The answer to that is “no,” not during baby season, anyway! Lots of photos, so I’ll go light on text this week (meaning no soapbox rants…this week).
The finches have been released and made it quite clear that they didn’t need or want supplemental feedings from me, so no post-release shots of them; sorry. Seed-eaters will sometimes get the hang of total self-feeding in the flight pen and then when they’re released, it’s “so long and thanks, lady.”
The mocker and catbird are in the flight pen, as are the brown thrashers and a blue jay and a cowbird who came in this week. (All are shown below in the order listed here.)
The finches have been released and made it quite clear that they didn’t need or want supplemental feedings from me, so no post-release shots of them; sorry. Seed-eaters will sometimes get the hang of total self-feeding in the flight pen and then when they’re released, it’s “so long and thanks, lady.”
The mocker and catbird are in the flight pen, as are the brown thrashers and a blue jay and a cowbird who came in this week. (All are shown below in the order listed here.)
The possums have been released and growled and “grinned” their way away from me. These two have to’ve been the most aggressive little snots I can ever remember having!
The wood duckling continues his growth and paranoia. I swear, I sometimes wonder how these birds ever mate, as paranoid as they are about every living creature around them!
Yet another minor-injury box turtle came in, was treated and observed for 24 hours and released.
This unidentified hatchling wasn’t as lucky. I told his finder that his chances were not good, as his belly looked very bruised and was hard, indicating internal injuries. He died less than 12 hours after intake.
This young red shoulder hawk was kept illegally by falconers who strung along three different rehabbers for a week before finally getting the bird to me. I’ve already transferred him to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab.
Birds are found in the strangest places…this pre-fledgling red bellied woodpecker was found in the middle of a busy street. I think all woodpeckers are neat, but red bellieds are probably my favorites, maybe because I see them most often in rehab.
And earlier this week, yet another common loon came in! Rehabber Korey Henderson of Valdosta, near the Florida line, contacted me about this guy, a young loon who doesn’t have his adult plumage yet, and through a new network of volunteer transporters, the Georgia Wildlife Rescue Association, he was with me the next day. Korey had observed some favoring of the left leg, so I kept him an additional night for observation and didn’t see any problems—because of their body shape and leg placement, loons look really awkward when you can see their legs at work in the water, especially when they preen, and it took me several loon intakes and numerous e-mails to a loon research center to learn what’s normal for them.
After 24 hours’ observation, he was released on the river, where he put on an exuberant juvenile display of delight to be back in “real” water and not a tub!
Finally, at 8:30 tonight this juvenile great horned owl (GHO) came in after being extricated from a barbed wire fence. For the record, I hate barbed wire. His right wing has some flesh wounds and is broken, how badly I don’t know yet. We’ll get x-rays tomorrow morning to see how bad the damage is, but historically, these situations haven’t ended well for the GHO. I’m hopeful but not optimistic…and will be delighted if I’m able to announce next week that I was wrong in my pre-x-ray assessment.
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