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Wild Bird Rescues GOLD COAST
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25.01.2022 This is Possum. ‘Of course it is’, you say. Well, I’m running out of bird names and having to borrow from other species! I caught Possum and his mate Mouse this week after both gulls were spotted with fishing line coming from their mouth. The fishers who’d hooked them just cut the line instead of calling to get the birds help. Both have undergone major operations in Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. Possum was in a particularly bad way. I had to cut him down from a high structure ...over the pool in the Sheraton Hotel after he’d flown in and that trailing fishing line got caught on the roof. He was hanging from the line, meaning all of his weight was now pulling on the hook in his gut, dragging it deeper. When I finally got my hands on him, he was struggling to breathe and was in a bad way. I had no expectation that either gull would survive, but thanks to some great veterinary work, both birds are doing well. QLD Minister for Fisheries, Mark Furner, refuses outright to reduce the obscene number of fishing lines (6) allowed to be used by each fisher in fresh waters throughout QLD. This and other factors contribute to the high number of preventable hookings, entanglements and death of waterbirds that you see on my FB page, week in week out. The Greens are the only party that have told me they will help us change laws to get a better deal for all Mice and Possums . A vote for the Greens in this month’s QLD State elections is a vote to help all wildlife. Rowley Goonan Wild Bird Rescues GOLD COAST MacArthur Pde, Main Beach
24.01.2022 If you eat eggs, would you want them to come from the bird on the left, or on the right? No brainer, eh? Here in the ‘lucky country’ we treat most chickens with abominable cruelty. So bad that if laws which protect pets, were applied to farmed chickens, some growers would face jail time. ... When buying eggs, your choices either support cruelty, or deny it the profits to continue. Please, never choose Cage Eggs (as laid by the poor thing on the left). Cage-Free and Free-Range Eggs are a better choice; however, both fall way short of ensuring good health and dignity for chickens. If RSPCA approved, they’re a little better. Check cartons for the stocking density. Many growers cram hens in at 10,000 birds per hectare! Look for those with only 1500 hens per hectare. If the stocking density is not shown on the carton, assume it’s 10,000. Most health shops, farmers markets and organic butchers’ sell pasture raised eggs. These come from chickens that live a good life. The birds are not de-beaked and they genuinely roam free outside, on natural pastures, the way chickens are supposed to live (bird on the right). Those eggs cost a little more, but you’ll be buying much better-quality food for your family.
24.01.2022 Stepping out of my capture box onto the red carpet provided, George surveys what I hope will be his new home at Paradise Point. You may remember George from posts about 12 months ago when I caught him after he'd become badly hooked and subsequently had troubles re-adjusting to life in the wild. Well, he’s been in the wars again and this time it was bad.... George had recently adopted the south wall of the Gold Coast Seaway as his new home. That heavily fished area, with kilometers of lost line and countless hooks and lures spider-webbing the bottom, is probably the most dangerous half mile of water for a diving bird like a cormorant in all of south east QLD. Two weeks ago, I was called to catch George after he was seen with fishing line wrapped around his right wing, weighed down by a heavy sinker. After treatment by Dr. Claire and her team in SeaWorld hospital George was released. Then earlier this week I had to catch him again, suffering an almost identical entanglement of fishing line around that same right wing, but this time with a hook in his wing and another in his mouth. George is extremely lucky. If he’d been hooked underwater, he would have drowned. No doubt he likes the Seaway for the abundant food it offers but I couldn't leave him there because he’d get hooked again within days. The next time I might not find him. If you live at Paradise Point keep an eye out for George. Cormorants humanize all too easily even after the shortest period in captivity. Yesterday (Fri 4th) George spent the day on a beach near Paradise Parade begging for food. Food is NOT what he needs. Please ‘be cruel to be kind’ and drive him firmly back into the water so that he can resume his natural ways as quickly as possible.
24.01.2022 This pied cormorant looks like George, acts like George and came from exactly the same place at Paradise Point where George was released last Thursday, giving us every reason to think that it was George. The bird was found late yesterday (Sun) standing under a light on The Esplanade. It tried to follow the person who found it. Believing the cormi was ill, they picked it up and admitted it to Animal Emergency Services in Carrara. This morning Dr. Claire, who’d treated George ...at SeaWorld, went to collect ‘George’. She’d already tee’d up a SeaWorld boat so that we could release him even further afield at Jumpinpin Bar, 30k’s north. But to her surprise, this bird clearly wasn’t George. It had no scaring on the leading edge of its right wing caused by fishing line entanglement, or cuts either side of its mouth from line abrasion. What Claire did find in the cage at AES was two soft plastic fishing lures, one with a hook still in it. The cormorant had thrown them up! In many ways this is good news. Firstly, what we thought was George getting up to more mischief turned out not to be the case. Hopefully he’s still doing well. Secondly, it means that another badly injured cormi is finally in care. However, this bird is in big trouble. An x-ray just revealed that the poor thing has a huge hook and highly toxic lead-head lodged deep in its gut. An operation to remove that hook and lead is scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed. This is the price our wildlife pays so that we can enjoy what is described as Australia’s most popular sport.
23.01.2022 This morning Eddie went AWOL. Spotter Andrew in the tower block behind snapped Eddie late yesterday taking his first brief flight from the nest up to the crosstree. This was promising, but it also signaled his entry into the most dangerous phase of a young osprey’s life. His survival would depend upon whether he flew, then returned to the nest to re-join his parents for essential fishing training. Or, whether he’d fly and keep going, in which case his chance of survival would... be slim. 50% of young ospreys make the wrong decision. When I heard that Eddie was missing, I alerted all rescue services, hospitals and Parkland Security telling them to be on the lookout for a young raptor, on the ground, almost certainly being set upon by a swarm of maggies, crows and currawongs. Hours went by then Andrew called again to say, ‘we’ve got him’. In a repeat of young Olive’s performance from last year Eddie had ditched in the Broadwater, near the family’s Sundale Bridge nest and could be seen frantically breast-stroking his way towards shore. He hauled out, bedraggled and with wings hanging from the exertion, just as Andrew and Jo arrived to look after him. I couldn’t decide whether to return Eddie to the nest immediately, or send him to hospital for a check-up and some R and R. In the end I chose the latter. He’s a very lucky boy. Notwithstanding unforeseen problems, I hope to get him back up to his parents for a second chance early next week.
23.01.2022 Darter are one of my favourite birds. They look similar to a cormorant and both are underwater hunters. However, one big difference is that cormorants have a hooked beak for grabbing fish, whereas a darter's beak is straight and pointed for stabbling. Their beak also has serrations on the inside which help to secure their prey. Sadly, those serations are magnets for all kinds of rubbish in the water. Sox, rags, stockings, fishing line, bags ... you name it. Earlier this week ...I was called to rescue another darter, this time with a glove stuck on its beak. Unless removed the bird would quickly starve. Luckily, I was able to catch it and cut away the glove. Then I fed the bird and released it immediately. Two days later neighbours reported that it had returned to their shoreline and was looking well. The darter featured in this video also survived. See more
21.01.2022 In just the past month I’ve been called to help 13 seriously fish hooked birds, including five swans and three pelicans, one of which (pictured) has a fish hook embedded below its right eye. None of the fishers who injured those birds called to get them help. Despite countless letters to Minister for Fisheries, Mark Furner, he refuses to reduce the 6 lines permitted to be used by each fisher in freshwater rivers, dams or lakes, and allows them walk off and be 50m away from t...heir lines. Who needs 6 fishing lines to enjoy a day of fishing? And, who can control even one fishing line from 50m away?? Irresponsible allowances like that explain why so many birds are getting hooked. Tomorrow is your chance to reject those irresponsible fishing allowances. I don’t believe that either major political party will do anything to reduce the suffering of waterbirds. The GREENS have promised me they will. If the GREENS can increase their holding from one seat, to just three seats in the new parliament, they’ll be in a position to influence whichever major party wins into changing irresponsible fishing laws. Please vote GREEN for wildlife. Your vote could make all the difference. Rowley Goonan Wild Bird Rescues GOLD COAST 1 MacArthur Pde. Main Beach.
21.01.2022 Special thanks to Dr. Kevin at Gold Coast Vet Surgery for the many times that he and his team have provided expert help for injured wildlife. This time it was a magpie. The bird had run afoul of a short piece of string which had wrapped around its ankle. Over time, that string had tightened and now was threatening to take off the bird’s foot. Luckily it hadn’t yet cut deep enough to severe tendons and so the maggie still had full use of its claws. I remove minor entanglement...s all the time, but this one had me worried. It was a little too deep and there were signs of infection, so I ran the maggie down to Dr. Kevin. He had that string out in no time, then provided the bird with medication. String, cotton, hair brushings and of course lengths of fishing line, carelessly discarded upon the ground, are all serious entangling materials for birds. Please be mindful of this and make sure they all go into a bin. If you see a limping bird with something around its foot, keep it in sight and call Wild Bird Rescues immediately. Caring and expert help for your pet is always available at the Gold Coast Vet Surgery located on the Gold Coast Hyw in Surfers/Broadbeach, 07-55385909.
18.01.2022 This little lady wouldn’t have seen in the New Year had she not been spotted by people at Currumbin Creek, trying to fly but impeded by 30m of fishing line around her body and trailing behind. With no eyes on the bird my first job was to find her. I got lucky when I came across a peli beached on the north side of the creek. Yet even close up I couldn’t see any sign of injury, nor any fishing line. My first attempt to catch her went pear-shaped. She took to the air. That’s b...ad because pelicans usually keep going. But she didn’t get far. It was the injured bird and that long length of unseen fishing line had impeded her flight, causing her to ditch. I retreated and waited for her to come ashore again. The next attempt was successful. Lifting her from the water revealed the extent of her injuries. An old fish hook in her side and two more fresh hooks dangling from fishing line that had lashed her leg to her wing. But the really bad one was a fourth hook buried deep in the flesh above her knee. That must have been excruciating. I'm happy to report that Penelope survived and after a week of treatment is back out in Currumbin Creek chasing the mullet, as all good pelicans should be
17.01.2022 Young Eddie has died. Born 11 weeks ago to the osprey pair that live atop the Sundale Bridge tower in Southport, Eddie had recently attempted his first flight. But, like so many little birds who feel the wind under their wings and are raring to go, Eddie wasn’t quite strong enough. Eventually, he ditched into the Broadwater before struggling to swim ashore. Weak and exhausted he had no hope of flying back up to the nest, 18m above. Had he delayed that first flight attempt by ...another week his chances would have improved immeasurably. In Currumbin Wildlife Hospital tests showed that Eddie had several problems. He had reduced kidney and muscle function and was developing lung issues, possibly from inhaling salt water. He wasn’t eating and had to be force fed. Staff worked tirelessly trying to improve Eddie’s health, which needed to improve greatly for him to have any hope of a successful return to the nest and a second chance at flight. But it wasn’t to be. Eddie passed away in his flight aviary at night. This was sad, and illustrates the precariousness of life for all fledging birds. Only the very strongest of young ospreys survive.
16.01.2022 There’d been a kid’s birthday party a few days earlier in the park. The little ones all had a great time. Balloons, streamers and tinsel. But some of that tinsel made its way onto the ground leaving another ‘little one’ in BIG trouble. This young plover, recently fledged, lives with his mum and dad in the same park. He’d walked through some of that dropped tinsel which quickly wrapped around his feet. From that point on his life had become very difficult. The most common an...d persistent material I find entangled around a bird’s feet is fishing line, but this young plover’s dilemma shows that anything long and stringy, whether it be tinsel, cotton, string or even human hair, can result in dreadful suffering for a foraging bird. Once it’s on, they can’t get it off. Luckily, I caught this little bloke just in time, before any real damage had been done. Please be mindful not to drop anything long and stringy on the ground and NEVER brush your hair then drop those brushings, or toss them out of a car window.
14.01.2022 It’s Eddie! Hard to imagine that just 6 weeks ago Eddie was still an egg. He’s been taking advantage of the recent strong westerly winds to stretch his wings atop the Sundale Bridge osprey tower (Southport, Gold Coast). Dad’s been away fishing for the past half hour. These two are restless and hungry, hoping he gets back soon. Eddie’s got an order in for bream with chips crumbed.
13.01.2022 Sent to me by Wild Bird Rescues supporter Michelle from Mermaid Wts. Dad and Mum rotating on their eggs. Six weeks from laying to hatching.
12.01.2022 The seagulls of the Gold Coast have been doing it tough lately. This is the fifth hooked or entangled gull that I’ve attended this month already. The bird being held by vet nurse Jenna was spotted inside SeaWorld, stumbling as it tried to walk. It’s a young bird and was still with its mum. The problem was a fishing lure, lashed to its leg by braid (non-stretch fishing line). Worse, a barb from one of the treble hooks attached to that lure was embedded in the poor thing’s knee.... That’s a very dangerous injury which often causes irreparable damage to the joint. Mitchel from SeaWorld called me, then kept an eye on the gull until I arrived. It was a quick catch. Jenna and I went to work cutting away the braid. We managed to remove the lure but that embedded hook would need surgical intervention. Happily, the knee joint had suffered little damage and the gull was released from SeaWorld Hospital, safe and well, after a few days in care. Fishers, if you hook a bird, don't cut the line. Haul the bird in, drop a towel over it and de-hook it. Or, Google 'Bird Rescue' in your area to find help.
11.01.2022 Returning to my car in Elkhorn Av, central Surfers Paradise, I saw a crowd gathering across the road. They were all looking down. Then I spotted a tiny object on the pavement. I rushed over and was amazed to find this lovely Sacred Kingfisher. Best guess is that she’d flown into the shop window behind. I picked her up and checked her over. She was dazed, but had no obvious injuries. She couldn’t stay there so I bundled her into my car. If a bird flies into your window it wi...ll often end up stunned or unconscious. Pick it up, place it into a small box with a towel in the bottom, then leave it outside, on a veranda, in the warm sun. Make sure it’s off the ground, away from cats and not in sight of predatory birds. As long as it hasn’t broken a wing or its neck, nineteen times out of twenty, that bird will recover within half an hour and fly away. I’d barely made it down the road before the kingfisher bounced back to life. I could hear her flapping around in the transport cage. You beaudy! No need for further care. I was adjacent a nice wooded park by water, so I opened the door and she flew straight up into a tree. Luckily, she’d recovered sufficiently because a hungry currawong zeroed in, thinking it was about to get a quick snack. But she was too quick. She was off and that was last I saw of her.
10.01.2022 Poor Scooter. One minute he’s sitting on the beach with all of his mates; the next he’s on a boat in the vice-like grip of Big Ears (it’s the hat!) It all began when Theraze and her family, picnicking for the morning at Jumpinpin Bar, noticed that one of the peli’s nearby was hopping. Theraze could see a fish hook in the bird’s ankle. I called VMR Jacobs Well to ask if they had a crew who could run me out to The Pin. Theraze agreed to wait and keep an eye on the pelicans. Th...is is vitally important because the birds could fly away at any time. Our luck held, in fact the only peli that didn’t fly away was the injured bird. Thankfully he was a quick catch. The VMR crew ran me back to Jacobs, then it was a 30k’s drive south to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. The fish hook, deep in Scooter’s left ankle, had sent him lame and would kill him unless removed. The fisher who injured Scooter did not call to get him help. The next morning Scooter was on the operating table when alarms sounded indicating a serious, adverse reaction to the anesthetic. We nearly lost him. Dr. Tina did a great job bringing Scooter back to life. A couple of days later, the hospital tried again and this time the hook was removed successfully. Scooter is a lovely bird. It was touch and go for a while but now he’s eating well and doing well. We’re optimistic that he’ll pull through.
10.01.2022 This is Lambchop. She was very lucky that Joe and Dawn came across her while walking their dog early Friday evening. At the time Lambchop was being severely beaten by a big male swan who wasn’t going to give up until he’d killed her. Swans might look serene and placid but they regularly engage in battles over territory, mating rights and food. Sound like any other species you know??... She’d probably strayed into the male’s territory where he and his partner have young cygnets. That’s a dangerous thing for a smaller bird to do. Luckily, swans rarely get killed in their battles, but this was different. It was getting dark. Joe courageously clambered through tall (red-bellied black snake filled) grass to intervene and keep the attacker at bay until I got there. I quickly scrambled down the bank and dragged a sodden, lifeless Lambchop out of the lake by the scruff of her neck. She was alive, but barely and was in shock. Heat was the first thing needed, so I took her home then used a hair drier on her for 40 minutes. Warm at last she was given a bowl of water filled with shredded lettuce and corn before being put to bed in a dry, quiet spot. She’d perked up a little but was not yet interested in food. Next morning, Lambchop was looking much better and managed a few mouthfuls, but was still sore and barely able to stand. Hopefully a few days of R and R will do the trick, then she can go back to the lake this time somewhere far away from her nemesis.
09.01.2022 Happy New Year Everyone! Here are just a few of the many good people who assisted me with some of the 434 injured birds that I rescued in 2020. Everyone is smiling because the hard part catching the bird ... has been achieved and it will get the help that it needs. Also, the secret to a happy and successful 2021 is revealed in the last picture.... Rowley Wild Bird Rescues GOLD COAST 0438-823100, 6am-9pm, 7 days.
08.01.2022 These little cuties are magpie geese chicks. This is not something I see often in residential Gold Coast. It's nice that another goose is helping out with the goslings. This little family lives in the lake alongside Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. The chicks biggest threat at this size are eels which sadly have already claimed one of the original four. If the little ones can make it through the next couple of weeks they should be safe.
07.01.2022 What’s the etiquette around posting pictures of those caught in ‘flagrante delicto?’ I guess you wouldn’t post if it was your neighbor, but these ospreys are out in the open atop a 20m pole. Full on exhibitionists, I reckon. Unfortunately, their mating is a bit late other Gold Coast ospreys have already hatched their chicks this season, some of which are only a month away from fledging. This pair recently constructed the nest on a lighting array at Salk Oval, Palm Beach. Go...ld Coast Council will love that (not!) Last year Council spent a fortune on a new nesting tower 2k’s up the road in the Mallawa Drive sports field. Luckily the ospreys nesting there on a lighting array accepted that new nest after their old one was dismantled to allow for maintenance on the lights. By all appearances that pair are sitting on young chicks now. As for the defunct Currumbin osprey nesting tower adjacent to the Currumbin estuary, installed at a cost of $85K nearly 2 years ago, it’s probably just going to sit there doing nothing. I’ve worked hard for almost twelve months trying to get Council to honor their commitment and add the improvements I’ve recommended for that structure to make it functional and appealing to ospreys, all to no avail. I can’t afford to waste any more time on this and have communicated that to the Mayor. This won’t be the end of the matter as I suspect that local residents will be highly displeased about Council’s lack of action.
06.01.2022 I don’t think they like me much, but I’m hoping to win them over with that big bowl of lettuce and corn. These are 9 weeks old cygnets (baby swans). They’ve been rejected by their parents and were in mortal peril until I plucked them from their lake. Swans are loving parents until their cygnets reach about 16 weeks of age almost fully grown and able to fly. At that point they become the ‘parents from hell’ and drive their young from the lake. They won’t let them stay around... and compete for territory, food and mating rights. They have to go and if they don’t go, then it’s ON! Problem is, for some parents this urge kicks in early. Way too early, before the young can fly. Little ones like these have no escape and will be drowned unless they take refuge on land, which often means venturing onto roadways. That can’t be allowed to happen. The cygnets pictured are just 2 of the original 5 from this family. One cygnet had been caught a couple of days earlier. When I heard about their problem, I phoned carer Lee who lives on Lake Hugh Muntz (in Mermaid Wts). As luck would have it two of the missing cygnets had just swum up to her house. They were frightened and bedraggled. So, it was straight into the kitchen and under the hair drier. Later that day, to our great relief, the final two were spotted near a busy road. I caught them quickly. Happily, all 5 young swans are now in care. They’ll do well and will be ‘flight capable’ and ready for release in 8 weeks’ time.
05.01.2022 Justin was suiting up for a surf at The Spit when I co-opted him into acting as pigeon wrangler. I’d just caught a crested pigeon and had it laid out on the back of my car. Cutting away entanglements of fishing line from a tiny bird’s foot can be delicate work and pigeons are as slippery as they come. I asked Justin to gently secure the bird while I went to work on the little fellow’s maimed foot with scissors and tweezers. Like so many of his kind, this Australian native h...ad walked through a short length of braid (non-stretch fishing line) that somebody had dropped on the ground. It became tangled around his toes and had tightened. Now it was cutting them off. If that wasn’t trouble enough, that same foot was also entangled in human hair: brushings that someone else had dropped on the ground. What hope for these little birds, going peacefully about their business and running into all manner of dangerous, human, cast-off waste? We did the best we could and this will give the pigeon considerable relief. For his help and kindness Justin was awarded the honour of releasing the little fellow. Word of advice to all pigeons if you’re going to forage where litterers fish, watch your step.
04.01.2022 I like pigeons. So does Chante. She and her fella were relaxing by the Broadwater when a bunch of pigeons turned up. They gave the birds some crumbs. Next thing, one pigeon was all over them. That’s when they noticed the poor thing’s feet were tied together by string. It could barely walk. I was there in a jiffy and quickly grabbed the entangled bird. ... Shuffling everywhere, looking for food, means that pigeons and many other small birds run into all sort of threads and stringy materials. In fact, any pigeon that gets through life without becoming entangled in something, is doing well. Chante secured the pigeon while I went to work on its feet. One toe had already been strangled and was dead. The string had cut into other toes and to make matters worse we also found strands of deeply embedded human hair from someone’s hair brushings. It took a while, but eventually we got it all. In the end Chante’s little friend flew away a much happier bird.
03.01.2022 This pelican is suffering from suspected botulism. Any swan, duck or other waterbird that contracts the illness will usually look the same, stranded on a shoreline, barely able to move. Resident Andro was walking around his local lake this morning when he spotted the pelican. My first question was ‘is the bird’s head in the water’. Andro said, ‘no’. That was a very good start. Waterbirds can ingest this toxin from mud on the bottom. Hot conditions exacerbate it, as do de...ad and rotting carcasses. Rapid paralysis follows ingestion, beginning in the legs, then affecting the wings and finally the bird’s neck muscles (hence my question to Andro). If the head drops into the water the bird will drown quickly. Most feel the illness developing and have the good sense to beach themselves to prevent drowning. Several years ago, I caught five pelicans in as many weeks, all suffering from botulism, in exactly the same location. Four died. Fluffy, as he’s now known, is in Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. He’s in desperate trouble, but I’ve seen much worse. I think Fluffy has a pretty good chance. If he can make it through until tomorrow afternoon his chances will have increased significantly. Fingers crossed.
01.01.2022 One of my pelican catches on the Gold Coast Broadwater
