With the river too high to reach my preferred release site until late in the week and the rain moving in immediately after that, the hoped-for red tail releases were delayed yet again...

So currently LWR has two highly peeved red tails who’re ready to go and a highly peeved great horned owl who’d like to be in a raptor flight but is stuck inside till the red tails are released.

And why do rehabbers wait for low-to-no rain chances for releases, you may be asking? Well, most of the time we’re releasing birds into unfamiliar territory. Three days or so of minimal rain chances gives them time to acclimate to their new surroundings, rather than having to learn new territory while simultaneously coping with rain and less-than-ideal hunting conditions.

And yes, of course, in the wild, birds of all species fledge in the rain, near dark, etc.—in less-than-ideal conditions. This also lowers their chances of survival. A fledge—or in this case, release of two older birds—in good weather heightens chances of survival.

Birds of all species face enough of a struggle for survival as it is; anything we can do to improve their chances, we’re gonna do. (And also, from a purely practical human point of view, cameras with enough zoom to capture a good release flight and get post-release photos aren’t gonna be waterproof, so there’s that consideration, as well.)

The good news is that rain chances should slack off mid-week, and none of the rain before then should be heavy enough to cause the river to rise too much, so with any luck at all, next week I’ll be able to report two red tail releases and the great horned owl in the mini-pen!

The temps have been positively fall-like, and we had the outer bands of Hurricane Sally sweep through Wednesday and Thursday, with clouds moving in Tuesday and still hanging around Saturday—but it was still mostly a good week for wildlife at LWR.

Let’s start with a “minor miracle” bird—Friday, a caller reported hitting red tail with his truck, resulting in the bird getting caught in the grille. These types of vehicle vs. hawk encounters seldom end well for the hawk, so I wasn’t real optimistic when he showed up with the bird. Surprisingly, there were no fractures, and the red tail was alert, aggressive and angry at being confined. Upon further questioning, the rescuer clarified that he’d slowed to turn off the road just before the hawk hit his grille, and that’s probably what saved the hawk from serious injury.

So I boxed him up to give him a little more time to de-stress and gather his wits and went about my business. Didn’t take long for the red tail to stage a jailbreak and wreak havoc in the rehab room, at which point I decided he was probably good to go. He flew strong and straight! (And it only took half an hour to straighten up the mess he’d made during his jailbreak...)

The mourning dove was also released, this morning. Sorry for the crappy video; he flew off to the far reaches of the camera’s zoom and kept flying farther away when I tried to move closer for better images.

The hummer’s leg seems to be healing nicely; the wing is still very iffy.

The only euthanasia this week was a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk whose left shoulder was broken and badly displaced.  We thought we loaded the X-ray onto a flash drive at Smalley’s Friday but it didn’t load properly, and I didn’t realize it till they’d closed for the weekend.

The great horned owl really needs to be outside, but I have red tails in both the raptor flight and the mini pen.

However, both red tails are slated for release later this week, when the river drops and I can reach my preferred release site.

Murphy surely cackled with sadistic glee after that one… LWR had 7 intakes last week, 4 of them on Saturday alone.

Tuesday a pre-fledgling mourning dove came in after wandering into someone’s carport after falling from the nest. The finder said he could see the nest, such as it was—doves are notoriously lousy nest-builders—but he couldn’t reach it, and with good reason, as he was still in a boot from a broken ankle.

Then Wednesday a juvenile yellow-billed cuckoo came in with some sort of spinal trauma, or possibly a pelvic fracture—he could move his wings and his feet, even attempting to perch, but couldn’t stand or even squat and refused to stay in a donut. The original plan was to get him in for x-rays Thursday, but the poor fellow didn’t survive the night.

Friday a cattle egret—growing up, we called them cowbirds, and a lot of people still do—came in with a really nasty mangled wing. It was broken at the shoulder and the flesh was raw. He would have required euthanasia but he handled it himself, dying before I could euthanize.

Saturday started with a hummingbird with a definite broken right leg and a possible broken right wing. The leg should be fixable; the wing is a waiting game.

Then a juvenile mourning dove arrived with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. It’s dove season in Georgia, so this is highly likely. Aside from being swollen, the wound appears clean, so we’re doing meds and time to see what happens.

Then the third mourning dove for the week arrived, another juvie. This one had feathers fluffed and was cool to the touch. I started meds and low heat, but he didn’t survive the night.

And intake number four for the day was a second-to-third year red tail who’d been kept by his finder for at least two days. Nothing appears broken but his head feathers are disheveled and he still has a somewhat stunned look on his face. Yup, we have some head trauma goin’ on here.

In releases, the Eurasian collared dove gained his freedom early in the week. They’re such laid-back birds; he’d found a comfy perch and was napping when I snapped this photo.

Poe the crow also decided early in the week to stop the “come-and-go” soft release and go for full freedom. My cousin had just cut the hay behind the house, so flocks of crows were taking advantage of the exposed bug buffet, and Poe happily joined them. Then Thursday evening I heard a crow calling near dark—not normal—so I searched till I found Poe hanging by his wings in a magnolia tree, too weak to perch. I snatched him up and brought him inside. An examination revealed that his once-healthy red gape (inside of his mouth) was now pale white. The only color was the black spot on his tongue and even it was grayish. I started him on a slurry and waited for poop to see if it was black or loose or…whatever. It had a sharp chemical smell that usually indicates some sort of pesticide or insecticide poisoning. Obviously it wasn’t from anything in the hay, as it’s destined to feed cows and isn’t sprayed with anything, so we have no clue what poor Poe got into. He died overnight.

This is one of the benefits and drawbacks of soft releases: The birds are near a familiar face and environment should they get into trouble, and I can monitor for issues, but it’s heartbreaking to have one of your releases show up again a week or two after release, badly injured or ill from some sort of poisoning…It doesn’t happen often, thank goodness, but when it does, it hurts like hell.

The July 4th red tail awaits release; I’d planned on this coming week but the rain chances look too high for most of the week.

And once the head trauma red tail has recovered enough to go in the raptor flight, the great horned owl recovering from a hand fracture will go in the mini-pen.

Last week’s editing deadlines prevented me from getting the weekly update done; fortunately, it was a fairly slow couple of weeks. Let’s dive right in.

The catbird and blue jay were released within a day of each other and, after a few days of demanding handouts, stopped coming down.

Poe the crow is now in the mini-pen and even exploring outside it occasionally—but he expects the door to remain open so he can go back to his safety zone when he gets tired of flitting about the trees in the yard. He’s getting more independent, though, and doesn’t like to be touched anymore. The outside photo was taken near dark without a flash as I was waiting for him to come back to the mini-pen, hence the fuzzy image.

As always, there were intakes that couldn’t be saved; on August 25 and 27 a red shoulder and a barred owl, respectively, came in with fatal injuries. The red shoulder was euthanized; the barred owl was DOA.

A near-fledgling Eurasian collared dove came in August 24 and, aside from being stubborn about totally self-feeding, is doing well. Eurasian collareds are larger than mourning doves and not actually native to the US, as their name suggests, but all research indicates the two co-exist peacefully.

Two of the three red tails were released. My trusty old point-and-shoot zoom pocket camera apparently has moisture in the body, however, and the lens now stays permanently fogged—which I discovered when I tried to use it at their release—so the only photos I managed were with my phone camera, and I totally missed the first release while fiddling with the point-and-shoot camera. Time to replace “Old Faithful”… or just break down and use the larger one I seldom pull out...

The third red tail, the July 4 intake, is doing much better with no companions in the raptor flight; I think another week or two and he’ll be good for release.

An adult yellow-billed cuckoo, also known as a rain crow, came in August 27 and was released Tuesday, Sept. 1. He was missing most of his tail feathers but still flew strong and straight and was VERY unhappy at being confined—his migratory urges were in overdrive. I managed a few photos at maximum zoom (this was several days before the camera failure), as he took off like a shot straight for the tallest trees he could find.

And on August 30 an adult male great horned owl came in with what appeared to be a left wrist fracture, but x-rays at Smalley’s showed that it was actually a healing hand fracture, both bones. Given that it wasn’t too horribly displaced and was already forming a callus, vet Jim Hobby and I decided a couple of weeks of cage rest, followed by a week or two in the raptor flight, should be enough time to see if the fracture will heal for flight. At the moment it looks really promising, so fingers crossed.

LWR had one release and several intakes last week, making it slightly busier than the previous week.

First, the release: The MIKI’s migration instincts had kicked in big-time by mid-week, and he was calling incessantly, demanding that he be allowed to go on his way—and boy, did he!

With his release, the catbird and blue jay moved into the mini-pen and should be good for release possibly as soon as the end of this week.

One of this week’s intakes was another juvie MIKI who had a nasty shoulder fracture; the only option was humane euthanasia.

Also, a juvie sharpie came in with both eyes severely damaged/infected. Warm compresses, saline baths, ointments and drops made no difference; both eyes were totally trashed. This poor baby was also euthanized.

LWR also had a house finch come in with a horribly swollen and deformed left leg. The poor bird was already beak-breathing on arrival and died as I was preparing to euthanize.

A second-year red tail appears to have a wing fracture in or near the left wrist; he’ll go in for X-rays Monday. Meanwhile, he ain’t a happy camper, not at all…

The two red tails who’ve been at LWR for a while are doing well. The female will be released soon; as you can see in the video below, she’s flying like a champ. The male, who has soft tissue damage, is actually more mobile, although you can’t tell it in the video. He’s laid-back; she’s a pistol!

The hummers are…well, humming right along, if you’ll pardon the pun. They eat and they buzz around. The female has some lift now; the male’s wing shows no signs of improvement.

And Poe the crow has his brace off now. His right leg still wants to splay a bit, but it’s not interfering with flight, landing or perching. He’s a crafty fellow—perches till it’s feeding time, then hops back in his nest and acts like a big baby…With the raptor flight occupied for the foreseeable future, he’ll go into the mini-pen once the catbird and blue jay are released.

Last week was typical for late summer, with few intakes—just three, to be exact.

Monday a juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird came in, left by someone at Smalley’s. His wing is pretty badly displaced and probably won’t heal for flight but we’re gonna give him time to see.

And the week ended with yet another hummer intake, a female, whose wings are perfectly level but she can’t fly. It’s possible she has a coracoid fracture, so I’d guess she’s got a better chance at release at this point. Time will tell.

Also on Monday, a juvenile Coop came in with partial paralysis; she didn’t survive the night.

We’re down to one MIKI, as the older of the two self-released early last week, bouncing off the top of my head and straight out of the mini-pen when I went in to feed them. He’d been antsy for several days and I’d been cautious when entering and exiting the pen, as I was half-expecting him to make a run for it—and he did. He flew due south, typical for MIKIs.

The younger MIKI is also getting antsy now, so I’m actually aiming at a proper release for him by mid-week.

The red tails continue to inhale food. The female is flying beautifully and would’ve been released last week except for high rain chances throughout the week. Maybe this week…

The male, a gorgeous lighter-colored bird, is still having issues with that soft tissue damage. I’m hopeful, though, that he’ll make a full recovery. It’s just gonna take a while.

The catbird is ready for the mini-pen as soon as the MIKI is released, and the blue jay will join him. He’s about the quietest jay I’ve ever had. Nary a peep from him most of the time—not at all normal jay behavior. But he’s alert, active and eating well!

And Poe the crow is flying and perching quite well; we may do one more week of leg hobbles just to be sure we’ve corrected as much of the splay as possible.

And that’s it for this week—short and sweet. I rather like these late summer lulls!

LWR saw two releases and two intakes last week, with birds being moved around to allow for flight conditioning.

Thursday the two juvie barred owls were released. I’d been contacted earlier in the week by FWS to see if I had any pending releases, as a former county official in a neighboring county had terminal cancer and had participating in a raptor release on his bucket list.  The man’s wife originally said she was going to get the press to be present, so I’d contacted DNR, too, so both my supervising agencies could get good PR from this release. However, the man apparently asked his wife to forego the press, but she didn’t notify me, so shortly before the release my yard looked like I was being raided, with three DNR vehicles and a FWS vehicle lined up and representatives from both agencies gathered in the yard. I couldn’t stop snickering about it.

When I found out that the man had asked for no press, I also refrained from taking photos of him as he witnessed one release and opened the box for the second release. I did, however, snap the usual post-release shots of the owls.

Thanks to Thomas Payne of FWS and Bob Sargent, Austin Biggers, and Greg Nelms of DNR for showing up and traipsing through the woods with us in the heat.

Earlier in the week, a juvie Coop came in, partially paralyzed and producing black, tarry poop shortly after intake—a sure sign of internal injuries. He was euthanized humanely.

And Saturday a recently-fledged—as in probably the day before—blue jay came in after being attacked by a cat. He has no injuries but is still not a happy camper, poor fellow.

With the barreds’ release, both red tails were moved into the raptor flight. The juvie female is loving the space to fly; the second-year male with soft-tissue damage isn’t attempting flight yet. That gal is feisty and an aggressive hunter, too; I’ve started tossing her mice in the air to watch her grab them as they hit the ground. It’s hysterical. The male is calmer, perhaps because he’s a year older.

With the male red tail out of the mini-pen, the MIKIs were moved into it. After an entire afternoon of disconcerted “pit-pewing” from them, they settled down and seem to be enjoying their new digs.

The injured cat-attacked catbird didn’t survive. The poor thing struggled and struggled, and just as I’d decided to euthanize, she checked out on her own, between feedings.

The uninjured catbird has started sorta kinda self-feeding: He picks up the mealworms, tosses them around, and maaaaybe eats one or two before demanding that he be fed. It’s a learning process!

And Poe the crow, despite his leg issues, has started perching some. You can see in a couple of the photos below that we’ve “braced” his legs with vet wrap, as he had pretty bad splay leg. We’ll keep moving them closer together every few days, as it seems to be working well thus far.

It’s been a weird year all the way around: two bald eagles nearly back to back, a nestling crow, a nestling osprey, and now a pair of pre-fledgling catbirds—none of which LWR sees too often.

Catbirds aren’t uncommon birds; they’re just uncommonly shy, preferring to remain hidden in thick brush. They’re in the same family as brown thrashers and mockers but have much better temperaments than mockers. LWR seldom sees them in rehab; I think the last one might have been over ten years ago.

These two were cat-attacked; the younger, who still has some pin feathers, has a damaged foot and had some belly bruising on intake. I’m not sure whether the foot injury is from the cat attack or a nest injury, but we have it wrapped and she’s doing well. Her sib looks as if he might have already fledged before the attack by feral cats.  Both are just typically sweet little catbirds.

Earlier in the week, two barred owls came in on two consecutive days. Both required euthanasia. One had an open wing fracture; the other had a hip fracture.

Toward the end of the week another MIKI arrived, this one slightly younger than the MIKI already at LWR. This little fellow is just starting to attempt self-feeding, so I haven’t put the two together yet, although their boxes are right next to each other.

The older MIKI is actually ready for the flight pen now but a) both flights are currently occupied and b) I want the younger bird to be placed with him inside for a while before putting them in a flight. No photos of him this week; he’s too antsy now. Definitely needs to be in the flight pen!

Saturday, a late first-year/early second-year red tail came in after being left at the police department of a town in a neighboring county. Nothing is broken, and he’s much more alert today than he was on intake yesterday. We’ll give him another night inside and then put him in the mini-pen with the older red tail.

The older red tail was quite happy to be placed in the mini-pen after the Coop release.

The Coop, obviously,  was released and wasted no time skedaddling. Not a great shot, but Coops aren’t known for being cooperative.

The two barred owls are tolerating each other better now; it took the slightly older juvie most of the week to decide to perch, so he still has some lingering head trauma. He’s eating, though, and the younger gal who’s been at LWR longer has decided she can handle sharing her digs with him—which is good, given that I have nowhere else to put him!

And for those who’ve been reading along, anxiously wondering when I’d announce the results of the crow-naming fundraiser, the name garnering the largest donations ended up being…POE! The amounts donated toward each name are listed below:

1. Poe $225
2. Crowvid $135
3. Corbeau $50
4. Cawrona $45

Poe still has some foot/leg issues but we’re fairly confident we can work through them. It’ll just take some time and patience. Meanwhile, he’s looking like a real little crow now—look at those raised head feathers in the last two shots: he’s not so sure he likes the camera!

LWR has had its share of juvenile and adult ospreys through the years, but never a nestling. This bird came from a neighboring county and because it seemed late in the year for a baby I called DNR’s Bob Sargent, who’s over the state’s eagle program but also monitors osprey nests, for some guidance. He said it wasn’t unusual to have nestling ospreys as late as early August, so this fellow’s right in line with that time frame. Look at those blue-tinged baby feet!

I knew Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends had a better setup for ospreys—meaning a larger flight pen—so I contacted him upon intake of the bird Thursday, and we set the transfer in motion. Thanks to intrepid volunteer transporter Joy Daniels, the bird headed to Bubba & Friends this morning.

Also on Thursday an older juvenile barred owl came in with a concussion. After 48 hours of dark, quiet isolation, he perked up yesterday and ate his first meal since intake last night. Although he’s still a bit loopy, he’s now in the raptor flight with the slightly younger juvie already in there, and she ain’t happy about it!

The MIKI is self-feeding now but still requires his mice to be chopped up. Mice aren’t their normal diet; MIKIs are aerial insectivores: They snag and eat their insect prey on the wing. However, in a rehab setting, they generally readily accept mice.

The red tail is going through a complete molt. The bottom of his box is lined with molted feathers every day!

The Coop is rarin’ to go and will be released next week, making room for the red tail in the mini-pen.

And, of course, we have the crow, who has grown so much in the past week that he doesn’t even look like the same bird. He does have a left leg/foot issue, which could be a nest injury or the result of his fall from the nest. Nothing is broken; he just tends to curl that foot inward. That’s something I see fairly often in smaller songbirds, so I’m leaning toward nest injury—improper positioning of the foot in the nest.  Most birds adapt and by the time they’re releasable it’s not even obvious they ever had a problem.  Since he’s considerably larger and heavier than the average nestling songbird, though, we may end up having to brace or boot that foot/leg to give him a little help. I’m waiting a few more days to see, as he’s showing improvement on his own at the moment, just not as quickly as I’d like.

It’s not at all obvious who’s my favorite current guest, huh?!

Don’t forget about the Name That Crow fundraiser, ending July 31. Participation has been sparse, which kinda surprises me. I thought folks’d be eager to have a say in naming this gorgeous fellow! Fundraiser details are below:

1. From now till the end of the month, y’all can make donations and LIST YOUR FAVORITE NAME from those below with the donation. Donations can be via PayPal or mailed check; PayPal links are on each page of the website and here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=aO-V5zbhpx1TToyCsUjfOlBVCJTO5t2FwAxt7l6IsAfqUWrA1vMLXrBIv2zxb6LqR0AoH0&country.x=US&locale.x=US. Mailing info is under the “How can I help” tab here: http://www.laurenswildliferescue.org/how-can-i-help.html
   
2. The name that receives the highest amount in TOTAL donations by July 31 will become the crow’s name.
   

As y’all can see from the total donations listed below, Crowvid is currently in the lead. We’ll see if that changes before July 31…

1. Crowvid—$60
2. Poe—$25
3. Tarbaby
4. Cawrona —$25
5. Br’er Crow

​Just look at this baby—just LOOK! Y’all know I adore corvids, and I seldom get fledgling or adult crows—and never a baby, in 20 years of rehab. So yeah, I’m just a wee bit thrilled to have this little darling in the LWR nursery.

He (I call most birds “he”—easier) weighed a whopping 174g on intake, after being found the evening before near a golf course in a neighboring county. Honestly, when his finder sent photos, because she included nothing for scale and they were taken from a distance, I thought she had a grackle. When she arrived at LWR and I opened the box, though, it was quite clear this wasn’t a grackle. And yet I still couldn’t believe that I actually had a nestling crow. It took a while for it to sink in. 2020 may have thus far been an all-around crappy year for the world in all other respects, but I’ll now remember it fondly because…BABY CROW!!!

He seemed a bit off to me, which I knew could be stress and dehydration, but I was taking no chances. I hied me hence to my computer and emailed Dr. Kevin McGowan of Cornell University, the leading expert on crows. By the next morning I had a reply, thus beginning an invaluable two-day email correspondence with a man who’s, as a friend said, “rock star status” in the bird world. If you’re a rehabber or a birder, you know Kevin McGowan’s name immediately.

He was very interested, very helpful. We sorted the “off” issue—yep, most likely stress and dehydration.  He aged this baby, based on photos I sent him (app. 18 days on intake), and confirmed my ID as a fish crow—smaller than American crows. Georgia has both and the few crows I’ve seen in rehab have been a fairly equal mix of the two species. Additionally, he provided enormously helpful care advice based on his research on crows, as well as a chart to aid in aging young crows.
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This “leetle feller” is doing quite well, alert, eating voraciously and pooping like a pro—y’all know how important poop is to a rehabber!  And he’s THE most endearing little darlin’…

​So we’ve debated names here at LWR—while other birds are seldom named, all crows MUST have names—and here are our top picks:

1. Crowvid (courtesy of my niece, who shares my dark and twisted sense of humor)
2. Poe
3. Tarbaby
4. Cawrona (sorry; we like a good pun…)
5. Br’er Crow

To make this fun and raise a little money for LWR, we’re gonna do a sort of mini-fundraiser: Name That Crow. Here’s how it’ll work:

1. From now till the end of the month, y’all can make donations and LIST YOUR FAVORITE NAME with the donation. Donations can be via PayPal or mailed check; PayPal links are on each page of the website, and mailing info is under the “Contact us” tab.
2. The name that receives the highest amount in TOTAL donations by July 31 will become the crow’s name.

Let the naming begin!
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Obviously the crow wasn’t the only intake of the week. Monday an adult little green heron came in with a nasty wing fracture that required euthanasia.

​Midweek, a brancher Mississippi kite arrived, the first young MIKI of the season. This is about the time of year for them to start showing up in rehab, so I was expecting a nestling-to-juvie MIKI or two any day now when this mouthy little fellow arrived.

An adult great horned owl arrived via Animal Control from a neighboring county and died within hours of intake. He was bleeding from a minor wing wound on arrival, and it smelled infected although the blood was fresh. Unfortunately, it appeared he was the victim of rodenticide poisoning. Nothing I did stopped the bleeding. Every time I thought I had it under control he’d move and it would start again. He literally bled out as I tried to staunch the bleeding. Not a pleasant experience, and that’s probably the understatement of the year.
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Friday a juvie little green heron came in with a swollen elbow. Even though it was a Friday afternoon and Smalley’s was bustin’ butt, they managed to squeeze me in for x-rays on the little fellow. Nothing was broken but the elbow looked as if it might’ve callused over from a small fracture earlier. I stopped by my cousin’s bait and tackle store and got a bucket of minnows for the bird and headed home. Once in his box he perched on the side of the bucket, snagged a few minnows, and seemed fine. The next morning he was dead. Not a clue as to why. If I had to guess, I’d say there was some underlying systemic issue. We’ll never know for sure.

An adult barred owl also came in Friday, from a vet clinic in a neighboring county. The vet there did x-rays and showed them to me on her cell phone; it looked as if his hip was fractured. Ultimately, it was a non-issue, as he died overnight. I’m guessing hit-by-car and internal injuries.
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Yesterday, a nestling barn owl arrived—the third barnie this year. He’s alert and vocal—I use earplugs to handle him to change his paper or feed him. Again, because Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends already has three barnies now, this little one will go to Steve next week to be with his ever-growing “collection” of barnies. I feel kinda bad; it’s been a bit one-sided this year: I’ve sent Steve two, soon to be three, barnies and he’s only sent me the one Coop. Usually we’re a bit more even in our “trades.”

The screeches were soft-released late in the week and promptly vanished. Soft release gives them the option of leaving or not and hanging around should they want handouts to supplement their hunting.  Screeches, being T. rexes in their minds, don’t need no stinkin’ help. When they leave, they leave!
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A soft release means no release videos and no post-release photos, so here are the last photos and videos I took of them pre-release.

 ​With the mini-pen empty, the Coop got moved outside. Typical uncooperative, psychotic Coop, he lunges off the perch to the ground every time I go in to feed him, so the photo below is the best I’ve managed thus far. (And no, those aren't his feathers. I seldom remove the odd stray feathers from the various birds that've been in the mini-pen. Gives each new resident something to play with.)

​The barred owl is maturing nicely and should be releasable soon.

​And the red tail still favors his right wing, although nothing is broken. He apparently has some soft tissue damage that needs a bit more time to heal. He’s also going through a molt and has several more red tail feathers, although you can’t see them in the full-body photo.