Sadly, this one was hit by an 18-wheeler and was dead when the DNR wildlife tech arrived at the site of the accident. Still—two eagle calls within two weeks of each other is unprecedented in LWR history.

The screech recovering from the wing fracture is about ready to have that wing re-examined to see if it’s healed enough to move him to the mini-pen; if so, the brancher great horned will need to go into the main raptor flight.

A second screech came in yesterday and will need x-rays to determine the extent of damage to his right wing. It appears that something bit a chunk out of his wrist, and while there is bone damage, I would prefer getting x-rays to confirm before making any decisions on the bird’s fate.

An adult great horned owl was pulled from a barbed wire fence midweek; sadly his injuries were too severe. His left wing was trashed, with flesh and tendons ripped away from the bone. This wasn’t a fixable injury, so he was humanely euthanized.

And the brancher great horned was a constant source of amusement all last week; she’s quite a photogenic little gal.

Yup, today’s the official start of spring, so let’s hope we have no more late freezes as things begin to bud back out after that last one.

Starting with last Sunday’s bald eagle I mentioned was en route for Monday, the bird arrived Monday morning and went straight to Smalley’s for x-rays and a general exam by vet Peggy Hobby.

It was at the clinic that I had time to snap a few photos of him, and enlist vet tech Christy Harrell’s aid in getting a couple more when my hands were full of eagle.

He guarded his left wing and the feathers on that wing were noticeably shorter than on the right, and his tail feathers were ragged, indicating he’d been down a while. He was also very emaciated, with a thin keel and weighing just 5lb 7oz. Although weak, he was alert and aggressive. The x-rays showed no fractures and when we allowed him to flap his wings in the x-ray room, he refused to fully extend that left wing, so Peggy and I figured he had soft tissue damage.

I alerted Auburn that he would be en route as soon as volunteer transporter Joy Daniels got off work; in the meantime I fed him a couple of small meals. He eagerly consumed both meals and would have eaten more, but overfeeding an emaciated bird can kill it. Small meals every few hours are better.

Of course, the state and feds were also notified that the eagle had come in, was seen by a vet and was en route to Auburn.
 
We also had a release last week, although it took all week for the weather to finally cooperate for that release. The screech who’d come in with mild head trauma regained his freedom yesterday. It took him several seconds to realize the box was open and come soaring out; he was too busy giving me stink-eye.

An adult sharpie came in from an out-of-county vet clinic with a small wrist fracture, per that vet’s x-rays. The bird was well-fleshed, alert, aggressive...and dead the next morning. Based on the black tarry poop in his box, he most likely had internal injuries.

The screech recovering from the wing fracture and blood in his eye continues to do well. The eye is almost totally clear now.

And the brancher great horned is in the mini-pen, where she continues to bow up and issue hissing, beak-snapping threats at me when I walk in to feed her. No worries about this singleton being imprinted or habituated!

Ain’t she a beauty, though?!

Y’all ain’t gon’ believe this. As I had just started writing this update, DNR called; they were about to pick up another bald eagle and were checking to make sure I had room. Per DNR, it appears to be a juvie; its wing appears to be broken. It should arrive in the morning. I’ve already alerted the head of Georgia DNR’s eagle program and vet Peggy Hobby at Smalley’s and have transport arranged, and we’re aiming at streamlining the process tomorrow and getting the bird en route to Auburn ASAP. Other FWS and DNR officials will be notified once the bird’s actually here and has been examined/x-rayed. So y’all have that to look forward to for next week’s update. Two eagles three months in...gonna be an interesting year...

The great horned is nearly ready for the flight pen; most likely she’ll go outside mid-week, when our late cold snap is done. At least it was just a cold snap, not a blizzard like we had in 1993 that left us with snow on the ground and no power the entire weekend. Although some in the community did lose power this weekend, ours only flickered incessantly.

The screech with the wing fracture is doing well. His eye continues to clear up nicely. Let’s hope the calluses on those bones don’t fuse together as they heal.

And a second screech came in mid-week after being sideswiped by a car. Aside from a minor concussion he’s fine and will go in the mini-pen mid-week, again once the weather moderates. Once I’m sure there’s no soft tissue damage, he’ll be good for release.

The barred that came in with the massive head trauma went into the mini-pen early last week and was so antsy I offered a soft release within a couple of days, so no photos or videos of his release. I just left the pen door open slightly before dusk and he was gone half an hour later.

Yeah, this is a “just the facts” update—sorry ‘bout that. Gotta get all my ducks in a row for the insanity that ensues with a pending bald eagle intake...

Although spring doesn’t officially arrive till March 20, it’s already looking pretty springlike around here: bluets, henbit, Carolina jessamine and blackberries blooming (among numerous others; these are some of my favorites), dawn chorus loud enough for the first time since fall to actually wake me up before my alarm goes off, and three times last week I heard a migrating whippoorwill calling away, twice right outside my window—or so it sounded. No chuck-will’s-widows yet, though.

But the pace is still late-winter slow at LWR. I’m actually wondering if part of the slowness may be related to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is now apparently an issue in Georgia. Per information sheets recently provided by the Georgia DNR, HPAI is highly transmissible from bird to bird, both wild and domestic, and in some domestic species such as chickens, it can wipe out an entire flock. It’s become a disease of concern among raptors, as well. For those who may not be aware of the disease, here are some of the pertinent points from the DNR info sheet:

• Some wild birds infected with HPAI may not appear sick.
• HPAI occurs naturally in migratory waterfowl, wild aquatic birds (gulls, shorebirds), raptors, and scavengers; however, all bird species should be considered susceptible.
• Clinical signs can vary widely. Some birds may show no symptoms, while others may exhibit signs such as sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, nasal discharge, twisted neck, swollen sinuses, along with decreased feed and water intake, dehydration, depression, huddling, diarrhea, lethargy and death. However, many diseases can cause these same symptoms, therefore HPAI cannot be diagnosed based just on clinical signs.
• HPAI viruses are highly contagious and usually cause severe illness in chickens and turkeys; few birds within an infected flock will survive. It is therefore critical to avoid exposure to domestic birds.
• AI viruses are shed in the feces and respiratory secretions of birds. The fecal-oral and respiratory transmission routes can rapidly spread the virus throughout a poultry flock.
• Clothes, shoes, shared equipment and vehicles can pick up the virus from the environment, therefore these are also transmission routes.

In other words, this should prove to be an...interesting year...I’ve already verified with Auburn that they will still accept raptors from Georgia should they need their specialized care, but that could change if the outbreak gets too widespread and severe.

On to more pleasant topics: The great horned almost-brancher will be moved to a larger box early this week to allow for a low perch; she’s acting like she’s ready to see what those clodhopper feet are capable of.

The screech’s radius and ulna are both broken, which isn’t promising, but they’re not badly displaced so vet Peggy Hobby and I are hoping maybe the wing will heal for flight. As long as the calluses don’t grow together as they form, the bird should be flight-capable, but that’s always a risk. (The email function on the x-ray machine at Smalley’s wasn’t working and for some reason the files didn’t transfer to the flash drive I keep on hand for situations like that, so I have no x-rays to show today.) His eye continues to look better as the blood is reabsorbed.

The barred owl that came in late last Sunday had some major head trauma going on; it took him three days to decide to eat, and it’s only been the past couple of days that he’s started getting active in his box. We’ll see how he does in the mini-pen this week.

And that’s about it for this week. Don’t get all paranoid about HPAI; just be aware it’s out there and know that we avian rehabbers will be instituting precautions to keep the birds in our care safe.