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.

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!

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!

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.”

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.

Same for the screech—he just needs a little time in the flight pen this week before he’s released.

LWR had two new intakes last week, a screech and a barred owl. One will be releasable soon; the other probably not at all.

Starting with the screech, he came in after flying into the rear of someone’s car and sustaining a nasty concussion. X-rays showed no fractures—but look at the size of those eyes compared to his tiny little screech brain! He did have some blood in the lower half of his left eye, but it’s cleared up nicely and he should be good to go soon.

The barred owl, pulled from a barbed wire fence, may not be as lucky. His left wing shows no signs of a fracture but there’s no flesh left on the bone—at least that I can see. He’ll be making a trip to Smalley’s to be sure I didn’t miss anything, but I’m honestly not optimistic about his chances.

Meanwhile, the Helene barred is looking good and should be releasable this week. I love these shots of him because most of the time photos of barreds show their eyes as solid black; the light hit his face just right to show the true color of a barred’s eyes.

And it looks like we have the juvie red tail placed as an ed bird. Keep your fingers crossed while we wait for the paperwork to be approved, and I’ll give more details as we know more, but I know Micki Soresi, the person he’ll be going to if all goes well, and she’ll provide him an excellent home. Her need for a red tail literally fell into my lap via another raptor educator y’all know by now, Beth Thomson of Blue Ridge Raptors. Micki is just stepping out on her own after several years apprenticing under Beth, and she needed a red tail—talk about serendipity!

Remember, he has no physical issues; his issues are all mental. He was kept illegally for two weeks during a critical period of his development, and no attempt was made by the lawbreaker to avoid imprinting. No other rehabber in the state had young red tails when he arrived at LWR, so colleague Kathryn Dudeck suggested using mirrors to avoid further imprinting…and we thought maybe it had worked, but every time I’ve attempted to release him, he’s refused to fly away. Well, he’s refused to fly at all, although he flies beautifully in the main flight. So after evaluating him, vet Peggy Hobby agreed he was imprinted and wrote a letter stating he was nonreleasable because of this. It’s been submitted to the feds, and now we hurry up and wait. I’m just thrilled I don’t have to euthanize a healthy bird because of someone’s arrogance and stupidity.

He’s gotten food aggressive and started mantling his food again, which I find highly amusing. I tell him every day, “I promise you, I do NOT want your mice,” but does he listen? Of course not; he’s a stubborn, goofy juvie!

I was hesitant to have another fundraiser so soon after the July one, but once y’all saw the photo of that near-empty freezer resulting from Helene, y’all came through without the need for a fundraiser—and by the middle of this week, the freezer will once again be full of “mousicles!”

There were no new intakes last week. The Wilkinson County game warden called this afternoon en route to pick up a window-strike hawk, but said when he got there the bird had moved from the finder’s yard to a fence post and flew completely across a nearby lake when he approached it.

Meanwhile, the Helene-injured barred owl’s soft tissue damage looks as if it’s healing; he can hold that left wing more level now, which is promising.

And the juvie red tail continues to be obstinate concerning release, but he’s eating more normally now, and still posing for the camera. Such a goofball!

Thank y’all again for supporting LWR and making sure our raptors continue to eat well!

As most of y’all know by now, Laurens County was slammed by Helene in the wee hours of Sept. 27.  LWR suffered no damage to the flights, although a couple of small trees were uprooted and the yard remains littered with branches (why duplicate labor? Once the trees are removed, there’ll just be more debris to clean up, so wait and do it all at once.). However, 12 days without power pretty much wiped out our supply of frozen rodents; we lost around $1500 worth of mice, despite keeping fresh ice in the freezer daily, thanks to a neighbor with a commercial-grade icemaker and a generator.

Despite the chaos, the week after after Helene wrought unholy havoc, I was able to release the second-year red tail and the two barred owls.  There are no videos or post-release photos, because during that time battery life had to be conserved carefully; power bricks for recharging phones still need recharging themselves once they’re depleted, and…well…no power, remember?

The juvie red tail refuses to be released—he won’t even leave the glove. This doesn’t bode well for his future.  Unfortunately, red tails are common enough that they’re nearly impossible to place as ed birds.

The red shoulder with the pelvic fracture required euthanasia. Normally pelvic fractures should heal well enough for the bird to stand within 30 days, and then a couple of weeks in a flight pen would have it good for release. Today was Day 30, and he showed absolutely no improvement—was still unable to stand at all.  And yes, it sucked, because his finder was willing and eager to return him to his territory, where his mate was.

Due to the lack of power post-Helene, LWR didn’t take in birds for those 12 days. Surprisingly, we only had a couple of calls…or maybe not so surprisingly, as most people (me included, to be honest) were worried about getting themselves sorted and dealing with the damage to their homes and land.

However, a couple of days before our power was restored, my German shepherd flushed an injured barred owl from the brush near the main flight. He had apparently been in the tree there and finally fell out, as I heard a thump and she ran into the brush and herded him out where I could see him and pick him up. Poor fellow may have been hidden in that tree since Helene. He has some soft tissue damage to his left wing and cannot extend it fully. As y’all know, soft tissue damage is iffy; it may or may not heal for flight. We’ll give him some time to see which way this “if” will go.

And I’m here to tell y’all, even 17 days post-Helene, I think I can speak for most of Laurens County when I say we’re all still exhausted and shell-shocked.  It’s been an endless parade of calling tree services for estimates on removal of downed trees (8 in my yard and 2 at the rehab house), filing claims with insurance companies (2 outbuildings in my yard trashed), and constantly reminding ourselves that as bad as it is here, areas to our south, to our northeast, and in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee were hit much, much harder than we were.

For them whut’s experiencing fall-like weather, anyway; daytime temps are still in the 90s in Georgia.

Last week LWR had two intakes, both barred owls, both found in the road. One had only a mild concussion and is alert and ready for release now.

The other may have a right wrist fracture; he’ll need x-rays to confirm.

The x-rays on the red shoulder did indeed show a pelvic fracture, so he’s on “cage rest,” supposedly in a donut (when he cooperates) while we wait for it to heal. If only we could convince him to go on “vocal rest,” as well…

The second-year red tail is doing well and really ready to go, so we’ll see how things work out this week.

And the goofy juvie is still, well, goofy. He alternates between food aggression and “just leave it over there, slave, and I’ll eat it later.” But there are never leftovers!

There will be no update next Sunday, Sept. 29.

Your intrepid rehabber has a bad case of fall fever and would rather be outside at the moment, so this update will be short and sweet!

LWR had only one new intake last week, an adult male red shoulder who came in Saturday afternoon. His finder witnessed the bird get sucked into the draft of the car in front of him and slammed to the road. Nothing feels broken but he can’t stand, leading me to think we have a pelvic fracture. He’ll be going in for x-rays next week so we can plan a course of action for him.

The rail-thin red tail from last Sunday’s update didn’t make it through Sunday night. As I’d indicated last week, I was hopeful but not optimistic for him.

The other two red tails, however, are doing great. The second-year bird is more regal-looking every day.

The juvie—well, he’s gorgeous, of course, but still the goofiest bird…I’d still prefer to place him with a falconer for a couple of years, but so far no candidates have panned out, so we may have to reluctantly aim at release instead.

And now, if it’s not rainy where y’all are, join me in getting outside for a while. Heck, even if it is rainy, grab a brolly, as the Brits say, and get outside anyway. Fall’s in the air!