Black-crowned night-heron: Rescued!

Heart warming rescue as reported in the Louisville Courier-Journal

A black-crowned night-heron appeared to have been caught on a piece of kite string or fishing line in a sycamore tree near a bridge in Cherokee Park. The bird had injured its right wing and lost a few feathers.

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Firefighters rescue injured heron
Bird found in Cherokee Park
By Charlie White • cwhite@courier-journal.com • July 14, 2008

A crowd of several dozen people cheered firefighters yesterday after they rescued an injured heron from a sycamore tree in Cherokee Park.
Several people had called 911 during the morning to report that the bird, a black-crowned night-heron, had become tangled on a piece of line near a bridge on Scenic Loop over Beargrass Creek.
The heron had injured its right wing and lost a few feathers, but it was conscious when it was taken away by Eileen and John Wicker of Raptor Rehab of Kentucky.
Nate Paulson and Capt. Kent McCauley of Louisville Fire & Rescue climbed a ladder to reach the heron, then carried it down just before noon. The bird appeared to have been caught on a piece of kite string or fishing line, and it was unclear how long it had been there.
"At the very least, it has a dislocated shoulder," Eileen Wicker said.
The Wickers gave the bird fluid before putting it in a cage in the back of their van. It was the second one they had rescued the same day; another found off Eastern Parkway.
The Wickers were taking the herons to a woman who has worked at the Louisville Zoo and said she would nurse them back to health.
Black-crowned night-herons are common in the St. Joseph neighborhood and in other parts of the metro area. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they have a wingspan of about 45 inches and produce a loud, harsh squawk.
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John Wicker is with Raptor Rehab Kentucky. (By Charlie White, The Courier-Journal / July 13, 2008)
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Firefighters rescue injured heron
Bird found in Cherokee Park
By Charlie White • cwhite@courier-journal.com • July 14, 2008

A black-crowned night-heron was plucked from a sycamore tree in Cherokee Park just before noon today after the bird had become tangled on a piece of line. Firefighters climbed a ladder to reach the heron near a bridge on Scenic Loop, over Beargrass Creek. Several onlookers had called 911 earlier. The bird appeared to be caught on a piece of kite string or fishing line, and it was unclear how long it had been there. Officials from a raptor rehabilitation center also responded, and said the bird was alert and conscious after the rescue, but that its right wing was damaged.According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, black-crowned night-herons have a wingspan of about 45 inches, and produce a loud, harsh squawk. They eat snakes, rodents, fish and lizards.