Rescuing a bird is not an easy task. When Justin Cannon encountered a stranded Common Murre on the shore, he was moved to take action. The challenges were many, but his perseverance paid off as he navigated the steps needed to get the bird to safety.
Justin is no stranger to the intersection of compassion and action. As the pastor of a church in San Leandro, CA, and the founding director of Holy Hikes, a national ministry network, he has long been inspired by the deep connections between nature, spirituality, and care for all living things.
This wasn’t his first rescue, having previously assisted in another dramatic rescue of stray cockatiels at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. However, this moment felt especially significant, as it ultimately led him, along with his Aunt Barbara Anderson, to start volunteering with International Bird Rescue just this past week.
After a dedicated rescue effort, the murre was successfully rehabilitated and released on January 30. For Justin, this was an experience so profound and moving that he felt compelled to share it. Read on to hear about his rescue experience that ultimately led to a successful, life-saving outcome.
An Uncommon Encounter With a Common Murre
During our weekly Friday birding outing on January 3, this time at Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary in Alameda, my Aunt Barbara and I had an encounter that would change the course of our entire day.
During this outing, we decided to go to Elsie Roemer because I had heard there were Snowy Plover sightings just days before. While birding, we encountered a woman with a large camera, and my aunt asked if she had seen the plovers. She had not, but proceeded to show us photos of a Common Murre she had spotted. We were shocked, as it is not a place one would expect such a sighting. We decided to head towards the beach where I could see a great big congregation of gulls, cormorants, and shorebirds. Suddenly, I spotted the mysterious lone Common Murre right at the shore where the waves break.
He was just standing there all alone, passionately preening himself and shaking. We watched him do this for over 30 minutes. My aunt was concerned. The gulls were circling around him and getting uncomfortably close, so I shooed them away. The murre stayed. By then I was probably just six to eight feet from him, which felt magical but concerning. Soon after, a gull flew in and pecked him. He rushed into the water, seemed uneasy, and came back to shore. At this point, I was convinced by this report that something was indeed wrong.
Seeking Expert Advice and a Rescue Plan
While my aunt contacted rangers at Crab Cove Visitor Center, I reached out to local animal rescues to find out what we should do. I called International Bird Rescue and spoke with a volunteer named Coleman who was incredibly helpful. He suspected the bird was oiled and likely hypothermic. He said that if it’s not rescued, it could likely die or be killed off by the gulls that continued to loom near.
He gave me numbers for local groups that might be able to assist, including animal control. The goal was to carefully retrieve the bird with a towel (while wearing a mask and gloves for precaution), get him into a box with towels, and bring him to Bird Rescue before they closed. I called animal control and learned they were not on duty. Meanwhile, my aunt was on her way to the nearest stores, while I kept my eye on the bird, protecting him from gulls.
Within 15 to 20 minutes, he was back to shore. This time I had the larger towels my aunt had brought, and figured I needed to move more slowly. Again, I worked my way towards him. I leaned over and played with seaweed on the shore, pretending to be disinterested in him. As I moved closer, he sensed my movement and bolted to the water again.
The Dramatic Rescue
Losing hope, I called Crab Cove Visitor Center, spoke to Claire, and asked if they could have someone come with a net.
At this point, it is almost 3:00pm. We needed food, water, and facilities. So we left, noting where the murre was, to get some quick burrito bowls at a nearby restaurant. No sooner than we sat down with our food, my phone rang and I was told that a naturalist and ranger were on their way with nets. We dashed out of the restaurant back to the shore. I ran towards the ranger who had a huge net, shouting for her attention. We walked along the shore towards the beached murre.
As we approached, the ranger, whose name is Kara, threw her net over the bird without hesitation. He managed to dart under the net and raced towards the water. Thinking quickly, she pivoted fast, throwing the net over him again…this time successfully! My heart leapt with joy!
We then placed the murre into a box, secured him in the back seat, and headed on our way. I texted Bird Rescue our ETA of 4:30pm. They replied, “Wow! Amazing effort. Good news.”
Once we arrived, they immediately accepted the bird. I learned he would be case #10 in care. We had our “lunch” at about 5:00pm in the parking lot outside of the Bird Rescue facility and then headed home.
Coming Together to Save One More Life
Just three days prior to this event on New Years Eve, my Aunt Barbara, my husband Max Cannon, and I went to Point Reyes where we explored Drake’s Beach, Chimney Rock, and the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was on a large rock outcropping below the lighthouse that we discovered an immense colony of thousands of Common Murres. At first I was startled by what looked like tiny penguins, a common way people describe how murres look. It was a magical day and a great way to end the year!
After seeing so many of these birds my Aunt Barbara had found an article about Common Murres by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service entitled “Four Million Murres Missing.”
This article recounts: “In December 2024, the team published their findings in the journal, Science, revealing a devastating and catastrophic loss: approximately 4 million murres – half of Alaska’s population – had starved to death during the marine heatwave. The die-off was four to eight times larger than initially estimated, making it the largest single-species wildlife mortality event ever documented in modern history.”
Given this devastation, I am heartened that so many of us could come together to ensure there is one more murre who has graced the waters of the San Francisco Bay Area once again.
Thank you, Aunt Barbara, for being an incredible partner, the birders who brought the towel, the crew at Bird Rescue who coached us along the way, Claire, Ranger Kara, the Naturalist at Crab Cove Visitor Center, and the kind woman with the camera who told us the murre was there. Thank you to everyone who was part of this successful saga, including the folks at other rescues who spoke with me. And most of all, deepest gratitude to the murre who kept coming back to shore. I like to think that on some level he knew we wanted to help.
