Landscaper Calls For Help When He Sees A Gorgeous Bird Suspended Over A Pond
Landscaper Calls For Help When He Sees A Gorgeous Bird Suspended Over A Pond
“When I saw the bird, I teared up.”
By Mary SchwagerPublished on June 25, 2026 at 5:39 PMDave Montanile came home after a long day of running his landscaping company on Nantucket, Massachusetts, looking forward to relaxing. But moments after walking through the door, he glanced out the window overlooking Miacomet Pond and noticed something amiss.
“Something caught my eye across the pond,” Montanile told The Dodo. “I was like, ‘What's in that tree?’ So I got my binoculars out.”
Scanning the water, Montanile saw a flash of black and white feathers belonging to one of the black-crowned night herons who visit the pond.
The sun was just setting in the June sky, and though the herons are typically less active during the day and forage for food at night, he could tell this one was in trouble. “The bird was kind of suspended, then all of a sudden started flailing,” Montanile said. “I hopped in my truck and drove around to the other side of the pond.”
As he approached, Montanile saw that one of the herons was tragically entangled in fishing line.
“The bird was attached to two trees, probably 30 feet apart,” he said. “It was a doozy.”
Luckily, Montanile knew what to do. He volunteers for Nantucket Animal Rescue, saving sick and injured wildlife on the island.
Montanile grabbed tools from his landscaping truck, jumped in the water and got to work cutting all the fishing line. “You just go into rescue mode,” Montanile said. “You kind of go, ‘Let’s fix this.’”
He freed the bird from the trees, but the fishing line was a bigger problem than he initially anticipated. “There was a lot of line wrapped around the wing,” Montanile said.
Montanile wrapped the struggling bird in a towel and placed him in a crate until the rescue’s cofounders, Rain Harbison and her husband, Blair Perkins, could come over to help.
“When I saw the bird, I teared up,” Harbison told The Dodo. “It was horrifying.”
The trio got to work removing the remaining fishing line.
“We had to be meticulous on the way we disentangle it, cutting the line,” Perkins told The Dodo. “Sometimes finding the line is the hardest part, because it will get buried under the feathers. You think you've got it all and all of a sudden, there's another strand there.”
Finally, after all their efforts, the bird was free.
The bird, suffering from trauma caused by the fishing line, needed medical help. Since there’s no wildlife rehabilitation center on Nantucket, the rescue group transfers injured animals to rehabbers on the Cape Cod mainland via Hy-Line Cruises, which ferries the animals for free.
That’s where the team from Wild Care Cape Cod took in the heron, who turned out to have a fractured clavicle and was dehydrated.
But after a couple of weeks of cage rest, bandage changes and physical therapy, rescuers hope to release the bird back on Nantucket, where there may be a mate waiting.
All the rescuers urge people to clean up their fishing line — leaving it behind can be dangerous, even deadly for wildlife.
But in this case, thankfully, Montanile happened to be in the right place at the right time, and teamwork saved this bird’s life.
“It’s a great feeling when it's all said and done,” Montanile said. “I just did what I felt needed to be done, and I’m happy that I’m able to.”
To help Nantucket Animal Rescue’s efforts, you can donate to the organization. The group hopes to raise enough money to build a wildlife rehabilitation center on Nantucket to treat sick and injured animals on the island.To support Wild Care Cape Cod, you can donate to the group.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
