# Birds at the park.....



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I was feeding the ducks with some friends yesterday at a local park and took a few pictures. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/HowarthPark

I don't know what's up with the goose's wings, I was hoping someone else could tell me? Both wings are the same way, in the same spot. Look broken-and-healed? Hard to tell, he was eating fine but I never saw him fly or try to, I'm sure he can't. He was perfectly healthy otherwise. I was curious about the wings so I took a picture.

So we were feeding the ducks and I was griping about all the fishing line all over the place; it's so bad, I can't even begin to describe it, so I took a picture. This is what I picked up along the water line in fifteen minutes, about a hundred-foot span of shore at most. 
http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/Today1/photo#4973604183456677906

I know, horrible.  So when the white duck in the pictures went towards the water and stopped.....fishing line was around his leg and it had caught on a large stick. The stick followed him into the water and he tried to fly, I followed along the shore and then the stick came off but the line was still there.  It was dusk by then and he swam to an island that is inaccessible to people. I am going back this afternoon to see if I can find him (and pick up more fishing line), he was the only white duck in a little group of dark ducks. Hopefully he is okay.  All the other ducks and birds looked good and happy so that was nice.  

The fishing line is a constant issue, I've never seen a park with so much line everywhere. I can pick up the amount in the above picture and literally pick up almost as much the next day. I always want to tack the bag up on the boathouse with a large, loud sign.....but am worried about some smart alec people taking it down and throwing it around again. It blows my mind how people can either not realize the danger (which I find hard to believe), or just don't care (which is more likely). There are people who do clean up their line and such, I know, and thank goodness for them at least. Sorry for the rant, hope you enjoy the pics.


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## kittypaws (Sep 18, 2005)

Hi MaryJane,

Great pictures but not so nice fishing line  - what a lot!! - I always growl at fisherman and have challenged a few in my time but they always tell me they are sensible fisherman and tidy their line up afterwards - not all do of course as a few of my rescues have had line deeply embedded on their legs and feet- growl - being a Vegetarian and not eating fish either - I don't like fishing full stop!!!

Re the goose, it may have angel wing. I am sure somebody will correct me if I am wrong ( Terry?) I think that is when the birds wings are the wrong way round and he would have hatched like that - so as long as he is on water where he can be safe from predators he should be OK - I mean he's grown to that size and survived up until now.  He won't be able to fly though.

There is a place in Surrey which my friend at work visited and she was very upset as she said there were a lot of geese with broken wings. Well I rang my man Ted who advised me that this particular pond was very safe for geese ( very high fences to keep foxes out etc) and that many geese were placed there that had angel wing or wing problems so we were all relieved about that!!

Good luck with the white duck rescue. 

Tania xxx


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Maryjane,

Thanks for the duck/goose pictures. That goose definitely has angel wing. It causes no pain for the bird, and since this particular bird's wings are pretty much going straight up, there isn't really a reason to try and do anything about the condition. Sometimes the wings have grown at such a crazy angle that they interfere with the bird being able to walk or get caught on things .. in those cases amputation of the "offending" portion of the wing is probably best. Angel wing can be a defect from improper incubation or a genetic defect, but it is often caused by a diet too high in protein when the bird is young causing such rapid growth and weight of the muscles and feathers that the immature skeletal structure can't support it and the abnormal wings result.

I hear you, Tania, about the fishing line .. and it must be the universal and standard response when you ask people that are fishing to please be careful and gather up their spoiled line, hooks, sinkers, bobbers, etc. .. all of them always say they are very careful and always pick up after themselves .. makes one wonder who the slobs are that leave all this dangerous stuff .. must be the evil fisher gremlins.

Maryjane, I like the idea of showing the fisher people just how much stuff is left in such a short period of time. Years ago I was going to start making a ball out of the fishing line that I picked up and was going to use it to make my point about discarded line. I never did get that done, but had I done that little project, I'm sure I would have a ball of fishing line so big it would boggle the mind. Maybe putting up some flyers/posters with pictures of fishing line injuries would help get the message across too.

A couple of our local sporting goods stores will take in fishing line for recycling, and I think that is terrific. You have to remove all the hooks, sinkers, sticks, debris, etc. and just take them the line. If you are going to discard the line, always cut it into small pieces (three inches long or less) so it is unlikely that any creature can become entangled.

I hope you're able to assist that entangled duck. Usually they are OK if you can get the line off right away.

Terry


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## andinla (Mar 11, 2003)

*Hi MaryJane*

I live really close to a lagoon which is a salt water lagoon a block from the ocean. People dump ducks, and last year someone dumped two geese a female and male. I didn't know they were not wild until Terry from Pigeonlife told me. They can't fly. Well they had babies 7 of them in May and they have grown to the size of their parents very fast. Two of them have angel wings and out of those two, one of them looks like it maybe retarded(monglode) if there is such a thing in the bird species. His beak has a up look to it and smaller, also his eyes have the same look as a human monglode would have. But he seems to be doing ok.

I worry a lot about the geese down there, I am sure they will breed with each other and produce more.. They are very loud and aggresive sometimes. If the population keeps growing who knows what will happen to them. 

There were two white ducks that someone also dumped and I was informed that they can not fly either. Last week I was informed that one of the white ducks was killed by a local who was speeding down the street and didn't bother to stop after hitting him, the other duck witnessed this happen..She has since bonded with a mallard duck. 

I get mad at the trash and stuff I find along the lagoon, it's unbelievable what people leave behind. I also noticed a lot of seagulls, and pigeons seem to be missing a lot of feet. Hopping around on one foot. 

Maybe photos of fishing line wrapped around birds feet posted up some where might help... I don't know the answer, I just keep picking up trash, string, etc by the bag fulls.

Andi


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Well, Angel Wing it is then! We'll call him that. He seems pretty protected there, at least he's made it this far...and he's no spring chicken!  Thanks for the info about the condition he has. He seems to have no problems, the wings don't interfere at all. I went back this afternoon and cleaned up some more line, then checked on the white duck, who was pretty far out in the lake. He seemed to be swimming okay. Or rather, she, since she is with a Mallard out there.  I took a lot more pictures of the geese, ducks, crows and other birds so if you check the link again you can enjoy those. 
http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/Park

At the end of the pictures is the total amount of line I've gotten from last night and today there. The cool thing is at the boathouse there, there is a plastic-covered area that they open and put notices in. The bottom is open enough to slip a piece of paper in there so I thought I'd make a nice rolleyes: ) sign with the pictures of the line, slip it into there, and see if anyone cares. The boathouse is closed for the summer so there aren't a lot of employees around. So anyway, that's the plan. I would also like to put some pictures on the sign of birds that have lost toes or feet to fishing line, so if anyone has any they wouldn't mind me using, that would be great. I think visual aid is the way to go as I have the sneaking suspicion that some of these morons can't read.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*Fishing Line Injury Pics*

Hi Maryjane,

Feel free to use any of these if you care to. There are pictures of other things in most of the links but tis obvious which are the fishing line ones ..

http://www.rims.net/duckfoot.htm

http://www.rims.net/2006Aug15

http://www.rims.net/2006Jul19

http://www.rims.net/2006Jan22

http://www.rims.net/2005Nov13

http://www.rims.net/2005Oct24

http://www.rims.net/2005Oct23

Terry


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Thank you Terry, those are awful pics of course, but that's the idea so they're perfect. Poor birds.  I am making up my sign today hopefully, and I will post a pic for you guys when I'm done.


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