More birds rescued from Muddy River, but water is looking cleaner, group says

The New England Wildlife Center reports its workers captured four more birds along the oil-besotted Muddy River in need of cleaning and rehab today, bringing the total number of birds it now has under care to 43.

The weather worked to our advantage today as many of the birds were hunkered down taking shelter. This allowed us to get close and assess them for oiling.

The group adds:

The washing process has begun! Today the first 4 birds got their full wash! The washing process is extremely lengthy and stressful (for both the bird and the washers) since each wash can take up to an hour in length depending on the type and degree of oil contamination. We have started with the most heavily oiled today and tomorrow will hit the ground running with two separate teams washing for about 10 hours straight. We will continue this until we get through them all - Lather. Rinse. Repeat!