And the pace doesn’t slow…

LWR had another hectic week, with 24 intakes in 7 days, five releases, and, of course, the umpteen other birds already in care. At this point I’m not even counting; if I do, I may end up in a corner banging my head against the wall. The good news is we’re just over the halfway mark on the fundraiser!
​
Starting with the releases, the adult barred owl who came in a month ago with a broken leg regained his freedom.

​Also, the first-year red tail from the previous week was released.

​One of the great horneds took his leave; no decent video or photos. The other proved unable to fly and is back inside while the flight pen is occupied by the barred owl duo.

​The other two releases were a juvenile mourning dove that came in late last Sunday and a juvenile tree swallow that came in mid-week. They both were apparently victims of lack of full waterproofing during last week’s rain, as both were perfectly able to fly and self-feed once they’d dried off.  Since both were self-sufficient prior to intake, they had none of the trust birds that come in younger do and high-tailed it the moment I opened the “escape hatch” on the songbird flight. 

So that’s the releases and two of last week’s intakes sorted…
​
The fledgling blue jay from last Sunday’s update is in the songbird flight, along with a kidnapped mockingbird fledgling. As a reminder, if a bird has short tail feathers and is capable of some unskilled and sloppy short flight, it is a fledgling and is still being fed by its parents as it learns to forage and improves its flight skills. Unless it is injured, in the middle of the road, or in imminent danger of a cat or dog (or other predator) attack, LEAVE IT ALONE and let the parents finish their job.

​They are joined by a fledgling house finch who was kept illegally for nearly a week, fed a crap diet and driven all over the state unrestrained by an individual who felt s/he was now an “expert” because they’d done a Google search. May I remind y’all that the VAST majority of wild bird care information on the Internet is just plain wrong and potentially lethal to the birds? Also, it is against state and federal law to possess wildlife without permits; the public is generally allowed a 48-hour window to locate a properly licensed rehabber before they’re considered in violation of the law.

​Contrast the actions of that individual with those of the woman who saw the nest that had been under her porch eaves on the ground as she as headed to work, with one baby dead. She attempted to place the nest as close as possible to its original location, left for work and was devastated when she came in that afternoon to find the nest on the ground again, with another dead baby. Having attempted to do the right thing in replacing the nest, without the results she hoped for, she immediately called LWR and brought the three surviving Eastern phoebes, who have grown like weeds in just a few short days. They’ll be in the songbird flight by the end of this week.

​LWR doesn’t see many yellow-billed cuckoos and they’re usually adults, so when this sweet bird arrived, I was—and remain—quite entranced. Cuckoos are shy birds; you hear them much more often than you see them. This sweetheart is also nearly ready for the songbird flight.

​And hot on her heels came a fledgling Eastern kingbird, another species LWR seldom sees, found in the middle of the road. This poor fellow has a ruptured air sac on the back of his head. Birds have air sacs throughout their bodies; they aid in flight. When one is ruptured, usually through some sort of trauma, the air migrates to the skin surface and creates what looks like a huge blister. If the ruptured air sac will interfere with proper positioning of the wings, ability to stand, or ability to eat, it can be drained. In this case, though, it wasn’t interfering with anything but the poor fellow’s looks, giving him a massively oversized head, so I’m allowing it to go down on its own. It’s already noticeably smaller.

When callers said they had a nest of chimney swifts fall in the fireplace, I explained that if they placed the babies back in the fireplace in a shallow saucer lined with a paper towel they’d be able to see if the parents were coming down to feed them, which they will do ninety-nine percent of the time—and to put up a fire screen or piece of cardboard or something to block off the fireplace. After the ninety-minute window I’d given the callers passed with no callback, I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief, as chimney swifts are highly labor-intensive birds. But Murphy cackled with sadistic glee…

Seems the callers had placed the babies back in the fireplace, per my instructions, erected NO screen to block off the fireplace, and left for a day trip. When they came back the parents had indeed tried coming down to feed the babies, but their cat had killed one parent and maimed the other badly enough that it required euthanasia.
​
So…six naked chimney swifts, without heat or food for possibly 24 hours, and an adult with a ruptured eye…The adult was euthanized; the babies are hanging in there, except for the runt, who didn't make it. None of them look great and I’m honestly surprised they’ve made it this long, but they may surprise me even further; who knows?

​This adult red shoulder was found stunned by the roadside and is rarin’ to go now, after a couple of days at the LWR B&B. He’ll be released possibly as early as tomorrow.

​Two other red shoulders, both juvies, weren’t as lucky, though. One came in with a degloved leg—the skin was sliced neatly down the entire leg and the flesh was completely missing. There was no neural response at all. He was euthanized.

The second came in late yesterday with a wing broken right in the wrist and a leg broken and totally dislocated at the hip. He was also euthanized.

A third young red shoulder was emaciated but not starvation-thin, and was eating well and looking more alert and healthy…and died overnight.

An adult blue jay was found stuck—literally hanging by his neck—in a truck bumper. An intake exam revealed his right shoulder was shattered, so he was euthanized.

What appeared to be a fledgling swallow came in covered with dried mud and already agonal breathing. Before I could euthanize, he died.
​
And this fledgling bluebird was a cat-attack victim. He was also agonal breathing on intake and also didn’t survive long enough to be euthanized. 

Let me hop on my soapbox yet again: KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS WHERE THEY BELONG. If you don’t want them killing wildlife, KEEP THEM INSIDE. Is that perfectly clear? CATS BELONG INDOORS.
​
The final new intake for the week was a juvie barred owl pulled from a barbed-wire fence. The wing looked pretty raw and I couldn’t feel any fractures but swelling will often hide a break. As the swelling in the shoulder went down, the wing began drooping badly, indicating the possibility of either a shoulder fracture or a torn tendon. He came in late Friday afternoon, so we’ll see how things look tomorrow to determine if a vet visit or euthanasia is called for.

​The screech twins have about had it with their box; I’m hoping to get them in the raptor flight by the end of the week at latest.

​The red shoulder trio is in larger digs but would also prefer to be in the raptor flight. Maybe within another 10 days or so…

The red tail was camera shy this week, literally hunkering down and hiding his face every time I looked his way. His appetite’s good, though!
​
The wood duckling continues to do well; I seldom actually see the little rascal except when I fish him out from under his feather duster “mama” for a swim.

​Without a doubt, however, the juvie black vultures were the highlight of my week. I never know where they’ll be anymore; their food is attracting wild cousins into the yard, and they’re so everlovin’ photogenic!

​Finally, at $1345 we’re just over the halfway mark with our fundraiser—another $1155 to go. A huge thank you to those who’ve donated; to those of you who haven’t yet, time’s a-wastin’!