For two days last week LWR had no guests, after releasing the wood thrush and great horned owl. But nature abhors a vacuum, so it didn’t take long for birds to start showing up again.
There’s no video of the wood thrush release; he refused to leave the mini-pen while I was anywhere near it so I left the door open, walked away, and came back half an hour later to check—and he was long gone.
The great horned owl also wasted no time leaving; I did get video of him but no post-release photos. When I walked over to where I’d last seen him after stopping the video, he was also long gone.
There’s no video of the wood thrush release; he refused to leave the mini-pen while I was anywhere near it so I left the door open, walked away, and came back half an hour later to check—and he was long gone.
The great horned owl also wasted no time leaving; I did get video of him but no post-release photos. When I walked over to where I’d last seen him after stopping the video, he was also long gone.
And for a couple of days, LWR was birdless—a nice, albeit short, break. Then, on the same day, two songbirds came in. The first, an adult blue jay, had been accidentally shot when the homeowner was shooting a BB gun in his back yard. Apparently the person didn’t know the four cardinal rules of responsible gun handling:
- Treat ALL guns as if they’re loaded.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
- Identify your target, and what is behind it.
The second was an adult female hummer who’d been attacked by the homeowner’s outdoor cat—TWO WEEKS before the bird was brought to LWR. Her right wing had been ripped off; how she survived two weeks with cat bacteria all in her system is beyond me. I was asked when the bird was brought to LWR if wings could regrow. No, people, wings cannot regrow. FEATHERS can regrow; the bones and tendons comprising the wing CANNOT regenerate themselves. It doesn’t work that way.
And yes, the hummer was also humanely euthanized.
And yes, the hummer was also humanely euthanized.
And late in the week, an adult great blue heron was transferred from a songbirds-only colleague to LWR. He’d been found with a fishhook in his wing and tangled in fishing line. X-rays by my colleague’s vet showed no fractures but the left wing droops badly, indicating severe soft tissue damage. Honestly, I’m not real hopeful this will resolve for release but we’ll give him some time to see. At least he’s eating well, to the tune of $40 worth of live fish every 2-3 days.
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