It was very busy last month with a total of 50 rescues attended during July. I’ve prepared a colourful montage of pictures and stories but please hang in there until you get past all of the feet!
There were some truly amazing rescues during July and many birds were saved from an otherwise doubtful fate. As always our old friends fish hooks and fishing line, played a starring role by injuring and entangling so many innocent creatures.
This month an unexpected player emerged as a threat to small birds. Two that I caught were suffering from an 
entanglement of human hair which was cutting off their feet. I’ve seen this before in pee wees and pigeons but the big surprise was an ibis entangled in hair. We can enact measures to reduce fishing line entanglements, but it’s going to be tough to convince everyone to put their hair brushings in a bin lest it get caught around a bird’s feet. The picture at right shows a poor old pigeon with a badly maimed foot due to hair. The pic at left is an ibis that was losing a foot to hair. Both birds were freed of the entanglement and released immediately, a lot more comfortable.
OK, just when you thought it was safe and I wouldn’t include another grotty bird’s foot in this report …. ha, I’ve got a third one! The ibis at left was one of the sadest creatures I’ve caught in a while. Poor thing had already lost a number of toes to a previous fishing line entanglement. Recently it had walked through more discarded line which now threatened to cut off its remaining toes. The bird looked depressed and debilitated. It was also very wary. It took three hours of persistent tracking and a good deal of luck to catch her. It was such a great pleasure to cut that horrible material off her toes; treat the wounds, and see her fly away knowing that in a few days her injuries would heal and she could go on to enjoy a good life.
One of the most satisfying rescues in July was Beetle, the white faced heron. 
She lives with her partner at Oxenford weir where they both enjoy the cornucopia of small fish found below the weir. Some idiot had cast a lure at Beetle and hooked her in the chest. Then he cut her free to fly away with 1.5 meters of line still trailing from the hook. I didn’t see this event take place but the injury is consistent with that kind of degenerate behaviour. It took me several attempts and six weeks to catch Beetle. In the meantime she’d picked up a second entanglement around both feet which threatened four of her toes. By this stage she looked morose. What a relief it was to finally get my hands on her and get rid of that hook and all of the line. Beetle is now back at the weir with her partner. The two can be seen fishing there most days.
Little Peta was found on the shores of Mermaid Waters. Despite extensive enquiries I could not locate her family. 36 hours later I made the decision to sent her into care 200k’s north, near Australia Zoo. Unfortunately the carers had no other swans. It’s not ideal for a young bird to be raised without others of her kind, but it was the only option at the time. Things changed last week when I took delivery of another 2 week old cygnet, exactly Peta’s size and age. He was promptly dispatched north and has joined Peta. This is most fortuitous for both of them. The pair will spend the next 6 months in care before being released as mature birds.
Members of Gold Coast’s lifeguard service often spot injured birds on the beach. So it 
was with this gull. The bird had a nasty hook down its throat. It wouldn’t allow me anywhere near, so we made sure the beach was clear and I stood back and blew a net over it. Lifeguard Josh is pictured here proudly displaying our catch. I rushed the gull to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to have the hook surgically removed.
July turned out to be a busy month for gulls. The creature at left bit down on my finger (ouww) as I worked on cutting an entanglement of fishing line from its right ankle. Fortunately I’d caught it just in time before major damage had occured. The gull was release immediately and should regain full use of that foot.
Fewer swan needed rescuing this month, but as always, some swans did get hooked. This bird was both hooked and entangled and dragging a sinker to
boot. She was an easy catch and I was able to get the hook out and disentangle her quite quickly. She was released immediately to re-join her family.
It never rains it pours in wildlife rescue. Some days are very quiet, but on other days the activity never stops. I achieved something of a personal best on Friday, July 24th. It all started at the Labrador pelican feed after I dropped in to check out the 70 or so birds that had turned up for a free meal. Half way through I noticed a peli with fishing line coming from its wing. I quickly grabbed the creature by the snout, trying hard not to disturb the other 69 lest they take to the air and bowl over a couple of dozen Asian tourists. No sooner had I de-hooked the pelican than a Chinese interpreter ran up and asked if I could catch a gull that had a kebab skewer sticking out of its chest. I grabbed my capture gear and quickly secured the gull, but before I had a chance to remove the skewer another girl told me about a gull with a hook caught in its mouth. I handed the skewered gull to the nearest bystander with instructions to hold on tight and not to flinch if the bird bites, then set about catching the next bird. I secured the second gull quickly but had no time to treat it before a call came in for an injured maggie just down the road. Ten minutes later I’d caught the maggie too. Hectic!! That was four ‘flight capable’ birds caught in 50 minutes! The net result …. the peli was de-hooked and released on the spot The first gull was de-skewered; the wound treated, and released immediately. The hooked gull and the maggie were both taken to hospital. The gull had the hooked removed and survived. Unfortunately the maggie was suffering from advanced arthritis in both feet and couldn’t be saved. At least it’s no longer suffering.
Mid July saw the conclusion of my discarded fishing line survey at The Spit. This had involved picking up line and related fishing debris off the ground, every Tuesday morning for about an hour, for thirteen weeks. Over that 3 month period I picked up a total of 1664 meters of discarded fishing line … a ridiculous amount. That line posed a HUGE threat to every foraging bird in the area. You’ve seen from the pics above how much damage fishing line can do to a birds feet when it becomes entangled. As well as gathering useful data the line removal undoubtably saved many birds from a great deal of suffered. The survey has ended but collecting goes on. In fact I regularly pick up line over an area of 2 kilometers; much more than the 500 meters covered in the survey.
I’ve included this pic for those who’ve never seen a plover’s wing spur up close. They’re a formidable weapon. Definitely wouldn’t want to get struck buy one. This little chap was having trouble walking so I caught him and delivered him into care at the hospital.
I’m very pleased to see that after a two year absence swans are again nesting at Pizzy Park in Mermaid Waters. This follows my long campaign to get Council to erect a fence to isolate a small jetty where 5 dog attacks on swans (2 fatal) had 
occurred during the previous year. Most of Pizzy is a dog ‘off leash’ area, but the area by that jetty is ‘on leash’. However, a few very irresponsible people seemed determined not to let such a minor technicality get in their way and had regularly allowed their dogs to ambush swans at the jetty. The fence has proven a great success. There has been no more attackes. Waterbirds now have a place amongst the mayhem where they can rest in relative safety (pic shows nesting swan at left, peli at right)
enior vet nurse Trish was only too happy to hand over Three Step, a pelican I’d caught 2 months ago after it turned up lame with a fish hook injury at Labrador. Three Step followed Two Step, another lame peli (yep, another fish hook) that I’d caught a week earlier. Two Step was good to go after 10 days in hospital, but Three Step had all sorts of problems and took much longer to heal. (I hope you’re following all these steps). Happy to say that both birds are now back and enjoying life on the Broadwater.
The picture below shows a leatherjacket spine that I pulled out of a pelican’s throat a few days ago. The spine was projecting a full 50mm out
the side of the bird’s neck. Obviously the peli had either swallowed a
live leatherjacket or, more likely, a leatherjacket frame had been thrown to it by a fisher. Either way the spine had pierced the bird’s neck on the way down. I managed to snare the peli out of a pack of 30 birds and quickly removed the spine by pushing my hand down its throat and withdrawing the spine from the inside. The pelican was none the worse for wear and is definitely better off without that razor sharp appendage.
There were many other interesting rescues in July. This report has featured just ten of the fifty birds attended during the month. Most had been affected adversely by fishing practices. Much has to change about the way we enjoy ‘Australia’s favourite sport’. Favourite for who?? Certainly not for the fish, or the many birds that get injured. Like all plastics, fishing line does not biodegrade. We can’t just keep losing the stuff or dumping it in the environment where it persists and does so much damage.
Thank you to everyone who supports WBR. Most especially Jim Downs for his generous ongoing donations. Also my loyal committee members Paul and Liz, and to everyone who donates to this service. You make it possible for me to get thousands of sick and injured birds back into the air where they belong.
Rowley
Wild Bird Rescues GOLD COAST