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. was. i~»..._,‘ . Fam I y rescues _ 'rs'-""""'::,, alEl errant puffin s'"as',is a _ "Nil . Marl Experts speculate that 3 'i'i"rcusa1llll$Mlt't icdi' gain , . f " ' , 183311 ttee" the Puffin .way.li.kely. blown i” N f " . p p :rii? ly -N8. 'l%hts% A funny thing happened off course in high winds, or , , ' Fiji; Vi, s2F, ~ 2/i2"' to the members of a became disoriented and a - 'd my T _ , up“ Westmeath family as they headed up the St. Lawrence .. Ct; ' r' _ were bringing their Christ- Y.iver and later the _0ttawa _ V fires, . w",', J F. mas tree home. They found River instead of flying out j; rf _ "i' _ m ' _ a young Atlantic puffin at of the Atlantic Ocean .where . g; g? the roadside. he was supposed to winter. l: _ vrrm ’ Doug Lapointe, his wife Preening, a. procedure wrr7 if Cathie Timm, and their whereby the bird pinches _ ‘31.. children, Caleb and Jere- its pryning..gl.and at the ‘N _ miah, and a young friend, base of its tail, IS necessary T Sara Tomlinson, were m. for the bird's survival. This i" velling along Westmeath stimulates the secretion of a 'ty, i9? Township Road 7 where body oil. which It then $13.} / they live when something spreads with its bill all over " j unusual tlapped across the Its body. That's what _ _ ”A? ""', road in front of the car. waterproofs seafowl and f“f"~" if yr They stopped to inves- allows them to bob on the t" e')-, F tigate, and in the roadside surf/tof frigid waters, or . . . ditch found a strange- to. dive m and come up dry. This picture shows what puffins look like. The looking bird with ice caked fangs if“? can't totuch unusual birds are common in Canada's north, on its win s. eir s m, ey are pro ec- . . . . They tgok it home and ted in this way from .part.i.cularly in the Atlan.t.i.c region. But a Westmeath unsuccessfully persued drowning or freezing to family found a young puttin along the road last week. their bird books in an effort death. . to identify it. They suspec- By the time the Puffin the Chubbs were reporting to spot them." ted that it was a puffin, but was. found, he was simply that the bird was .showing This is the first confirmed it didn't look like any of the too po.oped. to preen. The some Signs of preenlng. .findjng of an Atlantic Puffin puffins in their books, protective oil was all gone, Mr. Bouvier told The Sun in Ontario. Local bird lore because the pictures were and, when placed in a Monday that he had had no has it that one was shot of adult pumns. which look laundry tub, hejust sank. recent progress reports on near Ottawa in 1881 and quite different than the The Chubbs treated the tlt,ryfJi.r,1, subsequently ended up in a young. bird by dipping him But I'm sure he's doing private collection of moun- Finally Cathie's aunt,, frequently into water to try well, because we would ted birds. However, the Ray Grylls, who lives to revive its instincts. have heard if he wasn't,” specimen was lost and it nearby, found a icture of The puffin was found on he said. Ilt's a _question cannot be confirmed that it an immature punk; in her Sunday, December 15. Mr. now of waiting until he has was actually the real thing. bird book. He looked like Bouvier called an acquain- put on some weight and There are other similar bird , the little stranger at the tance, Bruce DiLabio, of finding someone who is species. Lapointe-Timm house. Ottawa, who is a former travelling to the Atlantic Kit Chubb believes that The bird' was obviously employee of the ornitho- Ocean who can take him the stray is about a year not in good condition, and logical section of the and release him there." old. He's 25 centimetres his rescuers had no idea museum. "The finding of an long and has a small bill, a how to help him. So they "He's probably the most Atlantic Puffin in this area, grey masked face, a black contacted Jacques Bouvier active birder in this part of dead or alive, is a major head and back, and a of the Pembroke Bird Club. the country," says Mr. ornithological event," says whitish breast. He arranged to have the Bouvier. Mr. DiLabio came Mr. Bouvier. "There are The adult Atlantic pufFm bird transported to a wild to Pembroke to pick up the probably a lot of other is about 33 centimetres long bird hospital run by Robin bird and transported him to interesting things going with a colourful orange and Kit Chubb of Verona, Verona the next day. through, but you need an triangular bill marked with north of Kingston, Ontario. By Friday, December 20, aware and informed public red, yellow, and blue. ,