Adventures of a volunteer driver

I replied to an invitation on the Facebook page and signed up as a driver with Wildlife in Need. The first question was 'will you catch wildlife?' so I said yes and went and bought a big net. I signed up for a few hours every Monday morning, figuring that there there might be a backlog after the weekend which I could help with. It was May and I quickly realised that we were in peak season for baby birds. My first rescue was 9 fluffy chicks who had lost Mama Duck (we looked for her for ages but couldn't find her). Next was an adorable a 2 day old cygnet, where a member of the public had handed him in after being attacked by an adult male swan. Named Pipi by the emergency vet, I drove him over to the Swannery at Abbotsbury where he could grow up in peace.

A few days later it was a swift, visiting from southern Africa, who had become tangled up in some netting. Luckily he was unhurt and I was able to let him fly free, back to his nest, from Kings Park in Bournemouth (while forgetting to video it). As summer went on, the type of birds needing rescuing changed. I became adept at catching seagulls and pigeons with my large net and enjoyed meeting (and laughing) with lovely people.

I have climbed out of windows and up stepladders, hunted in warehouses belonging to Border Force and Bournemouth Hospital. My proudest moment (so far) was rescuing an anxious seagull from a Wendy House in a nursery school playground, watched by 20 admiring 4 year olds.

Now the weather is turning into autumn. There are migratory birds around who are getting ready to depart and I look forward to my next set of adventures.

Maggie