LWR received numerous calls over the past two weeks, most of them “baby calls” that were resolved by reuniting brancher great horneds, barreds and screeches with their parents. We seem to’ve hit a spate of folks who have the common sense to seek ways to reunite babies and parents: one creative soul used a game tracker to ensure the baby she placed back in the tree was being fed by his parents; another kept looking till he found the nest and used a ladder to renest the baby. Can we clone these folks?

While we love raising baby raptors, it’s always best if the parents can finish the job they started, so the willingness of these folks to go above and beyond to reunite babes and parents is a welcome and refreshing development!

Because of their willingness to work toward reunification, LWR had only one new intake over the past couple of weeks, an adult barred found by the roadside. He had minor head trauma on intake but was alert and feisty within a week. Because the finders suspected he came from the woods near their house, he went back to his home territory for release. We have no videos of that release.

In amazingly good news, the mature red tail FINALLY started flying. He still droops that wing at rest, but he’s flying strong, so the goal now is to release him as soon as possible so the first-year red tail can be moved into the main flight.

The first-year bird’s wing is looking great—nice and even—but he can’t really test it in the mini-pen.

And since I can get no firm quotes in writing from any contractor I’ve spoken with, Operation Eagle Flight is on hold until I can locate someone willing to provide a quote and do the work once funding is secured. I’ll update y’all as soon as I know anything definite, but it’s not looking promising at the moment.

Really. There were no new intakes last week, and LWR still has no quote for Operation Eagle Flight, so…

The mature red tail’s future isn’t looking promising; his wing droop is very pronounced when he’s at rest, and he “ladders” up to perches rather than flying.  If y’all recall, he was a likely victim of “spray and pray” over a dove field back in January, and his x-rays showed a fracture very close to the elbow, so the risk was that the joint would freeze when it healed. This would seem to be the case, sadly, but we’ll give him another week or so.

The first-year red tail’s February x-rays showed his fracture was closer to mid-bone and he’s holding his wing level at rest and pretty close to level now when he flares his wings. He needs to be moved into the main flight to have room to really test his flight capability, hence the need to decide the final disposition of the mature bird fairly quickly.

Remember that there will be no update next Sunday, April 20, Easter Sunday.

It was a strange week at LWR. We almost had our first eagle of the year, and we almost had our first two babies—both great horneds—of the year. And we did manage a release in the midst of the chaos, too!

The eagle, apparently a young adult, had been found hanging by his wing from fishing line in South Georgia last week and had been taken by DNR to UGA for treatment before transfer to a rehabber; because CNC is bustin’ at the seams already, DNR and FWS worked together to obtain authorization for LWR to hold the eagle once it left UGA. Unfortunately, the vets at UGA determined the injuries to the wing were so severe that it required euthanasia.

Then two calls came in almost back to back, both with brancher great horneds in the brush near trees in their yards. I have nothing but kudos for these two families, as they did EVERYTHING right. They contacted LWR to see what needed to be done; when I questioned them about the demeanor of the birds, the callers said their respective birds were quiet and calm except when approached. Both callers indicated they could hear adults in the woods. Both callers said there were no dangers (dogs, cats) to the birds in their yards. I suggested monitoring the birds and if they hadn’t moved along within four hours or so, we might need to intervene. In both cases the parents coaxed the errant branchers back into the woods, where they could complete their job of raising their babies. Way to go, finders! Y’all’s common sense and willingness to follow instructions kept those young birds with their parents! (Can we clone these folks???)

Now for the release: The adult red shoulder wasted no time vacating the premises once he was offered his freedom. He showed out a good bit before realizing I actually was barely holding him back, then bounced off the ground before taking off.

The one new intake was a small male great horned found in the road. He had no fractures and his pupils were even and responsive but I still suspected head trauma and possible optic nerve damage. Unfortunately, there were apparently also internal injuries; he didn’t last 48 hours.

Both red tails continue to “keep on keepin’ on,” as it were. No real progress, but at least no regression either, so I guess that’s good. We shall see…

Nothing to report on Operation Eagle Flight; we’re still in a holding pattern awaiting the quote.

Next week’s update will be early, on Saturday the 12th, and there will be no update on Easter Sunday, April 20th.