Mrs Macronectes

The call came in to ASR South Coast at 4:30pm on 25/06/2013 from Trish of Potato Point. Peter took the call and rescued the unidentified seabird that was large and grey and was definitely not a cormorant. Peter soon worked out after a call to Betty and Lindsay that it was a Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) listed as endangered under the EPBC Act and under State legislation.

The next day she was expertly couriered down to me (Penny) in Bermagui

with a parting gift of 750g of chuck steak from Peter. A couple of more

phone calls later to Lindsay it was confirmed she was a first year female

fledgling that was exhausted and slightly underweight. Whilst in care she

ate, 2.3kg of steak, 250g octopus, 200g prawn, 3kg of pilchard, a HUGE

appetite! She was also very assertive around food by displaying her wings

with her head down all whilst walking towards me gurgling a petrel

noise.

"Mrs Macronectes" the Southern Giant Petrel in the care of Penny at Bermagui.

She was released 4 days later 3km offshore from Bermagui by a lovely

commercial fisherman on a gorgeous sunny Sunday morning. She was a little

dumbfounded when her webbed feet hit the water and perhaps a little bit

surprised and really quite unhappy about been handled again by those funny

smelling humans! It was a privilege and an honour to care for such an

amazing pelagic species. We also managed to see many other amazing

seabirds whilst out including loads of Australian Gannets.

The global population of M.giganteus is believed to be 62,000 with 31,300

breeding pairs with an estimated population decrease of 20% over the last

60 years and is continuing to be in rapid decline. There are believed to

be 7,090 breeding pairs in Australian territories and only breed on sub

Antarctic or Antarctic Islands such as Macquarie Island 1300km south of

Tasmania.

Once they have fledged (after approximately 60 days incubation and 115

days to reach their fledged weight) they disperse and do not land on land

until they reach sexual maturity approximately 6-7 years of age.

They are opportunistic predators with a preference for penguin carcasses,

with 82% of their diet consisting of birds, 4.7% penguins and the

remainder crustaceans, euphausiids, fish, cephalopods and mammals. They

locate food by smell and are known to hunt day or night particularly when

they have chicks to feed. Their biggest threat is from long line fishing

as by-catch when lines are set or ingesting hooks that are discarded,

fisherman, petrels and albatross are found around aggregations of food

such as krill and will therefore always interact with each other.

She was a beautiful and amazing petrel who clearly thought she was much

higher on the hierarchy than me even though I was taller!

Penny 

Penny releasing Mrs Macronectes 3km offshore of Bermagui

 

Rain- Hail- or Shine!

Wow- a big low-pressure system off the NSW coast on 24^th of June produced some filthy weather with torrential rain and winds.  But a phone call from a Kiama resident regarding a dolphin in trouble got everyone jumping. A quick phone call was made to O.R.C.A, and also to our Australian Seabrid Rescue team members Kay and David, who got on the road immediately despite Kay having a dose of the flu. They met up with the O.R.C.A representative to guard and monitor the dolphin who was in a bad way whilst waiting for National Parks to arrive. Whilst they were there a call came in fro Kiama Vet that someone has bought in a small seabird. So off Kay went to collect it leaving David in the rain. This little one is an Antarctic Prion and is now in care, the obviously filthy weather blew him off course. Sadly, the dolphin didn’t make it.

A big thanks to Kay and David for their efforts, and for delivering the little Prion to me for rehabilitation. We rely on the caring public to keep an eye out for wildlife in trouble- although we’d love to- we can’t be everywhere all the time, so thank you!

Kiama dolphin

Australian Seabird Rescue team members David and Kay went to help ORCA protect a stranded dolphin in the Kiama harbour.

National parks eventually came to take it away as it was dead. No apparent injury although it was terrible weather and rough seas.

Unfortunately seabird rescue is not in the photo but we were there,
dripping wet.

Kay

The stranded dolphin in Kiama harbour which unfortunately didn't survive.

FLINDERS - Pacific Heron

 

The Pacific Heron found in a backyard garden in Flinders.

This very handsome juvenile Pacific Heron, though fairly common, is rarely seen as it seldom frequents salt or brackish waters.

However this young bird found himself tangled up in a backyard garden unhurt but bewildered.  Australian Seabird Rescue took him into care for overnight observation, rehydration and feeding.

The photo shows him standing on his haunches as he was released.  They stand at a stately 90 cm high.  Within a few minutes of being released he was behind the reeds happily looking for frogs.  Usually alone except for breeding, they are occasionally seen in New Guinea and New Zealand – absolutely gorgeous.

Betty

Number 915

This handsome fella now has a smile on his face after being relieved of a large hook in his wing that had become infected, confirming the fact that these things don’t rust away or fall out.

 

ASR team member Shari with her first rescue.

 

The hook removed from pelican 915.

Congratulations South Coast Australian Seabird Rescue Team member Shari on her first rescue with the help of her husband Shawn and Judy and Ken from Wildlife Rescue.  It was a very successful capture.  As they were unable to remove the hook Shari contacted  Berry Vet for after hours  help and the vet removed the hook and we are very grateful to him

Due to infection and swelling he has to go into care for about 10 days.  Shari and Shaun kindly transported him halfway for a pickup to go into rehabilitation.

Thanks again Shari, Shaun, Judy and Ken  - it’s great when rescue groups can work so well together.

Betty