First was a black shouldered kite that went to Ulladulla Vet after it ‘fell out of a tree’ at a property. The property owner took the bird to the vets where it was xrayed and found to have a broken ulna and radius. Kites hover above tall grass to locate their prey and as there is little room for error, this bird ventured north to see an avian specialise in Sydney to pin the bones together. This bird will remain in care with WIRES for many months, first allowing time for its bone to repair and then conditioning its muscles to fly in a large flight aviary.
The next day marine rescue got called to some kayakers that were in trouble around snapper island. Whilst helping them out, a young peregrine falcon was reported in the ocean. It was rescued by them and brought to shore where the mid-south coast branch of WIrES was called to collect the bird and take it to caseys beach vet for examination. And injured eye and poor body condition were all that was externally obvious and the vets found nothing else wrong. Obviously eye sight is so important to birds of prey so this young bird was taken into care. Initial treatment included a plethora of drugs including pain killers and eye drops. The bird was also given fluids sub-cutaneously and given delicious chicken and beef heart.
Kay Mallitt is the falcons handler and is very careful when handling the bird due to its immense grip with its claws and even thought its injured it is immensely strong.
This bird will also be sent to Sydney for specialist treatment and will likely remain in care for a couple of months.
Black shouldered kite shows broken wing on left hand side. (Photo Ulladulla vets)
The black shouldered kite all bandaged up during transport (photo Zora Brown)
Young peregrine falcon (photo kay Mallitt)
Kay Mallitt holding the peregrine falcon during examination, medicating and feeding process(photo Sandy Collins)
Peregrine falcon with injured left eye (photo Sandy Collins)
