Evans Head boat owner Peter Hayes tells the story of how a corella was caught up in a fishing line on an overhead power line.
“The event unfolded last Friday evening when another boat owner noticed a bird hanging and struggling upside down on the powerline and he alerted me.
It was already getting dark and there was no response from Wires or the utility numbers we called.
On Saturday morning at 7am, two boat owners, me and one other, investigated using an owner’s ute to stand high on rubber tyres, wearing rubber gloves, with a 3 metre boathook to see if we could capture the hanging bird while it was well below the power line.
Every time we tried, it got itself back up on the powerline, it was way too dangerous so we backed off.
Marine Rescue were there and told us to call the local fire brigade who told us to call triple zero who told us to call Wires who then called the utility. 
Meanwhile, Wires and Byron Wildlife Hospital volunteers responded to my direct calls and messages (I had these from a previous rescue of a black swan with a fishing hook in its neck which sadly died after capture) and Wires central called Evans Wires volunteers. They turned up on site at about 9am.
The utility response team then contacted the Wires volunteer on site and sent a truck with a ladder.
Of course, that wasn’t going to get six metres into the air over the rock wall.
So, they called for a cherry picker from Ballina which turned out was not working.
They then called in a cherry picker from Byron that arrived not long after 11am.
The utility worker retrieved the corella and removed the fishing line from that stretch of the power line.
The volunteers checked the bird and amazingly, found it to be not injured.
This was because the thin fishing line had twisted into a thicker braid while it was hanging and spinning under the power line. The fishing line had wrapped around the corella’s neck and chest above its wings. It did not cut into the bird and it was able to survive the night perched on the line, periodically falling off and recovering.
Since Friday, the parent corellas and the flock remained present. During the rescue, the parents stayed close to the juvenile.
It was released to the wilds of Evans.
It was a team effort, if the boat owners hadn’t sounded the alarm, the bird would have died a horrible death, observed by scores of walkers, children, fishos passing by.
The utility did an excellent job in responding. The Wires and wildlife hospital volunteers were on hand when needed to handle the bird professionally.
My guess is that the direct cost for the utility workers and trucks was on the order of $1000, plus about 10 hours of volunteer labor by owners, Wires, and wildlife hospital volunteers.
So those who leave their fishing line on power lines are not only setting up birds for a horrific and cruel death but also impose a substantial cost on the community.
Yes, an airgun could have put the bird out of its misery for almost nothing.
But is that the kind of species humanity wants to be – carelessly killing birds that do little or no harm, provide us with much joy, and provide many ecological services?”