PORT TOWNSEND — Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue will host an open house from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The purpose is to showcase the new facilities at 1014 Parkridge Drive, built with funds from public donations and grant dollars, said founder and Executive Director Cindy Daily.
Saturday will be the first opportunity for the public to visit the rescue in six years, Daily said, an opportunity to see how donation dollars have helped to expand the organization’s work.
In addition to adding three large, visually transparent enclosures, the rescue has constructed a covered space outdoors for education.
The rescue plans to host field trips when the space is completed and is already in communication with the Chimacum and Port Townsend school districts.
The rescue already has educational programs in local schools, education coordinator Joseph Molotsky said. Hosting the programs on the property will increase the number of birds seen as well as allow for students to observe the daily care and training that the birds receive.
The rescue’s primary focus is on rehabilitation of injured birds, Daily said, with the intended outcome of reintroducing the birds into the wild.
The rescue takes in a wide variety of cases and species, Molotsky said.
“Everything from hummingbirds, eagles, we do a lot of seabirds,” Molotsky said. “We get a lot of songbirds in, especially in the spring and summer. There was a week we got in like 55 baby swallows. It was just one of those times when it gets really hot for a week and they had all jumped out of the nest because they were nesting on buildings that got too hot. They couldn’t stay in their nest any longer.”
The rescue has grown in recent years and can house more than 200 birds, depending on the species, Daily said.
It has two veterinarians on call 24/7, Dr. Ginny Johnson and Dr. Joyce Murphy. Johnson is a surgeon who consults and helps with most cases; Murphy is an eye specialist.
Eye injuries are common for birds who have collided with windows or cars, Daily said.
The organization has an X-ray machine and the capacity to perform necessary surgeries in house.
“Currently, we have several fulmars in care that came over from the coast,” Daily said. “That is because we do have seabird pools and we try to do what we can to help our seabird populations because they’re having a lot of pressures put on them and their numbers are in decline.”
Rehabilitating birds need to go into the pools before release because they need to be waterproofed again, Daily said.
“The process of coming through the waves and being in the sand will sort of destroy that waterproofing that they have because their feathers get dirty,” Daily said. “They have to get cleaned again, then they have to preen them, which is basically the bird doing that themselves. They’re zipping up those feathers because those waters get cold, so there has to be a barrier for the bird to live in those cold conditions.”
The rescue houses a number of ambassador birds who have been injured in a way that prevents them from being released, Daily said.
The ambassador birds are chosen for their agreeable personalities and their ability to be trained.
“They’re going to go to schools and do programs and let people get up close and personal with them so they get a better understanding of some of the birds we have in our area,” Daily said. “They can also act as surrogates, so when those orphaned babies come in, particularly raptors, we try to put the babies in with the appropriate species of adult, so that they can be raised by their own kind.”
Among the ambassador birds who act in surrogate roles are ospreys, red tail hawks, barn owls and gray horned owls, Daily said.
The adult birds at the rescue exhibit strong instincts and take well to surrogate parenting roles, Daily said. They even seem to prepare in the spring, when they start performing nesting behaviors.
“Sometimes they even lay eggs,” Daily said. “They’re not gonna be fertile, but then we can replace the egg with a live chick when that happens. It’s really good for their well being because birds that are here permanently, they feel that need to have a nest and raise babies. It works all the way around.”
The open house will take place largely in the new public education space on the property, where the organization has installed three large enclosures, two 24 feet long and one 20 feet long. The area also has a large covered area full of picnic tables.
Daily recommended that attendees dress warmly, as cold temperatures are expected Saturday.
Taking photos of the birds is allowed, and the covered area even has a photo wall.
Attendees should leave their dogs at home. The rule of thumb is to give handlers enough space that they could hypothetically use a hula hoop, Daily advised.
Daily said the organization will have the public park on Parkridge Drive and walk up the driveway. Those who require special accommodations will be assisted upon request to find parking nearer to the facilities, she added.
To learn more about the organization, including how to donate, visit https://www.discoverybaywildbirdrescue.com.
Those interested in learning more about scheduling educational events can call the rescue at 360-379-0802.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
