Letters to the Editor
We welcome your opinions and letters — with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here
Reporting an Avian Rescue
Dear Bay Weekly:
I was opening the door to let Kevin, the window salesman, out. The birds, mostly sparrows, seemed excited, chirping and squawking and dive-bombing us. Predator, I thought.
“Look,” Kevin said.
There by the door, under the arborvitae, was a baby bird, beak down in the mulch, legs splayed, trying to get up.
I put it in an empty check box with cotton balls and a cover and tried to find someone to tell me what to do. The only one helpful was Colleen at Frisky’s Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock. If you have an injured or abandoned animal, bring it to her. Everyone else seemed full up.
Woodstock is a bit of a ride, and I peeked into the box every once in a while. The bird said cheep and opened its mouth to be fed, so I knew it was okay.
I found the sanctuary without too much trouble. It’s outside of Ellicott City in a beautiful area — rolling low hills, trees and green meadows — unfortunately being developed.
Colleen is a charming woman whom I discovered loves all living things and rescues animals out of affection, no monetary compensation.
She took the bird inside while I filled out paperwork. When she came out, she said it had eaten her special bird mousse — mashed worms, bugs and other stuff you don’t want to know about — and asked for seconds.
“Is it a bluejay,” I asked.
“No,” said Colleen. “It’s a bluebird.”
“But I never saw them in the yard.”
“They’re very private birds,” she said.
I felt pleased with myself. With a little help, I had rescued a bluebird.
—Sylvia Stone, Annapolis
Poplar Island Clarification
Dear Bay Weekly:
Thank you for the article on the Poplar Island Restoration Project [Vol. xiii, No 32: Aug. 11]. I’d like to clarify one point in the accompanying editorial. It states that: “the plan would sacrifice 4,227 acres of bottom habitat.” The 4,227 acres of habitat loss/disturbed indicated in Table 5-17 represents the cumulative impacts of the Poplar Island project and other island restoration projects under consideration. The Poplar Island project and the expansion under consideration account for 2,010 of the 4,227 acres. The restoration of James and Barren Island under consideration would account for the remaining 2,267 acres.
—Mark Mendelsohn, Biologist: Baltimore District, U.S.Army Corps of Engineers
Poplar Island Praise
Dear Bay Weekly:
Thank you so much for your newspaper’s support of the Bay. I have been a resident of Deale for 33 years, and the Bay plays such an important part in my family’s daily life. I think it is wonderful that your paper wrote an article about the Poplar Island project. With all the negative things we hear about the Bay, it is inspiring to hear about how the Bay is being returned to its former glory.
As a kid, I can remember water-skiing around the island.
Thanks for all that you do, and I love News of the Weird.
—Julie Misero: Director of Production, Providence Center Inc.
