People and Birds Deserving a Special Mention - [19 April 2005 13:01] |
Mr Cornč Meyer travelled nearly 1000km to ensure this Secretary bird received expert care at Wings in Need. · Mrs Burroughs from Hatfield, who on the 7th of February crossed 'n busy Pretorius street in her wheelchair, in an effort to get to a phone booth to get help for an injured woodpecker · The contractor that did the hospital floor and when he saw how bad it looked, insisted that we not pay him anything · The unidentified bird in Pretoria West that, according to an eyewitness, kept her wings spread over her chicks during a severe thunderstorm, in an effort to keep them dry · Piet Cronjč from Boshoek, who just experienced a very cold winter: a family of barn-owls took up residence in his chimney and he decided to rather not use his fireplace · A pied crow named Opperman, who helped protect the Van Dycks from Grootvlei's farmhouse: he barks like a dog when people come down the road · Mrs Naudč from Cullinan who, during heavy rain, saved a sunbird-chick by placing a plastic bag around his soaked nest and placing some dry nesting material inside. His mother could then feed him and keep him warm. · Johan Dissel from Clubview who drank a large bottle of Coke on an empty stomach. This was done so that he could fill it with warm water to keep 3 Swainson's Francolin chicks warm for the 200km trip to us · Train-driver Pine Pienaar who stopped his train enroute to Thabazimbi to pick up an injured Steppe Buzzard, who was flailing about helplessly on the railway tracks · Salo de Swart who encountered a man on a desolate piece of road near Sodwana, carrying two hadeda chicks by their necks. He bought them for R20 (+-$3) (this was the only way the man would part with them) and brought them here to us in Pretoria (They were later released at Grootvlei)... · The Cape White-eye mother, in Annie Pienaar's, garden who lured her chick underneath a thick lauristinus-bush, just before a major hail storm. Annie says the hail was everywhere, but the chick was totally dry. · traffic officer Johan Steyn who ensured that a few-days-old Plover chick, who had somehow ended up between two of the lanes in Hendrik Verwoerdroad, arrived at us safely (The chick was released as an adult at Potgietersrus) · The young house sparrow in the hospital who, time after time, fed her daily allowance of three mealworms (a great delicacy for a young house sparrow) to her weaker roommate. · The public of Pretoria: on the 22nd of June we got a call that there was a helpless hadeda next to Garsfonteinroad. At the same time Jeanette Dedekind (who was late for an appointment because of her side-trip) brought an injured hadeda in - the same one!... · The Coucal-mother in Ansie Lubbe's garden, who accepted her chick back, after dr Jacobs had to splint his broken beak, using a piece of steel and a special type of glue. (Which will dissolve after a while) · The city-center barn owl who, half-dead from a protozoa-infection, ensured that he ended up in a elevator(?!!), so that he could be found and brought to us. (He was later released after a full recovery) · The medicine company, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, flew up a batch of Flagyl-syrup from Port Elizabeth, which was then couriered to us to treat a sick Yellow-fronted Tinker Barbet (He recovered and was released). · And everyone who has cared enough to bring birds to our sanctuary. An elated member of the public fetching a bird he brought in a month earlier. |
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