Nah, it’s not with Doublemint gum, for those old enough to remember that commercial. Nope, LWR received a second young black vulture last week...and let the games begin!

This poor fellow was hidden in a brush pile that was demolished, and the workers saw him scurrying off and called DNR. The game warden who brought him to LWR was as surprised as I was about his odd nest site, as usually we see vultures nesting in old buildings and deer stands. However, there was no sign of an adult vulture and his hiding place no longer existed, so he’s now a guest at LWR.

Vultures are smart, as y’all well know. The afternoon of his arrival and the next 24 hours, I got the standard head lowered, growly-hissy “I hate you” treatment.

Day 2, app. 48 hours after intake: “Maybe you’re not awful but I’m still not sure.”

Morning of Day 3: “Hey, feeder person, whatcha got for us this mornin’?”

After some initial uncertainty, the older vulture has decided he rather likes having a buddy.

Gotta love vultures!

The great horned owl is eating well, alert, and his eye wasn’t damaged, after all. His balance is still off, though. He can lunge at the top of his box but when he falls back to the bottom, it’s kinda messy. And he just flops to one side or the other when he sits—something is off with his equilibrium. So we’re just giving him time to see if it corrects, as both ears are clear: no parasites to cause this weird lack of balance.

The sharpie will probably not go back in for follow-up x-rays, as after two solid weeks of hearing his nonstop repetitive thudding all day, yesterday I’d had enough and after checking his wing carefully for stability, I moved him into the main flight. He’s flying low but he is flying...honestly, I think I overfed him and he’s too dang fat to fly properly right now! But he’s trying. And in his stress from captivity, he managed to pluck out all his tail feathers. Hey, at least it wasn’t his flight feathers, right? Accipiters are high-stress birds...both personality-wise and for their rehabbers, as they’re known to do stupid and often fatal things while in rehab. The goal now is to get him back to flight weight, get him flight-conditioned, and get him out—before he can do anything stupid or fatal.

Only one new intake, an adult male great horned owl who was found on the road and brought to LWR yesterday. He had a little blood in his beak on intake, some slight bruising in his right ear, and his right eye is damaged. It looks as if it’s deflating (due to a ruptured eyeball) on the rare occasions he opens it, which doesn’t bode well for that eye, but he’s still so concussed and out of it, it’s hard to say for sure. No wing fractures, surprisingly, and both feet and legs are uninjured. But he favors that right side a bit, which could be a hip or pelvic fracture. Given his lethargy, I also worry about potential internal injuries; he’s shown no significant improvements in alertness since intake yesterday.

The sharpie has one more week before his follow-up x-rays. Despite his antsiness at being confined, he remains one of the calmest accipiters I’ve ever seen. They’re usually psychotic little snots, and he may well turn psycho once he’s in a flight pen, but for now, he’s actually fairly...well, not crazy...

The vulture could probably be released into the yard at this point, but I’m holding off for another week or so, to be sure he’s ready. He’s such a doofus, but he does love feeding time!

Hot, humid, and slow intakes...And I’ve seen other rehabbers commenting on slow intakes, as well—in addition to those reporting record intakes. The rehab community seems to be bouncing all over the place this year, intake-wise. The faint remnants of optimism in me want to say it’s because fewer critters need our help; the much-more-dominant realist in me says it’s because gas is high, people are focused on keeping their families cared for, they’re working longer hours to try and offset inflation with more income, and they’re just not outside as much to see wildlife in need of assistance. Urban rehabbers are the ones reporting high intakes, because it’s easier for city dwellers to reach them; rural and suburban rehabbers, not so much.

ANYway...neither philosophy nor economics is my focus here, so on to the wildlife.

Monday afternoon a juvenile Cooper’s hawk came in, rail-thin. Finders reported that the bird couldn’t use its legs, leading me to suspect a window-strike victim. Upon intake, I noted slightly labored breathing, as well. The goal was to get it in for x-rays Tuesday, but it died Monday night. I’m guessing the labored breathing was from cracked ribs that ended up puncturing a lung overnight as the bird shifted around in the donut he was placed in to support him and ease his breathing.

And yesterday a barred owl came in after hitting the side of the presenter’s car the previous night. His left wing had an open fracture and the shoulder was completely trashed. He was humanely euthanized.

The sharpie continues to mend; another couple of weeks and he should be ready for follow-up x-rays and—hopefully—placement in one of the flights for flight conditioning.

The jackanapes vulture remains a source of amusement as he shuffles through the detritus in the mini-pen, demanding more food while he walks on a carpet of carrion...Young vultures are such clowns!

While LWR had three releases back into the wild, we also had three new intakes requiring euthanasia—a release from suffering. Not the best week...

The weather held for the red shoulder releases; as you can see below, they scattered in three different directions so I was only able to catch one video.

The very afternoon of their release, a barred owl came in with a trashed wing, requiring euthanasia.

Two days later a juvenile Mississippi kite (MIKI) came in with an open fracture that maggots had already gotten into and stripped the flesh from the bones. He also required euthanasia. Given the pool of fresh blood at his beak after euthanasia, I suspect he also had some serious internal injuries.

And yesterday a female barn owl came in with an open wing fracture in much the same condition as the MIKI from Wednesday. When it’s hot and humid, maggots infest open wounds quickly and can do a lot of damage overnight. The barnie also required euthanasia.

Aside from banging his head against his box repeatedly in an attempt to escape, thereby scraping his cere, the sharpie remains about as calm as one can expect from an accipiter—the crazy raptors. Could be crazier, though—Coops are even more psychotic. He’s got another few weeks before that wing is due for follow-up x-rays.

And the poor black vulture is STILL working on getting all his feathers in. I suppose I could move him into the main flight now that the red shoulders have been released, but one pen full of carrion to clean up is quite enough at the moment. The mini-pen is carpeted with his leftovers! (And no, one does NOT remove vulture scraps unless one wants to witness a vulture tantrum...) Meanwhile, he still looks like a headless vulture in most of his photos...

...we will have some birds released! (With apologies to Andrae Crouch...)

Finally, the weather is looking cooperative, so I’m aiming at releasing the three red shoulders tomorrow, Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

The sharpie remains antsy but not psychotic, thank goodness, although he does enjoy trashing his box regularly. Hey, whatever keeps him amused while we wait for that wing to heal, right? It’s not like he can settle down with a good book to pass the time...

And the vulture, bless his heart, is taking forEVER to finish feathering out. But he’s got the growling, head bowing and wing flapping down to an art. I gave up on a photo of him this week and recorded a short video of feeding time instead.

And that, friends, is it for this week. Several callers last week were re-routed to rehabbers closer to them, as I can’t see putting people on the road for a 5-hour round trip when there’s someone only a 2-hour round trip from them—especially with gas prices what they are.

As I’ve been saying for months now, it’s a weird year. My colleagues at Chattahoochee Nature Center are bustin’ at the seams; LWR and other home-based raptor rehabbers seem to be slow but steady. And again, this is a probably a good thing for us smaller rehabbers from a financial standpoint: Last year a bag of 100 small mice was $44; this year a bag of 100 small mice is $72.

No releases, a couple of intakes that didn’t end well, and continued rain delays—yep, pretty much the same ol’ same ol’...

The sharpie continues to eat well and has gotten a little more typically antsy in behavior. We’re not talking Coop-crazy...yet...but he is starting to indicate unhappiness at being confined.  Sharpies, as a rule, aren’t quite as psychotic as Coops, so that’s always a plus. The broken wing is perfectly level and folded against the body as it should be, which is good news. The “ding” at the wrist is healing, albeit slowly—right at the wrist isn’t an ideal location for a flesh wound, as every time he flexes that wing even a little, it breaks the scab.

The red shoulders are ready for release but we have another week of high rain chances, so they’re just hangin’ out and killin’ time till the weather cooperates and they can gain their freedom. Since they spend the vast majority of their time out in the uncovered part of the flight, rather than in the covered blind, meaning they’re exposed to the weather anyway, I may release them as long as the rain chances don’t include thunderstorm threats for three days or so. We’ll see...

Late last Sunday, a nestling MIKI (Mississippi kite) arrived. He’d fallen from the nest into a dog pen and by the time his finders got into the pen, the dogs had savaged him. His tail feathers, still growing and full of blood (i.e., blood feathers) were ripped loose, along with a good bit of skin, and his right leg was broken at the hip but he could still flex his foot, so there was no nerve damage. I cleaned him up, dried the wound as best I could, and applied massive amounts of styptic powder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It didn’t work; the poor baby bled out overnight.

And an adult MIKI came in yesterday with both wings broken, one right at the elbow and the other an open fracture between the shoulder and elbow. He was humanely euthanized.

The vulture discovered the joys of perching last week. He really does have a head and fully functional neck; he’s just camera-shy, even if I only use my phone camera. The minute he sees either, he immediately drops his head/neck into this pose, the silly doofus! Another couple of weeks, and he can be allowed to roam freely about the yard as he discovers the joys of sunbathing and scavenging.

Yeah, it’s not till tomorrow, but the weekly update is today, so...

No releases last week; we had a week full of high rain chances, most of which didn’t pan out till yesterday, when the bottom fell out and we got 2 inches of rain. That said, there were obviously no releases, and this week isn’t looking promising, either.

LWR had three intakes last week; one required euthanasia, one was DOA, and one is doing well and we’re hopeful will be releasable.

Let’s start with the (fingers crossed) releasable bird: a first-year sharpie, aka sharp-shinned hawk. He’s a tiny fellow, and well-fleshed, so he’d been a successful hunter prior to his injury. He was found in the middle of a busy highway in a neighboring county, and when he came in, his wing was obviously broken and he had a flesh wound right at the wrist.

This wasn’t a fracture I was comfortable “calling” so I checked with Smalley’s to see if they could work him in that very afternoon; as luck would have it, they could. Upon viewing the x-rays, vet Jim Hobby and I agreed this was worth giving the bird a chance. His ulna and “hand” are broken but not badly displaced. We think the wing will heal for flight.

Because of the open wound, we couldn’t wrap, and honestly, sharpies and Coops don’t do well with wing wraps in our experience, so I’m treating the wound and hoping he continues to remain as unusually calm as he is right now—as long as he doesn’t get stupid, he should have a good chance at release. Thus far he’s eating well, too, which is always a good sign.

Prior to the sharpie intake, an adult MIKI, aka Mississippi kite, came in. This is their nesting season, so I cringe when an adult comes in. And this poor fellow couldn’t be helped; his wing was trashed, so he required euthanasia.

Friday a gorgeous first-year red tail came in, emaciated beyond belief; she was so weak she could barely lift her head. Volunteer transporter AJ Rogers had received the call about her and picked her up and got her to me immediately. We actually thought she was already dead when we opened the box on her arrival at LWR, but she was barely hanging on to life.

We went into triage mode as I held the bird and AJ gently pried her beak open so I could get the slurry into her crop. Surprisingly, I saw no signs of frounce but she could have had capillaria, which wouldn’t show in the throat. After a small feeding, she seemed a bit stronger and had even started resisting being fed, although she still hadn’t opened her eyes, so we placed her in a donut with a thick towel to serve as a blanket to help trap her body heat. I made plans to stay up all night, feeding her every two hours, as a bird in this horrific shape can only be fed small meals every couple of hours.

Two hours later, when I went back to give her the next slurry feeding, she was gone; she had opened her eyes and died. And I have no shame in admitting I lost any semblance of clinical detachment and slumped over her box sobbing. There are those special intakes that break down all your defenses. First, she was a red tail. That in itself was enough to make her special. Second, you could see that prior to starvation, she had been a big, gorgeous gal. Third, she was a first-year bird, so she never really had a chance at life. And, of course, red tails are my very favorite diurnal raptors, so it really hurt to lose her, even though I knew intellectually, from a rational standpoint, on intake that her chances of survival were slim to none. My heart refused to accept that, though, until she lost her battle to survive.

The remaining red shoulder trio are good to go as soon as we have several days of low-to-no rain chances. But I’m not complaining about the rain; we need it.

And the doofusy vulture FINALLY decided to eat on his own. The bird ain’t right but he IS amusing. And exasperating...

The color variations between his two photos result from morning light versus evening light. He's not part chameleon!

LWR had four releases over the past two weeks: the screech and three of the six red shoulders.

The screech wasted no time taking off, which isn’t surprising; he’d been antsy for a couple of weeks before his weather-delayed release.

The red shoulders scattered in three different directions at their release. One disappeared before I could get a video or post-release shot; one flew into the conservation pines; one flew down the lane and landed at the far range of my camera.

Their releases led to the rearrangement: the mini-pen red shoulders went into the main flight; the vulture went into the mini-pen.

The red shoulders are flying beautifully in their new, roomier digs and should be good for release in another week or two, as soon as they pass the live prey test.

The vulture is delighted to have more space, too. Now if he’ll just figure out the whole self-feeding thing...yeah, I think I have a special-needs vulture; he’s half-feathered out and stubbornly refuses to eat on his own—and vultures usually grasp that concept pretty early. I think he was dropped on his head at some point, or maybe his egg was partially addled before he hatched...or something. If he doesn’t get his act together, he may be headed to a life as an ed bird. I mean, really...I’ve never had a mentally challenged vulture before...they’re usually too smart, if anything.

While phone calls were plentiful over the past couple of weeks, they didn’t result in intakes. As I’ve been saying, it’s shaping up to be a weird baby season...

It appears that between HPAI and astronomical gas prices, the intakes are slow this year. I’d been inclined to blame unreported/unnoticed cases of HPAI initially, but given the volume of calls LWR receives weekly with no messages left when callers hear MY voicemail message stating they must deliver the bird to LWR, I think, too, people just can’t afford to drive the sometimes 100 miles one-way to deliver the birds. And with higher prices for everything needed to care for the birds that DO come in, it’s probably a good thing intakes are lower than usual. I know some of my colleagues in more urban areas, where distances are shorter so gas isn’t as major an issue, are struggling with the sheer volume of their intakes.

Only one new intake last week, an adult Mississippi kite. The finder saw him grounded in a field he was plowing; according to his mother, who brought the bird, there was a power line over the field near where the bird was found. Given that his right wing was nearly sheared off, with only a few tendons and bits of skin keeping it attached to the body, it seems likely he hit the power line with that wing. Humane euthanasia was the only option for this gorgeous bird.

The screech is slated for release this week; now that the head trauma is fully resolved, he’s getting antsy...although you’d never know it from his pictures...

I may end up having to move the mini-pen red shoulders in with the main flight trio so I have room to move the vulture outside, as he’s outgrowing his box. The red shoulders have a call-and-response screamfest daily anyway, so if they’re together, they can scream away “in person.”

The mini-pen trio tend to vary their defensive positions when I go in to feed them.

 The main flight trio assume essentially the same positions every. single. time. I walk in to feed them...

And the vulture immediately goes defensive when he sees the camera. I’ve never had a camera-shy young vulture before—usually they practically pose for the camera!

...Or rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic—whichever analogy...ummm...floats your boat. Often during baby season it feels more like the Titanic!

The rain chances finally dropped to minimal for the next few days, so the barred owl got his long-awaited release Saturday—and he took off as soon as I opened the box!

With him out of the main flight, the three oldest red shoulders, one of whom was still inside, as he needed to gain some weight before going outside, moved in and promptly scattered in the extra room they now have. After couple of weeks of flight conditioning and passing the live prey test, they’ll be good to go, as well.

With the older red shoulders’ move to the main flight, the three youngest red shoulders moved into the mini-pen. They had perches in their boxes but haven’t quite grasped the concept of the higher perches in the pen...

The vulture should be ready to go outside as soon as the younger trio of red shoulders can move into the main flight, which, of course, is contingent on getting the older trio released.

And the screech’s head trauma is finally resolving, not that you’d know it from this photo; the screech philosophy is “if I close my eyes, you can’t see me.”

No new intakes last week, but confirmed HPAI in a neighboring county—in domestic birds, but still...I just feel like there are more cases in the wild that aren’t being reported because the carcasses either aren’t being found or if they are found, the public doesn’t think to notify DNR or the Ag Department to have the carcasses tested. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.