Hi Everyone.
August was a busy month at Wild Bird Rescues with 42 birds needing assistance.
The beginning of the month saw ibis in trouble everywhere. I had to catch 9 in the first two weeks. Two had broken wings and didn’t make it. The other seven had fishing line entanglements cutting off their toes or feet. Sadly four of those entanglements where above the ankle, meaning that, in time, those birds will lose a foot. Ibis are heavy and rely on their ability to forage, so the loss of a foot makes life unbearable. The birds will eventually succumb to pain and starvation.
This looks like such a normal vista. Open parklands; clear skies; a beautiful morning. But that length of discarded fishing line glinting in the sun that someone has carelessly dropped on the grass, changes everything. It’s like a landmine for birds foraging in the park. Because the line is ‘light weight ‘it will readily entangle around a bird’s toes or feet. As it begins to tighten and cut into flesh the creature will suffer miserably, unless caught and freed. So remember, please pick up any discarded fishing line that you come across and burn it, or wrap it up and tie it off before you bin it. That way it’s less likely to catch birds when it gets to the rubbish tip. 
This funny little chap at right had fallen off a walkway in the Fishing Boat Harbour at Main Beach. He landed in the drink, then swam ashore and hid in a fissure in the rock wall. It was lucky that someone saw this happen because the bird was very difficult to find. He’s a barn owl and not supposed to be out during the day. Obviously something was very wrong and so I climbed down the wall and extracted him from his den before sending him to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital where he was 
checked and treated.
Elise from SeaWorld is holding a cormorant that I helped after a kayaker managed to snatch it from the water at Labrador. The bird had a big flathead poking out of its mouth that it was unable to swallow. Its beak was wedged wide open and it was in great distress. The kayaker had removed some plastic netting from around the fish, which probably accounts for why the cormi couldn’t get it down. Pulling the flathead out presented a challenge because they have razor sharp, toxic spines and need to be swallowed head first. The spines were preventing the fish from being easily regurged. I needed to do something quickly before the bird choked, so began by cutting the head off the fish. Then I disected the head while it was still in the bird’s throat; cutting it down the middle so that it could be collapsed sufficiently to be withdrawn. It took a while but once removed the bird was able to close its mouth for the first time in many hours, possibly days. The poor cormi looked soooo relieved. In fact it didn’t even try to bite, which is unheard of for cormorants. I rushed it to SeaWorld for a check-up. By the time I handed it over to Elise it was ready to rip us both apart. Always a healthy sign! Elise called him Mullin, which she tells me is the first half of the aboriginal word for flathead.
There were four really compelling stories from August; two of which ended sadly outcomes and two that had happy outcomes. 
I spent a whole week trying to locate a dolphin that had become entangled in what looked like light anchor rope attached to a short length of chain.
It was clear the creature had had the entanglement for some time, evidenced by the barnacles growing down its tail. Barnacles take months to grow to that size. Sadly neither SeaWorld, nor I, could locate the dolphin in time to effect a rescue. Eventually the poor thing starved and washed ashore at The Spit.
I also spent a month attempting to catch a pelican that had a hook in its ankle. The bird was at Jumpinpin Bar, 30 k’s north of the Gold Coast, meaning that each rescue attempt involved a long drive and a boat trip. Nothing went right. I couldn’t manipulate the creature into a snare; nets shot over it became tangled; you name it. Finally the peli turned up at the lunchtime pelican feed at Labrador, lame. I caught it easily, but several days of intensive treatment in Currumbin Wildlife Hospital confirmed the bird’s ankle capsule had collapsed from infection brought on by the hook. It was irreparable. Sadly this is a common outcome when even the tiniest of fish hooks pierces a joint and remains in there for too long.
Now for the good news!
Stella, the bush stone-curlew that I caught near Federation Walk, and who was in a very sorry state with a set of big gang hooks pinning her foot up to her chest, is doin
g well in hospital. I took her home and cut the first hook from her foot. The x-ray at right shows the third hook deeply embedded in Stella’s chest. Thankfully she survived and will be released later today.
The next piece of news is something really special. It concerns one of the beach stone-curlews that live on Curlew Island, a kilometer south of Wavebreak
Island on the Broadwater, right in the heart of the Gold Coast.
Beach stone-curlews are a threatened species with only four birds known in the entire Gold Coast region. There might be as few as a dozen in all of south east Queensland. Against this backdrop I was very distressed to hear that one of the four on Curlew Island had a fishing line entanglement that was threatening to cut off its right foot. 
Unlike bush-stone curlews (like Stella) which are easy to approach, beach stone-curlews are an entirely different ballgame. A rescuer is lucky to get within 20 meters. That makes catching them potentially very difficult. After several trips to the island and two or three different approaches I finally got lucky. The injured bird allowed me to within ten meters and I took a quick net shot. The net flew fast and true (for a change) and fully entangled the creature. That didn’t stop it rocketing off across the mudflats with me in hot pursuit. Getting my hands on that curlew, knowing how important it was to free it of the entanglement, produced a feeling if enormous relief. The fishing line was 2kg in weight; one of the finest and therefore most destructive, I’ve seen. I’m pleased to report that the bird was quickly disentangled and released immediately, none the worse for wear.
In this report I’ve talked about 15 of the 42 birds that got help this month. Some didn’t make it but most received the quality care they needed and are back in the air where they belong.
As always, a big thank you to my supporters and to my friends on the Wild Bird Rescues Donations Committee. You guys make these rescues possible.
Rowley