Oily peli's at Greenwell Point

Last Sunday Betty received a call from Australian Seabird Rescue team member Shari, to say there were a bunch of pelicans at Greenwell Point covered in oil. So a scramble was on to get there asap. Betty and Kathryn took the ASR van with Kirsten and Jeff following close behind. Betty and Kathryn thought they were only 5 minutes from their destination when low and behold they rounded a corner and came across a herd of cows crossing the road heading for their afternoon milking (not sure what "Mr Cow" was doing amongst them!). 

We had to wait for a herd of cows to cross the road! They were very interested in us.

After waiting patiently for them all to cross (we didn't have much choice did we!) we continued on our way. Shari and Sean were waiting for us when we arrived at Greenwell Point along with Judy from WIRES who had come along to help. Shari and Sean had already captured one pelican. This one not only had oil on his feathers but had a bad wound on his back. The nooses were set and Shari and Sean managed to capture another of the oily pelicans while Jeff snagged one using the beak grab method. By this time the birds had become rather wary and while still hanging around hoping for a free feed, they were not coming close enough to capture. So unfortunately this left at least 3 more oily birds out there.

The least affected of the pelicans was taken to Judy's for treatment and overnight care in an enclosure usually reserved for wombats! Betty and Kathryn took the other 2 back to Wollongong in the van, with the birds protesting all the way.

We stopped at the Berkeley fish shop to pick up supplies for the birds dinner  and Betty noticed a sick pelican in the wetlands. Jeff had attempted to catch this bird in the morning but at that stage she still had enough energy to continuously keep out of his reach. So no rest for Kirsten and Jeff as they were called on their way home from Greenwell Point and using the kayak successfully picked up the now very sick bird. She has botulism, which is very prevalent at this time of year. With a few days of TLC, many of these birds are able to make a full recovery. Meanwhile, the two oily birds were installed in their new home. Their bath would wait til the next day as it was so wet and miserably cold by this time.

The oily pelicans are washed and given antibiotics.

It has been a busy period for ASR and Betty has had a lot of birds come into care. We don't know how the Greenwell Point birds became covered with oil so the worry is how many and what other wildlife are affected.

Many thanks to Shari, Sean, Judy, Betty, Kirsten, and Jeff for their help in the successful capture of 3 oily birds and also thanks to the member of the public who first noticed and reported them.

Kathryn

Rescue in Greenwell Point

A late afternoon call saw us off down the coast to Greenwell point south of Nowra after a sick pelican.

Being wild birds they will always use whatever strength they have left to escape - so in with the kayak and our member Kirsten off after the pelican. After a lot of paddling and at one point leaving the kayak and swimming halfway across the channel regardless of her own safety, Kirsten managed to round the pelican up and bring her to shore. She has a large wound on her neck where someone has obviously hooked her and just ripped it out. Now being infected this has travelled through her precious body and made her very ill. She is now in care and with a lot of TLC she will be able to return to the wild, hopefully.

A mighty effort from Kristen - her first time in the kayak - this little pelican owes her life to her. A bit embarrassing for Kirsten though as we had to get petrol on the way home and Kirsten had discarded her shorts for this very elegant towel sarong - not a good look for the party she was now late for! Thank you Kirsten, Number 729 is very grateful I'm sure and also thank you to Kirsten for the donation of a tank of fuel.

A big thank you also to Gordon who rang in about this little pelican - we rely on the public spotting any of our precious sea & shore birds in trouble. Also thanks to a young man Kyle who helped us at Greenwell Point.

Betty

Kirsten in her elegant sarong!

Rescue of the Ducklings!

One of ASR's regular activities is to go on "Southern Patrols"  where we visit a number of locations between Shellharbour and Georges Bay. This is to check on the health of the birds and catch any problems if we see them. On our March patrol we had a surprise rescue at Greenwell Point. People swimming in the public pool called us over and asked if we could help. Six tiny ducklings were trapped in the pool. They were too young to fly and the water level was too low for them to scramble out. Mr and Mrs Duck were very distressed and attacking anyone who tried to come near their babies. Out came the long handled net, and with the assistance of the kids in the pool, the ducklings were herded into the net. They were released back to mum and dad who with much quacking, took off with their brood as fast as they could waddle!