After a Long Swim, Great Egret Regains the Sky

White Heron by John Ciardi
What lifts the heron leaning on the air
I praise without a name. A crouch, a flare,
a long stroke through the cumulus of trees,
a shaped thought at the sky — then gone. O rare!
Saint Francis, being happiest on his knees,
would have cried Father! Cry anything you please

But praise. By any name or none. But praise
the white original burst that lights
the heron on his two soft kissing kites.
When saints praise heaven lit by doves and rays,
I sit by pond scums till the air recites
It’s heron back. And doubt all else. But praise.

The person who called was standing at the Eureka waterfront, near the Adorni Center, when she watched a Great Egret come swimming across the channel that separates the shoreline there from Woodley Island. The ordinarily elegant and beautiful white bird clambored out of the water up onto the riprap and hunkered down, apparently exhausted.

Catching the Egret wasn’t that hard. A bedraggled big white bird sitting on rocks is easy to spot, and their exhaustion left them unable to flee when approached. Once captured, it was obvious that this was a juvenile Egret, – this year’s model, who’d probably come into this world just two islands over on Tuluwat, which hosts a large heronry each Spring and Summer.

After getting them back to the clinic, we first provided a warm environment to help with hypothermia, and administered warmed fluids both to help warm the egret as well as to begin rehydrating the seriously depleted bird.

Within a few hours the bird was standing and very pleased to discover the fish that we’d put in their housing with them. For piscivores in trouble, fish is a big part of the solution.

For many patients, a small sample of blood can reveal a lot about their condition. Spinning the sample in a centrifuge separates the blood into cells and plasma, revealing the percentage that is red blood cells. This number is often called the “packed cell volume” or PCV. Red blood cells carry the oxygen that is part of the fuel of life – the lower the PCV, the more anemic the patient. While there is some variation across the many species we treat, for aquatic birds, a PCV of 40 (that is to say that red blood cells make up 40% of the total sample) is considered a baseline of good health. This Egret’s first sample on admission revealed a critically low PCV of 17%. Considering the severity of the bird’s dehydration, it’s safe to say that the actual percentage of red blood cells would be even lower one the patient is rehydrated.

Still, this number didn’t really change the care we offered (warmth, fluids, fish and safety), but it did let us know how close to death the young Egret had come.

After a few days, of hydration and food, the Egret’s PCV had climbed above 20 and they were able to make short evasive flights in the aviary when we would capture for regular exams and weight checks. After 8 days in care the PCV had recovered another 10 points and stood at 30%. After a couple weeks, the Egret was flying beautifully – their PCV was back within normal limits, their weight had increased from 679 grams in admission to 1117 grams – a 160% gain! They looked really good. It was time for release.

Clearly this Egret is thinking, “Outside the box!”
“Two soft kissing kites”, indeed!
Watching an Egret fly from our care out over the mudflats of lowtide on Humboldt Bay is one of the greatest thrills.
A moment to pause and consider this restored freedom!
With a vigorous shake, the Egret dumps the last of humanity that’d been clinging to their feathers. A shiver and we are a memory.
The telephoto lens reveals where the Egret flew.
An adult Great Egret flies in to see what’s going on.
A meeting in Manila, “the gem of Arcata Bay
The two Egrets on promenade.
And so we leave them to their private, wild freedom.

Even though many of our patients are injured traumatically, or have become so sick and debilitated that there isn’t anythng we can do to help, and even through the frustrations of living in a human society that casually hinders, harms and destroys wild lives, providing care for the wild, the innocent, provides a wonderful close view of the miracle of healing, the mystery of hunger, and the fulfillment of dreams. This Egret was an astonishing patient. Your support bought the fish, the fluids, the safe space, the net and the gasoline for the rescue, as well as paid for the trained and dedicated staff needed to deliver it all in an effective manner. Thank you for making sure this Great Egret had somewhere and someone who could help them with a second chance.

This is a crucial time in our history, and as we prepare to move our facility to a location that will give us something more stable and sustainable we need your help badly! If you can, please DONATE today

Thank you for making the difference all of our patients need.

all photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX

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Great Egret Back in the Game!

Last Saturday at the end of the work day, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center’s staff wildlife rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson, took a call. An Egret was struggling in the water at the Eureka Marina. The caller told Lucinda that he had already pulled the struggling bird, who he’d thought was tangled in fishing line from the water once, but that the bird had fallen back in…

When Lucinda arrived on the scene she found a water-logged and apparently dead Great Egret (Ardea alba) floating next to the dock. But as she bent to lift the spent body from the water, she noticed a soft and shallow breath.

Unresponsive, soaking and dangerously cold,  the bird needed immediate help. Lucinda brought the brought the barely conscious Egret back to our clinic in Bayside. With a body temperature of 95˚F, there was little else to be done but provide warmth and warmed fluids.

Within a few hours, the Egret was again aware and alert, with a normal body temperature, dry and able to stand. Lucinda offered a handful of fish and privacy for the rest of the night. Come morning, the Egret was alert, standing, distressed by captivity and full of fish. All of the night’s dinner had been eaten.

Now stable, we performed a full examination. The Egret was in good shape. Well muscled, hydrated,  – even the bird’s blood was well within healthy parameters. The only thing amiss was that her (or his) feathers were very disheveled. We placed her back into our large bird recovery housing and misted with fresh water all of her impressive white plumage, to encourage our lucky patient to put things back in order. The regular work that birds put in to feather care, preening, we call it, is a time-consuming and a very necessary part of the beauty of feathered flight.

Humboldt Bay is home to a large population of Egrets and Herons. We see them everywhere – hunting for rodents in farmland, fishing in marshes, moving softly on broad wings across the sky. On an island between the Samoa peninsula and the city of Eureka is a “rookery” where hundreds of Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets raise their young each year, May through August, looking like white blossoms on the stand of non-native Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) that these quintessential marshland birds have (de)colonized and redeemed.

By the end of this Egret’s first 24 hours in care, frustration with captivity had become his or her biggest problem. It began to seem likely that this adult had a family that needed attention. At the end of the second day, now certain that all of our patient’s feathers were restored, we released the Egret in view of the island of Egrets.

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Help us reach our July goal of $5000 raised for our many wild patients this summer! Click here to contribute!

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After leaping into flight and freedom out of our carrier, the Egret landed in an adjacent cove and took stock of the new situation. Soon the bird put some greater distance between us, flying to an exposed part of the mud flats farther into the bay.

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And after a brief stay, the Egret lifted into flight again, this time flying high and directly toward the ‘rookery’ on the island of Egrets, toward what we hope is a happy reunion.

Version 2Our patient no more, simply another incredible Great Egret, alive and returning to his or her partner and young after a brush with death and a mysterious encounter – living into a second chance.

DSC_3020A happy rehabilitator! Lucinda Adamson after the bird has flown…

What saved this bird’s life? Your support. Your support makes it possible for us to have dedicated staff members, like Lucinda Adamson, who is the first full-time staff person HWCC has ever hired. Our growth in the community has meant an ever increasing caseload, and as our capacity increases with your support, so does the community that relies on us. Your support makes this all possible. Without your support there would be no wind beneath this Egret’s wings. Thank you for helping us help our wild neighbors.

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All photos: Laura Coriglia/BAX

 

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