A choir practice may have paved the way for a guardian angel to step in and help save a hobbled red-tailed hawk.
Ken MacDonald came to Orillia Saturday morning for a full-day choir practice with the Cellar Singers, who are preparing for their March 1 concert.
"I decided to go to Orillia a bit early to do some birding before practice," MacDonald, a Midland native, explained in a Facebook post.
While visiting Kitchener Park, which is beside the city's waste diversion site, he noticed a bit of open water where a small stream empties into Lake Simcoe.
"Just as I was leaving the park to get to practice, I spotted a red-tailed hawk on the ground in the woods. It was unable to move," he explained.
Upon further examination, he discovered a piece of string wrapped around one of its legs. This string had become entangled with some of the branches in the bush.
"The bird was unable to free itself. I suspect that the string had become wrapped around the bird's leg earlier and that somehow, when it entered the bush, perhaps after some prey, it managed to snare and trap the hawk," he explained.
"I was a little leery about handling the bird myself although it seemed reasonably calm," said MacDonald, who thinks the hawk had been there all night and was cold and worn out from trying to free itself.
"Using some of the sticks that were at hand, I was able to break up some of the foliage trapping the bird and release it from its immediate predicament," he said.
But the bird was unable to take flight and when it did move, it hopped, just a bit, on one leg, MacDonald explained.
"I believe that when hawks take off from the ground they would need to get a few hops in, generating some momentum before their wings could get them airborne. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the bird's wings, but the leg was definitely a problem," he noted.
He phoned Shades of Hope in Pefferlaw, an animal rescue service. The person who answered the call said they could help but someone would have to bring the bird to the facility — a 45-minute drive way.
Because MacDonald had to head to his choir practice, they suggested he post a photo of the bird and describe its perilous state on social media with the hope that someone would step up and transport the bird to Pefferlaw.
At about this time, the waste diversion site was opening and people were coming to work there and people were coming to use the site.
"I spoke to a customer driving into the site and he said he would alert them to the problem," said MacDonald. "Then a big snowplow appeared which was clearing the roadway into the site from the monster snowstorm" that hit Orillia Friday.
"The snowplow driver was David Doyle and he is the real hero of this story," MacDonald said of the city employee.
"When I told him about the hawk David jumped right into action (and) grabbed his heavy duty work gloves. While I distracted the bird from the front, David grabbed it from behind, securing it tightly. He hopped in my car with me to drive the bird into the waste diversion site," said MacDonald.
They put the hawk in a milk crate, hoping a warm environment would help it recover somewhat.
The workers at the site were "quite excited about their unexpected guest" and several came to check the bird out.
At that point MacDonald left for choir practice "leaving the bird in David's capable hands. He was able to recontact Shades of Hope and let them know he had the bird and would arrange for delivery."
During lunch break at choir practice, MacDonald phoned Doyle to see how the hawk was faring. Doyle said he had planned to drive the bird to Pefferlaw at the end of his shift.
But he phoned his supervisor and "she said she'd come in and take the bird to Shades of Hope," Doyle explained.
"We are hoping for a good result," said MacDonald. "It feels good to finally do something good for a bird after all they have done for me. And hats off to all the wildlife rescuers in the world."