Re: [CT Birds] Galinule rehab
I will put myself in the column in favor of attempting to rehab the bird
if it can be done without a ridiculous amount of effort.
I must say I never thought too much about this sort of thing until a few
years ago when the Simsbury Calliope Hummer was allowed to freeze to death
in the name of letting Nature take its course, even though the bird was, by
all estimations, perfectly healthy until the really frigid cold arrived.
That bird was effectively trapped here by humans who fed it until it was too
far away from an environment it could survive in . The whole episode has
haunted me ever since.
I have zero knowledge of how to capture such a bird, let alone with
anything to do with rehabbing it, but since I only live a few miles from the
site I will volunteer to help with such an effort to the extent that I can.
That might include breaking a trail through the brush to the area where the
bird usually is, but I don't know if whoever is in charge of that area in
Mansfield would allow that. Perhaps a more practical approach would be to use
a rubber raft or kayak(s) to try and get near it, since I assume the pond
must now have a few inches of water. If the traps that have been mentioned
are available, that might really be the best way.
If I can assist, please contact me
Don Morgan, Coventry, Ct.
mntncougar@aol.com
I had the exact same feeling as Don. Letting that little hummer freeze was
just devastating. And, yes, it won't be a big deal for species
conservation, but it may be a very big deal for that one unique bird. Just
like people. Making a point of being kind one day won't change anything in
terms of human populations, but it may make a big difference for one human
being who is feeling hurt and lonely. I don't want to diminish the
importance of the one by lumping it together in the many. After all, the
"many" is just "many ones".
Jan Hollerbach
On Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Don Morgan via CTBirds <
ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote:
I will put myself in the column in favor of attempting to rehab the bird
if it can be done without a ridiculous amount of effort.
I must say I never thought too much about this sort of thing until a few
years ago when the Simsbury Calliope Hummer was allowed to freeze to death
in the name of letting Nature take its course, even though the bird was,
by
all estimations, perfectly healthy until the really frigid cold arrived.
That bird was effectively trapped here by humans who fed it until it was
too
far away from an environment it could survive in . The whole episode has
haunted me ever since.
I have zero knowledge of how to capture such a bird, let alone with
anything to do with rehabbing it, but since I only live a few miles from
the
site I will volunteer to help with such an effort to the extent that I
can.
That might include breaking a trail through the brush to the area where the
bird usually is, but I don't know if whoever is in charge of that area in
Mansfield would allow that. Perhaps a more practical approach would be to
use
a rubber raft or kayak(s) to try and get near it, since I assume the pond
must now have a few inches of water. If the traps that have been mentioned
are available, that might really be the best way.
If I can assist, please contact me
Don Morgan, Coventry, Ct.
mntncougar@aol.com
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA)
for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
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I think this is an inaccurate characterization of the situation with the calliope hummingbird or of any winter hummingbird.
Mark Szantyr
On Oct 2, 2015, at 10:05 AM, Don Morgan via CTBirds ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org wrote:
I will put myself in the column in favor of attempting to rehab the bird
if it can be done without a ridiculous amount of effort.
I must say I never thought too much about this sort of thing until a few
years ago when the Simsbury Calliope Hummer was allowed to freeze to death
in the name of letting Nature take its course, even though the bird was, by
all estimations, perfectly healthy until the really frigid cold arrived.
That bird was effectively trapped here by humans who fed it until it was too
far away from an environment it could survive in . The whole episode has
haunted me ever since.
I have zero knowledge of how to capture such a bird, let alone with
anything to do with rehabbing it, but since I only live a few miles from the
site I will volunteer to help with such an effort to the extent that I can.
That might include breaking a trail through the brush to the area where the
bird usually is, but I don't know if whoever is in charge of that area in
Mansfield would allow that. Perhaps a more practical approach would be to use
a rubber raft or kayak(s) to try and get near it, since I assume the pond
must now have a few inches of water. If the traps that have been mentioned
are available, that might really be the best way.
If I can assist, please contact me
Don Morgan, Coventry, Ct.
mntncougar@aol.com
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
And an emotional response to the purported suffering of single animal is rarely if ever a legitimate basis for conservation policy or effective use of our resources. It might make us feel better and assuage the haunting...but doesn't help the species unless it happens to be extremely endangered, and then the assistance and resources are applied for other policy reasons.
David Lawton
Avon, CT
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.
Original Message
From: Mark Szantyr via CTBirds
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2015 3:22 PM
To: Mntncougar@aol.com
Reply To: Mark Szantyr
Cc: CTbirds
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Galinule rehab
I think this is an inaccurate characterization of the situation with the calliope hummingbird or of any winter hummingbird.
Mark Szantyr
On Oct 2, 2015, at 10:05 AM, Don Morgan via CTBirds ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org wrote:
I will put myself in the column in favor of attempting to rehab the bird
if it can be done without a ridiculous amount of effort.
I must say I never thought too much about this sort of thing until a few
years ago when the Simsbury Calliope Hummer was allowed to freeze to death
in the name of letting Nature take its course, even though the bird was, by
all estimations, perfectly healthy until the really frigid cold arrived.
That bird was effectively trapped here by humans who fed it until it was too
far away from an environment it could survive in . The whole episode has
haunted me ever since.
I have zero knowledge of how to capture such a bird, let alone with
anything to do with rehabbing it, but since I only live a few miles from the
site I will volunteer to help with such an effort to the extent that I can.
That might include breaking a trail through the brush to the area where the
bird usually is, but I don't know if whoever is in charge of that area in
Mansfield would allow that. Perhaps a more practical approach would be to use
a rubber raft or kayak(s) to try and get near it, since I assume the pond
must now have a few inches of water. If the traps that have been mentioned
are available, that might really be the best way.
If I can assist, please contact me
Don Morgan, Coventry, Ct.
mntncougar@aol.com
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org