So much has happened, since I've not been around here. The pond started attracting all the normal pond critters, even though I live in the city. But, it is not always a normal thing. One day after being gone all morning...this is what I saw. I thought it was a duck at first, but the closer I got, I realized this was a rare thing to find anywhere, let alone my pond.
And the closer I got, the sicker I felt. The pour bird had got tangled up in the netting… meant for leaves not birds. I kind of panicked 'cause I had no idea how I was going to get this bird out, let alone what I was gonna do with him.
So I got my neighbor to help me. We put a sweatshirt over the bird and from that point till the time we got him to CSUB, he didn't even move.
FACT is a wildlife rescue, particularly Raptors.They are nursed back to health, then released. Any ways, not only was this bird, known as the Merlin, a rare one to see… but he was banded. Migration monitoring by the USGS. The coordinator out at FACT, reported the rescue and they're sending me a Finder's Rescue Certificate. It tells me how old the bird is, if it's male or female and for how long it's been monitored.
So it turned out that he wasn't so badly injured and after week they called to see when I could come get him for release. I did not know they had to be released in the same spot they were found. It being such a rare thing, it wasn't long before the media caught wind. So, for the sake of raising community interest, I agreed to let them do a story… So long as they only captured images of the Falcon...and not me.
He is so sad looking being stuck in that net sitting in that cold water and not knowing what I was about to do. Not at all the way falcons normally look, and the way he did when it was time to fly free.
I will cut tree limbs down before cutting bird limbs free, and not likely to use netting again.
Interesting too, is the fact that I rarely put my dog inside, when I'm gone. But I did that day. There is absolutely no doubt, had I not...I would have come home to my dogs delight of having made herself some Pond Soup. I'm so grateful for angels. :biggrinangelA:
And the closer I got, the sicker I felt. The pour bird had got tangled up in the netting… meant for leaves not birds. I kind of panicked 'cause I had no idea how I was going to get this bird out, let alone what I was gonna do with him.
So I got my neighbor to help me. We put a sweatshirt over the bird and from that point till the time we got him to CSUB, he didn't even move.
FACT is a wildlife rescue, particularly Raptors.They are nursed back to health, then released. Any ways, not only was this bird, known as the Merlin, a rare one to see… but he was banded. Migration monitoring by the USGS. The coordinator out at FACT, reported the rescue and they're sending me a Finder's Rescue Certificate. It tells me how old the bird is, if it's male or female and for how long it's been monitored.
So it turned out that he wasn't so badly injured and after week they called to see when I could come get him for release. I did not know they had to be released in the same spot they were found. It being such a rare thing, it wasn't long before the media caught wind. So, for the sake of raising community interest, I agreed to let them do a story… So long as they only captured images of the Falcon...and not me.
He is so sad looking being stuck in that net sitting in that cold water and not knowing what I was about to do. Not at all the way falcons normally look, and the way he did when it was time to fly free.
I will cut tree limbs down before cutting bird limbs free, and not likely to use netting again.
Interesting too, is the fact that I rarely put my dog inside, when I'm gone. But I did that day. There is absolutely no doubt, had I not...I would have come home to my dogs delight of having made herself some Pond Soup. I'm so grateful for angels. :biggrinangelA:
