|
Can't see this email? {% web_view %}
|
|
Only a month into 2025 and SOS has already admitted 25 patients (half of which have been nēnē / Hawaiian Geese) across 10 different species! Our busy start to the year, however, hasn’t stopped us from reflecting on our year prior. In 2024, SOS admitted a total of 581 patients across 27 species. The species we admitted the most were: ‘ua‘u kani / Wedge-tailed shearwaters, ‘a‘o / Newell’s Shearwaters, and nēnē / Hawaiian Geese, at 163, 130, and 120 individuals respectively. Of our total patients admitted, 50.8% were threatened or endangered species. |
|
Just a few of the birds we have cared for over the last year. Top Left: koloa maoli / Hawaiian Ducklings, Top Right: 'alae 'ula / Hawaiian Gallinule, Bottom Left: nēnē / Hawaiian Geese, Bottom Right: 'ua'u kani / Wedge-tailed shearwater chick. |
|
Reflecting on all of the patients that come through our facility makes us incredibly thankful for each of our staff members, conservation partners, volunteers, and YOU, who keep us running. It is this support that allows us to maintain the high level of specialized care that provides these native birds a second chance. At SOS, we are looking forward to all that 2025 brings us, and strive to evolve in order to meet the growing needs of the birds we serve and the community that surrounds us.
|
|
When we bring a patient out for release, we see them take off knowing we have done everything we can to set them up for success as they return home to the wild. Once they fly out of sight over the ocean, or into the wetlands, all we can do is hope for their success. However, sometimes we get the joy of spotting a past patient, thanks to the metal federal bands we apply to each bird’s leg prior to release.
This month, we admitted an ‘alae ke‘oke‘o / Hawaiian Coot that had already been through SOS’s facility back in 2016! When admitted in 2016, the bird was treated for avian botulism. This time around, ANP353 was admitted due to an entanglement that limited their ability to move. Upon intake, SOS staff removed a Kiawe twig wrapped in organic material from around the bird’s leg. The only impact appeared to be a minor indentation in the lower leg. By the next day, the indent had already reduced. This patient is being treated for pressure sores on the bottom of its feet, likely a result of limited mobility caused by the entanglement. We are hopeful this ‘alae ke‘oke‘o will be back to the wild again soon!
|
|
Tom releasing a koa'e kea / White-tailed Tropicbird. |
|
As 2024 came to a close, SOS received some heartbreaking news. Our long-time volunteer, Tom, whose SOS retirement we highlighted a few months ago, passed away. Tom, along with his husband Andy, started volunteering with SOS over 7 years ago when we were a team of only three permanent employees. They came every Tuesday and Thursday to help clean enclosures, crates, nets, etc. (nothing glamorous or exciting, and yet they continued to come!) and quickly became an irreplaceable part of our team. Over time, Tom transitioned into helping with any odd jobs at SOS, building enclosures, perches, or problem solving facilities issues for us. He also worked countless hours building/upgrading our aid stations. Each request, no matter how odd, met with "You bet!"
While all these tangible contributions to SOS made a huge impact on our program and our patients, it was our friendship with Tom and the energy that he brought in with him every time that meant the most to us. We looked forward to our weekly Tom chats that could last over an hour if you really got us going. He was always sharing what he and Andy were up to and in turn we would share what was going on in our lives. It was a welcome respite in our day that we treasured.
What is most indicative of Tom’s impact though, is the night he and Andy invited us all into their home for a holiday meal. Knowing that a lot of our staff are here seasonally, and/or don’t have family to share the holidays with, they gave us all a place to celebrate and feel cared for. As a group of 20-something year olds whose holiday plans had simply been caring for the birds, it meant the world to us to have a meal shared among friends. No matter how tired we may have been from Fallout Season, we instantly livened up as the door opened to a table of food, holiday music, and a beautifully decorated home all put together by two familiar faces. We truly feel as though our team and volunteers are family, that night perhaps more than usual. We will continue to remember all those moments we shared with Tom each time we deploy the aid stations he worked on, use the crate inserts he re-netted, or have an odd job we just know he would have given an enthusiastic “You bet!”
|
|
A note left by Tom on an aid station roof. |
|
SOS is an Unincorporated Nonprofit Association and fiscally sponsored by the Hawai'i Wildlife Center, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization.
As the only Federal and State permitted wildlife facility on Kaua‘i, Save Our Shearwaters provides life-saving care to Hawai'i’s native birds in need. When you donate, you help us continue to rescue, rehabilitate, and release native wildlife. Mahalo nui loa from all of us at SOS (our feathered friends included)!
|
|
No longer want to receive these emails? {% unsubscribe 'Unsubscribe' %}
{{ organization.name }} {{ organization.full_address }}
|
|
|
|
|
