A wayward bird is on its way home today, not under its own wing power though. The Bullock's oriole is flying on an Airbus, courtesy of Air Canada and the Air Canada mechanic who is ferrying the feathered friend back to B.C. This unusual story took flight nearly two years ago when a man in Pakenham discovered the injured oriole in his back yard.
The journey began to figure out how to return this little gal to the west coast where she belongs; some 4000 kilometres away.
For the past year and a half, the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre has been home to the little Bullock's oriole. Blown off course during a winter storm in 2015, she was found half dead in the backyard of a Pakenham man named Ray Holland.
“Unfortunately the man who found her in the wild and recognized that this was not native to here very sadly passed away a few days ago,” says Patty McLaughlin, the education coordinator at the Wild Bird Care Centre, “he didn’t get to see the end of the story.”
But what a story and what a cast of characters.
There is Dave Starke, a lead mechanic with Air Canada who today is flying solo to Vancouver with his feathered friend. He will hand her off and return home, some 16 hours later.
“The only thing I need to focus on is that little girl,” says Starke, “This way it leaves both hands free and I can make sure she gets there safely.”
Dave and his wife Pam Weldon are bird lovers. Weldon wasn’t the least bit surprised her husband volunteered for this job.
“That’s Dave,” she says, “he does things like this all the time and just wants to help the girlie get out west.”
Dave was one of hundreds of people who responded to the call to help ferry the bird back to the west coast. He was met at the Ottawa airport this morning with Sandra Iseman, the Communication Coordinator with the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, who had the bird in a soft-covered cage, ready to hand off to Starke.
“It's so reassuring that so many people cared,” says Iseman, “We had hundreds of offers to fly her out.
We some people even ask if they could buy a ticket and make the trip just for this bird.”
It's not an easy task taking a bird onto a plane. There were a myriad of rules and regulations that had to be followed. Even the first cage for instance had to go through Air Canada’s engineering department to make sure it would fit under the seat and pass through security.
And while dogs and cats are allowed as carry-on, birds are never allowed in the cabin. So, special approval was needed. And why all this for one little bird? The issue, for many, is far bigger than this Bullock's oriole.
“We need to make sure we help wildlife survive and succeed whenever we can,” says Iseman.
And especially this wildlife, who will now be known as Ray Holland's Oriole.
“He's the one who rescued her so it seems fitting to call her Ray Holland's oriole,” says Iseman.
Once Dave arrives in Vancouver, the bird will be turned over to a Rescue Association there. She'll be released in about a week and hopefully fly south to the U.S. or Mexico in time for winter.
