Tuna juice and TLC: Corner Brook woman provides shelter for storm petrel

Nicole Marsden says she's never rescued a bird before, but when she got a call one night about an animal in need, she couldn't say no.

Marsden, from Corner Brook, said a couple found asmall back bird in the middle of the road and got in touch with her.

"They thought he was hurt so they picked him up and contacted us to see if we'd be able to help," Marsden said.

"I told them to bring him on over to us because we take in a lot of animals so we thought we'd do what we could to care for the little guy."

Storm petrels aresmallblack sea birds, with curved black beaks with a funnel-like hole on top.They're nocturnal birds that are often lured off course by artificial light.

Dishdetergent bath

Marsden, who nicknamed the rescued birdPetrie,said the bird was in rough shape when it arrived. It was weak, soaked to the bone and covered in some sort of oil or grease.

"I suspect he ran into something while he was flying," she said.

Marsden washed the bird in dish detergent to get ridof the oil, then set it up in a warm and secure room away from the other animals in the house.

But she admits to being at a loss that first night. She runs a cat shelter out of her home, but said she never took in a bird before.

Marsden'sfiancknew a little about storm petrels to at least get them started.

"We didn't know what to feed him and didn't have a lot on hand so I syringed a little bit of tuna juice in his mouth and some pureed tuna," she said.

The next day, Marsden said they had to force feed Petrie fresh cod and salmon. She also connected with another rescue group for help.

"I put out there on line that we had this bird, so people with experience helping them got in touch with some tips on how to care for them properly," Marsden said.

After fourdays of TLC, Petrie seemed to make a full recovery. The bird was active and eating, so Marsden knew it was time to send it on its way.

Waiting until nightfall the followingTuesday, she brought Petrie down to the shore, put him in the water and watched him swim off.

"I'm glad it worked out well," she said. "He was ready to go."