Thursday, November 19, 2015

MAN FRIDAY COMES TO RESCUE IN NEVER ENDING ISLAND DRAMA

Unhand my partner ! Shrieking female in attack mode .
The  latest  trauma in  our  nesting  resident Curlews with  two eggs was the  arrival  home of   the  male, limping . On examination, it was  found there was a cut on a  leg. To the rescue came  Bev and  Jason  from  the Mexican  restaurant , Man Friday, both  longtime members of the Magnetic Island Fauna Care Association .

Bev picked up the injured bird  which screeched loudly and the female jumped off the eggs and  came   rushing in  with  wings outstretched and  joined the uproar . From a medical kit, Bev  attended to the  cut,  Jason  wrapped the leg in a  bandage. Then the bird  was  placed inside  a  MIFCA   zip up playpen ,below, supplied with  water and  food over  the coming   days .
Curlew  recovery  ward near  blog den .
When Bev visited  the patient one day it was taken outside the pen and placed on the ground to see  how   its leg  was  responding . What happened could only be described as being like a Moon rocket launch at  Cape Canaveral ... he zoomed off  and flew into a clump  of  palms  and golden  canes  at  the back of  the  block .
 
Still limping, right , he nevertheless  took his  turn on the eggs over the following days.On several occasions during the night this  blogger has  stumbled out  of bed on hearing shrieking , an indication that the  Curlews  were upset.  On  one occasion, a  fat possum was seen sitting within  pecking range of  the  bird sitting  on  the eggs .

One day the Curlews became upset when  the friendly visiting Kookaburra dropped in and took up a position   not far from  the  bird sitting on  the eggs. By waving a  broom  in front of him, he was reluctantly  induced to  fly away and  leave  the  Curlews  relaxed - until the next  incident...the hatching ,  due  tomorrow , and  two cats have been  seen  roaming  about  the street .


Jason recently  rescued a baby Curlew in a pitiful state , covered in  a mass  of Green Ants, one of  its eyes so full of  the  ants  it  has lost the sight . He took it to the island vet , obtained  special ointment  for the other eye and it is now being looked after by  another  carer, the Queen of the Jungle , who is  currently entertaining   Larry  the Talking  Lorikeet  while  his  owners  are  at  sea .