Great Blue Heron Close Call Rescue

From the desk of Melissa Martin, Education Manager

Recently on a cool morning, I was doing some bird watching at Lake Loretta with my Birding Partner, Roy Brown, when I noticed something unusual about a Great Blue Heron that I spotted nearby. It appeared to be unable to move from its location. Upon closer inspection using our binoculars, we observed that this bird was indeed stuck, unable to fly and more specifically caught on fishing line.

I contacted Amanda, our aviculturist, while Roy dashed to his truck to grab some equipment that might be useful for a bird rescue. Amanda and Kelly, our senior aquarist, both came to the location of the trapped bird. Kelly caught and held the bird while Roy cut and untangled the fishing line.  This bird lived to see another day and surprisingly with no serious injuries, only a bruise to its right leg. There was another bird Roy and I spotted near that same location on another day that wasn’t so lucky.

Unfortunately, left-behind fishing lines and nets are culprits of many unnecessary bird deaths. If you fish, please remember to take your fishing line with you after you catch “the big one.” I am partial to the “Leave No Trace” philosophy when it comes to litter. “Leave no trace. Leave only footprints and take only photographs.”