Kerguelen Petrel

This very rare pelagic bird breeds in the Southern Atlantic and Southern Indian Oceans. It was unknown in the Australian region until a specimen was found in 1926. It is often seen among the pack ice but seldom seen in Australian seas. However – this poor bird was caught up in the “perfect storm” being blown across from the big system in West Australia then caught up in the East Coast low that caused havoc over the weekend of the 5^th and 6^th June. It must have been like being in a big washing machine – scary for a 36cm bird with a wingspan of 81cm.

The rare Kerguelen Petrel blown into NSW South Coast shores during a storm.

He was found in a backyard at Callala Bay approx 1 1/2 hours south of Wollongong.

Not being able to identify him from the photos I asked Australian Seabird Rescue team member Lisa to send photos directly to Lindsay of Southern Ocean Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) who is an absolute expert on seabirds. Lindsay wanted to measure the birds feathers etc for absolute identification. So he drove an hour south (for which I am very grateful) and Lisa drove 45 mins north to meet and for him to bring the bird back. He of course was correct in his identification from the photos but found the bird to be only half the weight he should be. Due to the rarity of the bird Lindsay looked after him through the night but he just didn’t have any fight left in him and very sadly died quietly. He is now off to the Australian Museum in Sydney for display.

A great big thank you to Lisa for collecting and transporting him and Lindsay of SOSSA for driving south to bring him back and care for him.

It has to be stressed again the importance of getting these seabirds to specialist care and identification. Dead birds are invaluable also for research.

Betty.

Friday 11pm - Pied Oystercatcher

This very handsome, very young Pied Oystercatcher found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Considered vulnerable it was important to do whatever for him.

Young Pied Oystercatcher found in a shipping container at Port Botany

He was taken to the Exotic Animal Hospital in Sydney by a worker at the Port Botany (Botany Bay) shipping container terminal after being found in one of the containers. The Animal Hospital rang me and asked if I could take the bird but they had to come after duties hence the 11pm arrival time in Wollongong.

Tucked in safe for the night I took him early next morning to my mates Lindsay and Janice of SOSSA (Southern Ocean Seabird Study Ass) for advice on the best care for him.

Lindsay, with his over 40 years experience explained the poor thing had been “kidnapped”. Apparently the parents would have warned him of on incoming danger and to hide and they would come back for him, so he’s run into the container. Not yet fledged it was decided to take him back to Port Botany and let the parents find him.

BUT a dilemma!!!! The terminal doesn’t work weekends and despite a lot of phone calls we couldn’t get access to where he came from.  It was decided he had to go to Taronga Zoo Hospital to be cared for until fledged as after two and a half days the parents would have stopped looking for him. These birds are very territorial and the local birds would probably kill him so release in Wollongong was out of the question.

After a weekend in care dining on mussels, fish, octopus and my toes he was off to the Zoo in Sydney on Monday with a big thank you to Lindsay for transporting him as I was unable to go and no A.S.R. Volunteer was available.

With all the best facilities at the zoo he will be taught to forage for food himself and released where he came from in about 3 weeks when he can fly.

Thank you S.O.S.S.A., Taronga Zoo Hospital and Homebush Exotic Animal Hospital.

Betty

ENDANGERED

This very handsome young Westland Petrel was found lying on the sand of a Wollongong Beach by a passer-by who fortunately rang Seabird Rescue.  These birds only breed in the Paparoa Ranges on the top of bluffs which are densely forested on the South Island of New Zealand mostly migrate to Chile before returning.

Western Petrel found on Wollongong Beach

So immediately off to our friends Janice & Lindsay of SOSSA (Southern Oceans Seabird Study Assoc.) to be assessed at just over half her weight should be she was hydrated with critical care fluid straight away and due to the late hour, Lindsay kept her to be fed during the night (Thank you Lindsay)

Into rehab the next day she appeared to be doing okay, but on day 5 despite gaining weight she started to look not so happy.

Lindsay consulted with Taronga Zoo Hospital and it was decided she would fair better up there with best facilities where she could swim etc.

Not being able to get a Seabird Rescue volunteer to take her to Sydney / Mosman, (almost two hours away) it fell back on Janice & Lindsay to transport her to the Zoo, for which a great big thank you goes to them as I couldn’t go with other birds in care needing 3 hourly attention.

But the lesson here is the IMPORTANCE of notifying someone of any seabirds found dead or alive.  It really is imperative to identify them and if alive to go to the best possible care.

Thank you again, Janice & Lindsay of SOSSA and Taronga Zoo Hospital for taking over her care and hopefully release in a couple of weeks.

Betty 

The Amazing Brown Booby

The amazing Brown Booby - found well away from her usual habitat

This beautiful and unusual tropical bird was found by our Australian Seabird Rescue branch Co-ordinator, Kirsten, and Team Member, Dallas, well away from her usual habitat - we can only assume with a sore wing she was caught in the big monsoonal trough in the new year.

The Boobys usually roost on coral cays, buoys or the rigging of ships – it is quite common for them to hitch a ride on a ship.  We went straight to our mates at SOSSA (Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association) for an assessment and under the care of Cannon & Ball Vets she was assessed as having some head trauma as well as a sore wing.  On the Sunday, and with no improvement, we decided to take her to Greencross Vet as Cannon and Ball Vets weren’t open and an Xray revealed no break but a lot of tissue damage.

Lindsay and Janice of SOSSA had a very good friend visiting, Damien, who is the assistant curator of the Northern Territory Wildlife Park, so he also looked at Ms Booby.  She was certainly being looked after and seemed settled for a few days on medication.  However, she became stressed and stopped eating and was totally disoriented.  We took her back to Mike Cannon and it was decided the head trauma showed little improvement and the kindest thing we could do was to euthanize her. Being such a beautiful bird she was sent by SOSSA straight to the museum in Sydney to be included in their display.

A big thank you to Lindsay of SOSSA, Mike from Cannon & Ball Vets, Heyn from Greencross Vets and Damien of the NT Wildlife Park for their assistance.  It was great to meet Damien being an ex NT girl and to hear an update on the Wildlife Park.

Betty

CARELESS FISHING LEADS TO TRAGEDY ON FAIRY MEADOW BEACH

A call came in regarding a dead bird, tragically a Pied Oyster Catcher, which was on Fairy Meadow Beach, entangled in fishing line, with a band on its leg. 

Australian Seabird Resecue Team members, Terry and Fran, headed out to collect the bird whilst I checked things out with our mates at SOSSA.  Being an endangered species it was delivered to Lindsay Smith of SOSSA and he checked his records.  It was a sad result for Lindsay as he had banded the bird as a chick (approximately 12 days old at the time) in December 1992  on Flinders Isle off Port Kembla.  Yes, that’s right, 21.5 years old only to meet its fate due to someone not caring – it is presumed someone was fishing among the cunjevoi and rocks, the line became snagged and he/she just cut the line.

What a horrible death for the poor thing as the tide came in.

Oyster Catcher tangled in fishing line

Please – STOP – THINK – REMOVE AND TAKE HOME ANY FISHING LINE OR DEBRI.  IT REALLY IS VERY EASY TO BE RESPONSIBLE.

Betty

Turtle in need of some TLC

Haven’t reported for a while – thankfully it’s been a bit quieter with the colder weather.  Of course there’s always birds in trouble if you go looking.

This young lady, a green sea turtle, was picked up by one of our local pro fishermen as she didn’t ‘look right’.  A quick call to our mate Lindsay of SOSSA to come with me to assess her resulted in the determination with his expert eye that she had an infection. 

So, with the assistance of our Australian Seabird Rescue team member, Liz, she was off to Taronga zoo hospital for diagnosis and after xrays and blood tests plus two days in care she was cleared to be released back where she came from.

Team member Paul picked her up from the hospital and he and Lindsay released  her to continue to grow and hopefully go back to sea and breed in a few years.

A good team effort with a great result.

Betty

PEARL

PEARL - Pardon the ‘pun’ but this lucky girl is from Oyster Bay in Sydney.

Pearl - the pelican rescued from Oyster Bay in Sydney.

 

Thanks to Renee, a resident with a waterfront property who spotted ‘Pearl’ in trouble and made the phone call.  So Australian Seabird Rescue team member Leonie and I (Betty) headed up the mountain at 6:30pm. There she was in the mangroves making it very hard to get her without heading for deeper water which of course is what her instinct told her to do! It was now 7:30pm and luck was really on her side as there was a couple out fishing in their boat and we called them for help.

A great big thank you to ‘Gas’ and his friend from Como who helped us pick her up and didn’t complain about the mud in his boat! He did comment though that he was lucky he went out with one bird and ended up with three, ha ha!

I hope he caught his fish when we left! So in a couple of days she will be released and be able to wash the mud off herself. Thanks again Renee for ringing - ‘Gas’ for helping us and Leonie for missing her dinner!

Footnote: Great news! Word from Lindsay of S.O.S.S.A, the rare Westland Petrel that was picked up on Christmas Day and cared for my Lindsay then transported to Taronga Zoo Hospital by out Co-Ordinator Kirsten, is due to be released in the coming week - so just over three weeks in the expert care of the hospital she will be on her merry way.

The Hospital staff is of the opinion she is about 8yrs old and minor feather damage would be from going in and out of a burrow tending to her young. A great result from the effort of rescue teams working together.

Betty

LUCKY CHRISTMAS DAY

It certainly turned out that way for this rare beauty. A Westland Petrel, she was found on a beach at Wollongong and picked up by team member, Jess.

Off to our mate Lindsay of S.O.S.S.A for correct identification-she was very rare but also very underweight.   So Lindsay took over her care and thanks to his dedication (and 2am feeds!) she is now in the hands of Taronga Zoo Hospital. Lindsay got her strong enough and a check by Vet Mike Cannon, was conducted before the long trip was made to the Zoo.

Discovered in the late 1940’s there are only 3300 known pairs in the world. Westland Petrels are from the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand and spend their time travelling between there and South America. What was she doing here?   Who knows, maybe she was following Santa’s Sleigh!

Last word from the hospital is that she is doing really well, so once again, a big thank you to Lindsay for his dedication and knowledge. Lindsay also banded her, making her only the second Westland Petrel ever banded in Australia. 

Thanks also to Vet Amy at the Zoo Hospital who is also looking after a hawksbill turtle, transported there by S.O.S.S.A. The turtle was injured but with TLC will be released.

Betty

A Westland Petrel found a long way from home on a Wollongong beach

Banded Rail

The contrary Banded Rail.

This beautifully marked little bird though he was Muhammad Ali - the size of him and he wanted to argue with every effort to help him. Despite a gourmet menu of crickets and mealworms (compliment of Lindsay of SOSSA) he was difficult to care for. He presented as being unable to use his legs - 9 days in care saw him get stronger every day.

He was identified by Lindsay as Australian Seabird Rescue hadn't seen one before - you never stop learning do you!

With a big appetite to match his big squeaky voice he really was a character with a madly flicking tail when we approached. 

Keep an eye out for these cuties in well vegetated coastal areas.

Betty

Shearwater

A wedge-tailed Shearwater was picked up by fellow rescue group WIRES on Windang beach, exhausted. She was handed in to Australian Seabird Rescue team member Kay who noted the only apparent problem was a superficial wound to her head - probably from a seagull. So into care for a couple of days to get her back on her track. She had a band on her leg so we got onto the phone to our mate Lindsay of SOSSA (Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association) who once again with his comprehensive records was able to give us her history. She was banded on the 30th April 2005 as a fledgling off Wollongong, so who knows how many thousand kilometres she's flown in that 7 years. But her instinct has told her to come home to mate. Lucky for her with Kay's care she has been released to do just that. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of this very pretty bird.

Betty