Photos by Cheryl Reynolds
Over the past week, both International Bird Rescue’s wildlife centers in California received orphaned baby birds.
Our Los Angeles center is caring for four orphaned ducklings, while our San Francisco Bay center has Canada goslings, Mallard ducklings and a Green Heron, shown above being fed via puppet surrogate. This patient was found in Discovery Bay, CA with injuries, and re-nesting was unfortunately not an option.
The heron is currently in an incubator within the center’s ICU, which is kept at a very warm temperature. During clinic hours, you can catch him/her on our live BirdCam.
I am thrilled my little Green Heron is ok! My neighbor found it on his lawn. We waited for some time hoping the mother would retrieve it back to the nest (there are at least two other babies up there). By nightfall, she had not returned (and it was getting cold and rainy). I took it inside, put it in a warm place in a box and prayed it would be ok in the morning…it was! Drove straight to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum hospital where it was welcomed with open arms! Thank heavens! For everyone involved with bird rescue and for everyone that helped me that day: THANK YOU!
I am keeping my eyes peeled as we have many Heron and Bittern nests around and frequently find the babies too late.
Warmly,
Teri Sandholdt