Gwen Grace

Mid-March, two members of the Desert River Audubon Society observed a blue heron stumbling over rocks in the lake, not eating and even falling beak-first into the water! Sunday, they decided to call Liberty Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. This is a volunteer organization that rescues injured birds and animals.

Within 20 minutes, Kim and her husband of LW came. Kim’s husband had to wade into the lake, but the heron walked to them, making the capture easy. It appeared the heron’s left wing was injured.

After three weeks, Liberty Wildlife called to say the heron could fly and was ready for release. Members of the Audubon, Liberty Wildlife personnel and neighbors gathered for the fly off. And fly off he did. The heron flew into the high eucalyptus tree, flexed his wings and posed for pictures. It was a wonderful feeling to see this beautiful bird fly again.

If anyone finds injured birds, the website for rescue is www.libertywildlife.org.