Certainly the most impressive was the red tail release. He kindly perched afterward long enough for great photos, then flew to another tree near the water, scoped out his surroundings a bit more, and headed straight for the water. I was hopeful, given his slight wing ruffling while he waded in and took a sip or two, that he might bathe, and after forty-friggin’-forevers while I melted in 100-degree heat, standing stock-still so as not to startle him, he did! He bathed! And I got it on video for your viewing pleasure!
And the two barn swallows from my mother’s resident population were reunited with their sibs. I watched till the remaining sibs fledged, just a day or two after these two fledged prematurely (i.e., they overreached for food and fell from the nest), and took them back up to see if they’d rejoin their family. They did!
And a barred owl that came in with a black eye—really; the eyelid was swollen and bruised—was also released after a few days for the swelling to go down so he could see normally from that eye.
The adult great horned owl who’d been at LWR for several months recovering from a wing facture was released—no photos or video of his release; he shot out of the box and headed deep into the woods. I looked but couldn’t locate him for a post-release photo.
The three red shoulders who’d been in the raptor flight for a couple of weeks were also released and while they scattered so I couldn’t get post-release photos, they did leave the box one at a time, so I was able to get short videos of their releases. The box was tipped on its side, so they all flew out low.
A nestling Carolina wren, found cold and weak with its dead sibs, put up a valiant fight but only managed to survive 18 hours after intake.
And an adult barred owl with a nasty fracture right in the wrist required euthanasia.
Two additional fledgling blue jays came in from different locations, both with foot injuries. Both look to be nest injuries, so we’ll just give them time to see how they adapt.
HAH.
I moved them into the old duck pen, as they’d outgrown the rehab room and the front porch. They stayed there for three days. Then I found them on the roof over the back of the old duck pen. Then I found them wandering the yard…Now they do their own thing all day and follow me like Mary’s little lamb back into the duck pen for the night but are already in the yard come daybreak. Brats…