Saving the petrel: Volunteers keep moving with patrol to save stranded sea birds
CBC
Picking up petrels has become another part of fall for some folks along the eastern coast of Newfoundland.
Leach’s storm petrels, found in abundance off Newfoundland's shores, can find themselves stranded on land after becoming confused by the lights coming from buildings, fishing boats and oil platforms. It’s especially difficult for fledglings taking their first flight, typically from September to mid-November.
But local petrel patrols are helping get them back in the air again.
Karen Gosse is a volunteer with Rock Wildlife Rescue, one of the groups — alongside individual volunteers — committed to the cause. CPAWS-NL and Canadian Wildlife Services are also on board.
“We have a 24-hour petrel drop off unit. So if they’re found around the city or brought in by anybody from either one of those agencies — any time of day or night — they can be dropped off to us at the rescue and we will assess them, get them ready,” Gosse told CBC News.
The birds are then transported to other volunteers who bring them back to a beach in Witless Bay each night.
This year saw a low number of birds collected and released. Gosse said that’s a good thing.
“Last year, I remember standing here with another one of our volunteers and they were falling from the sky, circling, exhausted, falling, breaking their necks on the pavement. And it was absolutely awful," Gosse said. "There was nothing we could do except pick them up. So we’ll take a not busy night any day."
For mother and daughter volunteer duo Jennifer and Chloe Lahey, it can mean some late nights.
“We go out at about 11 p.m. and we get home around 2 a.m.,” Jennifer Lahey said.
They said they usually try to make the journey to release the stranded birds on the same night they're found. Though it’s a lot of work, the pair say it’s a labour of love.
“It’s my favourite thing to watch them fly off and just know that you saved their lives, and watch them get another chance,” said Chloe Lahey.
Wildlife biologist Taylor Brown says there’s a lot to love about the petrels.
“They’re lovely, small, quirky birds. They make crazy sounds,” Brown said.
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