Well, Mother Nature is finally springing into life and so far the Bank Holiday Weekend has been abuzz with requests for help countrywide with baby bird issues.
The vast majority of calls have been either cat attack victims of mainly blackbirds; who for their first 4-5 days out of the nest are flightless, and greatly at risk from predatory cats and magpies.
As ever, if you find a bird which has been attacked, put it in a box and keep it warm. If you don't have an airing cupboard (ideal as they are a constant warm temperature), then a hot water bottle / gel pack wrapped in a towel and placed either underneath the bird or underneath the box will help settle it down.

If a young bird, it may gape for food, and you can give it some cooked scrambled egg (no salt) with either some blunt tweezers or the handle of a teaspoon. The bird will need a couple of mouthfuls every 30-60 minutes, from dawn to dusk.

Aim to get it to your nearest wildlife rescue as soon as possible (follow the links on this website to locate your nearest), but if it's late in the day or an evening, and only shocked rather than injured, it may fare better to stay with you overnight then travel in the morning.

So far we have the usual blackbird/thrush babies around, but also numerous enquiries about baby owls, baby herons, and a growing number of ducklings.

I understand the warmer weather is just around the corner, but as the photo on this report shows, the past final week in April has looked anything but spring-like; the picture shows the bottom half of the Home Reserve looking towards the heron nesting fir trees. Thankfully the ground was not hard frozen, and on both of the snowy days, the majority of the snow had cleared by lunchtime.

Nigel