National Geographic – BLOWN AWAY
BLOWN AWAY
Like humans, many birds try to get away when they sense an approaching storm. As Hurricane Harvey approached the Texas Gulf Coast, radar picked up the mass exodus of many of the region’s shorebirds ahead of the storm. (Read why this hurricane season has been so catastrophic.)
Birds at sea may simply try to fly around the storm. The size of some of these hurricanes – Irma was more than 400 miles wide at its peak – can make it difficult for birds to escape them. In that case, birds caught in the storm can be blown hundreds of miles off course.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WILD CARE, INC
That’s what happened to a bird that washed up on the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. When Stephanie Ellis, executive director at Wild Care, Inc, met a concerned citizen who had found the bird in LeCount Hollow, she initially thought they had rescued a northern gannet (Morus bassanus). A quick phone call to a local bird expert, however, revealed that the bird was actually a masked booby (Sula dactylatra).
“We were just awestruck to see a masked booby staring at us. This bird must have gone for quite a ride,” she says.
To read the full article, visit: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/hurricane-irma-harvey-maria-bird-impacts-caribbean/
Storm Upheaves Wounded Turtle
This March, landscapers discovered an Eastern Box Turtle at the base of a tree recently uprooted from a storm. The weather was still as cold as winter, so the landscapers called us for advice. We told them to bring it in so we could check it out...
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DID YOU KNOW??
Wild Care has a state-of-the-art seabird therapy pool, which allows seabirds and waterfowl to exercise on running water. This will help our bird friends recover more quickly so they can get back to their watery habitats!