Let’s lead with two gorgeous releases, shall we?
After last week’s failed release for the coot, it was anybody’s guess how a second attempt would end, but this time he decided it was time to leave the LWR B&B. It was quite a pretty release!
After last week’s failed release for the coot, it was anybody’s guess how a second attempt would end, but this time he decided it was time to leave the LWR B&B. It was quite a pretty release!
And just this evening, the screech flew the coop, as well; however, he didn’t waste as much time as the coot being photogenic—as you can clearly see in his release video. And forget any post-release photos; when a screech doesn’t want to be seen, he will NOT be seen!
Of course, few weeks in wildlife rehab are without tragedies. The red tail who inhaled food but refused to perch died Monday. No clue as to why, given that he was eating so well and alert, and a post-mortem exam revealed no obvious reasons for his sudden death.
And yet another barred owl came in requiring euthanasia. This poor fellow had an open left wing fracture, and his left leg was shattered, as well.
And yet another barred owl came in requiring euthanasia. This poor fellow had an open left wing fracture, and his left leg was shattered, as well.
Tuesday an adult male red shoulder came in with a damaged left eye and blood bubbling at the back of his throat. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to survive the night, but aside from the eye having swollen massively over the past couple of days, he’s actually doing well—eating normally, alert, aggressive…the eye seems to be getting worse rather than better, though, even with meds, so that’s worrisome.
Also Tuesday, while I was walking on our property, I found a near-adult red-bellied snake—and thanks to colleague Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center for identifying it, as I had no clue what species I was looking at. Since it had major abrasions to its side, Kathryn also recommended a course of treatment that would involve overwintering a difficult-to-rehab species. Sadly, the poor fellow died overnight.
The two barred owls in the raptor flight are good to go this week, probably early in the week.
The flyers are totally self-feeding now, so I seldom see them except when I’m checking their food stash inside the nest box.
Sisyphus the kestrel remains as pissy as ever—some things never change!
And the second kestrel has numerous issues that will require time to work through. For starters, he has massive head trauma, aka traumatic brain injury (TBI). This has led to very un-kestrel-like docility—the contrast between his behavior and that of Sisyphus is like night and day: one an aggressive little snot who draws blood every time he’s handled and the other perching calmly on my hand with no attempt to maim me. Also, he’s quite literally blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other. His injured eye looks better but he’s also blind in his uninjured eye at the moment. Whether this is permanent is anybody’s guess. TBI is a weird thing. He may regain sight in one or both eyes tomorrow, next week, next month…or never. And the docility may also reverse itself or be permanent. We just have to give him time and see what happens. He currently has to be hand-fed, as he cannot see to locate his food, but he did cock his head to the right and look down today as if he might be regaining at least partial vision in the “good” eye—or it could just be wishful thinking on my part. As I said, we just have to give him time. Meanwhile, though he doesn’t yet have a name, he gets called “Little Buddy” an awful lot because he’s so blessed sweet right now!
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