Man 'killed heron to save duckling'

27 March 2018

A man who killed a heron to rescue a duckling it had just swallowed has been cautioned by police.

North Wales Police tweeted that in saving the young bird, the elderly man from the Pwllheli area "was then left with a dead heron".

The force's Rural Crime Team added: "You couldn't make this up."

Officers said he shot the heron dead with an air gun, then cut it open to rescue the duckling, which was still alive in the heron's stomach.

Wildlife charity the RSPB said all birds were protected by law with fines or jail sentences issued for offences. The maximum penalties for killing a heron are a fine of up to £5,000, and up to six months in prison.

The man voluntarily confessed to the RSPB following the incident in 2017.

Police said he was given a minor punishment because he was regarded as vulnerable and had no previous convictions.

Source  

Shorebirds Adopt Baby Duckling, Cuteness Ensues

By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer | August 01, 2014 03:16pm ET

A family of long-legged shorebirds adopted a fuzzy baby duckling this month in California's San Francisco Bay.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologist Jarred Barr discovered the duckling among a brood of downy avocet chicks on July 2. "It was just following right behind the adult avocet and chicks like it was another avocet," Barr told Live Science.

The blended family was foraging in wetlands at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, part of the massive South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project. Barr found four avocet chicks and the mallard duckling, each just a few days old, plus two avocet parents. "We don't know how the duckling got separated from its family, but they were all feeding already and copying the adults," he said.

Continued

QUACKERS! Man raises duckling in his BEARD

A first-time parent has worked wonders with his whiskers after raising an orphaned chick - in his beard. 

Hero Brian Doss came to the rescue of Peeps the Duck by letting her nestle in his facial fur. 

The 33-year-old had purchased a handful of eggs from a farm near his home in Athens, Ohio, USA with a view to raising them. 

Peeps was the sole survivor when they hatched and she immediately latched on to her adopted mother Brian. 

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