Dudley Zoo's fears flamingos 'might blow away' in gales

Zoo keepers spent 30 minutes trying to catch a flock of flamingos they feared would be blown away in strong winds.

The seven birds at Dudley Zoo have clipped wings and cannot fly but were being buffeted by gusts of 30mph (48km/h) on Thursday.

The winds threatened to sweep them off their legs and keepers feared they would be injured upon landing.

They are difficult creatures to catch, because they run fast and have powerful beaks like a swan's, the zoo said.

The birds weigh between 5.5lb (2.5kg) and 7.7lb (3.5kg) each and can easily outrun a human, the zoo said.

Zoo curator Matt Lewis said: "They can give a nasty peck if you don't get it right. Their beaks are very powerful, rather like a swan's, and leave a deep bruise.

"The best approach is to corner them and then move them by putting a hand around their neck and another across their body - and believe me, that's much easier said than done."

Another spokesman for the zoo said the flamingo enclosure was a relatively exposed outdoor area measuring about half an acre (0.2 hectares) with low walls to allow optimal viewing.

The winds were causing the birds to become distressed and had they broken their legs, they would have had to be put down, the spokesman added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-16439955

'Worst ever' storm damage at Edinburgh botanic garden

By Huw WilliamsBBC Scotland reporter

The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh has been counting the cost of this week's severe weather.

Hundreds of panels have been smashed in glass houses.

The garden is repairing them as quickly as possible, but it will take much longer to replace more than 40 trees blown over in the storms.

They include some specimens which were hundreds of years old, and others which were important in the history of the collection.

They include a Chinese Tree of Heaven which was collected at the beginning of the 20th Century by the pioneering plant hunter Joseph Rock.

Dr Ian Edwards from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE) told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "it's very sad to see some of my personal favourites, everybody's favourite trees, that have been damaged."

He said the damage was the worst he could remember in almost 30 years of working at the garden.

And if trees are important to humans, they are even more vital to wildlife.

Dr Edwards demonstrated that with a huge native oak which had stood more than 15m (45ft) tall, but had been felled by the winds.

"It's a lovely big specimen tree. Or it was. It's now lying sadly on its side," he said.

"But even though this is a big tree the roots don't go down very deep. They actually only go down about two metres (6ft) into the ground.

Read more:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-16427921

Reader spots swan with frozen beak on river at Otley

The extreme weather has started taking its toll on Wharfedale’s wildlife – as this shocking photo of a swan with a frozen beak at Otley proves.


Resident John Morgan spotted the unfortunate bird floating in the mostly frozen River Wharfe, huddled with other swans and ducks in a rare patch of water beneath Otley Bridge, last week.

As his photograph shows, the thick ice holding the swan’s beak together had also formed a two-inch icicle hanging at the end – making it impossible to feed.

Mr Morgan wanted to reach the bird himself to help it, but that proved too difficult. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was contacted to see if it could help.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), meanwhile, said he had never encountered such a case before.

He said: “Freshwater birds at this time of year can suffer if the rivers, lakes or ponds where they’re living get frozen, although normally the casualties are birds like kingfishers and moorhens.

“I have personally never heard of birds having their beaks frozen like this before, although we are a conservation rather than a rescue organisation.

“It’s indicative, though, of the exceptional freeze we have had over the last three or four weeks and it’s clearly going to be the case that some birds will have perished, from mute swans right down to kingfishers.

“It’s really a case of survival of the fittest.”

“Luckily,” he added, “mute swans generally are doing very well in terms of their population, but for the individual birds trying to endure through this cold it’s a very difficult challenge.

“What we really need are kinder conditions and a thaw to give an opportunity for these birds to feed and recover.”

The RSPB’s general advice is to leave wild birds alone to sort themselves out, unless – as in this case – they are in clear distress or danger of suffering, in which case the RSPCA can be contacted.

By Jim Jack

http://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/8762707.Wildlife_suffer_in_freezing_conditions/

Reader spots swan with frozen beak on river at Otley

The extreme weather has started taking its toll on Wharfedale’s wildlife – as this shocking photo of a swan with a frozen beak at Otley proves.


Resident John Morgan spotted the unfortunate bird floating in the mostly frozen River Wharfe, huddled with other swans and ducks in a rare patch of water beneath Otley Bridge, last week.

As his photograph shows, the thick ice holding the swan’s beak together had also formed a two-inch icicle hanging at the end – making it impossible to feed.

Mr Morgan wanted to reach the bird himself to help it, but that proved too difficult. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was contacted to see if it could help.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), meanwhile, said he had never encountered such a case before.

He said: “Freshwater birds at this time of year can suffer if the rivers, lakes or ponds where they’re living get frozen, although normally the casualties are birds like kingfishers and moorhens.

“I have personally never heard of birds having their beaks frozen like this before, although we are a conservation rather than a rescue organisation.

“It’s indicative, though, of the exceptional freeze we have had over the last three or four weeks and it’s clearly going to be the case that some birds will have perished, from mute swans right down to kingfishers.

“It’s really a case of survival of the fittest.”

“Luckily,” he added, “mute swans generally are doing very well in terms of their population, but for the individual birds trying to endure through this cold it’s a very difficult challenge.

“What we really need are kinder conditions and a thaw to give an opportunity for these birds to feed and recover.”

The RSPB’s general advice is to leave wild birds alone to sort themselves out, unless – as in this case – they are in clear distress or danger of suffering, in which case the RSPCA can be contacted.

By Jim Jack

http://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/8762707.Wildlife_suffer_in_freezing_conditions/