After a rainy June, the sun has finally
come and the Okanagan once again feels like the Okanagan.
With the summer I'm finding my social
networking has gone down tenfold. Before last week I couldn't
remember the last time I signed into my twitter account, and even the
use of facebook has gone down.
As you can see, my last post was in
May, so my blog hasn't escaped the summer sufferings of social
networking.
There's just something about the sun
and all it's glory that keeps me from wanting to be on a computer
writing things for hours upon hours. I do that enough at work.
Speaking of which,
Following the three-week internship
required to graduate, the Vernon Morning Star took me on as a
reporter for July and August.
I'm happily working in the community I
grew up in and am thrilled to further my education following my
graduation.
I thought I'd share a few stories and
photos I've taken at the morning star thus far.
Frankie Finds Family of Rescuers
Vernon Morning Star
The
Monday of the Canada Day long weekend started out as typical for
Vernon residents Denis and Gerry Marson.
The
couple had been sitting on their patio with Gerry’s sister watching
a hawk’s nest across Highway 97 near Okanagan College when the
unthinkable happened.
Two
baby hawks were sitting in the nest when the mother swooped down to
the Marson’s yard to gather food for her nestlings. She never made
it back, the result of being hit by a semi truck.
The
Marsons were devastated and unsure of what they could do for the two
abandoned nestlings.
“It
was the holiday, we weren’t sure who we could call so it was a hard
night. In the morning we called the SPCA who put us in touch with the
South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls,” said Denis.
Two
members of SORCO immediately made the trip up to Vernon to try and
help the birds despite not usually covering the Vernon area.
“Usually
we won’t come as far as Vernon it would go to Kamloops, but the
Kamloops rehabilitation doesn’t come out and get the birds, you
have to bring them. We felt like we could hopefully have the
resources to do this,” said Dale Belvedere of SORCO.
Belvedere
and the Marsons quickly called anyone they could in order to find a
boom tower that would reach high enough to extract the young birds
from the nest.
“It
was devastating, we knew there was no way they could survive for very
long. I looked at that tree and I wasn’t sure if we were going to
find anyone able to get that high,” said Denis.
Darcy
Goodwin of Horizon Tree Services was contacted, and agreed to help
out but couldn’t have a truck available until 3 p.m. Tuesday.
According
to Belvedere a young bird needs to feed every three or four hours,
but by the time the truck arrived it had been over 24 hours.
It
wasn’t just starvation the birds had to survive, the weather was
beginning to play a factor in their survival.
“I
was here this morning and we could see the birds in the nest, then
there was that hail storm that came in and we were thinking ‘oh
geez they’re not going to make it,’” said Goodwin on Tuesday.
By
3 p.m. the storm had subsided but another set of rain clouds could be
seen blowing in over Kalamalka Lake.
The
boom was quickly set up and within a half hour had touched ground
again.
Only
one of the birds made it with the younger of the two having succumbed
to the elements.
However,
saving one of the nestlings was a triumph in itself.
“She
was such a great mother, really looking after those chicks. It’s
sad but at the same token we did save one, so that’s a good thing,”
said Denis.
“Frankie,”
the young red tailed hawk, is now with SORCO and is doing well eating
raw chicken every three hours.
According
to SORCO it should only take about two months to rehabilitate the
hawk and release it near the location it was found.
Meanwhile
the Marsons are thankful for the quick response by both SORCO and
Horizon Tree Services.
“To
stop and think what they did to save one little chick, it’s pretty
heart warming,” said Denis.
For
more information on SORCO visit www.sorco.org.
Other Stories:
Some Photos So far:
