Heron Entangled In Fishing Line Rescued At Kingstowne Lake

KINGSTOWNE, VA — A group of volunteers helped to rescue a Great Blue Heron that had become entangled in fishing line at Kingstowne Lake on Christmas Eve.

Kingstowne resident Pat Erney first noticed that the bird was in distress on Wednesday morning when she was out walking her dog with her friends.

"When you walked down to the shoreline, you could see that the heron was struggling to get out of the mud," Erney said. "But then as he began to come up out of the water, I noticed that fishing line was wrapped around his wing and his foot. Every time he lifted his wing, his foot would come up."

Unable to take flight, the heron managed to make its way out to an island in the lake.

Uncertain of what to do next, Erney and her friends called the Wildlife Rescue League of Northern Virginia. They put Erney in contact with Billy Rios, a volunteer animal rescuer with the Owl Moon Raptor Center in Boyds, Maryland.

"Unfortunately, he couldn't get out there before dark, because he was on another hawk rescue," Erney said.

In the meantime, Kingstowne resident Alexis Moore had learned about the situation from a message Erney had posted on the Next Door neighborhood board. She called the Fairfax County Police Department's non-emergency number, which brought animal control officers to the scene.

When the officers approached the heron on the island, it took flight and came to light on the lake's outlet structure.

"It was dark and there was nothing that could be done at that point, but I made a point to go down the next morning to see how he was doing and he was in really bad shape," Erney said. "He was just laying on the side of the drainage thing. He wasn't moving."

Moore had also come to the lake Thursday morning to check on the bird. She called Rios, who arrived in short order, assessed the situation, and then called fellow wildlife rescuer Peshwaz Faizulla.

"He had two kayaks," Erney said. "He came down from Arlington with the kayaks and they got in the kayaks and made their way over to the drain. Billy was trying to climb up it and, low and behold, the heron takes off again."

The bird flew to the far end of the lake, where it then became stuck in the top of a tree.

"Because of the fishing line that was still wrapped around his wing and his toes, he couldn't get out of the tree," Erney said.

Determining that there was no way to climb up the tree and safely rescue the bird, Rios contacted the Franconia Volunteer Fire Department, which showed up with a bucket and ladder.

With Rios aboard, the firefighters raised the bucket toward the top of the tree, but the heron became spooked, struggled, and then fell down through the branches, landing in the water. Faizulla jumped in the water and grabbed the bird. He and Rios then cut the fishing line off of the bird's wing and legs.

"Thankfully, there was a hook, but it wasn't embedded in the heron," Rios said. "Once I freed all the line, I wasn't sure if there were any further injuries caused by its struggling, being entangled in the tree, so I decided to take it to a rehab site."

Rios transported the heron to the Owl Moon Raptor Center. Director Suzanne Shoemaker, who is a licensed Master Wildlife Rehabilitator, examined the bird and determined it didn't have any apparent injuries.

Once the animal was cleared, Rios returned to Kingstowne Lake Thursday night and released the heron.

On Christmas Day, Rios visited the lake to check on the heron's status, but the bird was still on the shore, about 25 yards away from where he had released it.

Rios planned to come back on Saturday to check on the bird again, but Erney and others involved in the rescue sent him photos showing that the heron was fine.

"A really good ending to a horrific situation," Erney said on Sunday morning. "Without a doubt, that poor heron would not have lasted much longer."

As a footnote to the Christmas Eve rescue, Rios noted that animals becoming entangled in fishing line is an all too common occurrence. As this week's incident proved, it can even happen at places like Kingstowne Lake, where "no fishing" signs are prominently displayed.

"Even places where fishing is allowed, you want people to be more responsible," Rios said. "If they see some stray fishing line laying around, collect it, and properly discard it. It can be devasting to wildlife, especially if they are not found."