Sunday Update
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Here's a link to a local news story about the San Francisco oil spill. I spoke with the director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, and he said that the oil is floating in big globs, that sort of look like floating black pizzas. Unfortunately, birds can be found sitting on the floating globs.
I continue to work with the birds affected by the Oregon/Washington algal bloom. The good news there is that some of the birds have responded so well to care that they have been set free. Since these birds were migrating south when they were "slimed" by algae, they can be released in Northern California. All the birds were set free in an area unaffected by the oil spill.
I worked on a variety of tasks today, mostly backing up people with more skills and experience than I possess. The gentleness and care with which these wild animals are treated is truly awe-inspiring.
I'm stupidly tired, and don't have the energy to mess with photographs tonight. So the photo at the top of this blog post is actually from Saturday afternoon. Between working with the birds, and welcoming adorable trick or treaters to our house, Robb and I went out to Arrowhead Marsh to look at birds.
The light was just perfect.
Here's a link to a local news story about the San Francisco oil spill. I spoke with the director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, and he said that the oil is floating in big globs, that sort of look like floating black pizzas. Unfortunately, birds can be found sitting on the floating globs.
I continue to work with the birds affected by the Oregon/Washington algal bloom. The good news there is that some of the birds have responded so well to care that they have been set free. Since these birds were migrating south when they were "slimed" by algae, they can be released in Northern California. All the birds were set free in an area unaffected by the oil spill.
I worked on a variety of tasks today, mostly backing up people with more skills and experience than I possess. The gentleness and care with which these wild animals are treated is truly awe-inspiring.
I'm stupidly tired, and don't have the energy to mess with photographs tonight. So the photo at the top of this blog post is actually from Saturday afternoon. Between working with the birds, and welcoming adorable trick or treaters to our house, Robb and I went out to Arrowhead Marsh to look at birds.
The light was just perfect.
Comments
So he invented big rolls of thin cloth (gauze, I think) filled with (what else?) hair and feathers he collected on the weekends from hair salons and chicken processing plants. He hand sewed the materials inside big tubes of cloth, and would go out to oil spill sites in a little canoe and place these rolls around the slicks, thereby preventing the oil from spreading, and containing the affected area.
The animals in the area were easier to protect, because the oil didnt have a chance to spread as far. I thought this was a brilliant idea, and, while not stopping the spillage, he was able to prevent a lot of animal and environmental contamination. I wish I could remember his name.
Get Robb to invent a similar way to get the oil off the birdies, and you both will be in hog heaven, or bird heaven, eh? Maybe something more like a "felted wool or hair pad" could be used to get most of the oil off a bird, instead of the tedious hand applied soap method?
Annalisa