Bird Rescue Class

Yesterday 3 of my friends and I attended a bird rescue class taught at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. It was so neat!! We learned how to rescue birds of all types, particularly larger shore birds such as pelicans, herons, egrets and cormorants, how to remove fishing line and hooks from them, how to transport them to the avian hospital safely and how to stop bleeding from wounds, etc. They are always looking for volunteers, so a couple of my friends and I are going to sign up to help with bird rescue. We get to do ride-alongs with the volunteer rescuers until we are able to go solo and since DH and I are nature photographers we see injured birds and mammals every now and then. It is great to now know what to do and how to safely transport them. We keep extra pet crates around just for that purpose. It was a fun class and afterwards we toured the sanctuary and I visited with my favorite permanent resident “Isis”. She is the redtail hawk that is in my avatar and is blind in one eye and has been a resident of the sanctuary since 1990. I am currently painting a portrait of her for an upcoming art show, so when I get it finished I will post a pic for you.

pretty cool. I'd like to see the painting when it is done.

What a great class. It sounds like a lot of fun.

That sounds like a great class. I live near the Chesapeake Bay and see all sorts of birds. Fortunately, all the ones I have seen have not needed any rescue! I would like to find out about a similar class here.

Tulip: Check with your local wildlife rehabilitation centers and see if they offer a similar class. And I am so glad that you do not see many injured birds. Unfortunately, we have lots of fishing line injuries and birds hit by cars, etc. And my county is pretty overcrowded with people too - that makes it very hard on wildlife. I have an aunt and cousins near the Chesapeake Bay in Va. Used to go there every summer growing up - it is beautiful!