Simon Thomsett

Category: Conservancies | Date: Sep 10 2009 | By: sheryl bottner

by Sarah Higgins

I am pleased to report that Waddlesworth is not only in fine feather but is also in perfect health.

Thanks to the many responses that we had to our appeal for information on our ‘squishy’ bird, I can now report that Pelicans are supposed to feel as if they have bubble wrap just under their skin because they actually do have the bird-equivalent of bubble wrap just under their skin! These are little air-filled pockets are designed for floatation, insulation and protection when diving. I have been absolutely fascinated by the amount of information that has come in and am very grateful for all of your responses - and also very relieved as it means that there is nothing wrong with Waddlesworth!

Waddlesworth has been for his third flight which, by his standards, was an epic trip. He was so disgusted at being tagged that he actually left home, got lost and ended up in our sheep field behind the house. As we hadn’t seen where he had landed he spent the night there – his first night out in the big wild world! We didn’t discover him ’til the next morning and, as he still wasn’t talking to us, he refused to come home. So I left him there and told our staff to just keep a distant eye on him. By lunch time Sammy (his foster mum) couldn’t bear it any longer and went up to the field, caught him and carried him back home under his arm (much to Waddles’ disgust). At that stage we were still worried about Waddle’s ‘bubble wrap’ so it was decided that he should remain in the walled garden (which he can’t fly out of) until we were sure that he really was OK – which, of course, we now know that he is.

Waddlesworth’s freedom has now been restored to him but he seems to have decided that he is not so interested in this flying business and that life holds far too many interests right here at home. I open his gate every morning and herd him out into the big garden where he mucks about and flaps his wings a lot but still he refuses to fly. On the one hand we are delighted, as we all love that bird to bits (especially Sammy, who is ‘mummy’), but on the other hand he should be getting on with his life. Still - the option is there and the decision is his. He has made friends with Batelle (the new Fish Eagle) and spends hours watching her. He is also pals with ‘Shale’, the tortoise.

Oh not again!

I’m getting out of here!

It is totally ridiculous watching Shale and Waddlesworth sunbathing in the morning. Shale parks himself in the sun and sticks all his limbs out of his shell, Waddles comes along and plonks down beside him and amuses himself by very gently trying to catch Shale’s head, which is smartly withdrawn into the shell, only to reappear a few seconds later. Shale will put up with this for a bit but then gets fed up and moves few inches further away so that his head is not actually reachable and then settles down again.

Out of reach

Waddles then plays at trying to pick him up, which of course would be impossible. It really is the silliest thing to watch. Waddles’ beak is very gentle and he is not capable of doing any harm, except with the fish hook on the tip, which he doesn’t seem to use except for picking up his fish. The tortoise doesn’t seem to mind this treatment and is perfectly happy to settle down with Waddles - when he is not being a pest and trying to catch his head!

Peace at last

Tags: little owl sanctuary, shale the tortoise, waddlesworth

One response so far

Category: Rehabilitation | Date: Jul 28 2009 | By: sheryl bottner

Here’s another great guest post from Sarah Higgins!

In April, on the shore of Lake Elmenteita, a young pelican waddled up to a weekend cottage and begged for food from the couple staying there. As you can imagine they were somewhat startled by this but they rushed to the fridge and dug out some tilapia fillets, which the little fellow gulped down greedily. They then herded him back to the lake shore. Next morning he was back again so they gave him some nice smoked salmon and herded him back to the lake but, as they turned to go back, so did the pelican! They couldn’t get rid of him and had to assume that something had happened to his parents and that he was otherwise starving to death. As they were only there for the long weekend they didn’t quite know what to do about the bird as they couldn’t exactly take him back to Nairobi. So they rang a friend who suggested that they should bring him to me!

‘Waddlesworth,’ as he became known, arrived in the back seat of a car all wrapped up in a kikoy, looking very miserable, underweight and covered in lice. We put him in a nice warm compound with a bucket of water and I raided a neighbour’s deep freeze for some fish for that day and sent out to the local fish market for a regular supply of fresh fish. We checked him over and he seemed to be unharmed although he did seem to carry his left wing closer to his body than the other one, but there was no sign of any injury. I did notice that he was sort of ‘crackly’ as if he had bubble-wrap under his skin but not knowing anything about pelicans I didn’t take much notice and assumed that is what a pelican should feel like.

Waddles in May, 2009

Waddlesworth soon got the hang of being hand-fed and I became ‘Mummy.’ As soon as he saw me with the white ‘fish’ pot he would rush up, bumping into me, flapping his wings, making his baby ‘feed-me’ noises and biting excitedly (but gently) at my legs, his own wings, bushes, anything, in a food ‘frenzy’ - which is exactly how a baby pelican should behave! I have not had any experience rearing a baby pelican and so out came the books. Waddlesworth did exactly what a wild pelican should do and at exactly the right time he started practicing his wing flaps. From then on we allowed him the run of the garden with its two acres of sloping lawn that has a ‘haha’ at the bottom and then acres of wildlife-filled vlei between us and the edge of our rapidly receding lake (we are in a drought situation at present), so he has plenty of room for a long takeoff and safe landing. He quickly settled into a routine: Mornings – bullying the dogs and playing in the bird bath! Afternoons - sleeping off his busy morning.

Waddles and Radar

When he was old enough he put himself on a ‘flight diet’ to loose sufficient weight to be able to take off and then, a few days later, off he went on his maiden flight. He tried a steep turn but didn’t quite make it home and ended up in my neighbour’s hedge, being eyed up by their huge dogs. I galloped round, rescued him from the hedge and carried him home. As soon as I put him down he stomped off to his favourite snooze spot and slept for the rest of the day. Next day he set off again and again miscalculated and ended up in the neighbour’s garden. So I nipped round next door and herded him back home and once more he slept away the rest of the day. After that he seemed to give up all idea of flight and went back to his dog bullying and mucking about in the bird bath (I still haven’t been able to persuade him to float about on the pond, which doesn’t auger well for life on his own!). I had hoped that in the three weeks between his first flight and our intended overseas trip he would have become a good pilot and left home, but no such luck. After much discussion we decided that Waddles should remain in the walled garden beside the house whilst we were away so that he couldn’t get himself into trouble.

On our return we found him in good form but he had now transferred his affections to Sammy, who had taken over feeding duty, and didn’t recognise me any more (I confess to feeling just a tad miffed that he could be so fickle!). We had decided that we should tag Waddlesworth before he went off on his next adventure so when Simon suddenly appeared out of the blue he was asked to do the deed. Waddles now wears a smart yellow (number 56) wing tag. Whilst tagging him, Simon remarked on the odd bubble-wrap feel of the bird but, like me, was not sure if this was normal, but suspected that it might not be. So now I am trying to find someone who knows something about pelicans who might be able to tell us. The crackly ‘bubble-wrap’ is all over his body, even his wings! Can anyone shed some light on this?

Waddlesworth, July 2009

Tags: navaisha, sarah higgins, waddlesworth

4 responses so far