Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary is a landmark institution on Indian Shores beach.
A few weeks back I wrote about a volunteer training class at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores. The class was to recruit volunteers to help out at the avian hospital during the spring nesting season.
I decided to volunteer one day each week to help care for baby birds that are brought in. Most of them have fallen from the nest and could not be returned to the nest for one reason or another. Some are orphans or suffered an injury.
Most of the birds I’ll be caring for at this stage are baby songbirds. Seabirds are more difficult and require special training. My first day in the avian hospital I fed some very energetic baby cardinals and several grackles. Also in the hospital were some older birds that were recovering from injury or illness: a cuckoo, several blue jays, some ducks, a red-bellied woodpecker, a beautiful hooded warbler, a nighthawk that only wants to be fed by women, a cedar waxwing that really loves fresh fruit, and a few others. It’s still early in the season, so the work has barely begun.
I’ll try to get some photos of the baby birds with my iphone if possible. But I’ll have to make sure it’s OK with the Sanctuary first. Stay tuned and I’ll post updates each week.
I also was taught how to clean the outdoor aviaries that are used when the birds start learning to fly. It’s a messy job. Smelly too, but you get used to it. Lesson learned: wash stinky clothing separately with a little extra detergent, hot water and a little dab of bleach.
The sanctuary is full of large caged areas with recovering birds of all kinds, but many wild birds are also attracted to the sanctuary and build their nests in the large trees above the caged birds. Egrets and Black-crowned night herons are nesting now.
A wild and free Black-crowned night heron enjoys the company of many other birds at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
