‘Fill Up’

 Finally, a good feel story.

'Fill Up' the penguin taking off back into the wild after 33 days of care in the penguin hotel!

 

This young man came ashore a bit early to begin his moult.  Penguins are

about the only birds to completely moult in one sitting.  In doing so they

have to get onto land as they are not waterproof during this time.  This can take 14 – 17 days.  But this fella decided he liked the penguin hotel and took  33 days.  The name ‘Fill Up’ because the A LA CARTE menu of WA Pilchards

were to his liking and he was hard to fill up.  Anyway, I released him back where he was found – he took off into the surf so fast I  missed a good picture of him.  But wonderful to see him on his way.

Pelican #896 was also released this week after 10 days in care.

Betty

Barely born

A very sad afternoon - we don't like to tell sad stories but this has to be brought to everyone's attention.

In the Wollongong Council area there are a number of long open beaches where dogs can run free off leash. But some people believe they are a  law unto themselves and just don't care!

This poor little baby on his first flight has been mauled by one or two dogs with multiple puncture wounds and the bone in his right leg crushed. He was on a dog free beach - 10 minutes up the road is a beach a couple of miles long where dogs are allowed.

I have spoken to people in the past about their dogs on this particular beach but what's the good of making these laws if no-one polices them. I do own a dog myself. The horrific part of this story is that the poor bird was left bleeding on the beach to die. He was absolutely terrified and was taken to the vet where sadly he was euthanized.

The onus is on all of us to take care and be responsible.

Betty.

Horrific injuries on a pelican mauled by a dog.

PEARL

PEARL - Pardon the ‘pun’ but this lucky girl is from Oyster Bay in Sydney.

Pearl - the pelican rescued from Oyster Bay in Sydney.

 

Thanks to Renee, a resident with a waterfront property who spotted ‘Pearl’ in trouble and made the phone call.  So Australian Seabird Rescue team member Leonie and I (Betty) headed up the mountain at 6:30pm. There she was in the mangroves making it very hard to get her without heading for deeper water which of course is what her instinct told her to do! It was now 7:30pm and luck was really on her side as there was a couple out fishing in their boat and we called them for help.

A great big thank you to ‘Gas’ and his friend from Como who helped us pick her up and didn’t complain about the mud in his boat! He did comment though that he was lucky he went out with one bird and ended up with three, ha ha!

I hope he caught his fish when we left! So in a couple of days she will be released and be able to wash the mud off herself. Thanks again Renee for ringing - ‘Gas’ for helping us and Leonie for missing her dinner!

Footnote: Great news! Word from Lindsay of S.O.S.S.A, the rare Westland Petrel that was picked up on Christmas Day and cared for my Lindsay then transported to Taronga Zoo Hospital by out Co-Ordinator Kirsten, is due to be released in the coming week - so just over three weeks in the expert care of the hospital she will be on her merry way.

The Hospital staff is of the opinion she is about 8yrs old and minor feather damage would be from going in and out of a burrow tending to her young. A great result from the effort of rescue teams working together.

Betty

LUCKY CHRISTMAS DAY

It certainly turned out that way for this rare beauty. A Westland Petrel, she was found on a beach at Wollongong and picked up by team member, Jess.

Off to our mate Lindsay of S.O.S.S.A for correct identification-she was very rare but also very underweight.   So Lindsay took over her care and thanks to his dedication (and 2am feeds!) she is now in the hands of Taronga Zoo Hospital. Lindsay got her strong enough and a check by Vet Mike Cannon, was conducted before the long trip was made to the Zoo.

Discovered in the late 1940’s there are only 3300 known pairs in the world. Westland Petrels are from the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand and spend their time travelling between there and South America. What was she doing here?   Who knows, maybe she was following Santa’s Sleigh!

Last word from the hospital is that she is doing really well, so once again, a big thank you to Lindsay for his dedication and knowledge. Lindsay also banded her, making her only the second Westland Petrel ever banded in Australia. 

Thanks also to Vet Amy at the Zoo Hospital who is also looking after a hawksbill turtle, transported there by S.O.S.S.A. The turtle was injured but with TLC will be released.

Betty

A Westland Petrel found a long way from home on a Wollongong beach

Boat Strike

Oliver holding the pelican injured from a boat strike.

A boat Strike is the only answer I'm afraid as its impossible for a bird to do this damage to himself. That is actually his bones protruding from the break.

The boatie has had to know he hit the bird so why not stop and help him or at least ring someone at the time as the wind would have been calm at the time. But no, this poor bird drifted around in pain in a howling wind by the time Australian Seabird Rescue received the call. Despite the best efforts of Marine Rescue we were unable to get him straight away as the wind kept blowing the boat just out of our reach.

So back to the harbour at dusk and with the wind easing - thanks to the keen eye of Australian Seabird Rescue team member Oliver, he was spotted way off on the other shore. Thankfully without any further fuss we picked him up and he was euthanized by Greencross Veterinary thus stopping any further pain.

So totally avoidable - I mean really - you've got to know you are approaching a big bird haven't you?

Betty