Comments on: Brown Booby in Delaware Bay

By: Bird Lover's Loft

Bird Lover's Loft — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:29:24 +0000

Hello Bird Lovers,
I’m Lisa Kane of Bird Lover’s Loft in Lewes. I’ve done companion bird rescue (parrots) for years but I get calls about wild birds sometimes. I do my best to be of assistance, but also work full time, so it is a fluke I was near the phone when this call came in 8pm. Special thanks are in order for the caring, concern and quick thinking of Jacob Berninger on the boat, Jacob’s grandfather for finding my phone number, and generosity of Joe Morris, for supplying free minnows shortly after closing time at Lewes Harbor Marina Bait & Tackle. I noticed the cute little bird had web feet and seemed to be under weight, so the most appropriate place I had to set this little bird and minnows up for the night was in the bath tub. The Brown Booby, or “BB” for short, was very comfortable, taking a bath in the fresh water, preening, eating minnows, then promptly falling asleep with a full tummy as the last light of dusk faded through the sky light. 5am I checked in to see BB had eaten most of the minnows, so I drove down and got more. 6am after BB had a light minnow breakfast, we were on the road, BB in a large box lined with paper towels riding in the passenger seat, remaining minnows in a bucket. BB had a good appetite and was a calm and pleasant patient over night in the tub as well as during the 2 hour drive to Tri State Bird Rescue. I had a baby Great Horned Owl rescue this past Sunday, so naturally as I was at Tri State, I asked about BB. I wish I knew how to post a photo here, just tried and it didn’t work, but I have pics of BB in my tub “fishing” and a nice photo of BB in his much larger recovery area at Tri State. BB’s prognosis is very good, apparently a young bird, in need of some weight gain, BB is expected to make full recovery. I feel very blessed to have been able to help this bird, and even more so to meet fellow bird lovers such as you, who care.

By: Jacob Berninger

Jacob Berninger — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:29:14 +0000

I was the mate that Capt. Mike mentioned. I took a particular interest in the boobie because I am currently studying marine biology at the University of Maine at Machias. Not yet having taken the coarse on marine mammals and pelagic birds, the first person I called was the professor who teaches the coarse. When I first called her, she thought that I was talking about a gannett. When I sent her the pictures that I took with my 12.1 megapixel digial camera, she came to the conclusion that it was a red footed boobie because the feet were a pinkish orange in the photo’s (including the ones above), whereas the brown boobie has distinctly yellow feet. However, if local experts are convinced that it is a brown boobie, neither she nor I will dispute that too loudly. Anyway, she said that the best thing I could do for the bird was find a rescue center for it and take it there. When I told her that the nearest rescue center was an hour away and that I would have to take the bird there in the morning, she said that I should try to find a local center or person that could take the bird to the clinic in the morning. It was at this point that I thought of the MERR Institute, as they have good facilities and people. I decided to take the bird there. So I put it in a box and drove it to the the facility. But no one was there and I could not get in contact with anyone for the facility. Now trying to figure out when to send this bird, I called the University in Lewes and Tri-State, both of which were fruitless. I then called my grandparents and they got out the phone book to look up anyone that could help. It is at this point that I got in contact with the Brid Lover’s Loft and Lisa Kane. We met at the Happy Harry’s in Lewes for me to hand over the bird. I told her that it liked minnows, and she promptly drove with the bird the bait shop to get the minnows. I can’t speak to the details of what happened after that, but I believe that the Bird spent the night in her bathtub surrounded by minnows and water. She took the bird to Tri-State early the next morning. According to what Tri-State told her, the bird was very hungry and exhausted and decided to land on one of the biggest boats it could find (why not a supertanker or the ferry is beyond me). It is expected to make a full recovery. They have not made a release date, but is early yet.

By: capt Mike

capt Mike — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:25:17 +0000

Jeff if you want the details call me you have gotten the info. Bird came aboard in Delaware waters appx 10:30 in morning on board the Keen LadyIV. And yes it did ride the boat all the way into lewes and back out again and managed to avoid a Lab on board for both trips. It was fed minniows by crew and passangers alike as well as beining touched a couple of times. That evening we did not go back out so one of the mates boxed him up for transport to Tri state.

By: Tweets that mention Jeffrey A. Gordon » Brown Booby in Delaware Bay -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Jeffrey A. Gordon » Brown Booby in Delaware Bay -- Topsy.com — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:47:56 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sharon Stiteler, tossey. tossey said: Neat blog post by @jeffgyr on a Brown Booby (yes – the bird & neat- a 1st!) found in #Delaware Bay: http://bit.ly/bCwzDO [...]

By: Jeffrey A. Gordon » Brown Booby update: some cute photos + updated coordinates

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:32:53 +0000

[...] have bit of news and some eye candy to add to the story of Delaware’s first Brown Booby, which came aboard the Thelma Dale IV on Monday, 19 July 2010 and rode the boat back into the [...]