The Story of 23
Well, I've done it! I've carried out my very first rescue! Ok, regular readers will know I responded to collect some ducklings but that was Vale work and it was with a colleague - this was completely unplanned. I was driving to Beckford on Monday night ready for wildlife training the following day. It was a long, busy road. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to a small dark object in the middle of the road. At first glance, it looked nothing more than rubbish blowing in the wind, but when I looked again it was a bird! It was staggering in the middle of the road, obviously experiencing difficulties.
Well, I wasn't gonna leave it, was I?? Without thinking, I did a U-turn at the earliest opportunity and parked up in a bus layby. I rushed back to the bird; I could see it was no longer staggering but lying on its side. Panic! What if it had died? I was going to walk away but then the thought crossed my mind about cats and other animals venturing out into the road to feast on the carcass so I decided to go and collect the bird regardless and move it somewhere safer. As I approached, I noticed the bird was still alive! It was breathing heavily and lying on its side. As I leant down and cupped it in my hands, it made no effort to fly away. The poor thing was exhausted.
It was about the size of my hand and was dark brown with a speckled breast - a Blackbird fledgling! I've mentioned in the past my love for blackbirds - they're lovely, docile birds & I'm honoured that it was this animal that was my first rescue.
The bird was showing obvious signs of shock - it was cold, its beak was open and it was panting. I had to get moving quickly - after all, it must have been terrified first being surrounded by traffic, now being picked up by a human. I got back to the kerb where a pedestrian started talking to me. He too had seen the bird lying there. He tried to make conversation; I politely acknowledged him then put the bird in the towel-lined transporter box in my car. I placed it in the passenger footwell and put the heater on to 30C - sweltering!!!
Fortunately, the wildlife hospital was only 10 minutes away. I left the bird in the Brooder Room whilst a volunteer went to grab the casualty manager. He assessed the bird and came to the same conclusion as me - it was a blackbird fledgling who had left the nest a bit too early and had exhausted itself. There were no other signs of abnormalities, so it was ringed (ring number 23, hence its name which will stay with me forever) and I took it to the Bird Room, putting it in a cage with 4 other similarly aged blackbirds.
I checked on 23 the following day to make sure it had made it through the night and I'm very very pleased to say it did! Go me!
That's pretty darn good stats - 100% success rate! Yay!
In other news, I've now got a TWR phone and will be announcing the phone number very shortly - keep checking back!
I'm rather worried about the new Avian Influenza outbreak in Oxfordshire but it's very early days - keep checking back for updates!
All the best guys and gals!