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Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving!

11/28/2021

Here at LWR it was an unusually quiet holiday—the phone didn’t ring once during the day. Now THAT’S a rarity! And we have no new intakes to report. Both could be the result of abnormally cool weather for Middle Georgia over the past week; people just haven’t been getting outside as much.

Let’s start off with an update on the barred owl with the foot fracture. As indicated last week, he went back in Tuesday for vet Jim Hobby at Smalley’s to splint and brace the foot. Jim, as usual, did an excellent job, although the barred wasn’t as pleased with the results as we were...as you can see...

The screech wasted no time skedaddling when the opportunity presented itself; the photos below were taken right before I left the mini-pen door open near dusk to give him the option of self-releasing. Fifteen minutes later, he was long gone!

And I’m still delaying the inevitable on the red tail. He proved this week that he really cannot fly; that elbow is well and truly frozen. I suppose it’s time to call it; further delays aren’t fair to the bird, as he’s showing weekly that he’s not releasable and his personality isn’t really suited for an ed bird, sadly. I’m exploring a couple more options this week before calling it, though.

And just a heads-up so you can start collecting those pennies: LWR will be launching a Christmas fundraiser on Nov. 30, this year’s Giving Tuesday. Details will follow on that date!

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Business as usual pre-Thanksgiving

11/21/2021

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Last week saw no releases and a couple of intakes: a barred owl and a screech.

The barred owl came in after being found by the roadside, unwilling or unable to fly. An intake exam revealed no wing fractures but his left foot was swollen and “crunchy” right above his toes and he kept that foot balled up. By his vet visit the following day, though, he had the foot fully extended in a more normal position. X-rays showed the foot was indeed fractured but because it was still quite swollen, vet Jim Hobby and I opted to do a soft wrap for the weekend to give the swelling time to go down before splinting the foot early this week.

The screech wasn’t as lucky; he flew into the bumper of a car, resulting in an open femur fracture. His finders initially thought nothing was broken and were going to wait until the following morning to bring him to me, but when they saw blood they called back to ask if they could go ahead and bring him that night. He lasted mere minutes after they arrived with him; it appeared that the broken femur sliced or punctured a vein or artery, causing him to bleed out en route.

The red tail whose elbow fracture froze the joint when it healed is still not showing any measurable progress but, well, he’s a red tail. As I told a colleague last week, unless a red tail is bleeding from every pore or has three inches of bone exposed, I’m inclined to give it as much time as possible—and sometimes it pays off. So we’ll just have to wait and see with this fellow.

The screech who’s recovered from a dislocated shoulder is pretty much good to go; I’ll most likely open the mini-pen door about dusk one evening this week and let him decide when/if he’s gonna leave. I’m sure he’ll disapprove of that, as well—it’s a screech thing...

And since the next update will be after Thanksgiving, I hope y’all all have a happy Thanksgiving!

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Releases! (And no new intakes, for a change)

11/14/2021

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LWR released two birds last week, the mature red tail who came in rail-thin and the barred owl who came in the previous weekend with head trauma.

As antsy as the red tail was, I was sure he’d be gone quickly. Not so...he sat on the glove in threat posture. And sat. And sat. And sat. Finally, I gave up trying to record his release, put the camera up, and reached for the glove I had tossed over my shoulder. And then the uncooperative little snot took off like a rocket. So no release video and no post-release photos, but isn’t this a lovely shot of him just prior to release? (Yeah, those green stains were on his underwing when he came in, from where he pooped in the box he was being transported in. A month later, he still hadn’t fully groomed them off.)

The barred owl decided to get vocal with me the day before his release; that, coupled with his general alertness and healthy appetite, convinced me he was ready to go, so he was released late in the evening on the same day the red tail was released. The barred didn’t waste time, as you can see below—if I do say so myself, that’s a gorgeous release video! Go full screen for the best results.

The first-year red tail recovering from the elbow fracture isn’t looking promising. He makes no real attempt to fly. He needs to show me some effort, some slight improvement, or we’re gonna have to start thinking about hard decisions.

Tried to get below him slightly to get this photo so you could more clearly see his relaxed posture with that one foot pulled up.

The screech refuses to let me see him fly but I know he can. He’d rather give me the screech death glare. I’m so terrified...NOT. Gotta love screeches!

While there were numerous calls last week, none resulted in intakes. Honestly, I’m never sure if that’s a good thing or not. In a couple of cases, the would-be rescuers did let me know the bird they were attempting to rescue was able to fly away so at least I know those birds should be okay. I know: “You can’t save ‘em all.” Doesn’t stop you from wishing you could, though.

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One in, one out: Maintaining the balance

11/7/2021

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It was a slowish couple of weeks: calls but no intakes until yesterday, and one release to round things out.

Starting with the release, the red tail who’d come in with a ruptured crop regained his freedom this morning. After his initial reluctance to leave two weeks ago, followed by a week of rain and high rain chances, it was good to see him finally return to the wild. He immediately flew to the far range of my camera's zoom, so these are the best post-release shots I could manage.

The mature red tail should be headed out this week; he’s gained weight and is alert and feisty.

The red tail recovering from the elbow fracture still needs some time. His fracture was so close to the joint that there was some concern as to whether it would heal for flight. Thus far, I’m not seeing satisfactory progress; it looks as if the joint may have “frozen,” meaning the callus that formed when the fracture healed has caused the joint to be immobile. I’m not willing to give up on him yet, so we’ll give him another few weeks.

The screech recovering from the dislocated shoulder is back in the mini-pen, where he’ll remain this time until he can be released. He was making good progress when I moved him back inside because I needed the space for the just-released red tail.

And the barred owl who came in yesterday has no fractures and his eyes are clear but his bruised left ear is a definite indication of head trauma. Given his increased level of alertness and beak clicking this morning, I’d guess he’ll also be released by week’s end.

Bruised left ear

Clear right ear

Hope everybody enjoyed that extra hour of sleep this morning!

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Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving!

Business as usual pre-Thanksgiving

Releases! (And no new intakes, for a change)

One in, one out: Maintaining the balance

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