Monday 31 October 2011

Paul swims to rescue sick pelican.


This is Paul, friend and helper of Australian Seabird Rescue SC. For years now Paul has rescued many pelicans, penguins and silver gulls on his daily run along Port Kembla Beach.

Recently Paul helped again as this very sick pelican managed to get enough energy to fly into the water at Fisherman's Beach. We hoped it might swim back to the beach, as being a seabird, it had the advantage over us in the water. Paul swam out and around behind the pelican and headed it toward the sand where he caught it.

The bird is now in care, on antibiotics suffering with pneumonia. Thank you Paul for your support.
Paul swam out to rescue this sick pelican.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Little Black Comorant adopts a pelican for its' mum!


Here's a delightful Australian Seabird Rescue story from Rhonda....
This is very young " Little Black Cormorant '' (which is its name as opposed to Cormorant or pied cormorant). He was found in a backyard at Fairy Meadow, after obviously having left Mum and was undernourished. At the same time we had a very gentle pelican in care who had recovered from pneumonia. The poor Little Cormorant decided to adopt the pelican as its Mum. It snuggled up to her and walked around with her every step. At night I found it sleeping under the pelican's chest.
What was I to do when it was time to release them? I decided to release them together. When they arrived at the lake the pelican swam towards the breakwall and the Little Cormorant followed. Later on in the day 3 more adult Little Cormorants arrived and since then they have adopted the juvenile and they fly around together.
The pelican is doing fine also.

Little Black Comorant


Little Black Comorant adopts a pelican for its' mum!

Monday 24 October 2011

Sometimes it requires the patience of Job to catch an injured pelican!

Here is a story from Betty about a rescue her and Leonie undertook on the Sunday.

Ever heard of the patience of Job? Ever wondered who Job is? I have the answer - Leonie.
Leonie and I responded to a call for a female pelican with a hook in her chest on 23rd October, at Gerringong, South Coast, NSW.
After failing to get much interest on the boat ramp from the birds, we pretended we also were not interested and just hung around. In the meantime some fellas came back in their boat with a couple of fish to clean. So off went Leonie and set up her noose to the side of the boat ramp. I threw all our fish and the fellas threw bits of theirs -  they did get a bit confused about which bird they were aiming for and almost hit Leonie with a lovely chunk of fish! Well the stubborn little girl with the hook just stood on the rock and missed out on all the good bits. The other birds had their fill and were just standing around preening or wandered back to the water. With just a few scrappy bits left on the sand it was on! Leonie on the boat ramp pretending not to look and the little girl staring her down. Who was going to give in first?
I just lent on the cleaning table ready to pick her up if caught. Finally after about 1/2 hour and a crowd of about 12 gathered, the little girl broke and walked into the noose - CAUGHT! In 10 minutes the hook was removed from her chest, the wound flushed with antiseptic and the line untangled around her foot. She was carried back to the water's edge and released with a cheer from the crowd.
With a lot of patience, a great result and good PR, as we handed out a dozen of our contact cards. A local lady was so impressed she has offered to check on the birds to see if they are still there as it takes Australian Seabird Rescue South Coast 1/2 hour to get from "home base" to Gerringong. She would've been in real trouble with the line tangled around her foot and attached to the hook in her chest.
Good on you Leonie! A great result for rescue Number 711 and thanks to the Fishos with a sense of humour.

Leonie waiting very patiently for the hooked pelican to step into the noose.
The pelican has a hook in her chest and fishing line tangled around her foot.


Pelican number 711 is successfully treated and released.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Over 250 oiled birds are now being cared for at the Mount Manganui Wildlife Response Centre



The Mount Manganui Wildlife Response Centre now has 253 birds in care including petrels, shags, penguins and shearwaters plus 3 seals. Approximately 1300 birds have not survived. When the birds are brought into the centre they are assessed by vets and ornithologists to single out those which are physically strong enough to survive. The oil is too thick to remove by simply scrubbing. They are first bathed in warm canola oil which breaks down the fuel oil, then washed in warm detergent. The birds take about 5 days to preen the detergent from their bodies but they will have to be held in the wildlife centre for several months until their natural habitats have been cleaned of the oil.
A group of Hawke's Bay residents have knitted tiny woolly penguin pyjamas! These will be put on oil smeared Little Blue penguins to prevent them preening before their feathers have been washed free of the oil.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm



Back on the Rena, 88 containers have been lost overboard with 30 of these unaccounted for. Many of the remaining containers are in a precarious position and more are expected to be lost. Heavy seas have forced salvation efforts to cease and increased fear of the ship breaking apart.

Katie Cox captured exclusive close-up images 

of the grounded Rena off the coast of Tauranga.