Rena spill: Wildlife centre 'like a McDonald's for birds'

Maureen Burgess mixes a fresh batch of fish slurry for birds at the wildlife centre. Photo / Alan Gibson

Fancy a fish slurry smoothie for breakfast?

The thought might induce vomit for most of us, but at Mt Maunganui's oiled wildlife centre, it is one of the most popular items on the menu.

Maureen Burgess, a local district councillor and conservationist, is in charge of the kitchen at the centre and has to ensure each patient receives a personalised meal on time.

Aside from the smoothies - a tasty mix of fish guts and eyes - birds are chowing down on mealworms, bug slurry and meatballs made from oxheart and mince.

"People come from all areas with orders ... it's like a McDonald's for birds," she said. "It's full on, with a couple of meals each eight hours a day, but it's what's keeping the birds alive."

There were 253 birds in care at the centre last night, including 46 New Zealand dotterels, an endangered species. Wildlife experts hoped to catch 60 of the 100 dotterels thought to live in the area.

Having involved herself with bird conservation projects in the Bay of Plenty, Ms Burgess is more than just another volunteer lending a hand.

"I was part of the effort to protect the dotterels at Maketu.

"Now most of the birds have been trapped, some have had oil on them and here I am looking after them now ... it's gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, really."

She had the pleasure of taking care of the first little blue penguin to arrive.

"I got to take her swimming, then got to catch her and get [her] dry again. I named her Dawn after a brand of blue detergent from the United States we used to get the oil out of her."

But the work has taken its emotional toll: "When they had the large display of dead birds outside the post-mortem tent, I just burst into tears.

"It was so awful to see a giant albatross and all of these beautiful seabirds ... you couldn't recognise them ... they were just blobs of oil.

"But when I got to clean my very first bird and I saw it go swimming ... that's what it's all about. "You've got to take away the good things from this - I've learned a lot and I've met some good people.

"I'd never want it to happen again but I feel quite privileged to be part of making everything all better."

On the menu

* Fish gut and eye smoothie.
* Mealworms.
* Oxheart and mince meatballs.
* Bug slurry.