Blue the Gannet released back to the wild

Submitted by Steve on 16:30, 5th Dec, 2014 | 0

On the 15th October a young gannet was rescued from Grande Rocques that was extremely weak and very ill.

The bird had to be kept under a heat lamp and was placed on a series of treatments and medications.

Also the poor gannet found it extremely difficult to digest food, and required feeding assistance.

The bird was named 'Blue' and after 3 weeks of intensive care and a period of rehabilitation on the GSPCA pool's the gannet was fit enough to release last week.

Sadly the weather wasn't ideal so staff waited until Saturday 29th November.

Shelter staff Yvonne Chauvel and volunteer Fleur Pizzey transported Blue to a coastal release site in Guernsey.

With many releases the birds make a break and fly off very quickly. However, Blue wasn't keen to get straight back into the water and stopped along the shore for a few minutes before dipping feet into the Winter sea.

Yvonne Chauvel Senior Animal Care Assistant said "Poor Blue the gannet was extremely weak after being rescued and took weeks before responding to treatments."

"In the first few weeks Blue just couldn't keep food down very well."

"After weeks of care, Blue was placed on the GSPCA rehabilitation pool and gained strength very quickly."

"It is always wonderful to help save, rehabilitate and get local wildlife back to where they belong, although Blue certainly took some time before swimming off."

Steve Byrne GSPCA Manager said "The staff and volunteers work around the clock rescuing and caring for nearly 300 animals and birds at the GSPCA every day."

"Blue is one of the lucky birds and we always love a happy release, especially on a sunny day."

"If anyone would like to support the work we do at the Shelter you can not only sponsor an animal through our Angel Pen Pal scheme, but we also have a wish list with all sorts of items we need at the GSPCA and we really appreciate any support."

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For advice on what to do if you find a sick or injured wild animal or bird please call 01481 257261 or click here

Some Gannet facts -

Closely related to Boobies

Northern Gannets

Two other types

Wingspan 2m

No external nostrils

air sacs in face, chest and under skin to act like bubble wrap

binocular vision to help judge distance

dive 30m (62ft) 100km per hour (62mph)

one chalky blue egg

5 yrs to reach maturity

UK 2/3 population - 220,000

Gannets are closely related to Boobies
Around Guernsey we have the Northern Gannets
There are three types of gannet in the world
A gannets wingspan can reach up to 2 metres
Gannets have no external nostrils
Gannets have air sacs in their face, chest and under skin to act like bubble wrap
Gannets have binocular vision to help judge distance
Gannets can dive up to 30 metres (62ft)
When diving gannets can reach 100km per hour (62mph)
When breeding a gannet lays one chalky blue egg
A gannet takes 5 yrs to reach maturity
The UK have two thirds of the Northern Gannet population
There are estimated 220,000 Northern Gannet nests when they all breed

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