So, I'm sitting on the beach in Northland, New Zealand, watching the birds just before dusk with the eco-kayaking guide (the trip wasn't all by boat). It was really lovely, with a ton of different birds moving over the harbor and many of them heading out to the offshore islands where they had their nests.
There were binoculars provided, and something in the water caught my eye, but it was just a buoy, so I went on watching and relaxing while the guide chatted.
Well then we catch a movement, and there's a cormorant flapping in the water, just by the buoy. Not good. We watch a minute, and the guide tells me there will be a net there. And we're getting increasingly worried because the bird isn't moving with the current but thrashing and ducking his head.
So off we go, down the beach and right into the water (no, I didn't have my bathing suit on). I get the guide to hand me his shirt and come up behind the poor bird. He of course wasn't fond of me, but he kept looking under the water, trying to see what had hung him up, and maybe trying to work free as well (clearly wasn't going to happen).
So steady as we can I get the shirt and the guy distracts the bird a little. It took me two or three tries but I got the head secured (kids, don't try this at home, unless there is no one at all that you can call for help). The guide luckily had his knife so he cut the bird free, which took quite some doing. There was a large fish in the net, which was prolly why the bird went down there to begin with.
Anyways, I know how to carry a bird properly, so I get him back to shore with no trouble and show the guide how to do it so I can give the bird a look over.
He'd scraped up his patagium as expected (that's the front of the stretchy bit that extends between their wrist and body) but no where near as bad as I'd feared. He was a bit swollen, and his legs had tiny scrapes as well, but I decided he'd be just as good with a roost in the trees overnight as he would getting hauled around and looked at and held by someone else. Mind, there were a lot of factors that went into this decision, including making sure he wasn't thin and knowing he'd not been out there more than five minutes before we spotted him, if that long at all. And no broken bones, etc. (Again, kids, don't try this at home. Get the bird somewhere quiet and dark, provide a little water if needed, and get them to a rehabber. If you have to keep them overnight, just keep them quiet. Poking in on them or fussing or playing music will do tons of harm. If you see a wound or blood, leave it. The rehabbers know what to do AND how to do it. Stress kills.)
So we held on to him long enough to get him down an estuary and near the trees where he would be roosting for the night. (It was great being a vet student and having a naturalist there so we could run things by each other and work together to sort out what was best in this specific case.) They aren't great flyers and I didn't want him overly working those wings after being hung up. But he did get a nice even flight to move away from us and then sat on the beach and looked around a bit. I got the impression they are very smart birds, always assessing and trying to think things through.
After a few minutes, he flew off, into the trees and to have a nice rest. I'm sure he'll be out fishing tomorrow with no worries, aside from those fucking fish nets and any stray hooks. If we hadn't been there, on that mostly empty beach, he likely would have drowned or shred himself up well before anyone else found him.
Set your traps responsibly people. Don't be farking lazy. Oh, and the net wasn't properly IDed, so the guide will be calling Fish&Wildlife in the morning and they'll be compensating the net if they find it.
But anyways, it was a Pied Cormorant that I was able to save this evening. They are pretty big birds and really nicely specialized for what they do.
And yes, cormorants are also known as shags. I saved a shag. May he be spared people's stupidity in the future.
There were binoculars provided, and something in the water caught my eye, but it was just a buoy, so I went on watching and relaxing while the guide chatted.
Well then we catch a movement, and there's a cormorant flapping in the water, just by the buoy. Not good. We watch a minute, and the guide tells me there will be a net there. And we're getting increasingly worried because the bird isn't moving with the current but thrashing and ducking his head.
So off we go, down the beach and right into the water (no, I didn't have my bathing suit on). I get the guide to hand me his shirt and come up behind the poor bird. He of course wasn't fond of me, but he kept looking under the water, trying to see what had hung him up, and maybe trying to work free as well (clearly wasn't going to happen).
So steady as we can I get the shirt and the guy distracts the bird a little. It took me two or three tries but I got the head secured (kids, don't try this at home, unless there is no one at all that you can call for help). The guide luckily had his knife so he cut the bird free, which took quite some doing. There was a large fish in the net, which was prolly why the bird went down there to begin with.
Anyways, I know how to carry a bird properly, so I get him back to shore with no trouble and show the guide how to do it so I can give the bird a look over.
He'd scraped up his patagium as expected (that's the front of the stretchy bit that extends between their wrist and body) but no where near as bad as I'd feared. He was a bit swollen, and his legs had tiny scrapes as well, but I decided he'd be just as good with a roost in the trees overnight as he would getting hauled around and looked at and held by someone else. Mind, there were a lot of factors that went into this decision, including making sure he wasn't thin and knowing he'd not been out there more than five minutes before we spotted him, if that long at all. And no broken bones, etc. (Again, kids, don't try this at home. Get the bird somewhere quiet and dark, provide a little water if needed, and get them to a rehabber. If you have to keep them overnight, just keep them quiet. Poking in on them or fussing or playing music will do tons of harm. If you see a wound or blood, leave it. The rehabbers know what to do AND how to do it. Stress kills.)
So we held on to him long enough to get him down an estuary and near the trees where he would be roosting for the night. (It was great being a vet student and having a naturalist there so we could run things by each other and work together to sort out what was best in this specific case.) They aren't great flyers and I didn't want him overly working those wings after being hung up. But he did get a nice even flight to move away from us and then sat on the beach and looked around a bit. I got the impression they are very smart birds, always assessing and trying to think things through.
After a few minutes, he flew off, into the trees and to have a nice rest. I'm sure he'll be out fishing tomorrow with no worries, aside from those fucking fish nets and any stray hooks. If we hadn't been there, on that mostly empty beach, he likely would have drowned or shred himself up well before anyone else found him.
Set your traps responsibly people. Don't be farking lazy. Oh, and the net wasn't properly IDed, so the guide will be calling Fish&Wildlife in the morning and they'll be compensating the net if they find it.
But anyways, it was a Pied Cormorant that I was able to save this evening. They are pretty big birds and really nicely specialized for what they do.
And yes, cormorants are also known as shags. I saved a shag. May he be spared people's stupidity in the future.
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Good for you Fenika
You go Silver King