Newsletter Aug 2009 Final

8/14/2019 Newsletter Aug 2009 Final

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July 2009 Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter Sentinel 1

Sea Biscuit SentinelVolunteering is a thread woven into the fabricof Americana. It is what folks do to improve ourneighborhoods one block at a time. My wife

Dinah is a huge proponent of volunteering evenwhen I am not so keen on some of the variedopportunities she discovers. For example, earlyin 2005 my wife and I were wandering downthe beach with our two dogs. Dinah spotteda volunteer planting sea oats along the dunesand before you could say Holy Moly, we wereplanting sea oats from April through to theharvest in late September. We planted twice

a week as we worked our way to the west endof the island. So be careful what your partnervolunteers you for.Recently as we were again strolling on the beach,

we came upon a pelican that seemed dazedand confused. He was just sitting there on thebeach minding his own business, which wethought was odd because pelicans can probablygo an entire week without setting a web footon a beach. Uncertain of the next step, we did

what any concerned citizen would do: we calledthe law, or in this instance the own of OakIsland since we actually were across the lineof demarcation from Caswell Beach where wereside.

Te individual we spoke with took our cellphone number and said that Someone willbe in contact with you directly. We gave theoperator our 10-20 (nifty police jargon for ourlocation) and sure enough like magic the phonerang within a few minutes. Te person on theother end was very precise and clear with herinstructions. Dont let the pelican get into the

water. Surround and cut off his access. I will bethere in ten minutes. We enlisted the aid of

another beach stroller and we had that pelicansurrounded, with no chance he would escape.Five minutes gave way to ten and as I looked

across the dunes I could see a huge net over theshoulder of a petite figure coming towards us onthe beach. I thought that this surely must be theindividual who will take this docile beast off ourhands, and we waved her over.

Cut him off from the beach as I move in fromthe rear, she instructed, a most clever stratagemto bag this bird. As we moved closer and beforethe net could capture the critter, he wingedoff towards the west barely above the waves,seemingly headed to the YauponPier (now the Oak Island Pierbut us residents of the east endprefer the former designation). I feltsheepish and so did Dinah; the birdcould fly after all.


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2 Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter Sentinel July 2009

As I attempted my best apology I heard the netlady say, oo bad we missed that opportunityto catch him. Did you see he is favoring his left

wing? He may have an injured wrist. What?How could she tell that? I looked at my own

wrist. Wow, pelicans have wrists too? Ill mostlikely get him before it all said and done,our net lady said. She thanked us for beingconcerned and gave us a brochure outlining theattributes of the Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter.

And within a blink of an eye she was gone.

As we were walking back to our condo, Dinah,

who had been looking at the brochure, offeredthis nugget, You know, I think we shouldvolunteer at this facility, the Sea Biscuit WildlifeShelter. Oh-oh, would this be like planting seaoats?

It took about a month for us to get our mindsright to call the Shelter and Mary Ellen Rogers,the curator, ringmaster, ornithologist, and

orchestrator of this menagerie of feathers andtalons. She was delighted that we would offerour services. We had to sign several disclaimers

that we would not hold Sea Biscuitliable for any injuries or damagesshould we become incapacitatedin handling the birds. Dinah, I

thought, what have you gotten us in to now?Te first time we volunteered we met fourpelicans, a couple of loons, a gannet, a laughinggull, an owl and several other of naturesfeathered friends. We were introduced to thepelicans private pool, a converted hot tubsomeone had donated, as well as pens which

were built with volunteer assistance. We wereamazed at the facility inside: an examinationand evaluation room, a dormitory for the moreseverely injured and lots and lots of animalcarriers or crates that had been donated to theshelter.

Dinah and I are not the only ones who volunteer

at Sea Biscuit. Mary Ellen has a dozen or sofolks who will readily appear at her door torender assistance when needed. We clean cages,muck the swimming pool and hot tub, makerepairs, assist in feeding and evaluation, carefor the injured, and do a lot of praying. MaryEllen has also enlisted the aid of a couple ofveterinarians in the area for x-rays and counsel,and she has folks donating towels, cages, liquid

soap, newspapers, fish (pelicans can eat 6-8 eachdaily), brooms, mops, tweezers, gauze, just aboutanything a clinic would require.


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Creatures large and small - our feathered friendsfrom all over eastern North and South Carolina- are brought to the facility each week for careand rehabilitation. Mary Ellen has cared forpelicans, wood ducks, pigeons, blue-jays, wrens,grackles, mocking birds, woodpeckers, owls,gannets, laughing gulls, loons, hawks, and an

occasional unidentifiable creature, all of whomneed aid.

Just so you know, in 2008 Mary Ellen, whomwe affectionately call the Bird Lady, took inupwards of 300 birds and was able to rehabilitateand release more than 50%. Unfortunately birdsin the wild do not adapt well to captivity eventhough the alternative would be certain death.It is traumatic to witness so many birds expiringalthough the best of care has been administered.Many very young hatchlings barely weighingin at 10 grams are brought to the Shelter in thespring and we do our best to care for them andencourage them to eat and thrive. Sadly for usand for the hopeful bird-loving folks who bringbaby birds, many are unable to survive.

Te real joy is the release of ahealthy bird back into the wild.Even though they are coaxed to flyfree there is still one released bird

who resides in the surroundingtrees. He swoops down and landson your head, hoping for a freesnack, and he will eat out of myhand.Our volunteering at the Shelter hasits moments, like the time MaryEllen asked us to take some ice tothe Wildlife Center on Yacht Driveon our way home. We thought

nothing strange about the requestuntil Dinah peaked in the bag and discoveredmice for the owl that had been transferred tothe Center!

Volunteering with the Bird Lady has itsrewards. We knew we had the confidence ofthe ringmaster when we arrived recently to

volunteer and Mary Ellen, who was late for herpart time job, exclaimed to us, You know whatto do, see you later. Tat endorsement pales incomparison to the satisfaction Dinah and I get

when a bird is released and takes its place backin the wild, somewhere over the rainbow!Rick and Dinah Rucker


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SHELER SAISICS AS OF JULY 1, 2009

Tere were 107 incoming birds after Jan 1.Fifteen were in such bad shape they died thesame day.Of the 92 that survived the first 24 hours:33 were released6 were transferred7 are still in care10 had to be euthanized36 died in care

Winter arrivals, if not injured, are mostly in twocategories:Emaciated migrating shorebirds such as loonsand gannets are severely impacted by winter

storms at sea. We had 11 loons and 5 younggannets. Most of these died within a few daysof arrival either from starvation or a disease thataffects waterfowl known as aspergillosis.

Orphaned spring hatchlings make up the othercategory of birds found at the clinic every springTere were 10 tiny doves, 7 mockingbirds and 5little wrens, plus chickadees, starlings, sparrows,and bluejays

Tere were 36 different species.Te rest of thenew patients included 14 gulls, 4pelicans, 5 frostbitten herons, several

wood ducks, hawks, owls and littlesongbirds.

Over 30% came from OakIsland. Southport contributed 11,

Wilmington had 10, and Caswelland Carolina Beach each had 6.Te rest came from places as diverseas the species: Ocean Isle, Holden& Sunset Beaches, Boiling Spring

Lakes, Leland, Lumberton, Whiteville, Kure

Beach, Supply, Varnumtown and Sunset Harbor.

As a camera buff I gravitated to Flickr as a place to learn more aboutphotography from folks of a similar bent. I took out a paid account to allowme to store backups of a number of pictures off my computer. I take pictures

of a variety of subjects and among them the Shelters transient residents. oshare the pictures with Mary Ellen easily I created a group for Sea Biscuit onFlickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/seabiscuitshelter/. If you are reading thisnewsletter you are more than welcome to join the group and add your photosof Sea Biscuit. I add a link to the Sea Biscuit Blog(http://seabiscuitshelter.

blogspot.com/) to pictures in the group. Recently Flickr hasdonated paid accounts to Sea Biscuit through the ech Souporganization (http://www.techsoup.org), a clearing house fortech resources for non profits. Gus Grosch

Died in Care

Euthanized

Still in Care

Transferred

Released

Died Same Day


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FROSYarrived at Sea Biscuit Shelter fromSunset Beach on Feb 10.Diagnosed with frostbitten feet, her incoming

weight was 4.5 lbs. She had hot tub therapy,medications and care in both inside and outsideenclosures until release on April 2 at a weightof 6 lbs. On April 7, she returned to the shelter

with a broken beak from a location 20 milesfrom the release site . Dr. Alyssa ravis stabilizedher beak with splints. Meds included metacamand clindamycin. Her beak appears to be healingand has good blood flow, but will never be ableto withstand the impact of an aerial dive fromon high.

BER arrived at Sea Biscuit Shelter from OakIsland on January 19, with a weight of 7.8 lbs

Dr. ravis found a possible dislocated elbow butno broken bones on radiographs. Bert was givenclindamycin and metacam for 10 days.His wing continues to droop and he is unable tofly.

ERNIEwas previously treated at the Sea Biscuit

Shelter for a fish hook injury and arrived againat the shelter on April 5, 2009 from Oak Islandweighing 8.2 lbs.Te original leg damage fromfishing line gave him a pronounced limp. Hisflight is adequate but he is imprinted after somany months in care. Tough he was released,he displayed aggressive behavior to fishermenand beach visitors, He expects humans to feedhim. He was in care for 7 out of his first 12months.

SID VISCIOUS was transferred in to the SeaBiscuit from another shelter.He had also spent most of his first year in care.On arrival, he did not fly or dive for his fish.He chased or bit his caregivers bearing food. Weobserved his flight and his ability to compete

for live fish. He had no physical problems.After conferring with other pelican rehabberswho suggested that he be released,Jim and Karen Freeze gavehim a boat ride on the CapeFear River. He is on pelican island

with a lot of other juveniles and nohumans!

PELICAN BRIEFSIt seems strange to walk or drive by the Sea Biscuit and NO see pelicans in the backyard.Tree have been transferred to a Florida sanctuary because they couldnt be released into the

wild. Another was released against his will!


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Tey Give Teir ime and Energy:Volunteers who stepped up and helped whenneeded include Gus Grosch who spends hisfree time photographing and giving technicalsupport so that we have this newsletter. Diane

Butzin, Linda Carver, Perry Grosch, JaneKulesza, Janet Kurz, Jenny and Micah Kurzer,

John Mayer, Rick and Dinah Rucker and KaylaStine have all done hands on clinic work. AnneCorrao, Carol Hasty, Barb McLain, AllenHarrison, Jen Metzler, Mary Lynne Meissner,

Jo OKeefe, Dawn Olmstead, Mike Romano,ammi Smith, Randy and Lisa Weller andCarmel Zetts rescued and transported the

birds needing help. Dr. Alyssa ravis and

her professional team at River Road AnimalHospital have donated their services to givemuch needed expertise, medications and

radiographs. Dr. Flint King and hisstaff at the Oak Island AnimalHospital assist in emergency casesin a humane and caring manner.

Tey Made Large Donations:New supply cupboards, a functioning outdoorsink, partitions in the newest enclosure, amicroscope, a conference in Raleigh and

reference books were funded by Hope FromHelen Foundation, Jim Fowler, John Ennis,om and Libby Steffens and the Snarr Family.Im so proud of myfamily and I mustacknowledge thebig contributionsof money, suppliesand labor from:

Rick and MelodyRogers; Garry anderri Bruce; Andrew,

Joshua and KristinaBruce; and Kelly andessa Rogers.

Tey Contributed Food, Money or Services:Shana Grisset, Beverly Guerre, Te Kurzer

Family, Richard and Edith Edwards, Gail Capel,Deborah Fosbury, Ardith Luke, Dave Mullaney,Bob and Alice Seidel, Royce Potter, BlackburnSeafood, Tomas Baldwin, Andrea Burchette,Betsie Lytton, Mary Goldfeder, Ann and Jim

White, Jo OKeefe, Robert and Frances Jones,Randy and Lisa Weller, John and Mary EllenShadid, Southport Sail and Power Squadron,Sally Buchanan, Pam Rainey, Maxine Ray,

Penny Chestnut, Mark Albert, Lee Baird,Christine Alexander, Catherine Cheek, TomasKuzenko, Mary Snead, Jill Jones, PatriciaRoseman, Michael and Jennifer Albrycht,

Anita Vigorito, JoAnne Harrelson, George andMarilyn Emery.

Te Sea Biscuit Support System2009


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5 INY WOOD DUCKS were orphaned nearthe Lumber River State Park on April 1st. RangerPrivette drove them down to Shallotte where

they had a second transport to Oak Island. Teyare notoriously hard to keep alive and weighedfrom 19 to 23 grams (less than 1 ounce). Afterconferring with Jennifer Gordon at Carolina

Waterfowl, they were put in a heated aquariumand given lots of mealworms. wo did not makeit but the 3 survivors gained weight rapidly. In

June, the little female was transferred to the NCAquarium at Fort Fisher and the two boys are

paddling around on Greenfield Lake inWilmington.

An apartment complex in the city is notwhere youd normally find a CHUCK WILLSWIDOW. But this bird kept flying into theatrium windows on the second story of TeColonial Apartments. Frank Wright captured

the feisty guy. On arrival at SBWS, thoughhis head was skinned, bruised and bloody, hehissed and growled at his keepers. After 3 weeksof healing and gobbling down crickets, he wasreleased near the Southport Ferry Landing at the

woods bordering the freshly plowed farm fieldsat the end of the road.

YELLOW SHAFER FLICKERS get orphanedtoo. Tis one was brought to the River Road

Animal Hospital on

May 27

th

. He was notfully feathered and hada funny way of stickingout his tongue wheneating. When he startedto hammer on the wallsof his cage a week later,

we realized that it wasa woodpecker. Aftergobbling up cricketsand mealworms for the next three weeks, he

was returned to River Rd., given another day offood in captivity on the back porchand finally released. But hechose to stay close by graduallygetting his own food but beingsupplemented by staff feedings.

HAPPY ENDINGS


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Tings needed every

day:Mops and brooms,scrub brushes,detergents and vinylgloves, paper towels,Food storage zip lockbags.Offi ce supplies, copypaper, envelopes,

Medical needs:Scalpels, black lightflashlight, moldingplastic for casts andsplints.

Foodstuffs:

Mealworms, crickets,fish under 12 longlive or fresh or frozen.Bird seed, sunflowerseeds, rice baby cereal,chicken baby food,frozen chicks, frozenmice, live mice.

Other stuff:A sand filter for thehot tubBlenderShelving

To:

SeaBiscuitShelter

1638EBeachDrOakIsland,NC28465

Board of Directors

Mary Ellen Rogers, PresidentDiane W. Butzin, SecretaryJane A. Kulesza, reasurer

WISH LISCash donations will be used forfood and veterinary supplies

Mission Statement

Te Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter cares for injured ororphaned wild birds. We provide minimum medical

care, safety from predators, food and shelter from theelements. When an animal is able to care for itself, itis released to the wild. We do not keep nonreleasableanimals nor use heroic methods to sustain the qualityof their life. However, the Shelter does make everyeffort to rehabilitate an endangered species and everyanimal brought here is treated with respect andcaring.

Call Mary Ellen Rogers at 910 278-7871

Newsletter Aug 2009 Final

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