A Sad Sight.

[Dale.]

At my Kingfisher today, hour 3 of the 5 hour vigil. I heard a commotion just out of sight and the water that should have been flat calm became rippled. 2 Goosanders were going with the flow downriver, facing upriver. 2 had flown by an hour or so earlier, so may be the same 2 birds.

I focused on the male but the light was way to harsh, so focused on the female. Took the image, then checked it through the viewfinder to see if it was sharp. It was, but I could see the bottom mandible of the female looked deformed. On a closer look, she had a fish, it looks eel like but there is also some kind of fishing tackle involved. It looks like the line has wrapped around the lower mandible and maybe this has been for a while, as the line seems to have grown into the beak. Either that or it had just happened and had damaged it. There was no blood though, so I think the fishing tackle had been there a while and might not be anything to do with the fish. I'm suprised though that if that is the case, there is no sign of infection.

Hopefully, it's not a fresh injury and whilst it must be unpleasant for her, she may well just be used to it and is managing around it.


By the looks, all for the sake of a discarded bit of fishing tackle.

 

[Bebop]

oh that is very sad to see

 

[Box Brownie]

Annoyed, I am!

I wonder if the local wildlife trust and/or the RSPCA need alerting just in case she can be humanely caught and get that 'disgusting' gear removed?

Secondly, your picture distributed to all local angling clubs and local newspapers to educate the anglers about the damage done by discarded fishing gear!!!!!

 

[Gav.]

Really sad to see

One of the down sides to fishing, if a fish breaks the line they can't recover it, if they snag a tree it just gets left. I guess a few clubs may use craft to clear up from time to time.

I don't fish, but couldn't they switch to biodegradable gear, may not prevent injuries but may free up a birds beak over time or dissvolve if swollowed. I appreciate their gear will cost a bit more and need replacing but got to be better than floats, line and hooks littering the place.

 

[Phil-D]

As an angler, very sad to see.

Dale, you could try the RSPB but I don't think they'll want to know. In my experience, a wildlife rescue centre will probably be more helpful

Line either lost to a bigger fish/snag or discarded (the 2nd makes me p!$$ boil) the only way to stop it would be to ban the sport, I for one, hope that never happens.

Personally, as someone who's spent many hours river fishing over 30 odd years, I can only think of one occasion I've seen a bird with line, a small duckling.
We enticed the small group over with a bit of bread off us sarnies, caught it in a landing net and retrieved the line. It swam off a little traumatised but probably better for its ordeal.

On another note, Mcd's, KFC, picnic litter, litter in general, ect, ect ........also makes me p!$$ boil, .......seems to be a way of the world these days

 

[THIRTYFIVEMILL]

I would expect there to be a local charity or RSPCA that should be alerted to the poor bird's plight.

 

[Dale.]

oh that is very sad to see

Indeed, very upsetting.

Annoyed, I am!

I wonder if the local wildlife trust and/or the RSPCA need alerting just in case she can be humanely caught and get that 'disgusting' gear removed?

Secondly, your picture distributed to all local angling clubs and local newspapers to educate the anglers about the damage done by discarded fishing gear!!!!!

Yup, same sentiment here too.

I'm not sure anyone would get involved in a rescue but it is worth looking into, which I will do today. The problem is, it's a vast area, that stretch of river alone is over 16 miles long, as well as some ponds dotted about the place, she could be anywhere. They tend to be very skittish here as they don't have much contact with humans, catching her unfortunately would be difficult. I don't think it's impossible though, so I will look into what options there may be today.

On the second point, loving that idea, I'm on it.

Really sad to see

One of the down sides to fishing, if a fish breaks the line they can't recover it, if they snag a tree it just gets left. I guess a few clubs may use craft to clear up from time to time.

I don't fish, but couldn't they switch to biodegradable gear, may not prevent injuries but may free up a birds beak over time or dissvolve if swollowed. I appreciate their gear will cost a bit more and need replacing but got to be better than floats, line and hooks littering the place.

Very upsetting Gav. It looks like its been there a while and whilst not a nice thing, wildlife is suprisingly resilient and tends to adapt, maybe to some extent, she has.

As an angler, very sad to see.

Dale, you could try the RSPB but I don't think they'll want to know. In my experience, a wildlife rescue centre will probably be more helpful

Line either lost to a bigger fish/snag or discarded (the 2nd makes me p!$$ boil) the only way to stop it would be to ban the sport, I for one, hope that never happens.

Personally, as someone who's spent many hours river fishing over 30 odd years, I can only think of one occasion I've seen a bird with line, a small duckling.
We enticed the small group over with a bit of bread off us sarnies, caught it in a landing net and retrieved the line. It swam off a little traumatised but probably better for its ordeal.

On another note, Mcd's, KFC, picnic litter, litter in general, ect, ect ........also makes me p!$$ boil, .......seems to be a way of the world these days

Now you mention it Phil, there is a lot of debris along the river this year, mainly those blue, plastic carrier bags, many a time this year I've thought it's a KF but when I've looked through the binos, 99/100, it's a bag. Getting to them isn't easy but the ones I can retrieve I bin. I have retrieved fishing line on occasion too. We had 2 big river spates earlier in the year, one washed away parts of the banking the KFs nest at but those spates also seem to have flushed out a lot of waste and rubbish.

If the Goosander I saw yeasterday could've been tempted in by some food, I could maybe have helped but they are vary wary on the river. I think they eventually got my scent as it was breezy and they were away.

I would expect there to be a local charity or RSPCA that should be alerted to the poor bird's plight.

I will look at the possibilites today.

 

[Dale.]

Just off the phone from a very helpful chap at a local wildlife rescue centre. I told him the story but as I kind of guessed, there is little chance of catching the bird. It was suggested I try some food next time, if I ever bump into her again but this is a river and not a pond bird, so the chances she will come to a human are slim at best.

Another suggestion though was to find the nest (this was a pair), which again is a needle in a haystack but I probably have more chance than most of finding it, as I spend a lot of time on the river and also, speak to many folk, some of whom tell me locations. If I find the nest, the wildlife centre will then attempt to catch her.

I don't think there is much else I can do, except now maybe contact the angling clubs and ask them to raise awareness in some way.

The ball is rolling though and hopefully, some good will come out of this sad tale.