Volunteers aid in rescues

The following is a monthly column designed to teach local residents about the wild animals that live among us. Marilyn Kendall is writing the column for the Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre, a Napanee-based facility that cares for injured wildlife.

By Marilyn Kendall
On The Wild Side

In August Kingston’s CKWS-TV aired a story about two rescued ospreys being cared for at Sandy Pines. Anglers were asked to donate some of their catch to feed these birds. As a result of the coverage, SPWC Manager Sue Meech reports, “Many anglers went fishing for a cause — thank you!”

One of the ospreys was a two-month-old fledgling with a laceration that needed suturing, possibly caused from a fall from the nest. It ate every fish that could be found for it.

Once it recovered, the young osprey needed to get back to its nest at the top of a hydro pole on the South Shore of Hay Bay, still occupied by its parents. This presented a problem as the hydro company won’t allow anyone but its own crews up their poles.

It was then thought to somehow place the bird high in an adjacent tree. Napanee arborist Jordan Sinclair was consulted. He put the osprey in a bag for protection (“Their talons are brutal,” says Sue) and, using professional tree-climbing equipment, got the bird up into the tree.

Shortly after, the mother and baby were heard calling back and forth to each other and, soon after that, the youngster flew back to the nest. It was a difficult release back to the wild but a happy ending.

One recent morning, Sue received a call about a cormorant hanging by its leg from a tree branch 20 feet up over a river in Prince Edward County. It had been struggling to free itself all night with its frantic mate nearby trying to help.

Sue called an area Sandy Pines volunteer who felt the only solution would be to cut the branch down. He contacted Bloomfield arborist Doug Storring.

He ultimately came to the cormorant’s rescue, throwing a rope over the branch and giving it a good shake, thus releasing the trapped bird.

Sue would like you to know that, “although we don’t have a Rescue Team, as we cover an area from Montreal to Toronto, we do have a few key people we can call on to rescue birds and animals in distress, who will go that extra mile to help out. We thank them! The sooner we can get an injured animal, bird or reptile into care, the better are its chances for survival and release.”

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