‘Miracle’ bird gets a new ‘turn’ in life, thanks to local vet and Scar

MICHELLE Pearson of Second Chance Avian Rescue (SCAR) is caring for three feathery patients – a juvenile dove, a hornbill, and a little swift tern rescued and brought to veterinarian Leon Bruggeman’s practice recently.

Surprisingly it has been a very quiet season so far for Michelle who runs the recognised and permitted rescue, rehabilitate and release center for indigenous birds, located in Shelly Beach.

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Her most recent patient – the lucky swift tern, which Michelle has dubbed a ‘miracle bird’ owes it second chance in life to vet Dr Leon Bruggeman. The seabird arrived at Dr Bruggeman’s practice with fishing line hanging out of its beak, and x-rays showed a 50mm fishhook inside its stomach.

Dr Bruggeman said euthanasia was advised (due to the location of the hook, basically in an inoperable position), and due to the weak state of the bird, weighing in at only about two thirds of  its expected weight.

But it was a really quiet Saturday morning so he decided to anesthetise it and attempt to remove the hook.

“Against all odds, the tough little guy survived the surgery, with rotten sardine liquid oozing all over its abdominal organs, and has so far shown no ill effects from the contamination.  An amazing little bird, and this may perhaps open up the option to save other ‘inoperables’ in future,” he said.

Michelle said the cute and cheeky tern has made a remarkable recovery and is almost ready to be released. Of course, the bird will be ringed by Andrew Pickles before its farewell.

“It’s very common for seabirds to be injured by hooks, and I really plead with fishermen not to leave bait lying around.”

Another tern which arrived after this ‘miracle’ bird wasn’t as lucky and had to be euthanised despite Dr Bruggeman’s attempts to save its life.

Michelle said the bird, which was picked up in Hibberdene suffered from a broken wing, had fishing line wrapped around its neck, beak, tongue and wing and its upper beak was broken.

For those who don’t know – Michelle recently lost her husband of 16 years, Arthur (59). Arthur, was heavily involved and extremely supportive of Michelle’s rescue centre since its opening in 2013.

Arthur was Michelle’s rock, she said and contributed financially when they had no funds. He was also emotionally involved with the birds.

“He would have wanted me to have carried on with SCAR,” she said.

Any donations are welcome – contact Michelle at 083 246 6765.

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