crossling Ltd Newcastle after a bird of prey had been trapped within their warehouse for a few days. Staff had tried their best to get the bird to leave the building but without success.

It is quite a common callout scenario for rescuers at the charity, where birds of prey in particular often end up in larger warehouse buildings with high ceilings.

Thanks to a mezzanine floor at this property, rescue efforts were made much easier than with other buildings with high roof spaces. The bird gave rescuers a fair run around before eventually being captured safely within 15 minutes on site.

A quick assessment of the bird found the sparrowhawk to be in surprisingly good health – with fair weather conditions, the bird was released immediately outside the building, giving rescuers and Crosslings staff a good flying display before landing in nearby trees.

And then there were none!

Last weekend, after exactly 2 months in care, we were finally able to release our final grey seal of the season Aphrodite.

Aphrodite came into our care back in February following a period of bad weather along our coastline – the pup weighing in at just over 15kg was rescued near Cresswell as the tide quickly closed in around her.

Maintaining her characteristic bald patches, the now very healthy seal now weighs in at 40kg and is the last to leave our care – a particularly strong season which saw 15 grey seal pups come in for care.

Here are a selection of images captured throughout her time with us from beach rescue and recovery through to her eventual release!

A number of weeks ago, we received several calls to our large animal line from concerned members of the public regarding a fox in a North Tyneside park

As with the majority of rescue tasks, we require at least one or two experienced volunteers to attend large animal casualties in the field. This case was especially urgent given the busy location with visitors and their dogs.

We managed to get a couple of volunteers from their animal care roles at the centre to attend and successfully capture the adult male fox, who appeared to be sick and disorientated.

He was taken back to the centre for assessment by a senior medic, who administered emergency first aid and ensured the animal was comfortable overnight.

Despite receiving fluids and pain relief overnight, the fox while still alive and more active, was still very much disorientated and uncomfortable the following morning.

With lack of improvement following treatment, we made the call to take the fox to one of supporting vets, Vets4Pets Morpeth to assess further; taking x-rays, blood tests and ultrasound to find the cause of illness.

Unfortunately, the fox was found to be in kidney failure and the only course of action was to end his suffering.

Last year, we dealt with 26 fox casualties - a number that can vary widely year on year with a large majority of admissions presenting in such bad condition, euthanasia is the only option.

Regardless of the outcomes, we still strive to be here for the wildlife casualties of tomorrow and continue to do our very best for those individuals entrusted into our care.

...AND THEN THERE WERE TWO...

After a very busy few months working to rescue and rehabilitate 15 grey seal pups since 1st December, we have been left with two pups in care who were rescued in early February.

Aphrodite was found beached following one of our many storms to hit the North East region this year. She was found on the beach near Cresswell looking in bad shape with a very distinctive lack of fur, which she still maintains today!

On this particular day, we were very short on the ground with trained and experienced volunteers, so it was a few hours before we were able to make it to the seal just in time as the waves lapped around her at high tide just as daylight had faded.

She has been on quite the rehabilitation journey, only learning to feed herself just 2 weeks ago, requiring assist feeding several times a day - a little longer than most seal pups.

Next to join us was Eros - a young male pup found beached on the very busy Tynemouth Longsands after being harassed by out of control dogs. Thankfully, a member of staff from nearby Tynemouth Aquarium was quickly on the scene and safely secured the youngster before we arrived. The seal was brought to safety before being transported back to the centre for treatment.

Both seal pups underwent first aid, regular assist feeding and worming before being moved outside once they mastered the ability to feed themselves - a sight to behold for all those involved in their care.

Each seal weighed 15kg on arrival, but both have made steady gains during rehabilitation and now weigh a very healthy 30kg each. We look forward to their release back into the wild in the coming weeks.

Meeting the costs of rescue and rehabilitation of this season's seal youngsters has been a challenge, with charity expenditure exceeding £20,000 since 1st December.

We now look to prepare for whatever challenges are in store once spring arrives.

On Thursday night, we received a call to our large animal emergency line regarding a swan that had been hit by a car in Killingworth Lake carpark.

On arrival we found the deceased swan just behind a parking space with severe head trauma, overlooked by the finders who called for help.

This incident along with others in recent months have led us to appeal to all park visitors at Killingworth and elsewhere to only feed waterfowl at the waters edge.

Another similar incident at the QEII park in Ashington happened just as medics were arriving in the carpark to check on another casualty, when they observed another swan being ran over by a reversing vehicle. Medics rushed to alert the driver and tended to the swan, who unfortunately died during transit back to the centre.

All these incidents are entirely avoidable, yet we see so many park visitors at many locations feeding birds in carparks and even by the roadside.

Feeding in the water is more natural for waterfowl and ensures birds are safe while cutting out the association with food and parking areas.

🐇 With Spring fast approaching we are anticipating the arrival of lots of baby animals, so we wanted to share some advice on leverets (baby hares). Unfortunately, we admit leverets every year who have been picked up by well-meaning people who believe they've been abandoned.

Leverets are born fully furred with their eyes open, and mother hares will leave their young hidden in long grass for the majority of the day, only returning to feed them a couple times. If you come across any leverets on their own, please don't pick them up unless they are in immediate danger! It's unlikely they've been abandoned and by picking them up you could be taking them away from their mother.

If you find a leveret and you're concerned it may be injured or orphaned, please don't touch, and call us or your nearest wildlife rescue BEFORE interfering. Wild animals do so much better when reared by their own kind. Thank you ❤

Happy New Year! 🥳

Sorry it’s another delayed post for us - despite the time of year that is typically quieter for most wildlife centres, we’ve been as busy as ever!

Our dedicated volunteers have been working a combined minimum of 140 hours per week in their care roles, not including time spent on collections, travelling, rescue work or admin tasks.

There have been plenty new admissions coming through the doors in addition to those patients still in care from last year. From the 1st of December, we have also continued to extend our care facilities to accommodate sick and injured grey seal pups.

We usually take in only 2 individuals at a time in previous seasons, but this season we have rescued 11 pups; 11 pups that would’ve otherwise been left in desperate states or put to sleep.

Currently there are little to no rehabilitation spaces available for seals needing help both locally and nationally. Our team have certainly stepped up to the mark and we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far.

There is however hidden costs in extending care to these marine mammals, with current costs exceeding £4000 so far in fish and medicines alone.

We are now also faced with the real possibility of having to refurbish our seabird enclosure with a larger pool to allow seals to swim and build up their strength prior to release. This also comes at a cost estimated to be another £4,000, with charity volunteers self building to keep costs down.

We will be introducing you to more of our pups and their stories throughout the week. If you’re able to, please consider a donation so we can continue our vital work for sick and injured seals in the region.

You may have already seen us featured in local press articles with a seal pup that was found under a tree in Blyth in addition to a short feature on ITV national news back in early January.

It’s heartbreaking to see and hear of countless other youngsters being put to sleep simply because there are no facilities available to tend to their needs.

We could receive a £1,000 donation with your help through the Movement For Good Awards. The nomination window is open!

Nominations made from Jan 1st 2024 – December 19th 2024 will be entered into all remaining £1,000 draws. Nominations from previous years do not roll over. You are only able to nominate the charity once as any further nominations will be void.

The draw will be selected at random which means the more nominations the charity gets, the greater our chances of winning. It takes less than one minute to nominate BWR, please help by sharing this post and spread the word!

Please visit this link to open the pre-filled nomination form: http://tinyurl.com/Nominate-BWR ❤️