"OMG you guys are NOT going to believe what happened to me today" - Tawny frogmouth chick to family upon being reunited
"OMG you guys are NOT going to believe what happened to me today" - me preparing you for a long arse post
So. Despite the rubbish weather we decided to do a quick botanic garden run to check on the newly fledged tawny froggies. If you remember last I saw them there were 2 chicks, both now out of the nest, each in a different tree, with a different parent. Sweet.
Fast forward to today.
The first thing we noticed was one adult alone in the tree but not looking much like a parent - instead it was in the crook of the branch, assuming that typical froggy pose - 'sleeping log, hidden tawny'. Nothing too crazy. Then hubby finally spotted one of the chicks in a separate tree, seemingly alone, looking around and preening. Again nothing to worry about. But there was no sign of the second chick. We hunted around for a while and moved under the main tree itself to try and figure out where the other chick had gotten to. We then spotted the second parent sitting close by the chick so that seemed good all round. This is jungle like territory, loads of canopy, mosquitos everywhere, a thick carpet of native violets all under the sprawling branches of the tree that the tawny family call home.
And then husby made a sound. I don't think there were words. There was lots of pointing and gasping and maybe an uttered "there! Bunny there!" (I'm Bunny, don't judge ok). I looked at his feet, expecting to see a snake. Actually I expected to see him wrestling a snake considering the amount of commotion. But instead, at his feet, nestled amongst the plants was the second tawny chick. All eyes and beak and muppet face.
Now, a caveat, fledglings DO spend time on the ground. It's part of the learning to fly process and it can be bloody stressful to see but most of the time they are fine as long as the parents are nearby and the baby is not in immediate danger. But my concern here was 1: the parent who is usually with the second chick was away acting very un parent like 2: it's a long way down from the trees these little guys have been in and I wanted to check for injury to ensure he was ok to be left and 3: the parent directly above did not seem to care one little bit that we were there. So I called WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service - 1300 094 737) who suggested to take him into a vet to be sure.
Very long story short, he was given the all clear and a very wonderful trained WIRES carer looked him over and suggested that the best course of action was to attempt to reunite him with the fam. Enter said carer, a ladder and the muppet is back on a branch. He will be monitored over the next few days particularly with the behaviour of the one parent just to ensure that he continues to be fed - any concerns and he will be placed into care. So fingers crossed for the little guy and for his family and also for me, because I get attached and I second guess my actions and I've got a new camera lens and the light has been bad for photographs and I've only got a couple of weeks of holidays and...never mind. Fingers crossed for the tawnies (and please consider donating to WIRES if you are the donating kind)
Tawny Frogmouth Chick
Wollongong Botanic Garden
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