Only one new intake last week, a runt male red shoulder found on the roadside in Laurens County by partying teens. They wisely called the game warden, who got the bird to LWR. He was alert but emaciated and had apparently been grounded long enough that he’d been eating insects to survive; the single small pellet he cast was nothing but insect exoskeletons. He had no wing or leg fractures. Hydration and small, frequent meals ultimately didn’t help; the poor fellow died 48 hours after intake.
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Yeah, I’m trying to be snarky about it, but ALL of Georgia desperately needs rain. Some areas—not us—got a smidge Saturday, but not nearly enough to alleviate this drought, and South Georgia’s got two wildfires raging that, combined, have decimated over 41,000 acres. So far, no reported loss of human, pet or livestock life, but my heart aches for the wildlife that couldn’t escape these spreading infernos. Only one new intake last week, a runt male red shoulder found on the roadside in Laurens County by partying teens. They wisely called the game warden, who got the bird to LWR. He was alert but emaciated and had apparently been grounded long enough that he’d been eating insects to survive; the single small pellet he cast was nothing but insect exoskeletons. He had no wing or leg fractures. Hydration and small, frequent meals ultimately didn’t help; the poor fellow died 48 hours after intake. The barred twins are almost ready for the mini-pen. They’re starting to wing-flap vigorously but are still not eating their mice whole. As cut-up mice attract flies and ants more quickly, these two fuzz-buckets need to be eating whole mice before they can go into the mini-pen. Maybe by week’s end… And the great horned thinks she’s ready to go but she’s still refusing to hunt the mice hidden around the main flight and has obviously not passed a live prey test yet. Teenagers, right?! She’ll figure it out…eventually…maybe… Y’all pray for significant rainfall for all of Georgia but especially for Brantley and Clinch counties, the two counties battling horrific wildfires at the moment.
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No new intakes, so it’s just the same ol’ three owls at the moment. Still, this is on track with intakes for last year. The barreds are growing like weeds. They were moved into a larger nest box last week and graduated from small to medium mice for their meals. Now if they’d just figure out the self-feeding thing…They’re still a bit young for that, though. Another couple of weeks and we should see some attempts at self-feeding. The great horned continues to hone her flight skills but stubbornly refuses to search for food. She gets an “A” for flight and a “Needs improvement” for hunting. Needless to say, we haven’t even attempted live prey testing yet. I’m pretty sure all our native wildlife is feeling our lack of rain at the moment—all of Georgia is currently in severe to extreme drought conditions, with low to no rain chances predicted for at least the next week (although it looks as if NW Georgia may have gotten a little rain overnight). Drier conditions mean fewer insects, meaning songbirds struggle to feed their young. As plants dry up, rodents and other prey animals lose their sources of food and their populations drop, making it harder for raptors to feed their nestlings. Our rivers, lakes and aquifers are strained as the dry conditions continue. And our farmers, whether crop or livestock, are suffering, as well. Y’all pray for rain for all of Georgia.
Last Saturday, the day before Easter, two barred owl hatchlings joined the “nursery” at LWR. Hunters in Washington County noticed the babies exposed on the ground as they went to their blind but waited to see if the parents would coax/move them into the brush. Upon the hunters’ return, the nestlings, between baseball- and softball-sized, were still in the same spot with no nest in sight, so the hunters contacted LWR and brought the babies here. Their eyes were barely open when they arrived, and they were only days old, as their egg teeth were still in place, but they’ve grown quite a bit in a week…and sometimes they even use their nest instead of cramming themselves into a corner of their box… The great horned juvie was moved into the main flight midweek, where she has more room to avoid her feeder person, which she’s happy about (as is the feeder person, honestly; it means the bird didn’t imprint or habituate). She’s flying well but refuses to seek her food at all just yet. It still has to be in one specific spot or she ignores it. We’re working on that; remember, great horneds aren’t known for their smarts. And that’s the latest “news fit to print!”
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