Fate of a Fiesty Duck

Last weekend a resident of Sanctuary Point noticed a Chestnut Teal duck in her garden that was trailing a length of fishing line. She called Australian Seabird Rescue and Shari & Shawn from Sanctuary Point successfully caught him. The local vets xrayed him, which showed that the position of a fishing hook attached to the line was very low in his gut and chances of his survival were slim. Shari and Shawn were coming to Wollongong to release a young penguin rehabed from its exhausting adventure, getting lost on uncertain currents in Lake Illawarra and now ready to go back home there, so they called Betty, Wollongong's ASR wildlife carer. She suggested bringing the duck to her and she would get another opinion from the vets at Cannon and Ball in the Gong who specialise in birds. Very quickly he proved a lively little bloke this duck, fiesty in fact and a bit of a Houdini......

Vet Kim of Canon and Ball could see from the xrays his chances could go either way, she explained later that the hook was embedded very close to his 'gizzard' and damage to it during surgery would be fatal. He escaped during this first consult and was not easy to catch even in small confines of the consulting rooms, "He's pretty fit" thought Kim, "worth a try!"

Xray of Fiesty Duck showing location of hook

He came through surgery very well and his rehab with Betty is promising, (he needed post op care, antibiotics and time for his wound to close). He has a check up with vet Kim tomorrow, if all is as good as it looks then he will be released this weekend at Sanctury Point, just over a week from his first capture.

Hook and line surgically removed from Fiesty Duck.

Fiesty Duck in his rehabilitation accommodation.

This looks like a pretty good outcome for the fiesty duck but there is a big moral in his story. Water birds and animals suffer dreadful, painful injuries and death from fishing line and fishing hooks, so please pass on this message to everyone you know who goes fishing:

DON'T leave fishing line and fishing hooks unattended in the environment

DO check that you have not inadvertently dropped any of your line or hooks

And if you hook a bird:-           

DON'T cut the line, gently reel in the bird until you can hold it securely with its wings folded to its body. Seek help from your nearest vet or ring ASR 0431 282 238.

A bird entanged with fishing line means it can be in a lot of pain and most often will suffer a painful, slow death.

Annie

Dumped Ducks

These beautiful ducks found dumped in Lake Illawarra were rescued and now living a happy life with Kate.

These 2 ducks were dumped in Lake Illawarra within days of each other! Whoever the heartless person was they were giving them a death sentence. Domestic ducks don’t drink saltwater or eat the same food as wild ducks.

The first duck was found in a terrible condition on the break-wall;  absolutely terrified , dehydrated and starving. He was picked up by team member Kate in the kayak.

The second duck also starving was found hiding in the grass.

With thanks to Kate they are both now living happily at her home with some chooks for neighbours.

People who can’t care for their animals or no longer want them, need to get in touch with the relevant authorities to seek help.

Both these birds would have perished if they hadn’t been spotted by Australian Seabird Rescue on regular patrols.

Betty

Capture of a duck at Figtree with a hook and line trailing from the corner of his mouth

Well well now -

What would these two Australian Seabird Rescue girls, Kathryn & Leonie, be doing in the bushes? Trying to attract a duck of course! - As you do!

Responding to a call for help from a fellow rescue group to help catch the duck and as we are always keen to help where we can, off we went.

The girls got themselves in the bushes and made silly duck noises for over half an hour, with bits of bread to attract this "Big Boy" over. He had a hook with trailing line in the corner of his mouth. The line also had weed caught on it causing him distress. One has to wonder how this happened in a secluded creek in Figtree, but anyway as you can see from the photo he was caught and attended to. All in the line of duty girls - well done!

Thanks also to the family who helped with the ducks capture.

Betty

Kathryn & Leonie making duck noises in the bushes!

Duck with hook & line in corner of mouth

Duck family rescued in Mt Brown

This family of 9 ducklings and 2 adults appeared out of a drain near Mt Brown at Dapto. Unfortunately some children picked up the newly hatched ducklings and took them home and put them in the bath. Poor Mum and Dad stayed outside the house calling to them. Thank goodness ASR South Coast was called and we took the ducklings into an enclosure where Mum and Dad duck joined them. We had to warm up 2 very weak and wet ducklings but once they recovered they became noisy and wanted Mum and Dad. When they were ready they were all released into a safe wetland together.

Duck family found at Mt Brown

Lucky duck!

This is one lucky duck. He flew into power lines in a street in Oak Flats on Monday and landed near a swimming pool in a backyard. He had some blood and grazes under his wings and was very quiet. He was given medication for the pain and inflammation and he slept all day in care. The next day he was up and ready to go so was released to continue his journey.

Luck Duck who flew into power lines but survived to tell the tale to his mates!

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!