Friday 22 November 2013

Oily peli's at Greenwell Point

Last Sunday Betty received a call from Australian Seabird Rescue team member Shari, to say there were a bunch of pelicans at Greenwell Point covered in oil. So a scramble was on to get there asap. Betty and Kathryn took the ASR van with Kirsten and Jeff following close behind. Betty and Kathryn thought they were only 5 minutes from their destination when low and behold they rounded a corner and came across a herd of cows crossing the road heading for their afternoon milking (not sure what "Mr Cow" was doing amongst them!). 

We had to wait for a herd of cows to cross the road! They were very interested in us.


After waiting patiently for them all to cross (we didn't have much choice did we!) we continued on our way. Shari and Sean were waiting for us when we arrived at Greenwell Point along with Judy from WIRES who had come along to help. Shari and Sean had already captured one pelican. This one not only had oil on his feathers but had a bad wound on his back. The nooses were set and Shari and Sean managed to capture another of the oily pelicans while Jeff snagged one using the beak grab method. By this time the birds had become rather wary and while still hanging around hoping for a free feed, they were not coming close enough to capture. So unfortunately this left at least 3 more oily birds out there.

The least affected of the pelicans was taken to Judy's for treatment and overnight care in an enclosure usually reserved for wombats! Betty and Kathryn took the other 2 back to Wollongong in the van, with the birds protesting all the way.

We stopped at the Berkeley fish shop to pick up supplies for the birds dinner  and Betty noticed a sick pelican in the wetlands. Jeff had attempted to catch this bird in the morning but at that stage she still had enough energy to continuously keep out of his reach. So no rest for Kirsten and Jeff as they were called on their way home from Greenwell Point and using the kayak successfully picked up the now very sick bird. She has botulism, which is very prevalent at this time of year. With a few days of TLC, many of these birds are able to make a full recovery. Meanwhile, the two oily birds were installed in their new home. Their bath would wait til the next day as it was so wet and miserably cold by this time.

The oily pelicans are washed and given antibiotics.

It has been a busy period for ASR and Betty has had a lot of birds come into care. We don't know how the Greenwell Point birds became covered with oil so the worry is how many and what other wildlife are affected.

Many thanks to Shari, Sean, Judy, Betty, Kirsten, and Jeff for their help in the successful capture of 3 oily birds and also thanks to the member of the public who first noticed and reported them.


Kathryn