In discussions with colleagues about the emotional landscape of wildlife rehab, every now and then I’ll hear a turn of phrase that so perfectly sums up what we do that it just becomes a part of my “vocabulary”—and a point of reference for trying times. Years ago, Steve Hicks of Bubba and Friends succinctly and accurately summed up what we do: “It’s the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, sometimes within the same day.”

And this week saw me at the summit and in the valley, albeit not in the same day.

The barred owl awaiting release was taken back to his home territory by the folks who initially brought him to LWR, and they reported he wasted no time heading back into the woods.
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This freed up the raptor flight for the big ol’ female red-tail, who is doing so well that she could be looking at release by the end of the week.

​The crow was ready to go, so I opened the escape hatch on the songbird flight and sat down nearby with camera trained on the opening. Took him less than five minutes to see his way out and take advantage of it, and less than five minutes later he was being checked out by a vanguard from the local murder, who decided he was “tol’able.”

Alas, the low was yet to come…

Tuesday, the same day the crow was released, a panicked call came in from a lady who’d run over a nest on the ground with a bulldozer. Mama and all sibs except one were killed; she was seeking help for that sole survivor.  I couldn’t for the life of me imagine what songbird already had babies in FEBRUARY, so I asked her to send me a photo while I was trying to arrange transport.

It was a woodcock chick. And oh, he was so adorable! I’d never had a woodcock in rehab, so this was gonna be interesting!
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We got transportation arranged; I set about preparing nesting, heat and food for the wee one, and when he arrived, he was hungry, active and alert, and weighed just 12g. Based on his weight and the softness of his beak, I guessed he was a recent hatchling, probably only a day or two old. While woodcocks are considered precocial birds, they don’t immediately start self-feeding upon hatching as other precocials do; Mama feeds them for the first week or so—and 90% of their diet is earthworms, which I’d laid in a supply of while he was en route, along with other soft insects and such for variety.

Because he’d missed the better portion of the day’s feedings, I stayed up till the wee hours feeding, hoping to avoid weight loss, but when I finally crashed for about four hours, he lost a gram and a half, which I managed to pack back on him during the following day. Wednesday night, I stayed up all night, offering food whenever I heard him peep, and by Thursday morning, he’d gained a gram over his intake weight. All seemed to be going well, and I was hopeful…and then Thursday afternoon, he crashed. Hard. Because he was struggling to breathe, I suspected he’d been given or fallen face-first into water and had developed aspiration pneumonia, so I started meds immediately. By around 11 that night, he was gone. Based on the blood draining from his beak after death, however, I now suspect he had a badly bruised internal organ that finally ruptured, causing him to bleed out.

And yes, it sucked, and yes, it hurt my heart to lose such a precious little one. But again, as many of my colleagues and I have discussed, the day the deaths stop hurting is the day we need to give up our permits.
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The screeches are being housed together now, but the fellow found in the middle of the road is having severe eye issues. We initially didn’t think his eye was too badly damaged, but it’s not looking good now. He’ll be headed back to Smalley’s for a follow-up visit soon. 

​The oriole is near-impossible to photograph; below are examples of one day’s attempts. I’m worried about that coracoid fracture, too, as he still refuses to move his left wing.

​The flyers popped their heads out briefly Friday night as I was freshening their food. The first photo was with my cell and no flash, as it was all I had handy. Even though it’s a bit fuzzy, it was too funny seeing those three little heads peering out! The second is with a proper camera and flash, but one of the rascals had gone back inside the nest box by the time I got back with the camera.

​The red shoulder and barred owl recovering from wing fractures are tentatively slated for follow-up x-rays next week, and the barred with the dislocated wing might be ready to flight-test after a follow-up vet visit, as well. Fingers crossed; I need to be “cleaning house” to get organized and make room for upcoming baby season! 

​YES!!! The female red-tail who’s been recovering from a wing fracture at LWR since the end of November last year has been cleared for the raptor flight! Her x-rays show nice callusing, and both wings are perfectly level, flare beautifully evenly and flap strongly—talk about good news! 

She’s a feisty lady, too, so I’m eager to get her in the raptor flight so she can build up her flight muscles and skedaddle and be a wild bird again.
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But…there are currently two barred owls in the raptor flight, so she’s gotta wait juuust a bit longer. One has shown himself to be totally blind and will require euthanasia; he’s mainly there to keep the soon-to-be-released barred company. (I know, I know—they don’t really NEED company, but still…humor me, okay?)

​And in yet more good news, the crow is FINALLY in the songbird flight and doing quite well. He should be releasable within a week or so. I was honestly worried that he wouldn’t be able to fly, but he’s moving like an old pro already.

Unfortunately, we can’t have all good news all the time…
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Early in the week, this gorgeous adult male red-tail came in with an old leg fracture. It was so scabbed over I couldn’t tell if I was seeing blackened ends of dead bone or layers of scabs, but it definitely looked and smelled necrotic, and he kept that foot balled and showed no neural response. X-rays confirmed he had multiple old fractures on that leg, and the scabby one was open and the ends of the bone were indeed dead. The only humane option was euthanasia.

​Then a local gas station called about a barred owl they assumed had been pulled from or fallen out of a trucker’s grille, as the owner found it in the parking lot when he went to work early that morning. A quick exam revealed a nasty wing fracture that felt open, but I couldn’t actually see the exposed end of the bone. However, x-rays confirmed that this was also an unfixable break.

​Late in the week, a call came in about another red-tail that the finder said appeared to have a broken leg. When he arrived with the bird, the leg felt odd at the hock but not actually broken; it did splay to the side slightly, though. X-rays showed what vet Richie Hatcher said looked like arthritis in the joint, probably trauma-induced, as this was a first-year bird—too young for age-related arthritis. So this very calm fellow is spending some time at the LWR B&B on a donut, to take the pressure off that leg while we wait and see what happens. If the arthritis is too debilitating for release, his laid-back demeanor might make him a good ed bird, but I’m hoping for release.

And in the “pending” category, we still have two barred owls, one needing follow-up x-rays on a wing fracture and one recovering from a dislocated wing; a red shoulder needing follow-up x-rays for a “hand” fracture; the six flyers, who may be released sooner than expected if our spate of early spring weather continues; the Baltimore oriole with the coracoid fracture; and two red-phase screeches, one ready to go physically if not mentally and one still having eye issues.
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Meanwhile, the Great Backyard Bird Count is in full swing through tomorrow, and I hope some of y’all here in Georgia, especially, are taking advantage of the early spring weather to participate!

Y’know, I don’t intentionally invite Murphy to the party, but I suppose I do tempt him with comments like last week’s “slow week” deal…Apparently he cackled with sadistic glee as he planned out this week’s schedule for me!
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To begin with, the kestrel FINALLY got his turn in the raptor flight, where he needed to stay for a week or two to rebuild his flight muscles, right? “Nooooo,” sez Mr. Kestrel. He slammed himself into the roof hard enough to knock loose the hardware cloth and took off. This is what we call a “self-release.” I would’ve preferred he utilized the raptor flight at least a week, but hey, if he can fly well enough to hit with the speed to rip the hardware cloth loose, he can fly well enough… (The damage has since been repaired.)

​Then some folks’ son found a barred owl in the road and took it to them, as he was on his way to work or something, and they called LWR. Yep, another barred owl…this one’s left wing tipped backward at a funky angle and he had a big raw spot right at the inside wrist. It wasn’t an open fracture and I couldn’t feel any “crunchiness” but it definitely looked bad. I debated euthanizing him myself but decided I really wanted to see what kind of fracture caused that funky wing angle.

​And this, boys and girls, is why it’s always a good idea to get x-rays first. As it turned out, nothing serious was broken—a small hand fracture—but apparently the wrist was dislocated, hence the odd angle. It audibly and palpably popped back into place when we stretched out the wing for x-rays, but he still needs time to rest the wing and allow it to heal. It’s now lightly wrapped to forestall movement while it heals—don’t want it popping back out of joint again!

​Hot on his heels came another screech, this one found in the middle of the road—literally. His finder said he was dead-center of the double yellow lines and offered no resistance when he stopped to pick him up. X-rays showed no fractures but he does have a swollen left eye, with dilated pupil. 

​And THEN another barred owl came in—yep, looks like barreds are gonna be the number one raptor seen at LWR again this year…This fellow has a cloudy left eye but no fractures. He’s also quite feisty, even for a barred!

This Baltimore oriole had been with a mammal rehabber for over a week before arriving at LWR, so I really wasn’t hopeful we could do anything for what looked like a left shoulder fracture. He was also very sticky from not having anything but his oranges to perch on.
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X-rays, however, showed a coracoid fracture—similar to a collarbone fracture in humans. These fractures don’t always show on x-rays so I was honestly rather pleased that this one did. There’s no way to wrap a coracoid fracture, so we just confine the bird to limit movement and hope it heals for proper flight. They usually do, so Mr. Oriole will spend the next month or so at the LWR B&B while he heals.

As for the long-termers, the red-tail, red shoulder, and barred owl need follow-up vet visits but there was no time with all the new intakes this week. The crow, I think, is actually ready for the flight pen. I’ve discussed him with vets Peggy Hobby and Richie Hatcher at Smalley’s and they agree that, given his perfect wing alignment and movement, it’s probably time to see what he’s capable of. The Screech Who Wouldn’t Leave is still here because it’s rained nearly every day this week, so no chance for another attempted release yet.

No new photos of the flyers this week; they’ve got just another few weeks before their release and they seem to know it, as they’re getting increasingly camera-shy!
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Finally, a reminder that next weekend, Feb. 16-19, is the Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s free, easy, and fun—and there are mobile apps for both Android devices and iPhones, or you can keep your own list. You can participate every day or for just 15 minutes—this is truly the most flexible of the official bird counts out there. For info on getting started, click on this link: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/.

Wildlife rehab is unpredictable; one week may be insanely busy with new intakes, and the next week you’re taking care of only those “pending” cases awaiting release. Of course, during baby season, all bets are off; there are NO slow weeks. This, however, was one of the slower weeks, with no new intakes and only 13 pendings to care for.
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Beginning with last week’s two birds awaiting vet visits, the barred owl with the cloudy eye had no fractures; the right wing I was worried about showed clear on x-rays. He’s antsy, and I don’t think the eye will cause any long-term problems for him, so he’s slated for release next week.

​The young red-tail wasn’t as lucky, however. His x-rays revealed a nasty, unfixable fracture right at the elbow, and it’d already started forming a callus, so he’d been down a while—which would explain his extreme thinness and eager devouring of his food. Sometimes the only consolation is that the bird didn’t die hungry…

​One screech left like she was launched from a rocket, with no time for video or photos; the other—well, see for yourself:

​After 10 minutes of this nonsense, I gave up and he came back home with me, where he awaits another release attempt next week. Rotten rascal…

​The barred owl, red-tail, red shoulder and crow continue to recuperate nicely and are all due for follow-up vet visits shortly to see how things stand.

​The kestrel is still not in the raptor flight. Kestrels don’t handle cold weather well, and it was just too chilly this week to risk it. Next week’s temps look promising for him to finally get his flight time, though.

​And the flyers have pretty much stayed holed up in their cozy nest box this week, at least until after lights-out.

​Now for some interesting stats for you, compiled while I was finishing my federal annual report near the end of January (still working on state; it’s more detailed):

• The top two raptor species LWR saw in 2017 were—surprise on this one, right?—barred owls (37) and red shouldered hawks (20).
• The top two songbird species we saw—and neither of these should be surprising—were Carolina wrens (26) and mockingbirds (19).
• LWR saw 13 raptor species, 36 songbird species, and 5 waterfowl species in 2017. These, along with the flyers, totaled 312 intakes for the year.
• Of the people who brought wildlife to LWR in 2017, only 23 donated toward their care—that’s just 7%.