The good news is it appears we may have several days of low-to-no rain chances beginning Monday, so maybe—just maybe—we can get some birds released and others moved around this week. Y’all keep those fingers crossed!

Only one new intake last week—a late nestling/early brancher red shoulder from Pulaski County. The couple who brought him had watched the nest in their yard from the very beginning and had been enjoying seeing the babies grow. Sadly, they came in from work one evening last week to find the nest destroyed and were able to locate only the one surviving baby in the brush nearby.

He was understandably traumatized and still hunkers down in fear when I put his food in his box, but he is at least self-feeding, so that’s one less source of stress for the poor fellow—no handling for hand-feeding.

The mature red shoulder will be the first in line for release this week if the weather cooperates. He’s SOOOO ready to go.

And the weather-contingent plan is to release the barred trio so the juvie red shoulder duo from earlier in baby season can go into the mini-pen. They’re about to go stir-crazy, poor things.

The barreds have indicated they’re quite ready to be free, so let’s hope, after two weeks of rain delays, we can finally give them their release.

The turkey vultures are growing and feathering out like nobody’s business. Soon they’re gonna need more space, too—already do, if I’m being honest.

And all three red tails are tolerating each other nicely in the main flight. The youngest, the one I thought was female, now looks like a small male in comparison to the other two. The now-second-year bird is going through a molt and has at least one red tail feather coming in; we’re still waiting to see if placement is an option since he’s nonreleasable. The vocal probable female who was new to last week’s update is flying beautifully. She apparently thinks she has to sing for her supper, as she does a beautiful although subdued red tail cry at every feeding—see last Sunday’s update for the best example of that. It rained too dang much last week to try for any video.

(And a month from now, when it’s bone-dry and hotter’n a firecracker on the Fourth of July, we’ll all be wishing it’d rain…)

All those plans for release and rearrangement I bandied about last Sunday? Yeah, they were based on Sunday’s week-long forecast showing no rain chances. HAH! It rained or there was a substantial chance of rain nearly every day last week, so needless to say nobody got released and there was minimal rearranging of LWR’s guests. And this week’s forecast is showing high chances of rain nearly every day. I need three days of low or no rain chances to release any birds, and I can’t do much rearranging without some releasing, so we’re spinning our wheels here.

LWR had just one new intake last week, a gorgeous juvenile red tail from Upson County who was observed having difficulty flying—according to witnesses, he could fly only a short distance and not over three feet above ground. Sounded like a classic coracoid fracture to me, and those frequently can’t be seen on x-rays. The good news is that coracoid fractures usually heal with no issues, so this vocal and quite gorgeous fellow just needs time.

The female brancher is totally self-feeding now and is sporting a bit of a Mohawk as her head feathers continue to come in.

And the older red tail still shows no signs of flight but there is a facility interested in him as a program or display bird. We’re still working out the details.

Meanwhile, to ease space constraints, the two older red tails are currently being housed together in the main flight. Given that they’re all passage birds, the plan is to move the female outside soon, too—gives the poor first-year fellow time to adjust. The juvie already continuously screams for food from the nonreleasable red tail, who glares at ME when I’m in the flight, as if to say, “What in tarnation have you saddled me with here?”

Sadly, the preemie red shoulder didn’t make it. He seemed to be doing so well, aside from those weak eyes I mentioned last week, and then, out of nowhere, he began vomiting blood and was dead within two hours. Given that it was old blood, not fresh, I suspect there was a small internal injury when the egg fell and was forced into premature hatching, and as he began to grow, the bleeding increased correspondingly.

The baby turkey vultures, on the other hand, are doing quite well and their stubby wings are starting to pin out.  They’re less clownish and more aggressive than black vultures at the same age.

The concussed adult red shoulder from last week, bless his poor heart, is still at LWR since the rain precluded any releases. He’s not happy but he is eating well.

The fledgling red shoulders –which is what they’d be by now in the wild—are ready for a flight pen but both flights are full. They’re antsy and vocal.

And the barreds are actually ready for release. As much as I’d prefer they have some flight experience in the main flight, space constraints may mean they’ll be released from the mini-pen. We shall see. As I said last week, it’s that time of year when space is at a premium—and the weather leaves birds cooling their heels and me wanting to pull my hair out!

Last week saw three new baby intakes and one adult intake.

Starting with undoubtedly the cutest of the babies, we have a hatchling red shoulder. A local falconer got a call from an acquaintance in Twiggs County who’d cut down a tree without realizing it had a red shoulder nest in it—and while I usually rant about cutting trees during baby season, 9 months after Helene, people are still trying to clean up trees, some of which aren’t uprooted but are leaning dangerously, in their yards/on their properties. So I’ll forgo any rants due to mitigating circumstances.

ANYway…the nest had two eggs in it; the impact from the fall caused both to hatch prematurely. One was close enough to hatching that it survived; the other wasn’t and didn’t. Its membrane was ruptured and despite the falconer’s best efforts to keep it alive until the next morning, when he could bring them to me, it didn’t survive the night.

However, the surviving preemie is doing quite well and, of course, as all raptor hatchlings are (okay, maybe not barnie babies—they’re faces only a mother could love!), is impossibly adorable. He’s at 36.4g as of today and has an amazing appetite for such a teeny little feller. His eyes seem a little weak looking to me, but I could just be paranoid.

The other two babies are a first for me—turkey vultures.  If you’ll notice, their down is white, while black vulture down is yellow. They’re also more prone to stress puke, effortlessly and without warning, so I’m moving veeeerrry slowly and talking veeeerrry quietly and only when necessary around them.  So far, so good—they’re now only “growling” at me before, during and after feedings—normal for both species of vultures but each species has a different tone to its “growl.”

Their back story is interesting, as well: a Laurens County deputy knew he had a female turkey vulture nesting in a barn on his property; she had nested there for several years and had become somewhat acclimated to his coming and going from the barn. He knew she had babies, but then she abruptly disappeared and he found only a pile of feathers and the babies had moved from where she had them and were cowering in a corner 10 feet away. After bringing them to LWR, he continued to search for the mother for a couple of days, with no luck. 

Honestly, I don’t think they’re as cute as black vultures but these two have a hilarious habit of stomping their feet hard while being fed—I’m still not sure if it’s an attempt to hurry up the feeding or an attempt to intimidate the feeder. If the latter, it ain’t workin’!

The red shoulder twins really need to be in the mini-pen; the goal is to get them outside this week. They’re self-feeding now, so they’re good to go in an outside flight.

That will mean the barred triplets will be moved to the main flight. They’re flying well in the mini-pen and need more space.

This will, of course, mean that the red tail currently in the main flight will either be released or euthanized—I’m still trying to give him time to show me he can fly, but so far, nada.  Maybe he’s flying when I’m not around the flight, but I don’t think so. I hope I’m wrong.

The brancher red tail just today started limited self-feeding, but she’s flapping those wings a good bit now, so she’ll be needing an outside pen before long. This time of year it’s always a constant juggling act: move this one here, move that one there, bigger box for this one, release that one, find space for a new intake…

The broadie I was worried would die from handling stress did, in fact, check out last Sunday afternoon, poor fellow.

And about an hour ago an adult red shoulder came in from Screven County. The finder saw him late yesterday in the middle of the road and stopped to pick him up. Nothing appears to be broken but he’s obviously concussed and a little on the thin side, so he’ll spend a few days at the LWR B&B.

Multiple “incomings,” actually—last week was bookended with intakes. It’s that time of year!

On Monday, a gorgeous little broad-wing hawk came in from Treutlen County after being found by the roadside. I see so few broadies and this one was so small that I actually had to ask colleague Kathryn Dudeck at CNC to confirm that was what I had. He’s quite melodramatic, as y’all can clearly see below. He has what my vets and I call ADR—ain’t doin’ right. Nothing’s broken; his throat, nares and eyes are clear…but he refuses to self-feed, not mice or coturnix quail. Figuring he might just be ready for release after a few days of force-feedings—which are incredibly stressful for an adult bird—I tried to release him Friday. He sat on the glove.  I turned my hand up and down and sideways. He sat on the glove. I raised and lowered my arm. He sat on the glove. I walked around. He sat on the glove. I lowered my hand to my side. He clung to the glove. Needless to say, we did not manage a release, but I worry that the stress of force-feeding could result in his death, so we’ll keep trying.

The broadie was followed, also on Monday, by a red shoulder who’d been rescued from an attack by another hawk in Bleckley County. His rescuer drove off the attacking hawk and called a friend who transports for Georgia Wildlife Network, a statewide volunteer transport group. She retrieved the bird and got it to LWR ASAP. He’d had the crap beaten out of him, poor baby; his head was plucked nearly bald and both eyes were swollen shut. I had little hope he’d survive the night, but he was standing with his head tucked Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, by that afternoon, he’d died, most likely from internal injuries.

On Friday, a falconer from Coffee County called; a neighbor was clearcutting some property and one of the trees they cut down had a nest with two red shoulders in it. They’d seen adult hawks flying around after the tree was felled, but since there were now no trees to attach a makeshift nest to, there was no safe place to leave the near-branchers for the parents to continue raising. The younger of the two is a voracious and eager eater; the older sustained slight beak damage that makes it difficult—and probably not a little painful—to eat, so he’s being hand-fed.

Hot on the heels of the call about these two, a call came from Putnam County about another young hawk, a red tail, that had fallen about 45 feet from the nest. She has some slight dings on her head, but nothing is broken. And here’s one of the many reasons I adore red tails—their sheer intelligence. She was hungry and vocal about it on intake. First offered morsel—nope. Had to hand feed. Second offered morsel—less reluctance but still hand fed. Third morsel—“gimme that food NOW!” She’s got quite the appetite!

The poor screech from last week didn’t survive.  After 24 hours I offered him a mouse, which I thought he’d eaten, but he was perching on the side of his donut so that his tail feathers covered it. And within another 24 hours, he died, without ever fully opening his eyes. Again, this was most likely internal injuries—recall that he was hit by car.

The Ware County barred was released, but he hauled tail so quickly that I was unable to get a release video.

The first-year red tail is still showing no signs of flight. Now that the “inn” is filling up, he’s under a bit more pressure to show some significant progress, and soon.

And all the brancher barreds are in the mini-pen and doing quite well together. The two less-dominant ones like to hide behind the more aggressive one, but all three engage in serious beak-snapping when I go in to feed them. Such clowns…

LWR had one release and three new intakes over the past two weeks. Let’s lead with the release: the mature red tail had to get in one last threatening glare before taking his leave—recall he’s the aggressive fellow who managed to puncture my glove and give me a nice new “dimple” on my hand, so a last “I will kill you” glare was totally in character for him! (I nicknamed him Vlad the Impaler…)

His release meant the first-year red tail could be moved into the main flight. Thus far he’s not showing any progress, but it’s only been two weeks, so we’ll give him time and hope for the best. If y’all recall, ol’ Vlad the Impaler wasn’t showing progress for the longest, and he ended up being released, so hope is still warranted for this young feller.

And of course, moving him into the main flight meant the mini-pen was freed up for the barred branchers, who’ve adjusted quite well to their new digs. While both are aggressive little beak-snappers, we do seem to have a dominant personality in there…

The Monday after Mother’s Day, an adult barred came in from Ware County with head trauma. He’s since recovered nicely and is ready for release later this week.

Yesterday another brancher barred came in from Bibb County; he’s self-feeding, a necessity before he can go in the mini-pen with the other two branchers. He’ll be moved out there within the next couple of days, and oh, the beak-snapping that will ensue...

And just a couple of hours ago an adult red-phase screech came in from Putnam County after being hit by a car last night. Nothing appears broken but he’s very lethargic and his body temp is low, which could signal internal injuries. He’s currently ensconced in a donut for comfort and support, and if he makes it through the night, he’ll likely need a vet visit to confirm no fractures. Keep y’all’s fingers crossed for this poor little fellow.

And that’s about it for this week’s update. Enjoy the remainder of y’all’s Sunday!

Ending a months-long stretch of successfully reuniting babies and parents, LWR received our first babies of the season on May 1—both barreds, both branchers.

The first barred was reported to Laurens County 911 as being on a sidewalk downtown; the caller made no attempt to rescue the bird, so 911 dispatched a Dublin City police officer, who transported the bird to the 911 center, where a Laurens County deputy picked it up and brought it to LWR. Thanks to all three agencies for ensuring this baby’s safety!

The second “baby call” came in moments after 911 reported the deputy was en route with the first baby; this one was from DNR. Their baby had been “deposited” at their office, with no details as to where it was found, so there was no way to reunite it with its sibs and parents. The game tech who delivered the bird was a bit disappointed that his months-long streak of reunification had also ended—we always, always prefer to keep the babies with their parents when possible!

Since both barreds are very close in age, we were able to house them together, thankfully, and both are self-feeding—even better news!

The mature red tail is ready for release, hopefully Monday, as we have much-needed rain predicted starting mid-week.

And the first-year red tail will then move from the mini-pen into the main flight, just in time since the barreds are actually ready for an outside pen.

There will be no update next Sunday, Mother’s Day.

LWR received numerous calls over the past two weeks, most of them “baby calls” that were resolved by reuniting brancher great horneds, barreds and screeches with their parents. We seem to’ve hit a spate of folks who have the common sense to seek ways to reunite babies and parents: one creative soul used a game tracker to ensure the baby she placed back in the tree was being fed by his parents; another kept looking till he found the nest and used a ladder to renest the baby. Can we clone these folks?

While we love raising baby raptors, it’s always best if the parents can finish the job they started, so the willingness of these folks to go above and beyond to reunite babes and parents is a welcome and refreshing development!

Because of their willingness to work toward reunification, LWR had only one new intake over the past couple of weeks, an adult barred found by the roadside. He had minor head trauma on intake but was alert and feisty within a week. Because the finders suspected he came from the woods near their house, he went back to his home territory for release. We have no videos of that release.

In amazingly good news, the mature red tail FINALLY started flying. He still droops that wing at rest, but he’s flying strong, so the goal now is to release him as soon as possible so the first-year red tail can be moved into the main flight.

The first-year bird’s wing is looking great—nice and even—but he can’t really test it in the mini-pen.

And since I can get no firm quotes in writing from any contractor I’ve spoken with, Operation Eagle Flight is on hold until I can locate someone willing to provide a quote and do the work once funding is secured. I’ll update y’all as soon as I know anything definite, but it’s not looking promising at the moment.

Really. There were no new intakes last week, and LWR still has no quote for Operation Eagle Flight, so…

The mature red tail’s future isn’t looking promising; his wing droop is very pronounced when he’s at rest, and he “ladders” up to perches rather than flying.  If y’all recall, he was a likely victim of “spray and pray” over a dove field back in January, and his x-rays showed a fracture very close to the elbow, so the risk was that the joint would freeze when it healed. This would seem to be the case, sadly, but we’ll give him another week or so.

The first-year red tail’s February x-rays showed his fracture was closer to mid-bone and he’s holding his wing level at rest and pretty close to level now when he flares his wings. He needs to be moved into the main flight to have room to really test his flight capability, hence the need to decide the final disposition of the mature bird fairly quickly.

Remember that there will be no update next Sunday, April 20, Easter Sunday.

It was a strange week at LWR. We almost had our first eagle of the year, and we almost had our first two babies—both great horneds—of the year. And we did manage a release in the midst of the chaos, too!

The eagle, apparently a young adult, had been found hanging by his wing from fishing line in South Georgia last week and had been taken by DNR to UGA for treatment before transfer to a rehabber; because CNC is bustin’ at the seams already, DNR and FWS worked together to obtain authorization for LWR to hold the eagle once it left UGA. Unfortunately, the vets at UGA determined the injuries to the wing were so severe that it required euthanasia.

Then two calls came in almost back to back, both with brancher great horneds in the brush near trees in their yards. I have nothing but kudos for these two families, as they did EVERYTHING right. They contacted LWR to see what needed to be done; when I questioned them about the demeanor of the birds, the callers said their respective birds were quiet and calm except when approached. Both callers indicated they could hear adults in the woods. Both callers said there were no dangers (dogs, cats) to the birds in their yards. I suggested monitoring the birds and if they hadn’t moved along within four hours or so, we might need to intervene. In both cases the parents coaxed the errant branchers back into the woods, where they could complete their job of raising their babies. Way to go, finders! Y’all’s common sense and willingness to follow instructions kept those young birds with their parents! (Can we clone these folks???)

Now for the release: The adult red shoulder wasted no time vacating the premises once he was offered his freedom. He showed out a good bit before realizing I actually was barely holding him back, then bounced off the ground before taking off.

The one new intake was a small male great horned found in the road. He had no fractures and his pupils were even and responsive but I still suspected head trauma and possible optic nerve damage. Unfortunately, there were apparently also internal injuries; he didn’t last 48 hours.

Both red tails continue to “keep on keepin’ on,” as it were. No real progress, but at least no regression either, so I guess that’s good. We shall see…

Nothing to report on Operation Eagle Flight; we’re still in a holding pattern awaiting the quote.

Next week’s update will be early, on Saturday the 12th, and there will be no update on Easter Sunday, April 20th.

Hard to believe we’re already heading into the fourth month of this year; at this rate, next week will be Christmas!

LWR had a slowish week, with only one new intake, a very angry and discombobulated adult red shoulder. He was pulled from a dog pen after apparently falling or being dropped into it near dark. He was brought to LWR, where he was kept for observation for several days to ensure there were no soft tissue injuries. Luckily, he was only stunned, although he remains a disgruntled guest at LWR until later this week, when the rain chances drop so he can be released.

Aside from that, the two red tails continue to show little to no improvement. The mature bird will flare both wings perfectly level, but his left wing still droops at rest, and while he’ll ladder up to higher perches, he’s making no real attempt to fly.

The younger bird seems to be extending his wing a bit more but it’s still level when at rest and drooping when partially extended—the exact opposite of the mature bird.

We’ll continue to give both birds as much time as possible to see how this plays out, but with baby season looming on the horizon, space may quickly become an issue.

No progress yet on Project Eagle Flight. The contractor and I talked last week, and the holdup is still the flight “roof,” but he thinks they’ve solved that and will have a quote as soon as possible. He’s given me a rough figure but I won’t discuss it till we have the details ironed out, other than to say I think it’s a very reasonable amount for the size pen we’re talking about.