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Rain delays

5/29/2022

Not that anybody’s complaining, because we needed the rain—just means the barred release was postponed till sometime this week and the fruit-basket turnover that needs to take place has also been delayed.

Yesterday an adult screech came in with mild head trauma; I think he’ll be releasable fairly quickly, as he’s eating well but still not real alert.

Aside from that, it’s the same ol’ gang.

The “outside” red shoulders in the mini-pen need to be moved to the main flight, along with the spastic fellow who was so traumatized last week that he couldn't stand. That's the plan as soon as the barred is released.

The first red shoulder of the season and the red shoulder twins need to be in the mini-pen as soon as it's vacant.

And the vulture...well...he’s not ready to go into a pen yet, which is a good thing since one won’t be empty for a few weeks.

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“Three young hawks, see how they grow...”

5/22/2022

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Yes, I’m aware that’s not how the old nursery rhyme goes, but it seems especially appropriate for LWR’s trio of youngest red shoulders.

Just look at this lady, the first red shoulder nestling to come in only 20 days ago!

And then the “twins,” who came in just ten days ago...

The older two are now in the mini-pen. Once the one I worried might have a pelvic fracture settled down and realized food was plentiful, he began not only standing up but also screaming his fool head off. I actually had to wear earplugs when feeding him until he began eating on his own and could be moved outside.

And yes, one more red shoulder came in late Saturday, for an even half-dozen now. The photo below was taken right after intake, when he was still stressed to the max. He’s old enough to be in the mini-pen but very thin, so I’m keeping him inside till we get some weight on him. He was found grounded in a yard, near where woods were being clear-cut. My guess is the parents couldn’t find adequate food, as their habitat was being destroyed, or perhaps they'd cut the apron strings and he just wasn't a skilled enough hunter on his own.

The barred owl is in the main flight now and does NOT want the paparazzi hanging around. It took all week to manage this one halfway decent photo. We’ve got rain predicted all this week but as soon as the rain chances diminish for a few days, he should be good to go; he’s already passed his live prey test. (And trust me, no one in Middle Georgia, at least, is complaining about the rain; we NEED it.)

Sadly, the youngest black vulture, the one who was critical on intake last Sunday, didn’t make it. She was doing great, standing up, growling and hissing, and demanding food, so Tuesday I switched her from slurry to small fuzzies—teeny mice that we normally use with very young hatchling raptors because they’re easy to digest. By Wednesday she was experiencing full crop failure again. The food just wasn’t moving from her crop. I talked to colleague Kathryn Dudeck, as she’d triaged the bird before she came to me, and we agreed there was some sort of disconnect between the crop and the rest of the digestive system and that the probability was high that the parents had cut their losses and abandoned this young one because she couldn’t, in fact, digest her food properly. We also agreed that euthanasia was the best option at this point.

Despite this, I held off for another 24 hours, using old falconry tricks for treating crop slowdown, including gentle crop massage, to see if we could jumpstart her crop function. It didn’t work, so I made the call late Thursday to euthanize her.

The older black vulture, however, needs a coal shovel for his feedings. His appetite is voracious, and his “hiss-trionics” and growling are hilarious. Y’all know I love “my” black vulture babies!

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What’d I tell y’all?

5/15/2022

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Remember last week when I said my mentioning it was a slow rehab season thus far would invite Murphy to the party? Yeah, well, that’s exactly what happened...

I now have FIVE—count ‘em, FIVE—little leather-lunged red shoulders in-house and two young black vultures from different locations. And let’s not forget the juvie barred owl lingering from owl baby season. The LWR B&B has gone from “vacancies” to “no room at the inn.” (Okay, I could squeeze in a screech or two...)

The first arrival of the week was this brancher red shoulder, who came in via DNR from a county within our Region 4. He’s reluctant to self-feed and resistant to being fed, so he’s been a bit of a chore over the past week; additionally, although no injuries showed upon exam by the wildlife biologist who took him in overnight until he could make it to LWR or when I examined him on intake, he doesn’t want to stand. I suspect a pelvic fracture, which doesn’t always show in x-rays; but he’s been kept in a donut all week and is starting to get more mobile, so maybe it was just a really bad bruise. I’ll probably aim at x-rays this week just to be sure, even though the odds are we won’t be able to see any fractures.

The very next day an in-county caller indicated they had two nestling red shoulders that they couldn’t bring to LWR. I called the same game tech who brought me the brancher to see if he could get them, and he was able to do so—and informed me the callers had several vehicles sitting in the yard. So much for “I can’t drive them there,” right? More like “I WON’T drive them there.” I’m not sure how long they’d been with the individual, as they reeked of fish and had bits of fish stuck in their down on intake. For the record, fish is NOT on the red shoulder menu, so for the first few days after their intake I had screaming, hungry birds with indigestion. They wanted the food but couldn’t eat much at a time. And it took them three days to cast pellets. This is what happens when untrained individuals rely on “instinct” or the Internet for wildlife feeding advice.

Now, however, they’re eating well and casting pellets properly. And they look—and smell—much better, too.

And then red shoulder number 5 arrived, a second brancher who’d been with another rehabber for about a week while she tried to find someone who had other red shoulders to house him with. During baby season rehabbers don’t always communicate well with each other; we’re too busy dealing with our intakes. He’s doing well and will go into the mini-pen as soon as the barred moves into the main flight. And yeah, I know his eye color looks Coopish but he SOUNDS like a red shoulder.

The older vulture was apparently dog-attacked but not injured and spent several days with a vet in the county where he was found...where he was fed cat food...which I understand he promptly upchucked all over himself when colleague Kathryn Dudeck triaged him before his transport to LWR. God love her, she made sure he was clean before transport!

The second one was fed inappropriately as well, based on advice from a rehabber who isn’t licensed for raptors, resulting in rotting food crammed in his crop. Again, Kathryn triaged this one with a crop flush before his transport to LWR, and we’re still considering him critical, so it’s a wait-and-see situation with him.

Meanwhile, the original red shoulder nestling is growing apace and looking just gorgeous. Given the size, I’m thinking this is a female, and she’s gonna be a beauty once her feathers are fully in.

The barred owl hates me and would like to be gone NOW but he has to move to the main flight and pass a live prey test first!

For your listening pleasure, last night...ALL night...I had the battle of the nightjars going on in my yard, as the chuck-will’s-widows and whippoorwills competed to see who was the loudest. And the area unattached male mockers joined in quite frequently...Good thing I was up all night reading anyway!

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“One season following another...”

5/8/2022

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As baby owl season segues out of sight, baby hawk season starts...and this mouthy little beauty came in last week. He was found on the ground; the finders didn’t see a nest anywhere. He has no injuries but does have a very healthy appetite, although he’s quite the connoisseur, with very definite opinions as to how his meals should be served...apparently no one ever told him beggars can’t be choosers! (And yes, I *may* have gone a wee bit overboard with "baby" pix, but Lordamercy--look at the little darlin'!)

In case the description wasn’t a dead giveaway, he’s a little red shoulder hawk, aka the “screaming Mimis” or “leather-lungs” of the hawk world, and he’s shown measurable growth just since intake on Tuesday. And yes, his lungs are in excellent shape: he screams at dawn; he screams while eating; he screams while napping; he screams at dusk...about the only time he’s totally silent is in the dead of night.

He cast a pellet the very first morning after intake--always good!

Sadly, two adult raptors who came in last week weren’t as lucky.

This second-year red tail hawk had an open humerus fracture and required euthanasia.

And this adult barred owl had a shoulder fracture and a ruptured right eye, so he also required euthanasia. The photo below was taken after euthanasia, to show the extent of damage to the eye.

In better news, the great horned was released and wasted no time skedaddling and, as you can see from the very short release video below—check out the right side of the frame as she goes in for a landing on the left—the songbirds wasted no time harassing her!

The brancher barred is now in the mini-pen and is delighted to have room to stretch his wings; by week’s end he should be ready for the main flight.

It’s still a weirdly slow baby season, although you wouldn’t know it by the food bill for these feathered bottomless pits—rodent prices, as with human food, are steadily rising, so it may be a good thing it’s a slowish year. (And I probably just invited Murphy to the party and the “baby” floodgates will open now...)

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Releases of varying kinds

5/1/2022

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Let’s start with the good news: the feisty female red phase screech spent a week in the mini-pen, which is plenty large for a screech to build up flight muscles. Yesterday evening she was bouncing off the walls so I left the door open about dusk, and by dark she’d flown the coop. I managed one photo of her early in the week, right after I moved her outside.

An adult male barred owl wasn’t as lucky; he came in with a shattered hip. I’d planned to get x-rays, in hopes it wasn’t as badly shattered as I thought, so given his late arrival, I made him comfortable for the night and was going to call Smalley’s in the morning. Unfortunately, he must’ve had internal injuries, as he died overnight. I didn’t even get an intake photo of him, as I’d thought I’d just snap a few while he was on the x-ray table.

This morning an adult male red shoulder came in with his left wing broken at the wrist, and both radius and ulna were fractured. This didn’t even require x-rays; the wrist was broken right in the joint and the radius and ulna were so badly displaced that the middle of his “forearm” bent like a second wrist. He was humanely euthanized.

The great horned is heading for release soon, possibly by midweek; I’m watching the weather to determine her release date. Didn't she grow up to be a beauty, though?!

And the brancher barred will be headed for the mini-pen this week. He’s getting antsy now and wanting to test those wings!

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Rain delays

“Three young hawks, see how they grow...”

What’d I tell y’all?

“One season following another...”

Releases of varying kinds

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