Between meeting editing deadlines and feeding songbirds every half hour, this is the first time today I’ve been able to focus on the update. I’m exhausted, so I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible.

In new birds, there’s a slew.
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Early in the week a mature male red tail came in with what appears to be soft tissue damage to his right wing. Nothing feels broken and he can and will extend it when he feels threatened—which is every time I’m near him—but it droops badly. I’m thinking a damaged tendon or ligament, which may or may not heal for flight. Time will tell.

​Saturday, what was probably a nestling robin came in after being cat-attacked. While his wounds appeared superficial and he was started on antibiotics immediately on arrival, he died half an hour after intake.

​He was followed in short order by a window-strike hummer, who survived only 45 minutes after intake. There’s no telling how long she’d been without food before she was found on the pavement, and while she did eat for me, it was too little, too late.

​A hit-by-car red-headed woodpecker required euthanasia for an open wing fracture.

​When storms Thursday apparently unnested this young barred owl, he was left on the ground until attacked by a dog. His right wing is wounded and may be broken and his right hip feels “crunchy” but he still has neural response.  My gut says this is a fatal injury, and consults with two colleagues resulted in a general consensus that probably euthanasia will be needed but we all also agreed that since it’s a baby, we’d rather have x-rays just to be sure. We’ll find out tomorrow…

​Today, four near-fledgling bluebirds came in after at least one of their parents was killed by a cat. At this age birds can sometimes be difficult to feed but prior to lights-out tonight, they were all gaping nicely and eagerly.

​And hot on their heels came four nestling house finches, also orphaned by a cat attack.

Do y’all see a theme here? OUTDOOR CATS KILL BIRDS. If you claim to care about wildlife, particularly birds, in your yard, KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS.
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The female red tail finally made it to the raptor flight and immediately soared to the end farthest from me. A few weeks to build up her flight muscles, and she’ll be good to go!

​The suspected blue-gray gnatcatchers turned out to be brown-headed nuthatches, and the possible titmouse, when he feathered out fully, was also a nuthatch. The six of them are chatty little things, and as cute as they can be. We’re aiming at release late this week, as they fly well now and are almost self-feeding.

​The brown thrasher is also doing a good bit of self-feeding, as is the older house finch. The finch flies well; the thrasher not so much yet.

The phoebe finally started to perch just before lights-out tonight; I was honestly getting a bit worried about her. No decent photos of her this week; she wasn’t real cooperative around the camera.
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The wood ducklings, from what I hear outside the bathroom door when they’re swimming, are quite active; when I walk in, however, they clump-swim to the back of the tub and shriek. They’re such melodramatic little things…

The mourning doves are doing well; forgot to get photos of them this week.
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The possum is growing like a weed; it won’t be long before she’s ready for release.

Finally, the “soft fundraiser” is doing nicely, with $550 raised thus far. Just $450 to go, folks!

Yeah, the big news is LWR received a juvenile bald eagle Thursday. Fourth eagle LWR has seen in 11 years: 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2020.  And they’re a massive bureaucratic nightmare, in addition to having lousy personalities. Y’all get excited at the thought of an eagle; rehabbers get headaches.

This juvie was from Washington County. The nest had been under observation and the two sibs had branched about two weeks ago, so this guy wasn’t long out of the nest. A tornado in the wee hours Monday apparently grounded the bird; the nest was damaged but mostly intact, according to observers. The landowner had not been in the area after the tornado till Thursday,  and when he saw the eagle grounded called GA DNR Eagle Program Coordinator Bob Sargent and area deer rehabbers John and Luanne Brooker, who often transport raptors to me. Based on the landowner’s description of the situation, Bob okayed capture, and John and Luanne got the bird to me within an hour of capture.
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He arrived at LWR after Smalley’s had closed, so his vet visit would have to wait till Friday morning. His left thigh was a writhing mass of maggots and the underside of the right wing was discolored and it felt “crunchy.” I treated the thigh for maggots and started oral and topical antibiotics. He weighed about  6.5 lbs on intake—pretty definite confirmation that he was indeed male.

​A vet exam and x-rays Friday at Smalley’s revealed a slightly displaced fracture of his right ulna that would heal best with a pin. Vet Peggy Hobby said his thigh treatment was appropriate; vet Jim Hobby stated he’d do the surgery if needed but would prefer a vet with more raptor surgical experience to handle it if possible. Luckily in this pandemic panic, Auburn’s Raptor Center was still taking birds, so we arranged transport to them on Saturday. When scheduled transporter Joy Daniels spiked with a fever early that morning, she contacted me so we could make alternate arrangements, and Scott and Tonya Gaillard stepped in at the last minute and transported the eagle to Auburn.

Scott said Auburn’s people told him we could follow the bird’s progress on their website; he’s intake #81. He’s not listed as of this afternoon but the link is https://w2.vetmed.auburn.edu/rm1/html/patientList.html . Their format is year-case number so you’ll be looking at the bottom of the list for 2020-081.

So now let me explain to y'all why raptor rehabbers cringe when eagles come in: Life as you know it comes to a screeching halt, because EVERYTHING revolves around the eagle from intake till transfer. I spent from app. 3:30pm Thursday to 3:30pm Saturday talking on the phone, texting, and emailing to get everything arranged to get the bird, alerting DNR and FWS that I had him, alerting my vets that I'd be in with him this morning, taking him in for the vet exam, talking to Auburn to make sure they'd take the bird during this pandemic panic, arranging transport to Auburn, letting everyone involved know transport was arranged, medicating and feeding the eagle, alerting all the proper authorities the eagle was en route to Auburn...and I still had over a dozen songbirds, a red tail, a possum, and six wood ducks to care for as well, with calls continuing and more birds coming in, in addition to my editing—you know, that little thing I do that actually pays the bills...

And yes, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time the eagle left, but couldn’t relax until Scott and Tonya confirmed they’d made it to Auburn safely and had no problems delivering the bird. THEN I took 1000mg of Tylenol for my near-exploding head and crashed for half an hour, as that’s all the time I could spare between songbird feedings.

In slightly less stressful events at LWR this week, baby season has kicked in with a vengeance, with no less than 11 nestlings of varying species coming in throughout the week.
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Monday an adult great horned owl with an open wing fracture and no neural response in either leg came in and was humanely euthanized.

​He was followed by five adorable blue-gray gnatcatcher nestlings who were days from fledging. After Sunday night/Monday morning’s storms, the property owners were surveying the damage and the wife walked over to a downed tree to see what the noise beneath it was. It was these babies, with a dead sib nearby. They’re doing great—fledged last night but will remain inside for a few days yet, till they start self-feeding.

​Then we had a house finch who fledged a bit too early when a snake raided his nest.

​Wednesday a juvenile mourning dove with a broken wing came in and was placed with the cat-attacked dove who’s been an unhappy camper at LWR for a couple of weeks now.

Thursday’s intakes were a DOA adult male bluebird followed in short order by the eagle that led today’s update.
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Friday saw a nestling brown thrasher, a cat-attack victim, and two what appeared to be phoebes, one of whom required euthanasia for a nest injury that resulted in his leg bones fusing into a backwards-facing position. The remaining phoebe has some poop issues—struggles to poop even though its cloaca is clean. I’m monitoring this situation. Yeah, we rehabbers know our shit…

​Saturday, what appears to be a nestling pine warbler with a broken leg arrived. The break is too high to splint so I’m keeping him positioned “just so” in his nest in hopes it’ll heal properly. There’s no nerve damage; he can flex his little toes when I lift him to change his nest paper, so that’s promising.

​Also, a one-winged mourning dove came in and was euthanized, per FWS regulations—and just plain common sense. The wing had been ripped off at the shoulder; the bird couldn’t fly. The most humane option was euthanasia. The feds don’t arbitrarily make these rules; they take into account the health and wellbeing of the birds. 

​And another nestling brown thrasher came in Saturday, also a cat-attack victim. He’s louder and more insistent than Thrasher 1, so I can actually tell which of them is raising Cain.

​Of course, we also have the red tail, waiting impatiently for a week with no bad weather forecasts to move into the raptor flight.

​The sole survivor of the original four hatchlings from last Sunday’s update turned out to be a titmouse (we think) rather than a Carolina wren. When the feathers started coming in, it was obvious I’d misidentified the species. “Naked babies” are often difficult to pin down as to species!

​The possum continues to grow and is now self-feeding. She’s already got her PhD in napping, as well…

​The half dozen wood ducks are doing well and have mastered the art of “clump swimming” –see the video below!

​Finally, we’re doing an early “soft” fundraiser using the PayPal links on the website again—see the graphic below. Tom and AJ Rogers made a rat run (they picked up a load of rodents for our raptors) for LWR and Bubba & Friends last week, and Tom came up with the concept. Both Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends and I like the idea, so…LWR’s goal is $1000 for 1000 miles. That seems reasonable, right? And we have the first $100 donation already!

Hope y’all’re enjoying your quarantine Easter; for me it’s pretty much business as usual, pandemic or not.
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The cat-attacked mourning dove continues to recuperate nicely. She’s feeling great and refuses to accept that she can’t fly with most of the flight feathers missing on one wing. This makes freshening her food and water interesting, to say the least.

​The red tail in the mini-pen will be moved to the raptor flight this week; she needs some space to test that wing. 

The red tail who came in last Sunday with suspected capillaria required euthanasia. He had a great appetite but wasn’t gaining any weight, he refused to even attempt to stand after the first couple of days, and he got progressively more lethargic. When I walked in to hand-feed him his morning mice and found him near-comatose with ice-cold legs and feet, I knew it was time to call it on the poor fellow.
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Late last Sunday yet another possum came in, this one cat-attacked. She’s doing great, although she’s quite stubborn. She’s old enough to nibble at mealworms and soft solids but she refuses to touch anything but her formula. 

​Mid-week four hatchlings came in. The finders saw them on the ground the previous afternoon, made a makeshift nest, and put it in the tree closest to where they found the hatchlings. Smart thinking, and this approach will often work. In this case, however, when they checked the makeshift nest the next day it was obvious the parents hadn’t been feeding the babies, so the finders called LWR and instituted emergency warming and feeding measures per my instructions till they could get the babies to me that afternoon.  Two babies didn’t survive the night; the other two are doing well, and I’m cautiously optimistic as their eyes begin to open. They appear to be Carolina wrens.

​And Thursday night a caller reported capturing six wood ducklings after seeing them chased by a feral cat in the local Wal-Mart parking lot. She brought them to LWR the next morning; one of them died within 12 hours of arrival. The other five seem to be doing well; with wood ducks, stressy little birds that they are, I’m never certain they’ll survive till they’re actually released.

​The local barn swallows are busily building a new nest; the bluebirds have eggs in the nest; the Carolina wrens’ babies in the bluebird box near the mini-pen just hatched this morning, and the chickadees in the third bluebird box have babies as of Wednesday. It’s baby season!

​And here in Georgia, we’re battening down the hatches, as we’re expecting severe weather tonight into early tomorrow morning…The fun never ends…

With all the pandemic panic, the pace remains slow at LWR, although that could change at any point this month as baby season kicks into high gear.
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The red tail in the mini-pen continues to do well. Another week or so, and I’ll probably move her to the raptor flight to test her wings. That left wing droop worries me, but it’s been nearly 10 weeks since her x-rays so any healing that’s gonna take place has already done so.

​Mid-week last week, an adult red shoulder came in with an open wing fracture which, as y’all know by now, is a fatal injury. He was humanely euthanized.

​A day later, a caller said they’d found four baby possums with their dead mother. It would be the next morning before they could get them to LWR, so I explained emergency feeding and housing requirements. Two of the babies died that night, before arriving at LWR; the remaining two, both females, weighed in at respectable 26g and 28g, above the cut-off weight for survival. I thought they had a pretty decent chance, as their weights were reasonable, their eyes had just opened, and they were eating well and active. Both died within 24 hours of intake, however. 

​Friday night a cat-attacked mourning dove came in, and she was stove up, as the old expression goes. Her intake exam had me wondering if letting the cat finish what it started would’ve been kinder to the poor bird. Still, I started oral antibiotics and topical treatments on her extensive wounds, fully expecting her to die overnight. Today her wounds have scabbed over nicely, she’s perching, and she’s eating well.  Nothing was broken, surprisingly; she just has a lot of raw skin, abrasions and missing feathers. We’re taking it day by day but at the moment, I’m mildly optimistic she’ll be okay.

​And early this afternoon an adult male red tail came in, rail thin and lethargic but with no obvious fractures. There was no sign of frounce so I suspect capillaria, which is when worms from the rodents that form a large part of a red tail’s diet get in the bird’s crop and make it feel full even as it starves to death. I’ve started treatment for that and gotten a couple of small meals in the bird, which he ate eagerly. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic we caught this in time for the bird to make a full recovery.

​For those who may not know the lore, here in the South loblolly pines form what look like crosses from their new growth every spring, nearly always right around Easter. Since next Sunday is Easter, here are a few photos of those Easter pine crosses for your viewing pleasure.