Snowpocalypse Aftermath
The snow came faster than we could remove it. On Monday morning, February 15, the Scavenger Pen collapsed. Fortunately no birds were hurt. They have been moved into their new home. The pen will have to be completely rebuilt before it can be used for reconditioning rehabilitated birds.
Winnie had raked snow from the larger pens on Saturday and Sunday. Several more inches fell Sunday night, and it was too much. Monday morning Carl Scheeler fashioned a new snow removal tool, from an old broken roof rake, that was quite effective at removing snow from the other large aviaries.
The Songbird Pen partially collapsed, but is usable until the top can be replaced. The two trees growing inside kept it from completely collapsing.
Ring Billed Gull 21-031
The Gull was found near McNary Dam on the Oregon side of the river. The finder reported it was entangled in fishing line and a treble hook. I had no idea what a treble hook was. As it turned out, there were three three-pronged hooks on the contraption attached to the fishing line, and all three hooks were embedded in the gull’s left foot and leg. A heavy duty pair of wire cutters was used to cut the barbed tips off several of the hooks in order to remove them without causing more damage. Initially, the fishing lane must have been tangled around another object causing the gull to dislocate its left hip while struggling to get free.
Amazingly, after just five days the gull is starting to use the injured leg and foot.
Join BMW for the Final Night of Virtual Winter Birds 2021
Visit Events (friendsofmcrwr.org) and join the Zoom Meeting under Next Event
Join Blue Mountain Wildlife and wildlife photographer Izzy Edwards for a fun evening.
