It was on December
18th that this episode began at Maine's Clayton Lake in Aroostook County,
where the International Paper Co. has it's depot. There are several homes
here in which live the people who serve the woodland area. A large boarding
is here where some of the workers stay and other personnel who live too far
away to commute. On this day, Mr. Scott Daigle saw a bird in the yard which
was possibly hurt. Upon investigating he discovered a water bird that could
not fly unless it was in water. Mr. Daigle finally caught it and took it
to William Sylvester, the supervisor of the Clayton Lake area. The bird was
a Red-Necked Grebe. It had a long neck and a long yellowish bill. It's legs
are located at the rear part of the body, like a loon, which accounted for
it's clumsiness on land. It had no visible tail. William immediately found
a big picnic basket and put the bird in it. He put a dish of water in and
then wondered what he had to feed it. He got some frozen smelts (saved for
fishing) thawed them out, and fed them to the bird, which he ate readily,
along with a can of shrimp. William was coming to Auburn by plane the next
day so he thought of open water on the Androscoggin. The next morning he
put the grebe in a small box inside the basket, as it was quite nervous.
The plane trip to Twitchell's Airport in Auburn was uneventful. William put
the basket in his vehicle, and the next move was to the Sylvester's kitchen.
After lunch, he put on his snowshoes at the back door. The basket was handed
to him, and the grebe was on it's way to the river Luckily, there was open
water quite near the shore, so the bird was freed from the basket. It walked
like a seal to the open water, and then what a time it had! Never was there
so much splashing. He sailed down the river in the swiftly flowing water
until it was just a tiny speck. We have watched the open water ever since,
but since it swims with just its head showing we probably could never have
seen it. We just hope that it made it's way to the salt water to join some
friends. Louise Sylvester
IN SEARCH OF SEA PARROTS Searching for Puffins off the Maine coast. Nel Anctil
THE BIRDS OF KENYA Come along on a bird safari to East Africa. Evelyn White
BACK YARD NESTING SUCCESS Our efforts to get birds nesting in our back yard are finally rewarded. Dan Marquis
ENCOUNTER WITH A HUMMER What happens when human and hummingbird meet? Jean Taber
RAMBO CHICKADEE A tenacious chickadee takes on all comers. Paticia Fish
FLORIDA FLING Take a stroll through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Tom Hayward