The last week has been particularly busy for Australian Seabird Rescue with various members going out on almost daily patrols. On Saturday Betty was called about a seagull which had its legs tied together. Despite an extensive search she was not able to locate the bird. On Monday Betty, Leonie and Kay went to Windang where they were able to catch a pelican which had a hook under its left wing. They successfully removed the hook and released the bird back to freedom. Each pelican is given a number when it is caught and a record made of its injury, sex, beak length and approximate age. This pelican was bird number 703 ie: this is the number of pelicans rescued by ASR since the group began in the Illawarra.
On Tuesday Betty and Leonie returned to Windang to catch another pelican this time with a swivel and fishing line tangled around its left wing. Again they were able to remove the offending material and release the bird. On the way home they received a call from a very distressed woman about the seagull with the tied-up legs. He was outside Westfield at Warrawong, so they went straight there. As Leonie set up the D-net (a special net used to catch small birds), Betty went to buy some hot chips - no not for her, for the seagull! By this time quite a crowd had gathered to watch the excitement. As Leonie waited patiently at the ready with the D-net, Betty threw a chip close to her own feet and as the seagull came for it, Betty just bent down and picked the bird up! Leonie said she felt like a real "goose" standing there with all the equipment while Betty managed to catch the bird with her hands! The gull's legs were badly tangled with the cotton and it took Betty and Leonie quite some time to get it all undone. He was fine to be released and Betty rung the caller back to let her know all was well with the seagull. After this exciting morning Betty and Leonie ate the rest of the (now cold) chips on their way home!
