Sandra Byrne

Rosellas - November 2011

Thought you might like to see these photos of six Eastern Rosella chicks which came into my care on 8th October 2011 with the smallest weighing 50g and eyes closed. The largest weighed 80g. All are from the same nest.

Pictures have been taken each day and the difference is amazing. Tonight they have a lot of colour showing that wasn't there yesterday.

Sacred Kingfisher - March 2009

These two Sacred Kingfisher chicks came into care on 01.01.10 – Happy New Year. The parent birds had mad a hole in a termite nest high in a gum tree at Gulmarrad. There were three eggs and all went well until a hungry Goanna came along. Up the tree the Goanna went and broke into the termite nest.

It managed to get one chick before the nest crumbled and fell to the ground. The house owner picked up the other two and rang WIRES. A member collected them and they are now nearly ready for release. Just getting the “feed yourself” down to a fine art and they will be on their way back to the wild. The photo of the termite nest (on right) is not the same one these chicks came from, but similar.

This one has had a Kingfisher family raise their chicks and now that all chicks have gone, it is once again vacant. The termites will rebuild the damage done by the birds and fill in the hole until breeding season next Spring, when the Kingfishers will arrive back, break it open again and use it for their nest as they have done each year for many years.

RUBY, THE RINGTAIL POSSUM - September 2009

Ruby came into care on 8th May weighing 115g. A member of the public found her near the Golf course at Iluka. During the first week in care, even though she was drinking her milk well, Ruby lost weight and went down to 103g before she started to gain weight.

From then on her weight increased each week until her release at 520g. After being in care for two months, on 9th July, with the help of NPWS staff from Salt Water Depot, Hugh and Louise, Ruby’s nest box was securely attached, high in the fork of a tree, very close to where Ruby was found.

Having a Ringtail Possum in care for two months during winter, proved to be a challenge-- finding enough leaves with pink new growth tips was ongoing. Huge bunches of gum leaves were sought nearly every day and only the top few leaves were eaten each night.

Ruby kept adding more and more leaves to the nest box until there was only just enough room inside for her to curl up and sleep during the day, emerging again after dark for her next lot of tender pink leaf tips.

Green Tree Frog - October 2008

This beautiful Green Tree Frog is spending the winter with a carer. His usual residence is in between the Maclean Vet Clinic, the CWA building and the Waterboard building in Maclean, and is well known to everyone in this area.

The Vet Clinic phoned for a rescuer when they arrived at work one morning to find the frog sitting on the driveway and they were concerned. When the rescuer could find nothing wrong with the frog and decided to return it to a suitable spot in between the buildings. The next day another call from the Vet Clinic to say the frog was now sitting on the front lawn and had been there for at least an hour or more.

It was decided to bring the frog into care and he/she attended the Reptile and Amphibian Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release course held for out members in Grafton last month (see story in this Newsletter.) The frog weighed in at a whopping 250g. It appears to be very healthy. It is by far the largest Green Tree Frog seen by the R&ARRR Presenter, Rhianna Blackthorn or Sandra Byrne, who has the frog in care. As soon as the weather warms up, the frog will be taken back to his area and released.

Whistling Kite - July 2009

This Whistling Kite came into care from Brooms Head. Our member at Broom, Stephanie was called to collect the chick after it had fallen from the nest during strong winds overnight. Stephanie delivered the chick to a carer experienced in caring for Raptors.

It weighed in at 624g and was in good condition. It is now being fed lots of dead baby mice, several times each day. There has always been a family of Whistling Kites in the same Norfolk Island pine tree at Brooms Head.

They always use the same nest, year after year. They repair it, add to it and  usually successfully raise two chicks each year. A Whistling Kite is a bird of prey, using their large talons to take live animals such as small mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They are also scavengers, feeding on animals killed by traffic on the road.
 

The locals at Brooms Head all know the Kite’s loud whistling call and keep an eye on their nesting tree on the beach front, taking pleasure watching “their” Kites soaring above their nest tree. They all know when they are raising chicks, as the female stays on the nest and the male brings food to the female and the chicks. When the chick has grown large enough, able to fly and feed itself, it will be released back at Brooms Head.

Rapt in a Raptor or Two - June 2008

On Friday afternoon, 9th May, a young 14 year old from Iluka, Adam Stewart, noticed that a large nest in the mangroves near the boat ramp had fallen down. He investigated and found two tiny Raptor chicks. His mum rang WIRES and Rivka from Woombah collected the two bundles of fluff.


They still had their egg tooth so were only a couple of days old and it was determined that they were Whistling Kites. One chick weighed in at 164g and the other one at 159g. They have a voracious appetite and are being fed mice, crushed chicken necks and beef heart with Insectivore. Their weights on 24th May were 613g and 624g. The way they are growing, it won’t be long before these two will be ready for release back at Iluka.
 

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