This week in wildlife

Busy week for January

1/12/2025

LWR saw four intakes last week through today, making it the busiest week of 2025 thus far. (I’m being facetious, people; I’m aware it’s only the second full week of the year…)

The first intake was a gray-phase screech found in the roadway several counties away. He was lethargic and unresponsive on intake and didn’t survive the night.

The second was a first-year red tail with spinal trauma, who came in just before our predicted “winter storm,” which dumped only cold rain on Laurens County Friday, but in sufficient quantity that it seemed safer to hold off till this week to get him in for x-rays.

The third, a barred, came in early this morning and has a very obviously broken right wing. It feels like it’s right in/at the shoulder, so x-rays will be needed for this one, too.

And the fourth, arriving just after noon, is a feisty, full-cropped mature red tail who I suspect is totally uninjured but was just sluggish due to that bigger-than-his-head crop. If his x-rays confirm this, he can be released back into his home territory by week’s end; his finders have already expressed willingness to do so.

As for the “older” LWR residents, the red tail in the main flight is good to go; I’ll be in touch with his finders tomorrow to arrange his release.

The barred in the mini-pen and the second barred inside are good to go.

Barred 3’s eye injury was confirmed to be an existing condition that the bird had adjusted to, so he’s also good for release.

And the sharpie’s right wrist fracture is minor, not displaced, and doesn’t seem to be interfering with his ability to move the wing, so we’re giving him time to heal fully and then he’ll be tested in the main flight…assuming he doesn’t injure himself worse trying to escape his box. Sharpies aren’t far behind Coops in being psychotic little birds.

So if all goes well, next week there should be a slew of releases to report: three barreds and two red tails. We have a very short window for these releases before another “rainy season” moves in toward the end of the week, so fingers crossed…

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Ending one year and beginning another on the same “note”

1/5/2025

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Talk about a weird coincidence…2024 ended with a New Year’s Eve barred intake, and the first intake of 2025 was—yup, you guessed it: a barred!

The NYE barred had a minor concussion that began resolving itself within 48 hours, so he’s actually ready to be moved to a flight as soon as one’s open.

The first bird of 2025 may not be as lucky. His right eye is totally deflated, and it’s hard to tell if this is a new injury or one that occurred so long ago that he’s already adjusted to it. Given the lack of aqueous or vitreous humor draining from the eye on intake, I’m leaning toward an old injury. He’ll most likely be making a vet trip to confirm my guess, and then we’ll decide if he’s releasable or not, as owls hunt more by hearing than sight.

And just yesterday, a juvenile sharpie with a broken right wing came in. The break feels very close to the wrist joint, so we’ll need x-rays to see if this is one that can be mended.

As for the “older” barred, he’s in the mini-pen now and indicating he’s ready to go; unfortunately, with the extreme cold predicted for Georgia for this week, he’s not goin’ anywhere. Yes, I know birds can survive in intemperately cold weather, but such conditions make hunting more difficult, so I’d rather go into a holding pattern until temps are more moderate.

The red tail was moved into the main flight and should be ready for release by early next week. If y’all recall, his finder wanted to release him back into his home territory on his property, always the best option for mature birds, so I’ll be in touch with him toward the end of this week to see what days next week will be convenient for him to retrieve this gorgeous fellow and restore his freedom.

According to the weather-guessers, this cold front is supposed to affect a wide swathe of the US, so y’all hunker down and stay warm this week!

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And the rehab year winds to a close…

12/29/2024

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Hope y’all’re ready for a new year, ‘cause it’s comin’ whether we’re prepared or not!

LWR had two new intakes in the two weeks since our last update: the first was a juvenile sharpie found grounded outside a pool shelter, unable to fly. His wings were fine; he had spinal trauma. On intake his legs were straight out behind him and unresponsive to the pinch test. He also had slightly labored breathing. After a round of steroids, he showed no improvement; in fact, the trauma was so bad he had no bodily functions—couldn’t even poop, in other words. And he was only able to eat if he was hand-fed, as he couldn’t stand and use his feet to hold his food. The poor fellow required euthanasia.

The second intake was a barred owl with head trauma who is now ready to go into the mini-pen.

Of course, currently the mini-pen is occupied by the red tail who had the inexplicable issues with his left side. These have now resolved, he’s perching like a pro and moving from perch to perch, and he’s even putting his full weight on the left leg when he’s at rest and draws up a leg, a gorgeous sight after watching him initially struggle to perch using both feet. So he’ll be moved to the main flight this week so the barred can go into the mini-pen.

Within another week or two, both should be good for release—a good start to the new year.

Happy New Year, y’all!

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Releases!

12/15/2024

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After rain, cold and wind, the weather finally cooperated and two birds were released just this morning!

The barred owl had an unusual release: flew forward and then circled back overhead. The result was the camera lost focus on him, so it’s not a great release video, but it’s still an interesting one.

And yes, normally owls are released close to dusk, but barreds are opportunistic hunters, meaning they’re active day and night if prey is available, so an early morning release isn’t out of bounds for them.

The red shoulder flew to a nearby tree and then took off for a farther branch; I followed and snagged a second video of him flying out of sight this time.

The red tail is in the mini-pen—for today, at least, to see if he’s perching properly by day’s end. He stands perfectly level, weight equally distributed on both legs/feet; he snags mice with that left foot; his grip with it is strong…and yet he seems unable/unwilling to perch…I dunno; as the King of Siam famously said, “Is a puzzlement.”

There will be no update next Sunday, Dec. 22, so let me go ahead and wish y’all a very Merry Christmas! (The next update will be Dec. 29.)

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Temps moderate, rain moves in…of course

12/8/2024

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Beginning Saturday, our temps became more seasonal, i.e., moderate, and so that very afternoon, attempts were made to move birds outside.

The red tail, while managing a low perch, still favors his left side and has difficulty hopping onto the perches in both flights. Recall that his rads showed no fractures, so apparently he had some massive bruising/soft tissue damage on that side, in addition to the balance issues it took him a while to recover from. He’s unhappily inside for a while yet but still eating like he’s starving…and believe me, he ain’t! Six large-to-extra-large mice a day definitely qualifies as more feast than famine!

The barred owl, on the other hand, was ready, willing, and able to perch and fly beautifully and will be released later this week, after the rain predicted for early in the week moves through.

Saturday a youngish red shoulder was found on the roadside by a Good Samaritan from a neighboring county, who brought it to LWR. Aside from a little blood on the beak, the bird seems alert, aggressive, and potentially releasable within the week, as well. There are no signs of fractures and he’s perching well, so he may go in the mini-pen within the next couple of days, as soon as he’s self-feeding.

And that’s it for this week; if the rain moves on through as predicted, there should be at least one release video for next week.

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Who left the freezer door open?

12/1/2024

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Thanksgiving departed with a freeze rather than a bang! It’s coooold in Georgia right now, and is predicted to remain frigid throughout this week.

And why does that matter for LWR’s wildlife update, you may be asking?

Well, in the wild these birds have to survive in whatever the weather, but when they’re in rehab they get a little pampering, as it were, i.e., no releases, no moves into outside pens for inside birds, and extra rations for those already in outside pens.

So the barred owl recovering from head trauma is sitting inside rather than being in a flight pen to test her flight capabilities prior to release.

The red tail’s balance issues are finally starting to improve; he’s mostly perching, albeit on a very low perch. But given his emaciation on intake and the lingering balance issues, which we now suspect were from severe head trauma rather than any kind of infection or parasite, he’s obviously inside—can’t have an already-thin bird burning calories needed for healing just to stay warm.

So these two birds will remain inside and continue their “spa treatment” for the remainder of this week. Next week’s temps are looking a little warmer, so we’ll see about getting them both outside early next week.

There were no new intakes last week.

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Releases, finally!

11/24/2024

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It looked iffy for most of the week, between rain and high winds, but Saturday the weather finally cooperated, and the two barreds and the screech were released!

The screech went into the lower branches of a bush; when I put down the camera and went to check on him, he took off.

The Helene barred landed in an open area, so I went after him, as well—but I’d learned my lesson with the screech and kept the camera handy. The barred flew farther into the open area, but I wasn’t breaking my neck chasing him; he’d proven he could obviously fly where he wanted.

The second barred had a much prettier release and flew deeper into the woods when I tried for a post-release photo.

The red tail is still inside because he has severe balance issues and can stand only in the confines of a box; he won’t even use the low perch in the box. He’s still very alert and food-aggressive; he just has trouble standing without those walls around him. He’s not leaning against the box but will fall slap over if he’s in an open space…We’re still trying to figure out what’s causing the balance issues.

And today another barred came in, this one a runt male with a massive concussion. Nothing feels broken, so he just needs time to get his horizontal and vertical hold straightened out.

Hope y’all all have a happy Thanksgiving!

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Waiting for the weather to cooperate

11/17/2024

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While we didn’t have deluges last week like we did the previous week, it still rained juuuust enough to prevent any releases. The end of this week is looking pretty good, though, according to the weather guessers, so we’ll see…

Last week LWR saw two new intakes, both on Monday: a mature male red tail and a mature female barred owl. The red tail was wandering in the finder’s yard and didn’t seem to be able to fly away. Upon intake, he was thin but nothing felt broken. Subsequent x-rays at Smalley’s confirmed no fractures, so now it’s just a matter of getting some weight back on him…which shouldn’t be a problem, given the way he inhales his food!

The barred hit the finder’s truck antenna hard enough to bend it but again, an intake exam indicated no fractures. Rads at Smalley’s again confirmed no fractures, and this bird’s anxious to leave LWR, so later this week when the rain chances have moved through, we have two barreds and a screech to release.

The Helene barred is just biding his time, waiting for release.

Same for the screech, who was quite unhappy that I woke him up taking his picture for today’s update when I fed him yesterday evening.

Keep y’all’s fingers crossed the weather finally cooperates; these three owls are ready to be back in the wild!

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Rain delays releases

11/10/2024

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After a month of no rain, the very week we planned to release birds, it rained. I mean it RAINED. LWR’s area of the county got over 6 inches in less than 24 hours; areas to our south got over 10 inches in the same period. And it’s rained off and on since then. So in other words, the screech and the barred are still at LWR, awaiting three days of relatively low/no rain chances. Maybe this week…

The barred maintains that inscrutable barred look, combined with beak clicking and light hissing, every time he’s fed.

The screech gives me stink-eye every time he’s fed. Ya gotta love that screech attitude!

The only new intake was another barred owl with life-ending injuries. He was found in the road and wasn’t in great shape when he arrived at LWR. He was gurgling slightly when he breathed but not agonal breathing, so I hoped it was just blood in his nasal cavity; unfortunately, he did apparently have internal injuries and died overnight.

And that, folks, is it for this week's update. It’s raining as I type, has been all morning, slated to all afternoon, and I need a “rain nap.”

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Fastest red tail transfer in (LWR) history!

11/3/2024

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If y’all recall, last week I shared the good news that the juvie red tail would be placed as an ed bird; all the proper paperwork had been submitted and it was now a case of “hurry up and wait.” Well, the “hurry up” was accurate; the “wait” not so much: raptor educator Micki Soresi of Georgia Raptor Conservation & Education Programs received both FWS and DNR approval last week and picked up her new ed bird within days of the approvals. She’s besotted with the gorgeous fellow, I’m delighted he’s with someone I trust, and the red tail is adjusting well to his new home. She has a name in mind but is holding off to see if his personality suggests something different.

A slightly older red tail that came in with an open wing fracture wasn’t as fortunate; as y’all know by now, open fractures require euthanasia.

The barred owl pulled from barbed wire did also require euthanasia, as I suspected he would.

The Helene barred is almost ready for release; I’d debated releasing him last week but decided he needed a little more time.