LWR only saw a couple of new intakes last week, typical for fall, and we had one release, with a couple more slated for this week.
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Leading with excellent news, the red tail in the raptor flight, the one recovering from a lacerated cornea, is flying beautifully now, his eye looks great, and he should be ready to go this week. His release will be early in the week, as we have rain forecast for the end of the week.

​And the slow-to-independence Eurasian collared dove finally got his act together and was released—more good news! He perched at one point after release in a Confederate rose bush, which made for some pretty photos, even though it’s about played out.

​This adult red-bellied woodpecker was a cat-attack victim and although she appeared to’ve escaped with no serious damage, she still needed antibiotics. Cat saliva is toxic to wildlife—yet another reason to KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS.  She also apparently had a slightly sprained back toe (woodpeckers have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes, to aid in clambering up and down tree trunks). She could move it but was initially reluctant to do so. In the third shot you can see the source of the red belly’s name. Neat, huh? As of today, she’s perching well in her crate and is the second slated release of this week.

​The family that brought this barred owl to LWR had a long-term “nodding acquaintance” with him; he visited their yard frequently. So when they and a neighbor both saw the owl grounded for two nights, they got worried and captured him. When they called LWR, they reported the bird seemed weak and lethargic. Upon his arrival here the next day, he was more alert, albeit thin, and has since exhibited an excellent appetite. His left wing is broken in or near the elbow; he’ll need x-rays to confirm the exact location of the fracture. As I told the family, however, it’s not looking hopeful for him; the break isn’t recent and feels as if a callus has already formed. (That blood on his beak and on the paper in his box is from his recent meal, which he apparently enjoyed immensely.)

​And just a heads-up: next week’s update will be late Monday evening, rather than Sunday.

However, we were without power for 116.5 hours (not that I was counting or anything…) so I was unable to post an update last Sunday.
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“Michael eve” an adult barred owl came in after being pulled from a barbed wire fence. The damage to his wing was too severe to repair; he was humanely euthanized that evening. The photo below was taken after euthanasia.

​Two days after Michael, two mourning doves came in, a fledgling and a nestling, both victims of the storm.  Sadly, neither survived, but the older mourning dove from earlier this month was released late this week.

​The Eurasian collared dove is now a fledgling but he stubbornly refuses to self-feed.

​The great horned owl who came in as a days-old baby in March FINALLY got his act together and was released this afternoon. I’ll be honest; I had my doubts this bird would ever be releasable and actually came *thisclose* to euthanizing him three weeks ago. He still has a tendency to fly to the ground but his flight is strong and steady and he’s perfectly capable of perching when the mood strikes.

​His release freed up the raptor flight for the red tails. Normally I can stick a few first-year red tails in the raptor flight together with no problems but these two immediately squared off and bowed up at each other. 

​Given their levels of aggression, I brought the one recovering from the broken wing back in; he’ll likely need considerably more time in the flight than the one who flew through the window and lacerated his cornea—but look how well that eye is healing! It appears to be throwing his flight off somewhat still, but I think he’ll be just fine with a little practice in the raptor flight—and the eye continues to clear, so that will help, as well.

October is usually a fairly slow month but LWR saw five intakes in this first week of the month. Sadly, the majority were DOA. But there IS good news—read on.

On the same day midweek, an adult mocker and an adult female house finch came in, brought by the same volunteer. The mocker was literally DOA; the house finch lasted about 30 minutes after intake. Later in the week, a juvie ruby-throated hummer arrived just moments after dying en route.

Adding to the week’s death toll, the cat-attacked juvie mourning dove died. He was still on meds, was starting to attempt self-feeding—everything looked promising. And he died overnight late in the week.
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On the brighter side, a second mourning dove, also a juvie, came in. This one had not been cat-attacked; he’d just gotten separated from his parents somehow—his finders suspected a neighborhood hawk might have had his parents for dinner. It happens; it’s in a raptor’s job description: they eat songbirds. This little one is doing well and should be releasable as soon as he decides to self-feed.

​And in the “we didn’t get the memo” category, apparently some mid-state European collared doves weren’t told that breeding season for songbirds is over. This nestling collared dove was found by a lady out raking her yard.

The red tail who flew through the window and lacerated his cornea is doing very, very well. His eye looks great and he’s feisty as all get-out—and when I took these photos, he flinched at the focus assist lamp, so he can see from that eye. Great news!
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In the photos below compare his eye on intake, then last week, and finally the last two were taken today. Lookin’ good!

​And that, folks, is all the news there is for this week—short and sweet. Honestly, just knowing the red tail has vision in that eye is cause enough to break out the confetti, as far as I’m concerned.