Welcome Jules

A desperate call came in to Australian Seabird Rescue about a pelican unable to move very much and blood on its wing, located on an island in Lake Illawarra. It was freezing cold and gale force winds but the bird had to be rescued. With only 2 experienced kayakers (one at work and the other hesitant) and me not well enough to even attempt it – a dilemma!

I remembered that new team member Julie mentioned she had a kayak. I rang to see if she could help. Without hesitation she said yes even after I said she was going to get cold and wet. So off we went, 2 on the kayak to the island. This poor female had her right wing smashed and almost severed. Without any trouble we picked her up and Julie paddled us back to land then off to the vet to be sadly euthanized.  Presumably she had been blown in to the bridge or an overhead cable that straddles the lake. But without Julies help she would have died a slow horrible death as the ravens would have found her. So a big thank you to Julie and welcome aboard.

Betty

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.

Cute Cygnet

A call came in to Australian Seabird Rescue at 16.30 from a member of the public who had also rung WIRES regarding 2 cygnets separated from the parents. Apparently the parents had removed 2 babies and would have come back for the others if this woman had not interfered. Unfortunately she lives near this waterway and has a reputation for interference and not understanding wildlife. In fact National Parks and the police were called last year for the same thing. What she is doing is quite illegal and feeding the birds is also illegal particularly feeding them white sliced bread definitely not good for them. The result of this inference was that a member from WIRES sat cold and freezing until 18.30 hrs to watch over them. Unable to help as it was also pitch black I told her I would go at daybreak next day.

On arrival mum and dad with 2 babies were in an adjacent pond and 1 cygnet alone and frightened apparently the other must have been taken by a fox. With steep slippery sides at the site I rang our co-ordinator Kirsten to come put the kayak in.

It was all over in 10 minutes and baby happily reunited with parents and siblings. At 4 days old this would have been a terrifying experience for this little one. So please people – nature really does know best so unless there is apparent danger interference often causes more stress.

Thank you to Kirsten ASR and Kristy WIRES for helping.

Betty.

Family happily reunited.

Bib and Bub

Look what the wind blew in! Too cute for their own good.

Bib and Bub baby cormorants, weighed only 260 and 350gms when first arrived at ASR.

Actually these baby cormorants have had a rough start in life. Their nest with them in it was blown out of a tree at the Sydney Olympic Park during gale force winds. Unable to return the nest up the tree, ground keepers took the babies to the Homebush Exotic Animal Hospital who in turn transported them to Australian Seabird Rescue in Wollongong.

Weighing a tiny 260 and 350gms they are now being spoilt and have doubled in size and weight. Luckily they avoided injury in the fall other than a scratch on the head of Bub. On maturity they have the most beautiful green eyes. Although mainly a fresh water bird they are also found in Indonesia and New Zealand.

Bib and Bub the baby cormorants are gaining weight quickly.

Our co-ordinator Kirsten what to be present when this 69 year old wrinkled body gets in the water to teach them to fish. Guess what! I love them but that isn’t going to happen.

Betty.

Heinous Act

Well I feel this picture should be seen and maybe just maybe this sort of thing will be reported if witnessed or by someone with a knowledge of the act and the monster taken to court. All birds are protected under the wildlife act.

Pelican with horrific injuries after being run over by a boat.

A call came in to Australian Seabird Rescue at 8am reporting a pelican in the water covered in blood. Unsure how far from shore I asked our co-ordinator Kirsten to meet in case we needed the kayak to reach the bird. On arrival I could see how bad she was so just waded in and carried her to shore to wait for Kirsten.

This poor little female has been deliberately run over by a boat and left floating bleeding and still alive. It had to be deliberate as in broad daylight it’s impossible to say you didn’t see the bird. The way she was torn to pieces by the propeller would have been very noisy also and to just continue and leave this poor bird in horrific pain is totally unforgivable. In my 10 ½ years with ASR I’ve seen some terrible injuries but this will remain with me forever that someone could do this. Kirsten was affected in the same way.

Please if you see or hear of any sort of cruelty or mistreatment report it immediately even if you think it may be a false alarm.

Betty.

Sydney Fish Markets

A call from Australian Seabird Rescue team member Silke, North Sydney came to me regarding a pelican at the Sydney Fish Markets with about 8cm of his top beak missing. On seeing the photo sent to me it was obvious this bird was going to be in a lot of trouble in a short space of time.  Being an hour and a half from

Wollongong it was difficult to co-ordinate.

Co ordinator Kirsten and team member Nikki attended on the Monday but were unsuccessful with the bird not wanting to leave the safety of the harbour.

So Kirsten and I went up on the following Thursday and it broke my heart to see this poor bird about 8 months old trying to retrieve scraps thrown to him from the café public having to put his head on the side under the water to scoop up the scraps. There was no way I was going home without him.

So off we went down on the oyster laden rocks to entice him with our yummy flathead. He was hungry poor thing so he was in my arms within 5 minutes.

Unfortunately with nothing that could be done for him he was taken to the vets and euthanized.

He was in a poor condition being unable to preen, no feathers under his wing making him not waterproof. He would have died a slow horrible death from hypothermia and possible starvation from incorrect diet.

Easily avoided of course if people would only stop feeding these birds and making them people friendly perhaps they may return to the wild and this sort of cruel injury would not occur. It was confirmed by the veterinarian that the injury was caused by a KNIFE.

A very sad outcome for this very handsome very young bird

Betty

Unbelievable!

Merimbula – A very pretty spot on the far south coast of NSW – but there is a monster in residence!

This monster was seen tossing juvenile silver gulls out of his boat in front of shocked children.

Two men and a young boy tossed the baby birds, their nests and some eggs into the lake. Some local kids and adults jumped in to save as many as they could – 14 birds were taken into care.

National Parks and the RSPCA were notified and now have the monsters details. One truly hopes he is taken to court and charged under the Government Wildlife Act.

Many thanks to Kristine of Wildlife Rescue and the Local WIRES volunteer for raising these birds and Australian Seabird Rescue team member Penny for telephone support. All birds have now been released – thank you to all involved.

A simple phone call would have solved this problem in an hour instead of 2 months care and expense. One wonders about the future of the boy involved in this act of cruelty.

Betty