We’re a flexible team of around 100 volunteers and a paid management team of around 5 (“around” because I see many names and job titles online but few in the office). The co-driver with me today was one of the board – and he was pleasantly human! I’d worked with the driver before; he says very little and asks nothing. I tried including him in conversation but with no avail, so I spoke to the co-driver. He likes art and scifi so we had a lot to talk about! 🙂
Our first rescue was a young, injured swallow found in a garden. It wasn’t clear what had happened, but our best estimate is she had fallen out of her nest before she could fly.
The next injured bird was also found in someone’s garden – but this garden had cats nearby so the owner kept him safe by placing her upstairs in a shoebox – well out of reach of any feline paws! It was brought downstairs into the kitchen where we could take a good look at it.
Usually we hold birds so their wings can’t move and they can’t fly away. Because this one was so young, the co-driver showed me a trick – holding her in his hand carefully with her legs between his fingers, leaving the wings free. This means more of the body is visible so we can check for injuries more easily, especially the body under the wings.
Unfortunately for the demonstration, the little bird had more energy than expected and flew to a brief (and chaotic) freedom in the kitchen. She landed behind the kitchen table, and after some scrabbling around between chair and table legs, the co-driver got hold of her. It was difficult to giver her a good look-over; thankfully the experts at the rescue centre will be able to do that. We moved her into the rescue box.
The third bird rescue was cat attack victim. An injured breast with blood, and my heart wept to see it. We moved her quickly and gently into a rescue box.
Our last rescue was an injured swallow. Initially we expected the bird to be in a box on the doorstep of the finder because they were going to be out by the time we were due to arrive. But as we pulled up the front door closed shut; they’d just got home! This was great news because speaking to the finder means we can find out more about what happened to the bird.
We rang the door-bell. No answer. We looked for a box nearby. Nothing. We rang again, and no answer. I was just going to call the centralist for the phone number of the finder when the door opened. They handed a box with the bird in, and because they appeared to be in a rush we left it at that.
Back in the ambulance we had a better look at the bird and the co-driver told me it was a “kwatstaat” (I’m going by the Dutch name I heard; the spelling is wrong so I can’t find a translation!). We moved her into a rescue box and brought all 4 birds to the rescue centre.
All in all this was a straight-forward shift, though I did learn another way to hold a small bird. And to expect surprising shows of strength and agility!
