LWR received its first 2026 baby last week, and it was… NOT a barred owl! Sorry, couldn’t resist that, since about two thirds of our intakes so far for the year have been barreds.

Nope, the official first baby for 2026 was a great horned owl.

The finder, from northwestern Laurens County, had watched the grounded baby for several days and was sure the parents were feeding it but was worried about predators the longer it stayed on the ground. He couldn’t locate a nest for renesting, and the photo he sent of the bird showed the pupils were unequal, indicating possible head trauma.

I contacted Georgia Wildlife Network, a statewide network of volunteer transporters, and a local transporter stepped up to retrieve the bird and get it to LWR the next day. The pic she sent of the bird once it was in her possession also showed unequal pupils.

However, by the time the bird reached LWR, the pupils were nearly equal.  He—or she, as it’s a bit early to tell just yet—is a hissy, clicky little grump who clearly understands s/he shouldn’t be with humans but also ain’t gonna pass up a meal from any source.

I reached out to colleagues to see if anybody had a buddy for this baby, but no one else has raptor babies yet.

In other news, the barnie finally gained his freedom! Of course, he complained about it—loudly—all the way to the release site and even as he flew off. But fly he did, strong and straight!

The second intake for last week was an adult barred, probably female based on size, and also from Laurens County. She’d been found by the road and her left ear was full of blood. She’s got some major head trauma going on and is still “not right.”

The vulture’s wing is drooping pretty badly now that the swelling has gone down. I was hoping the muscles would be strong enough to keep it in place. We face a Catch-22 with him because of that torn/ruptured tendon—wrap it and risk the tendon shortening as it heals, thereby destroying his chances of flight, or leave it loose, which would again destroy his chances of flight. Retired colleague Steve Hicks suggested wrapping it loosely, just enough to mitigate the drooping, which is the current plan. It sounds like it might give the bird a chance at release.

And the screech seems to have flight issues, which would indicate soft tissue damage—not the best news. He struggles to gain lift. If he was a recent intake I’d say it was a coracoid fracture, but he’s been at LWR for about a month now, so that leaves soft tissue damage as the culprit. We’ll give him more time and hope for the best.

LWR had two new intakes last week, and we’re awaiting an arrival from Sumter County late this afternoon—a vulture, species not mentioned by the transporter.

The weather looks like it’s finally gonna cooperate so we can release the barnie this week—probably just before sunset today, if all goes well. Fingers crossed!

The head trauma barred that appeared to be blind was, in fact, blind and was humanely euthanized.

Wednesday DNR brought a young black vulture from Dodge County with a suspected broken wing. Upon an intake exam—which the vulture vigorously protested by biting the crap out of my hands—I could find no fractures, so the feisty rascal paid a visit to Smalley’s Animal Hospital the next morning, where he attempted to bite everything and everyone in sight. (In his defense, he was hungry—or perhaps hangry would be more apt; I don’t feed vultures before a vet visit so we don’t have puking on the exam table—one experience of that was quite enough for a lifetime!)

Rads confirmed no factures, but we could clearly see separation of the left elbow bones which should have been nestled against each other—see rads of both wings below and note the difference in the right and left elbows. Vet Peggy Hobby said this was likely a result of a torn tendon, which may or may not heal for flight.

Obviously, we’re giving him time to see how this plays out. He’ll be confined to “box rest” for a few weeks to so he can’t attempt to use the wing and do further damage. At least he’s lessened his attempts to damage me now that he’s getting fed regularly, so there’s that.

The morning the vulture went to the vet, yet another barred came in, this one from Bibb County. Since I was already headed to Smalley’s, I only did a cursory intake exam, noted blood under the right wing, and boxed him for transport. A proper exam and rads confirmed an open and badly displaced fracture, so he was humanely euthanized.

And the screech’s eye showed DRASTIC improvement last week, so he’s in the mini-pen now. He may still have limited vision in that eye, but his left eye is fine and he’s finding his food with no issues, so unless he has some soft tissue damage, he should be good for release pretty quickly. What a difference a week can make, right?!

Honestly, y’all, this weather…we’re under a wind advisory, with gusts that’ll rip your hat off and push you sideways, while Parts North appear to be having a blizzard…and this after a week of springlike weather. Unfortunately, said springlike weather involved rain every third or fourth day, so the poor barnie’s still awaiting release. In the meantime, LWR had three new intakes over the past two weeks.

The first, a screech, was found in Laurens County. On intake, his right pupil was dilated and unresponsive and his left eye was swollen shut. As of this morning, the swelling in the left eye has gone down. It’s looking pretty trashed, and I probably should go ahead and call it on the fierce little fellow. While owls can successfully hunt with only one eye, the looks of that eye indicate release isn’t gonna be an option. He’s locating his food with no issues, but the injury will most likely cause long-term health issues for the bird. We’ll wait a bit longer before making a decision.

Next was a barred from Burke County, whose head trauma appears to’ve resulted in total blindness. This may or may not resolve itself, as y’all know from previous concussion-related blindness in birds.

And last was yet another barred from Liberty County with a badly fractured right wing. He required euthanasia.

And as I mentioned at the outset, the barnie is SO ready to go—and I’m almost as eager as he is for a release, but we’ve got to have several days of decent weather first.

Readers in Parts North, stay in and stay warm; fellow Southrons, try not to get blown off the map in this wind.

Nothing new to report at LWR for last week, aside from slightly better weather…if you discount the wind, which seems to have a personal vendetta against me. No joke—it can be perfectly calm at daybreak, and within seconds of me walking outside half an hour later, the wind begins gusting. I’m sure there’s a proper scientific explanation, but I’m stickin’ with “the wind hates me.”

The barnie remains the sole guest at LWR, but the predicted weather for the next couple of weeks is looking pretty decent for his release. Maybe. If the weather guessers haven’t guessed wrong. We’ll see…

Honestly, with baby season lurking just around the corner, a less-than-full house for a while is a welcome break—and speaking of breaks, there will be no update next Sunday, Feb. 15.

And the insanely, unusually, mind-numbingly cold weather has kept people inside for the most part, so there were no calls, much less intakes, last week. Everybody was too busy hunkering down under blankets. And, oh frabjous joy, the long-range forecasts indicate we may see the same weather pattern through mid-February…

The barnie is currently the only resident at LWR and, given the long-range forecasts mentioned above, he’ll likely remain here through at least mid-month, maybe till spring at the rate we’re going. Releasing adults who have some survival experience behind them into this weather is one thing; releasing a juvie who’s never actually had to hunt his food (live prey tests don’t count—they just prove he can catch prey but still in an enclosed environment where the prey can’t really escape) is another entirely. We’ll hold off till better weather means prey is actually moving and offers a chance of being caught. (Sorry for the poor photo quality; between his bobbing and weaving and my hands shaking from the cold, good pix were virtually impossible.)

And now I’m going to curl back up under my blanket here on the couch and try to stay warm… I mean, dang, y’all, my heat ran for 17 hours straight, from 6pm yesterday till 11am today—didn’t even cut off once…The Southern people and our wildlife are NOT used to this kind of cold!

The second screech, the little male, regained his freedom early last week and wasted no time disappearing into the low brush—a great hiding place until he could get his bearings.

The barnie remains in the main flight, primarily because, since he’s a juvie, he needs a longer stretch of really decent weather for release…and we ain’t had that yet. Snow last Sunday, followed by frigid temps; the threat of ice this weekend, which dodged us but is slamming North Georgia; and predicted frigid temps for this week…yeah, the barnie’s better off where he is for a while longer.

We had two intakes last week, a red shoulder and a barred.

The red shoulder, a window strike from Baldwin County, was DOA.

The barred, found by two GBI agents at the Laurens-Dodge line, had a right shoulder fracture that required euthanasia.

The whole South looks to be in deep freeze mode this week, so y’all stay as warm as possible!

For the second year in a row, Middle Georgia got snow—and pretty close to the same time as last year, although nowhere near the impressive five inches we got last year. This was just a dusting and has already begun to melt. Still…snow two years in a row?! (Hush up, y’all from Parts North; snow is a much-enjoyed rarity here!)

Okay, enough gushing about our tiny bit of snow and on to last week’s goings-on at LWR…

First, the female screech regained her freedom. She was quite ready to go, obviously!

This meant the little male screech could be moved into the mini-pen. He’s flying well already, so he’ll most likely regain his freedom this week.

The barnie is ready to go, as well; he may also be released this week or next. We’ll see…

And with no new intakes last week, that’s our update, y’all. Stay warm!

The header pretty much sums up that situation. While it was clear throughout the week, we had windy conditions—not breezy, pure-out windy—and while I’ll release when it’s breezy, I’m not releasing anything as small as a screech when the wind is strong enough to rock my front porch swing like someone’s in it “just a-swanging.” (John Anderson reference, for those unfamiliar with country music when it was actually country.)

So screech 1 is still in the mini-pen. While her right eye still has lingering blood, it’s slowly being reabsorbed, and the pupil is near-equal in size to the left one, so if the wind will quit trying to blow us off the map, she should be good to go this week.

Screech 2’s left eye looks good when he has it open…which is anytime I’m not near him with a camera. Apparently there’s still some light sensitivity.  We’ll give him a while longer inside.

The sole new intake last week was a barred owl found in the road in Dodge County. The plan was to get x-rays of a suspected wrist fracture the next day, but there were apparently also internal injuries, as the poor bird didn’t survive the night.

And the barnie remains silent and aloof, toe dusting like a pro every time I go into the flight to feed him. I may have a release plan formulating for him; not gonna elaborate till I get the details ironed out.

After a week of March in January (warm and windy), we’re now returning to January in January for the upcoming week. From short sleeves to sweatshirts overnight...If we humans are confused, just imagine how the poor wildlife feels!

The first LWR intake of 2026 was… a barred owl, on New Year’s Day. No surprise there, really, as barreds tend to be the most commonly seen bird at LWR. He was found either in Screven or Jenkins County; the finders weren’t sure, as they were on the road between the two adjacent counties.

Unfortunately, his right wrist was broken beyond repair, so he was humanely euthanized.

I do, however, want to take a moment to address the safe handling and transport of ANY wildlife but especially raptors. This bird was transported to me cradled in the finder’s arms. Barehanded. No shirt, jacket, or anything else restraining the bird. And when I reached my gloved hands in to take the bird from the finder, the person insisted on cooing over and stroking the bird before and during handing him over, resulting in them getting a talon in the wrist. They were lucky it was just one talon and not very deep.

Y’all, always, ALWAYS be aware that any injured wildlife may be in shock when you pick it up, but as you drive down the road, the shock may begin to wear off and that “sweet, docile” critter you wrangled barehanded from the side of the road can turn into a Tasmanian devil at the flip of a switch. The result may be an angry hawk or owl flapping around in panic in your vehicle, putting you at risk of a wreck. Or you could just get good and footed, with all the bird’s talons sunk into your wrist, face, or thigh. You could get nasty, oily, smelly owl stress poop all over your clothes. In the case of small mammals, you could get bitten—and in the case of a rabies vector like a coon, then your troubles have just begun.

Bottom line: SAFELY restrain ANY and ALL injured wildlife you pick up or transport. If you don’t have a box or crate handy, “burrito” it in a shirt, jacket, or blanket. (And everybody, even here in the South, should keep a spare blanket or two in their vehicle, in case you break down somewhere and need it to keep warm while waiting for assistance.) Rehabbers understand that you’re excited to have found and rescued injured wildlife, but don’t let that excitement send your common sense right out the window and end up injured yourself.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

The second and third birds of the year both came in January 2. Both were screeches, both gray phase.

The first screech had been hit the previous night in Telfair County by the rescuer, who was distraught, as she didn’t see him coming from the side of the road until he whacked her bumper. Again, unfortunately, his injury was fatal; his left wing was broken at the shoulder. He also required humane euthanasia.

The second screech was found in the road in Johnson County. Aside from some blood in his left eye, he seems to be uninjured—no fractures, but there could still be soft tissue damage. We’ll have to wait till he’s placed in a flight to determine that.

And of course, the female screech from last week’s update is in the mini-pen at the moment. She still has a bit of blood in her eye and the pupil is still a bit dilated, but she’s antsy, flying well, and eating well, so if the weather holds, she’s slated for release within the next few days.

The barnie continues to mostly hang out on his favorite perch platform, but every now and then he’ll fly down to glare at me and toe dust. Gotta love a barnie; they’re such eccentric birds!

The fundraiser ended with $970 total. Again, thanks to all who donated.

Where has this year gone? The days may have dragged but the months seem to’ve flown by, and here we are, heading into 2026 in just a few days. Wow…

The fundraiser ends tomorrow; no sense dragging it out when it’s obvious we’re not gonna come close to meeting the goal. Currently, we’re still at $670, meaning we have $1330 to reach the $2000 goal. Many thanks to those who donated.

The sole new intake last week was a gray-phase screech from Laurens County. She was found in the road, stunned. Nothing is broken, although she does have a dilated right pupil. She’s eating well and glaring daggers at me, though, so fingers crossed there’s no soft tissue damage and she can be released later this week, after a few days in the mini-pen—after New Year’s Eve, of course.

The barnie has a favorite perch; can y’all tell? He’s also eating well and beak-clicking and toe dusting like crazy. Now if he’d just be still for good, clear photos… No screams when I go in to feed, which I’m not complaining about. I need to slip around to the flights at night and see if he’s vocalizing any at all then. This will also allow me to see if the local barnie population is responding to his calls.  

Given the upcoming New Year’s Eve fireworks, though, Sir Barnie will be moved back inside overnight Wednesday, to make sure he doesn’t panic at the noise and do something stupid. He won’t be happy, but better a healthy and slightly unhappy bird come January 1 than an injured or dead one.

Hope y’all enjoy whatever plans y’all have for New Year’s Eve, and here’s wishing everybody a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!