I am pleased to welcome three new members of the Heron and Egret Society: Susan, Jessica, and Chris.
Though nearly everyone is complaining about rain these days, I, for one, am not, because the egrets are faring better this year. This is not to say that they do not need rescuing. Their problem this year is not lack of water but exposure to cold and assorted injuries. Therefore we must change what we do for the birds.
We are picking up an average of about 10 distressed chicks per week. They usually benefit from being placed on a heating pad ASAP. Some of the chicks have injuries that look as though they are being pecked by some of the adult birds as they wind up in the wrong nests.
We still need committments for touring the rookery and travel to Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (RWRC). Currently:
- Claudia and Kelly are signed up for touring on Mondays.
- Valery tours and delivers whenever she can but is committed to Tuesdays.
- Chalo and I tour and deliver whenever we can but are committed to Wednesdays.
- Heather tours and delivers during the weekend days.
We need more people, particularly for delivering the birds to RWRC. These deliveries are understandably difficult, since it sometimes takes over 30 min to get to Hutchins. However, the visit to RWRC is usually well worth the trip because of the wonderfully expressive birds and great work being done there.
We will be away from 6-16 July. Yes, we do hope that the rains and cool weather will continue to help out the birds. Please do all in your power to keep checking on them while we are gone. Feel free to contact each other to coordinate rookery tours and trips to RWRC.