Y’all, LWR now has three red phase screeches. Additionally, we had a fairly common but not commonly seen songbird this week, and some interesting developments with one of the two barred owls.

Let’s start with the uncommon-common songbird, a yellow-rumped warbler, aka “butterbutt.”  Based on color, this was either a female or an immature bird. We’re going with female. She was found in the road with one eye closed, very lethargic. Upon arrival at LWR, she was still pretty lethargic, although she let me know in no uncertain terms she did NOT appreciate being handled during her intake exam. Her little lungs and vocal cords worked just fine!

Within a few days her eye was clear and she was eating well and antsy, so it was time for release. I tried the slow-motion function on my phone camera because I knew she’d move fast—and it worked nicely!

The first of the screeches to arrive also had an eye swollen shut and was a bit loopy. He was found in the road in Effingham County but the finders drove him the two hours to LWR the night they found him. His eye is still a little swollen but he’s eating well.

The second screech arrived yesterday after being removed from the premises of a Home Depot in Colquitt County.  Nothing seems broken, although his left pupil is a little dilated, so perhaps just a mild concussion. He’s the talker of the screech trio, trilling away randomly. No videos of that yet but I’m trying.

The Christmas week screech, although he’s been at LWR the longest, remains the pissiest of the three. He hates everything and everybody! By late this month or early February he should be ready to test his wing and see if the fracture has healed for flight or frozen the joint.

The barred owl who came in last Sunday with the wing fracture turned out to also be blind in both eyes, so the wing wasn’t even an issue; he required euthanasia due to the blindness.

The barred owl who came in a couple of weeks ago, though, is perching well now, his eye is beautifully clear, and he’s eating quite well. But he’s...unusual...

When I walk in to feed him, he makes noises ranging from puppyish whines to squeaky toy squeaks (that one just started today). I’ve heard barreds make a LOT of weird vocalizations but never anything like these. He very politely takes the mice from the forceps with his beak rather than lunging for them with his feet. He will not take mice off the glove, though. He allows me to run my hand from the crown of his head down his back and wing. He makes no attempt to fly past me or away from me. He won’t perch on a glove; tried that, too. I had my niece’s boyfriend walk into the mini-pen to see if he got antsy at a stranger being near him. Nope. Some of this could possibly be lingering head trauma, but he also has rather overgrown talons and tends to grind his beak a lot—but he’s not once clicked it at me in threat.  At the moment I’m really, really hoping it’s lingering head trauma but suspecting he’s imprinted or at the least habituated. We’ll see how he reacts to more space to avoid me when he’s moved from the mini-pen to the raptor flight this week. 

At the moment, I’m rather enjoying him; he’s the best-behaved young adult/adult barred I can ever remember having.

With only two intakes, it was a fairly normal winter week.

Today’s intake is a barred owl with a broken left wing. It feels mid-bone but it’s still too swollen to be sure, as he was found in the road this morning in a county south of LWR. He’s also still very woozy, as you can see below. (That's his third eyelid showing in the photos.)

Last week’s surviving barred is in the mini-pen now, where he prefers the ground still but will use a low perch occasionally. He’s still got some head trauma going on, and it’s causing issues with depth perception.

Mid-week a first-year red tail came in with what initially appeared to be bumblefoot—a wounded foot that had gotten infected. Closer examination and input from several colleagues led to the conclusion he actually had avian pox, a highly contagious (to other birds) viral disease. The general consensus was his was a treatable case, although it would be a lengthy process. However, he also had a large wound above his tail that smelled infected and looked partially necrotic—my fear was that would be the deciding factor in his fate.

I cleaned the dirt and muck off his feet so I could more clearly see how bad they were and started oral and topical antibiotics for both the pox and the base-of-tail wound. He had to be hand-fed but he did eat a large mouse, so I was fairly optimistic he had a fighting chance—he was alert and aggressive despite not being able to stand on those poxy feet.

Sadly, he died during the night. And yes, as red tails and screeches are among my favorite raptors, I did more than a fair amount of cussin’ over losing him...

The screech who came in the week of Christmas with a wing fracture is doing well. He footed the fool out of me yesterday when I was freshening up his box, but hey, he’s a screech. I’ve seldom handled a screech who didn’t draw blood; they’re just vicious little snots that I love dearly. As I’ve said repeatedly, if screeches were as big as they think they are, I’d never go outside again at night!

He needs about another month for that wing to fully heal; the fracture was close to the joint so we’ll have to wait and see, but I’m hopeful it’ll heal for flight and not freeze the joint.

Hope everybody had a good Christmas and a nice, quiet start to 2021.  LWR had a slow but steady trickle of intakes over the past two weeks.

On Dec. 22 a screech owl with a wing fracture came in. He’s a typical pissy screech but he’s eating well and the wing seems to be healing nicely. Of course, it hasn’t quite been two weeks yet, so he has a while to go before we know for sure if it’ll heal for flight.

On Dec. 23 a first-year Coop arrived with a trashed wing and a massively swollen eye. Euthanasia was the only humane option for this bird.

On Christmas Day, two great horneds arrived, one during the day and the other that night. The daytime arrival appeared to have rodenticide poisoning: the inside of his beak was white and he was having seizures. The seizures hadn’t gotten too bad yet so I started treatment in hopes he could be saved—and he did perk up slightly before crashing that night.

The second great horned was pulled from a woman’s grille at a gas station. His rescue was a group effort between a 911 dispatcher, a sheriff’s deputy and a city police officer. Unfortunately, he had open wing and leg fractures and required euthanasia.

On Dec. 26 an adult Eastern cottontail arrived. I normally don’t take mammals, focusing my efforts on birds, especially raptors, but the deputy who grazed him wasn’t aware of that. I agreed to take the rabbit figuring it’d need euthanasia, as 99.9% of the time rabbit vs. vehicle ends badly for the rabbit. Aside from a nosebleed and a dinged ear, though, this fellow was just fine. After a few hours’ observation to make doubly sure everything was functioning, he was released.

And today, Jan. 3, two barred owls arrived. The first is very emaciated and weak. He may have been grazed by a car, as well, as his right ear looks bruised and his left eye is currently filled with blood.  But he’s already eating on his own so I’m hopeful he’ll make a full recovery.

The second barred had an open wing fracture and required euthanasia.

Again, hope everyone’s New Year has gotten off to a good start!

With cooperative weather late in the week, both barreds and the screech were released. And LWR had just one intake for the week.

Starting with the releases, barred owl 1 shot out like a rocket, and this was the only photo I managed of him before he veered around the tree and disappeared into the distance. He didn't look back!

Barred 2 was slightly more cooperative, so I did manage a few more shots of him.

The screech didn’t even give me time to focus the camera. I had lovely shots of the woods where he disappeared but even with a walk-through to try and locate him, it was no go on photos. Screeches can truly make themselves invisible when they want to.

The only intake for the week was a pine warbler who’d been caught in a fence of some sort. He was active and alert and eating well but died overnight. There may have been internal injuries, although I saw no signs of blood in his poop.

Let me take this opportunity to wish all of y’all a very Merry Christmas. There will be no update on Dec. 27, so I’ll see y’all next year—let’s hope 2021 is happy, healthy and prosperous for all of us!

We just met our goal this afternoon, nine days before the deadline! A huge thank you to those who donated to help us meet our goal. LWR’s main mouse supplier has raised their rates and their minimum order, so every little bit of “mouse money” is both greatly needed and deeply appreciated!

LWR had just two intakes this past week, both barred owls, both from the same county. Both were apparently hit by car and, in some sort of minor miracle, both were uninjured aside from concussions. How often d’you think that happens? (Hint—I can tell you: almost NEVER.)

Both are slated for release as soon as the weather forecast is right.

The screech is flying like a champ, eating like there’s no tomorrow, and chomping at the bit for release. His eye is clear and bright, he has full vision in it, and the eyelid is completely healed. He’ll also be released as soon as the weather cooperates.

And that, my friends, is it for this week—short, sweet and to the point!

LWR released four birds last week, but the fundraiser remains firmly at ground level, with just $250 of the $1500 goal raised.

If you’ve donated already, thanks so much for your support; if you haven’t donated yet, remember the deadline is Dec. 23—or sooner if we can raise the $1500 earlier.

In news of releases, the red tail who’d come in with the massively swollen eye showed great improvement in that eye as the blood cleared out; he was quite ready for his release late in the week, when our temps moderated somewhat.

The con artist black vulture was also released, after flying all over the raptor flight as I tried to catch him to box him up for release. And he flew out of the box upon release, noticed I was watching, and immediately landed and started walking around, giving me the side-eye to see how I’d react—all from the safety of the opposite side of the bank from me... Y’all, vultures are smart rascals!

The mourning dove’s wing injury turned out to be not nearly as serious as I’d initially thought. When the swelling and bruising went down, she was using it like a pro, so she also was released. No photos of her release; she didn’t give me time to get the camera in position!

We had just one new intake last week, an adult red shoulder who looked pretty rough in the photos posted online seeking help for him. When a volunteer who lived nearby picked him up and sent me photos, he looked somewhat better; by the time he arrived at LWR he was alert and aggressive but still a bit sluggish with his responses to stimuli. After a couple of days of R&R, he was bouncing off the walls, indicating he was also ready for release. I managed a short video of his release but he wasn’t in a cooperative mood for post-release photos.

And, of course, the screech is doing great and was moved into the mini-pen this afternoon to begin building up his stamina and flight muscles again. There are screeches in the woods all around here, so he’ll have plenty of buddies to “talk” to beginning tonight.

Just to remind you, this is what his eye looked like on intake almost a month ago...

...And this is what it looked like today! Skilled, dedicated vets are a rehabber’s biggest blessing, so thanks again to Smalley’s  for all they do for our wildlife, and to Jim Hobby in particular for this success story.

And...a bonus...for the past several days I’ve had a migrating female rose-breasted grosbeak hanging around my yard. Georgia only sees these birds during migration, and I’ve only ever seen two males before, both in spring. This gal looked a bit rough when I first saw her, and I began carrying a net around to my feeders on the off chance I could snag her and check her out to see if she needed rehab. However, she’s looking better each time I see her and she’s eating well, so maybe she just needed a safe spot to refuel before continuing her migration.

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, Giving Tuesday coming up in a couple of days, the end of the year approaching, and funds running low, now’s the time LWR is appealing to your holiday spirit to help us meet our fundraising goal of $1500. The fundraiser will run through Dec. 23, although an earlier end is possible if the funds are raised sooner.

It was a slow week, with just one intake, an adult mourning dove who may have been hit over someone’s dove field, as dove season is back in through today. Her wing looks pretty bruised but the birdshot appears to’ve passed straight through and while she can’t fly at the moment, things look promising for an eventual release.

The totally blind screech did require euthanasia, sadly, but the red tail’s eye looks much better. The swelling is down but the eye remains full of blood, so we can’t really assess the damage yet. He’s still not eating as much as I’d like, though.

The black vulture is a major con artist: Twice this week I’ve caught him perching on a ledge that would require flight to reach, and I hear him flying when I walk near the raptor flight. But he’s careful most of the time to make sure he’s on the ground when I walk in to feed him. The scraps he’s not eating are attracting quite a few of his buddies, too; I counted at least a dozen this morning who were looking for a way into the raptor flight to eat his leftovers! As soon as the weather moderates toward the end of this week, he’s slated for release.

And the screech recovering from eye surgery, aside from having scraped his cere raw trying to escape, is doing just great. He’s ever so grateful for the help LWR is providing him, as you can clearly see...

In all seriousness, his eye looks great, the pupil is responsive to light, the eyelid is fully functional, and he can definitely see out of the eye—all in all, a true success story for this lucky little fellow! He’ll remain at LWR for a few weeks longer to make sure that eye is fully healed and give him some time in the mini-pen to build up his flight muscles again after a month of inactivity, but he’s definitely slated for release by year’s end.

It was a pretty busy fall week that culminated with the release of the dog-attacked first year red tail who came in last month. And it was SUCH a pretty release that I kinda sorta went overboard with photos and video, so let’s start with gorgeous and move on from there, shall we?

There’s nothing much to say about these photos and videos.  He shot out of the box before I had the camera even focused, so no release video, but oh, the aftermath—after perching above water for some time, obviously planning to bathe, he treated us to a spectacular bathing display before shaking dry and flying off.  Enjoy!

The screech whose eyelid required suturing back together is doing great. He’s a textbook pissy screech and his eye looks amazing: clear, full movement of the eyelid, and full vision. Another week or so, and he should be ready for the mini-pen.

Unfortunately, things aren’t looking as promising for the screech with the eye infection. It appears he’s totally blind. He cannot find his food, and he hates being force-fed. I’m trying to give him time but he’s likely a candidate for euthanasia.

A mature male red tail may be facing the same situation. He was found in an interstate median and while nothing is broken, his right eye remains swollen and he doesn’t seem to have vision in the left eye, either. He’s currently in the mini-pen but cannot see to locate the perches. I placed him on the low perch when I moved him outside, in hopes that the fresh air would perk him up, but within hours he was on the ground at the back of the mini-pen, where he’s remained. Again, force-feeding is a struggle—he can’t see what’s going on and hates being handled for feedings. We’re trying a little more time with him, as well...

Saturday morning an adult brown thrasher came in with a severe case of pox. He died before I could euthanize.

And this morning FWS agent Thomas Payne delivered a young adult black vulture he’d retrieved from beneath a cell phone tower. He bated hard as we walked to the raptor flight, and I loosened my grip slightly to prevent him from breaking one or both legs—and he got loose. I still can’t run because of the ankle issues, so poor Thomas had to chase him back down, but we did get him back and into the raptor flight. Nothing felt broken but he favors his left wing ever so slightly. I think a little time will do the trick for him.

Y’all know how skilled my vets at Smalley’s are—or you should, anyway. Well, they’ve come through yet again. Remember the screech with the slit lower eyelid from last week’s update? I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, for the most part.

I took him in Monday afternoon, and Jim quickly discovered the damage was more severe than either of us initially thought. Essentially, the eyelid was slit from corner to corner and right up to the edge of the ear; Jim said the screech came close to losing the entire eyeball. But it looked clear and the third eyelid was functional, so...

Yep, the eyelid is functional, as is the third eyelid. The eyeball is clear (that film you see is the antibiotic ointment I was using on his eye, in addition to oral antibiotics); the pupil is responsive to light. He still squints it a lot, and there’s still some swelling, but overall it’s looking really promising at the moment. My vets are nothing short of miracle workers!

The antsy first-year red tail will be released this week, as rain chances are nil for most of the week.

Sadly, a mature red tail wasn’t as lucky. He came in with limp and useless legs that failed the pinch test, severe beak-breathing, and what looked to be early-onset frounce. I’d planned to get him in for x-rays the following day to see if maybe we had a pelvic or hip fracture, but he didn’t make it through the night.

A hunter coming out of his stand near dark found this young yellow-bellied sapsucker and brought him to LWR the next day. He was lethargic, cool to the touch and his eyes were dull. I put him on low heat and offered some watered-down maple syrup—similar to tree sap—which he eagerly ate. I was hopeful he had a chance, but he died within four hours of intake, poor fellow. LWR doesn’t see many sapsuckers; I think the last one before this fellow was about two years ago, and it was releasable. It’s slightly easier to remember the outcomes for the birds you only see one or two of every few years.

And this afternoon, yet another red-phase screech came in. His finders thought his left eye was missing; it’s badly infected and the pupil looks to be misshapen through the goop in the eye, which may signify a luxated lens. It’s gonna take a couple of days of antibiotics before his eye is clear enough for the vets to see past the goop, though.  But he—or she, slightly larger than "eyelid" screech—has other issues. The right eye is nonresponsive to light and the beak is off kilter, suggesting a broken jaw that healed in the wild.

It may be that there’s still just severe head trauma going on; we’ll have to wait and see on this fellow.

LWR had another slow fall week—have I mentioned how much I enjoy the slower fall intakes?

The red tail is doing beautifully, perching and flying like a champ. And eating. Boy, is he eating. Six large mice a day, and he acts like he’s famished every time I feed him!

He’ll be at LWR a while longer—pretty high rain chances the rest of the week.

The only other intake actually came in today: a red phase screech. He flew into the side of the family’s car Saturday night, and they brought him to LWR early this afternoon. Nothing appears to be broken and he’s already “unconcussed” enough to posture threateningly and snap that beak at me—good signs. But his left lower eyelid is slit badly. The eye itself is clear and moist, and I’m using artificial tears to keep it that way till he sees vet Jim Hobby at Smalley’s tomorrow. I’ve already called Jim, and based on my description of the eye, he thinks it’s fixable. We’ll know for sure tomorrow.

Keep your fingers crossed for the pissy little fellow; y’all know how I love screeches—as does everybody at Smalley’s!