Thanks Jean for that added info and man I love those Bitterns! Great shot Judy, very funny

Hi Jean

I think this would have been on the old site but you had told me/us about these things you make to put birds in to keep them off their feet? Is that right? I'm wondering if you have pics of those and maybe pics of those with birds in them?

Thanks, Lori

Morning Everyone

I have been following this story for a few weeks! There was a group operation busted at Christina Lake, BC and the officers discovered that black bears were guarding the entire operation. There has been some debate about what to do with these bears (including destroying the bears ) that have obviously been fed and imprinted by humans! This is clearly an example of what can happen to bears when they are fed and cared for by humans. Lets hope that the bears are given a chance !!

A woman in Alberta has started a petition to save these bears from being destroyed....
The Environmental Minister in BC has indicated that no decision has been reached to destroy the bears so that is a positive result of the media coverage

Here is the link to the lastest update on the bears.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columb ... ition.html

Here is the link to the original article on CBC about the discovery of the bears


Here is the link for the petition to save the bears
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-t ... ears-safe/

There is a Face Book page....Help Save the BC Bears the link is here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Save ... 489?ref=mf

An update on the Gulf oil spill: About 1,000 birds have been released.

This is older news, but interesting:

Update on the Gulf Oil Spill from IBRRC


clickable thumbnail

As of August 5, 1769 birds have been captured alive; 3606 collected dead.

For more information, please click here: Deepwater Horizon Response Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report, August 5

The report is released each day. All of the reports may be found here: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response

Animals Treated

Animal species treated:

Brown Pelicans
White Pelicans
Laughing Gulls
Northern Gannets
Night Herons
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egrets
Reddish Egret
Least Bitterns
Common Terns
Sandwich Terns
Least Terns
White Ibis
Herring Gulls
Dunlins
Roseate Spoonbills
Sanderlings
Terrapins
King Snake

I haven't written much about the spill, as the media has been covering it.

Because the Fort Jackson Bird Rehabilitation Facility is located in a hurricane evacuation zone and is subject to damage from tropical storms and hurricanes, the facility moved to Hammond, Louisiana, a few weeks ago. Hammond is situated north of the evacuation zone for hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. Moving the facility to Hammond eliminates the need to evacuate in the case of a storm and reduces stress and potential loss of life when transporting birds.

The Hammond Bird Rehabilitation Facility has air conditioning, wash stations, proper caging for aquatic birds, outdoor conditioning pens, and shallow pools for cleaned birds to exercise and prepare for release back to the wild.

The primary facility is a 30,000-square-foot structure. An adjacent 12,000-square-foot building will be used for offices, and a third 24,000-square-foot building will be used for storing and staging equipment or for future expansion of the rehabilitation facilities if needed. The 8-acre campus and structures will be extensively retrofitted to accommodate bird rehabilitation needs. Major highways nearby will facilitate trucking in oiled birds from the Gulf and transporting rehabilitated birds ready for release back to the wild.

Initially, the Hammond Bird Rehabilitation Facility will be capable of handling approximately 1,000 birds, and capacity could be increased to house as many as 2,000 to 3,000 birds.

BP is paying for the six-month lease on the Hammond Bird Rehabilitation Facility and all costs to retrofit the facility. BP contracted with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, Inc., to handle wildlife rehabilitation. Tri-State, together with International Bird Rescue Research Center, established the wildlife rehabilitation facility in Fort Jackson.

From the IBRRC website:


loading birds for transport

At 2:30 AM yesterday morning, staff from Tri-State Bird Rescue, IBRRC and Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART) arrived to the facility and began preparing the birds for their journey to Hammond. They were given rehydrating fluids and placed into carriers. The carriers were then lined up according to size and species. When the large Transport trucks arrived at 4:00 AM, the birds were systematically loaded - the most frail were loaded last so they would be offloaded first. They were on the road before 5:00 AM. It went incredibly smoothly and according to plan.


Transport arrives

By 7:00 AM, the first of nearly 400 birds arrived and were in their new enclosures. Outside, clean birds were placed into large enclosures with foliage and water features. Almost immediately the birds began bathing and exploring their new enclosures. Inside, the critical birds were placed into their new cages that had been warmed in preparation for their arrival. No birds were harmed or lost in this move.


unloading the birds

This new facility, located near Hammond's Northshore Regional Airport sits on over 7 acres. It offers 4 large sheltered areas being used for outdoor housing and three large warehouses that have been retrofitted for our operations.


new pool at Hammond

–Rebecca Dmytryk, IBRRC Media Relations Assistant

Beans this is simply a great story I am so glad they moved the facility and birds now instead of later especially with a hurricane brewing in the gulf as we speak....so great to hear that the birds survived the move just fine and that they immediately started to react positively and began to explore their new homes for sharing this with us and the links too

ETA The new facility sounds simply amazing and very spacious too

Here is an update on the BC Bears from the Christina Lake ...this story had another strange twist of events ...
and we still do not know what will happen to the dozen or so bears but there is alot of pressure to save these bears !!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columb ... stole.html

Thank you so much for that update on the bears!

This afternoon I received an email update from Lindsay Wildlife Museum. One article warned about the dangers of using sticky insect traps.


sticky trap

"Tell all your friends: DON’T USE STICKY TRAPS!
Recently, the hospital has received some birds that unfortunately crossed paths with sticky fly traps. Some came in still stuck on the trap, while others, due to the rescuer’s attempt to remove the bird from the trap, were gooey and stripped of essential flight feathers. These birds came in otherwise healthy, but must remain in our care while we wait for their feathers to grow back. Right now, two of these birds, male and female house finches, are being cared for by a specially trained volunteer while we await the growth of the feathers.

If you find a bird (or other animal) stuck on a sticky trap, bring the whole trap with the animal to us as quickly as possible instead of attempting to remove the animal yourself. Using a special technique, we can safely remove the animal without harming the feathers or the skin and then we can carefully clean off all the residue. For these finches, all that is left is to wait for new feathers to grow back. Essentially, it’s a waiting game.

Why do we have to wait? Without their flight feathers, birds can’t fly. The mechanics of flight are complicated. Different species of birds have developed specific wings shapes that create the pull, thrust, and drag that allow them to fly, maneuver, and land. The wings are made up of three types of feathers that influence the mechanics of flight: primary, secondary, and covert feathers. In addition to the wing feathers, tail feathers are also essential for flight.

The female house finch is growing back her primary feathers on her left wing. These primary feathers create the thrust that is generated when the bird is flapping through the air. The male lost half of his tail feathers. After he grows in the rest of his tail, he’ll be able to create drag that will slow him down and allow him to land.

Both birds are healthy and time is on their side. In the meantime, tell all your friends to use their sticky traps ONLY indoors where birds and other animals won’t come in contact with them."

Lacey Babnik - Lindsay Wildlife hospital intern

http://www.wildlife-museum.org/

Beans Great information Why on earth would people still use those sticky traps?? Is it because they are cheaper than other pest control methods?? This information needs to get out to the public at large....via newspapers or even newsletters as education is the key to prevention.