Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers Inc | Non-profit organisation

Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers Inc

Phone: +61 2 6628 1866

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22.01.2022 Please see recent post and video regarding this long necked turtle.

21.01.2022 This young magpie rescued by NRWC last weekend was the first for this season. This little one had fallen from its nest in East Ballina and was taken into care. It appeared to have a number of issues with both its leg and also its beak. The magpie was sent to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital for a full assessment where the vets there found it had several fractures, a deformed beak and also metabolic bone disease. This is the result of very poor nutrition from being fed inappropri...ate food. The wildlife vets advised us that the likely cause is from people feeding adult birds things like bread, raw meat and leftovers. The adult bird then takes this food and feeds it to their babies in the nest. This food lacks the vitamins and minerals that growing baby birds need. The magpies’ natural diet is a wide variety of insects and lizards. Each year we get a significant number of young magpies like this one; some we are able to save but many don’t respond in care. There is some good information on the website below. https://www.healthywildlife.com.au/feeding-magpies/#/

21.01.2022 Keep your eyes out...koalas about.

20.01.2022 Here’s a timely reminder that Spring is here and the weather is warming up which means our reptiles will soon be on the move. Remember we have lots of wildlife in our area so it’s important to have screens on your windows and doors to keep the native creatures outside. Some are even smart enough to enter through unlocked doggie doors. We received a call a few days ago about an Eastern Water Dragon inside a house but by the time we got a rescuer, this clever little fellow had let himself out!

20.01.2022 https://www.bobbrown.org.au/anfd

20.01.2022 If you're having a rough day, take a look at this little ball of sweetness and fluff. This baby wood duck was rescued from Dawson Street, Lismore after being separated from his family. His carer, Wendy, was concerned that he wasn’t eating, so she put a camera in with him and managed to capture this footage of him enjoying a snack. That little fluffy bum wiggle is adorable. His prognosis for recovery and release is excellent. Happy Tuesday. Enjoy!

19.01.2022 A big thank you to Racecourse Road Vet Hospital in Ballina for their help towards the successful rehabilitation of a Tawny Frogmouth. He was brought to RRVH by a concerned member of the public who saw him being attacked by a hawk at South Ballina. The great crew at RRVH X-rayed him and gave him fluids and pain relief. He came into care for a few days and recovered quickly. He was released last night back at South Ballina with his rescuer present. How wonderful to see this b...eautiful bird return to his natural home and fly to the highest branches. Thank you to all who were involved in his rehabilitation, especially Kirsty and Kate from RRVH and Duncan from South Ballina. (See video in separate post.)

19.01.2022 Wildlife & barbed wire don't mix. Many properties in the Northern Rivers area are fenced with barbed wire, which in some situations is needed to prevent cattle straying into neighbouring properties or onto roads. However land use here has changed greatly over the last decade. Large parcels of farmland have been subdivided into smaller acreages and in some areas into one or two acre blocks. Often the barbed wire fencing is left 'as is' because it is tedious and time consumi...ng to remove and it quickly becomes covered with vegetation. Fruiting trees such as mulberries, guavas and privet often grow along fence lines from seeds dropped by birds; this in turn attracts native animals who feed on the fruit. Often property owner’s plant native trees and shrubs along boundary fences to attract native animals and to give them privacy but this also increases the risk of entanglement. Most animals don’t survive being caught on barbed wire due to the severity of their injuries sustained from struggling to free themselves. If the wire is no longer needed it's best to remove it or replace it with plain wire. Covering the barbed wire with sacks, plastic or material under the tree is a quick but temporary fix at times when the tree is flowering or fruiting. Alternatively shade cloth covering the top two strands and attached with cable ties or Maspro clips will last for years and look much more tidy. Split polypipe is also another permanent solution. You can google 'wildlife friendly fencing' to find many more solutions.

19.01.2022 POSSUM UPDATE: You may recall our previous post regarding our possum who is currently in care. She is going exceptionally well probably due to her being such an excellent patient. Her fur is growing back quickly and all her wounds have almost healed up. Next week she will be going out into a large aviary to get some exercise before going home. Brushtail possum aren’t always this cooperative in care but she is an absolute delight!

18.01.2022 Rescued and rehabilitated Tawny Frogmouth

16.01.2022 Barbed wire claimed another two victims this morning. This beautiful gentle Black Flying Fox was entangled by both his wings on barbed wire next to a fruiting wild tobacco bush. This invasive weed from South America spreads rapidly and grows well in any soil. Its fruit is eaten by birds who in turn drop the seeds when perching on fences lines. The other Grey Headed Flying Fox was feeding on a flowering tree on a fence line and the owners have agreed to cover the fence with shade cloth. We ask you to please be proactive and spread the word so we can prevent these unnecessary deaths.

13.01.2022 Today Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers had the pleasure of releasing our final 23 Flying Foxes from our crèche aviary. There were both Black Flying Foxes and Grey Head Flying Foxes and this year we had taken in a number from Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers , WIRES Northern Rivers as well as our own for rehabilitation. This was our second and final release for the year and they will continue to be support fed for a number of weeks yet, until they are fully self sufficient and head off to pollinate our forests. Thanks to Wendy, Sandy, Lorraine, Maddy and Kerry-anne for assistance with the release today and all of the support feeders for making this happen. Thanks also to John for accommodating the release site.

13.01.2022 Crested Pigeon’s release

12.01.2022 A very sad rescue for NRWC this morning. Two baby Magpies fell from a nest with their legs entangled together in bailing twine. One had already died and the other sadly had to be euthanased. Such an avoidable death if only people were more aware of how many problems this type of twine causes for wildlife. It's the equivalent to fishing line for sea creatures. This bailing twine is commonly used around straw and hay bales and is discarded when the bales are used. Its synthetic, shreds easily and for some reason appeals to birds when they are building their nests. Its important not to leave any type of synthetic material lying around as it doesn't break down and is a danger to wildlife.

12.01.2022 NRWC are very grateful for the ongoing support of two local businesses in particular this year. With the large volume of apples we have needed for feeding our 270 young flying foxes during their care and release process, we have really relied on the services of Hernes Freight Service at South Lismore who have been collecting our bins of apples from the Brisbane markets and bringing them back to Lismore. Our members then pack them into smaller boxes to store in our cool roo...m. Hernes have been doing this for many years now. This service allows us to buy in bulk and saves our group a great deal of money. B & B Produce, also in South Lismore, help us out by providing us with space to store our packing boxes so it's a convenient spot for carers to drop off and pick up as needed. We would like to thank both these local businesses and encourage people to support them where they can.

12.01.2022 This very gentle Mountain Brushtail Possum (more recently renamed a Short-eared Possum) came into care last week after being attacked by dogs. This species of possum is only found on the North Coast of NSW and southern coast of Queensland. Luckily she was able to be caught and was taken to Keen St vet clinic in Lismore where she was anesthetised, thoroughly examined and her wounds cleaned. It was also found she has a very small joey in her pouch. She is on antibiotics and has twice daily wound cleaning, which she tolerates very well as long as there is a food bribe! She is housed in a large indoor cage with a possum box until her wounds heal over. Many of our native animals are nocturnal, living in suburbia, and foraging at night through our backyards, so if possible please keep your domestic animals either inside or restrained.

11.01.2022 Please be vigilant when driving in these areas. Our wildlife is precious.

11.01.2022 We would like to take this opportunity to thank BENCHTOP ESPRESSO at Lismore publicly for their support. During the entire month of July, NRWC were their ‘charity of the month’. BENCHTOP ESPRESSO name Friday ‘Feel Good Friday’ and on the first Friday in July, $1 from every cup of ESPRESSO they sold was donated to NRWC. Wow! That’s so generous. They also allowed us to have a donation box on their counter which brought in a few extra $$$ for us too. In these uncertain ti...mes, every dollar counts for every family and for the greater Lismore region to put their hands in their pockets and donate a few extra dollars to us is amazing. We are very grateful to BENCHTOP ESPRESSO for having us as their charity of the month and donating $1 from each coffee sold on ‘Feel Good Friday’ in July to NRWC. This raised awareness in the community about our organisation and what we do to help the wildlife of the Northern Rivers region. BENCHTOP ESPRESSO regularly gave us a shout out on their Facebook page and at the end of July, they had raised a whopping $550 for NRWC! That is a tremendous amount of money and we have put the money to good use by purchasing an Arlo camera which is used for the remote monitoring of wildlife during their soft release. If you’re in Lismore, you should swing by and grab a coffee, or stop for a meal at BENCHTOP ESPRESSO. They are located at 114 Keen Street, Lismore. Thank you BENCHTOP ESPRESSO for being friends of NRWC. We really appreciate your support.

11.01.2022 This adult Crested Pigeon has been in care with Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers since the 12th of March when it was found trapped in netting in a backyard chicken pen. The bird was so badly entangled the residents had to cut the netting around him to free him until help was arranged. He had lost quite a lot of body feathers, tail feathers and wing feathers. There were soft tissue injuries and open wounds . Initially the pigeon was housed indoors in a hospital cage while he... received medications and treatment for his wounds. Then he was out into a flight aviary to regrow feathers and regain his fitness for release. He had a few minor health issues along the way but with the help of the wonderful team at the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital he has made an amazing recovery and was released today, Anzac Day , April 25th. It was a pleasure to release him after such a long time in care. Rachael, Sol and Hollie were very happy to see him return home. Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers would like to thank Rachael, Sol and Hollie for being caring and concerned for our wildlife and we would especially like to thank Dr Bree and nurses Hayley and Katarina for their expertise and care. See more

08.01.2022 Late one evening at the end of January a call came in from a remote area north west of Casino. A man driving along a very quiet road noticed something pale on the body of a possum on the road. When he stopped to check he found a tiny furless joey, very cold but still alive. He kindly drove it to one of our experienced possum carers Lorraine in Casino and she put it straight into a humidicrib. Weighing just 46gms , with her eyes still closed and being so cold it seemed unlike...ly she would survive. It took four days to raise her body temperature up to normal but she was a keen to drink right from the start and slowly began to gain weight. On the 9th of March she started looking like a real possum and weighing 132gms. Then two weeks ago another little Common Brushtail joey came into care and he was a perfect buddy for little Pippa. She is now up to 161gms and settled well with her new friend Tiger. See the video of tiny Pippa in the comments! See more

03.01.2022 A call came in late one afternoon recently for a turtle that had been found on the road and most likely been hit by a car just north of Ballina. Fortunately we had a carer who lived very close. The turtle had cracks in its shell and some bleeding. It was housed in a large tub for the night. When the carer checked next morning, the turtle had laid three eggs overnight! We phoned Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to ask if they could see her and also some advice on what we should ...do with her eggs. They asked that we send the eggs with her and gave advice on how to package them. The eggs were placed on damp towels (using filtered tank water) in a small esky to keep them at a stable temperature for transport to Currumbin. Once she arrived she was given pain relief and x-rays which showed her to have seven more eggs not yet laid. The three eggs already laid were placed in an incubator. Two days later another call came in from a resident about another turtle digging a hole in their lawn to lay eggs. It was just a few hundred metres from where the first turtle was rescued. It seems it's breeding time for turtles here on the North Coast. (Further photos in another post.)

03.01.2022 We recently had the pleasure of successfully reuniting two baby Currawong chicks with their parents. They had fallen from their nest at the Early Learning Centre at Emmanuel Anglican College in Ballina. This was after a previous attempt to reunite them. Unfortunately they were found on the ground again at the school and a call came to us here at NRWC for help. After looking at the remains of the nest which was in quite a good tree, with the parents still close by and the ...babies uninjured and begging for food, it was decided to try and make them a new home next to their old home. After a trip to a local store for some cable ties and a basket, (holes were made in the liner to allow water to drain through if it rained) we asked the school groundsman to help by bringing a ladder to assist. We were able to secure the new nest and place the remains of the original nest in it, then put the chicks in, all to the loud cheers from all the tiny onlookers at the centre who were just enthralled with the proceedings . After all the children went back to class, we waited around to make sure mum and dad came back to visit their babies . After about 10 minutes, one parent was back with a beak full of food, hopping from branch to branch carefully, getting closer to the nest each time. All of a sudden, two frantic little heads popped out of the nest and promptly received a feed. Meanwhile, the other parent landed in the tree and began to sing away. One very happy family reunited and one very happy wildlife carer and many happy little onlookers!

02.01.2022 Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers were fortunate to receive a grant through the Foundation for National Parks NSW Wildlife Heroes Large Durable Assets Grant for a new cool room to use at our flying fox release site. The cool room may assist other wildlife, but it is predominately utilized for flying foxes, being Black flying foxes and Grey headed flying foxes (which are listed as a threatened species in NSW and vulnerable to extinction federally). The cool room allows NRWC to ...provide good quality, fresh food to wildlife. It will also allow us to assist more flying foxes from other groups. NRWC have one of the largest release aviaries for flying foxes in NSW and have numerous crèche aviaries to allow us to take a large number of flying foxes during heat or mass starvation events and also care for flying foxes affected by drought or bushfires. Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers have many dedicated volunteers who commit to a daily roster for the cleanup and feeding of the flying foxes at the release site while they are in the aviary and also after release. They will continue to be support fed after release, until they are fully self sufficient and head off to pollinate our forests. It’s rewarding for the volunteers to be up close with the flying foxes and also know they are having a positive impact on the conservation of a threatened species.

01.01.2022 These two tiny doves came out of a nest when some tree removal work was being undertaken this week. They are just 36 and 37gms so need to be in a humidicrib to keep their temperature stable until their feathers grow. They sleep most of the time but are very lively when feed time comes around. Most birds breed in spring and summer but doves and pigeon breed mostly during the cooler months of the year, so be sure to check trees and shrubs thoroughly before starting pruning or removal.