36. The White Heron

I was a little late starting my walk this morning and by the time I reached the pier I found there was already a high level of activity there. There seemed to be a buzz in the air, with attention being focused on a dramatic rescue which had just taken place. A heron, which is a sea bird, had got itself entangled in some fishing gear and some of my friends had noticed it struggling in the water close to the pier, desperately trying to free itself.

Dick, one of the regulars, had enlisted the help of a man in a canoe, some distance out in the bay, shouting and waving his hands to attract his attention. His aim had been to guide him closer to the pier so that he could use the canoe to get the drowning bird out of the water. With everyone watching on, the rescue mission was finally completed, with the canoeist and some of those watching, managing to place the tired sea bird on the lower deck platform of the pier.

Once the fishing lines had all been removed and the bird comforted, Dick carried it to his car with the intention of taking it to a vet to get it checked over. It couldn’t stand on its own, let alone fly, in fact it seemed barely alive. I think we would all agree that Dick is indeed a kind and caring man, someone you could count on “to go the extra mile”. When we saw him again the next day, he told us that the heron had managed to stand up in his car on the way to the vet’s clinic. 

I’ve made the title of this story “The White Heron”, because that’s what I thought this bird was called. I’ve since learned that these birds, which we often notice and admire on and around the pier, with their long legs and long necks, should probably be more accurately referred to as egrets. I would guess that the one which Dick rescued was probably an Eastern Reef Egret, because they are very common along the Queensland coast.

Back to Dick. The other day he also rescued a baby brush turkey which had been attacked by crows. Just as he had done with the heron, Dick had taken it in his car to a veterinary clinic. The vet had told him that he could leave the little turkey in his care and that he would find someone to look after it until it was well enough to fend for itself.

Baby brush turkeys are very vulnerable to attack. I’ve read somewhere that few survive after being hatched. The young ones are called “poults”, something I didn’t know. Baby turkeys are able to fly soon after birth and then they roost in trees at night. There are, however, many predators such as foxes, owls, hawks and other birds, hence their low survival rates.

The brush turkey is a native Australian bird and is also known as a ‘scrub turkey’ or a ‘bush turkey’.  We see many of them on the side of the path that leads to the pier. One of my friends, Viv, whistles at them in the morning and they come running towards him. He has demonstrated that he can give an exact imitation of the sounds of different birds and that they respond to him. I’ve seen him do this as we walk along. It’s quite amazing. He’s also a keen observer of the many other forms of wildlife which he meets on his walks, and he often sends me photos.

I started this story by talking about my friend Dick and his concern for the welfare of animals. It extends to dogs as well. Dick sometimes minds Lucy, his neighbour’s dog.  When he is sitting at a table near the pier, reading his newspaper, Lucy is lying on the ground next to him. Dick had asked me not to pat her because “she might bite you”. She wears a vest with the words: “I’m nervous – Give me space”.

Dick is also the person who told me (as I wrote in an earlier story –  “Stonefish”) that the Australian White Ibis, of which there are plenty around here, apparently eat poisonous cane toads. “They’re very clever about it”, he said. They pick up the cane toads, swing them around to release the toxins and then take them to a creek and wash them before eating them. The toads apparently release the toxins when they are stressed and the ibis have somehow worked this out, which is amazing.

So,… what’s the point of this rambling story? I think the point is that, as we walk and talk our way through life, we meet people like Dick and Viv and others who care about “all the creatures great and small” and who show us how to be kind and considerate. In doing so, I’m sure they also show us how to live a happier life.

O.P.

P.S. German music, virtuoso whistlers and the “wandering minstrel”, Roger Whittaker, are all mentioned in next Sunday’s post. Don’t miss it!