HI Everyone
It has been a relatively quiet time following the hectic events of late June and early July. Today is a particularly exciting and happy one though as our featured survivor Blue Heron(see the picture from our July 9 posting) was released from the Prince Rupert wildlife centre and flew off into the wild. He is a strong and healthy bird and he flies off with our best wishes.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Survivor Update from Holly and Kate
Hey...thought you would like a photo. This is from today, the bird is a male, as was the one that didn't survive. We watched as she fed him a strip of salmon. He will be moved tomorrow to an indoor/outdoor pen now that he's doing so much better.
Cheers, Holly and Kate
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Summary Update
Hi Everyone
Out of the 5 eggs produced: four hatched, one did not. The last to hatch died at about 3 weeks old. Both the unhatched egg and the dead chick were eaten by eagles. The remaining 3 chicks jumped from the nest during the eagle encounter. One fell to the ground right away, was retrieved, treated by the wildlife shelter and the vet (it's leg was infected and needed to be drained), and was flown (courtesy of Hawk Air) to a larger facility on Salt Spring Island for rehab. That chick is doing well. The second chick stayed on the tree for a day or so and finally fell. This little one was not so lucky and did not make it. The third and last chick (the oldest chick) held on for a full 3 days before it finally fell. It was taken to the wildlife shelter. It is doing well also.
thanks
Pouyan
Out of the 5 eggs produced: four hatched, one did not. The last to hatch died at about 3 weeks old. Both the unhatched egg and the dead chick were eaten by eagles. The remaining 3 chicks jumped from the nest during the eagle encounter. One fell to the ground right away, was retrieved, treated by the wildlife shelter and the vet (it's leg was infected and needed to be drained), and was flown (courtesy of Hawk Air) to a larger facility on Salt Spring Island for rehab. That chick is doing well. The second chick stayed on the tree for a day or so and finally fell. This little one was not so lucky and did not make it. The third and last chick (the oldest chick) held on for a full 3 days before it finally fell. It was taken to the wildlife shelter. It is doing well also.
thanks
Pouyan
Friday, July 3, 2009
Update from the Heron Rookery
Hello Heron Viewers
The second chick fell from its twig this afternoon. I recieved the email earlier from a viewer who has been watching intently (Thank you!). Anyhow, we had someone go down and it was recovered and is now at the wildlife shelter. I haven't heard anything about its condition.
We will post an update when we have more information.
Pouyan
The second chick fell from its twig this afternoon. I recieved the email earlier from a viewer who has been watching intently (Thank you!). Anyhow, we had someone go down and it was recovered and is now at the wildlife shelter. I haven't heard anything about its condition.
We will post an update when we have more information.
Pouyan
Update on the Baby Who Made it to the Ground
Dear Bloggers:
I work at the college and am interested in the Blue Heron project. I was concerned about the happenings of the other day and wanted to know what happened to the "chick who fell to earth"
I went to the Wildlife Shelter here in Prince Rupert and spoke to the woman who runs the shelter. She assured me that the chick had arrived at the shelter yesterday morning, was treated and seen by a vet. The chick has been flown to another wildlife shelter down south and is well.
Rhoda
I work at the college and am interested in the Blue Heron project. I was concerned about the happenings of the other day and wanted to know what happened to the "chick who fell to earth"
I went to the Wildlife Shelter here in Prince Rupert and spoke to the woman who runs the shelter. She assured me that the chick had arrived at the shelter yesterday morning, was treated and seen by a vet. The chick has been flown to another wildlife shelter down south and is well.
Rhoda
Baby Heron Update from Pouyan
Dear viewers,
I am the coordinator of this project and I have received all of your many blogs, emails & phone calls this week. There have been many calls for intervention to save the two stranded g.b. heron chicks. We want you all to know that we understand and agree that there are compelling reasons for intervention in this particular situation, and we have been taking steps to explore options.
Before outlining these options, it is important that we bear in mind that, ecologically speaking, if all of the chicks in this rookery survived there would soon occur a population over run that would result in serious secondary problems for the species. And also remember that we knew the average survival rate of g.b.heron chicks is 1 in 4 (1 in 8 in 2008) --so mortality was most expected...
It is, however, also evident that we find ourselves in an unusual situation. Due to our broadcast, these herons have entered our collective lives in a particularly profound and meaningful way. As one viewer commented, "after enjoying and rejoicing in the hatching...we are now going to observe their death." Within this context, it is arguably reasonable to lean on the side of our human nature to nurture and protect, rather than adhere to the scientific principles that govern these ecosystems (albeit heavily impacted ecosystems).
Having said that, we have some serious logistical problems to contend with. The chicks are sitting on a twig over 60 feet up in a very thin tree. The tree has hundreds of small branches from the ground to where the chicks are. Ten feet above the chicks is a second nest with healthy chicks inside. To climb the tree, we would have to cut most of the lower branches, all the way up. There is a high chance that this would lead to the stranded chicks making a fatal jump, or the chicks in the second nest panicking and jumping, or the adult herons in the second nest abandoning the nest (we have observed this in other places). Another point to think about is that one heron chick that was recovered last year and taken to the local wildlife shelter (i.e. it is over a year old now) 'appears' unable to hunt and feed for itself due to being raised in captivity...
We have spoken to the wildlife shelter as well as the conservation officer at the MOE. There is no reasonable solution on the table at the moment. If the chicks make their way to the ground, we have an obvious window to help them. If that does happen please call NWCC at (250) 624-6054 or toll free 1-800-310-5331 -ask for the Prince Rupert switchboard, and let the front desk know immediately. We acted within minutes of the eagle attack to save the first chick, hopefully we can do the same for the other two. If there are any other ideas please blog or email me directly: ace@nwcc.bc.ca
Thanks to all the viewers throughout Canada and the U.S. (specially the Hornby Island crew) for your diligence and care. Keep blogging us with your thoughts.
Sincerely -- Pouyan
Applied Coastal Ecology department
NWCC, Prince Rupert, BC
I am the coordinator of this project and I have received all of your many blogs, emails & phone calls this week. There have been many calls for intervention to save the two stranded g.b. heron chicks. We want you all to know that we understand and agree that there are compelling reasons for intervention in this particular situation, and we have been taking steps to explore options.
Before outlining these options, it is important that we bear in mind that, ecologically speaking, if all of the chicks in this rookery survived there would soon occur a population over run that would result in serious secondary problems for the species. And also remember that we knew the average survival rate of g.b.heron chicks is 1 in 4 (1 in 8 in 2008) --so mortality was most expected...
It is, however, also evident that we find ourselves in an unusual situation. Due to our broadcast, these herons have entered our collective lives in a particularly profound and meaningful way. As one viewer commented, "after enjoying and rejoicing in the hatching...we are now going to observe their death." Within this context, it is arguably reasonable to lean on the side of our human nature to nurture and protect, rather than adhere to the scientific principles that govern these ecosystems (albeit heavily impacted ecosystems).
Having said that, we have some serious logistical problems to contend with. The chicks are sitting on a twig over 60 feet up in a very thin tree. The tree has hundreds of small branches from the ground to where the chicks are. Ten feet above the chicks is a second nest with healthy chicks inside. To climb the tree, we would have to cut most of the lower branches, all the way up. There is a high chance that this would lead to the stranded chicks making a fatal jump, or the chicks in the second nest panicking and jumping, or the adult herons in the second nest abandoning the nest (we have observed this in other places). Another point to think about is that one heron chick that was recovered last year and taken to the local wildlife shelter (i.e. it is over a year old now) 'appears' unable to hunt and feed for itself due to being raised in captivity...
We have spoken to the wildlife shelter as well as the conservation officer at the MOE. There is no reasonable solution on the table at the moment. If the chicks make their way to the ground, we have an obvious window to help them. If that does happen please call NWCC at (250) 624-6054 or toll free 1-800-310-5331 -ask for the Prince Rupert switchboard, and let the front desk know immediately. We acted within minutes of the eagle attack to save the first chick, hopefully we can do the same for the other two. If there are any other ideas please blog or email me directly: ace@nwcc.bc.ca
Thanks to all the viewers throughout Canada and the U.S. (specially the Hornby Island crew) for your diligence and care. Keep blogging us with your thoughts.
Sincerely -- Pouyan
Applied Coastal Ecology department
NWCC, Prince Rupert, BC
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
At 8:30 tonight (Tues) the adult heron returned to the nest, after what we think may have been several days of absence. At 9:00 the adult (as well as other adult herons) began screeching loudly. A few minutes later we found out why. A pair of eagles raided the nest. Upon landing on the nest the 3 chicks, in an attempt to escape predation, jumped from the nest. Two landed on twigs further down the tree and are stuck there now. One fell to the ground.
I (Pouyan) phoned a contact in the neighborhood who went down to the park within minutes. As per the request of the Min of Environment she recovered the fallen chick. It was a bit bloody but seemed ok otherwise. She will take it to the rehab center in the morning. She will also check to see if either of the other 2 chicks made it to the ground overnight.
The eagles tore apart the 4th chick (it was already dead) and ate it. It wasn't a pretty sight. We recorded the whole event on our server at NWCC.
So this may be the end of the broadcast part of this project. We'll give it a few days to see if any chicks make it back to the nest from below.
Pouyan
I (Pouyan) phoned a contact in the neighborhood who went down to the park within minutes. As per the request of the Min of Environment she recovered the fallen chick. It was a bit bloody but seemed ok otherwise. She will take it to the rehab center in the morning. She will also check to see if either of the other 2 chicks made it to the ground overnight.
The eagles tore apart the 4th chick (it was already dead) and ate it. It wasn't a pretty sight. We recorded the whole event on our server at NWCC.
So this may be the end of the broadcast part of this project. We'll give it a few days to see if any chicks make it back to the nest from below.
Pouyan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
