The week got off to a depressing start, with the unexpected deaths of two seemingly healthy birds, the euthanasia of another apparently healthy bird who nosedived and three DOA birds. Thankfully for my sanity, the rest of the week wasn’t as deadly or depressing.
The red shoulder with the hand fracture was fine at lights-out last Sunday and dead the next morning—no clue as to why. He was alert, eating well and energetic…and then he was dead.
The nuthatch followed a similar scenario: fine, alert, eating, dead. Again, no clue as to why.
Last week’s mourning dove apparently had some sort of rupture or something overnight, as when I went to feed him Tuesday morning, he was gasping for breath with blood oozing from his mouth. Obviously, I euthanized the poor bird to end his suffering. Again, we have the frustration of not knowing what happened—he had been fine at lights-out the previous night.
The cat-attacked nestling mocker didn’t respond to treatment; he rallied a bit and then died overnight, as well.
And this tiny little hatchling, species uncertain, was found on a porch. Based on the rescuers’ descriptions of the bird’s general physical condition, I thought the poor little baby had a chance: no hard, swollen belly, no bruising, gaping—all sounded promising. And when the bird came in, their descriptions were accurate, and it ate well and pooped normally, so I was quite hopeful. At 1:30AM the baby was sleeping and breathing normally, but by 7:30AM the poor little thing had died.
The red shoulder with the hand fracture was fine at lights-out last Sunday and dead the next morning—no clue as to why. He was alert, eating well and energetic…and then he was dead.
The nuthatch followed a similar scenario: fine, alert, eating, dead. Again, no clue as to why.
Last week’s mourning dove apparently had some sort of rupture or something overnight, as when I went to feed him Tuesday morning, he was gasping for breath with blood oozing from his mouth. Obviously, I euthanized the poor bird to end his suffering. Again, we have the frustration of not knowing what happened—he had been fine at lights-out the previous night.
The cat-attacked nestling mocker didn’t respond to treatment; he rallied a bit and then died overnight, as well.
And this tiny little hatchling, species uncertain, was found on a porch. Based on the rescuers’ descriptions of the bird’s general physical condition, I thought the poor little baby had a chance: no hard, swollen belly, no bruising, gaping—all sounded promising. And when the bird came in, their descriptions were accurate, and it ate well and pooped normally, so I was quite hopeful. At 1:30AM the baby was sleeping and breathing normally, but by 7:30AM the poor little thing had died.
And then, topping off the whole series of tragedies, a woman rescued a “blue jay” from her cat, kept it without food or meds for over 7 hours before contacting LWR at 10:30PM, and by the time transporters were able to get the poor Eastern bluebird fledgling the next morning and get it to LWR, it was too late.
Folks, THIS is what free-roaming cats do. This little female bluebird never had a chance to learn to fly well. She never had a chance to learn to self-feed. She never had a chance to mature and lay eggs and raise young of her own. Her death was preventable if the cat who attacked her had only been indoors and not preying on helpless fledglings and nestlings. This is NOT acceptable when the simple solution is to KEEP YOUR DAMN CATS INSIDE. As I’ve said on numerous occasions, I have cats. I love cats—INDOORS, where they belong, for their own safety and that of our native wildlife. I submit to you once again that if you allow your cats to roam freely outdoors, you a) don’t love your cats; b) are an irresponsible cat owner; c) care nothing for our native wildlife.
Last week’s brown thrasher is now in the flight pen.
Last week’s brown thrasher is now in the flight pen.
He’s joined by two red-bellied woodpeckers who came in mid-week...
…and a cat-attacked mourning dove who also came in mid-week.
Rounding out the current flight pen residents, we have a fledgling Carolina wren…
…and a fledgling mocker.
Two other newbies are these Canada goslings. They’re not siblings, but after some initial down-pulling and pecking, they’re getting along just fine.
These two nestling Carolina wrens were found still in the nest with dead sibs on the ground below. Their rescuers drove from Augusta—basically halfway across the state—to get them to LWR. They grow so fast; they’re changing daily!
The flyers are pre-release now; I seldom see more than a little brown head peeking out of the nest box while I freshen their food and water.
The leg trap GHO is due for follow-up x-rays as soon as I can manage to get him to Smalley’s—I’m trying to wait till most of the remaining inside songbirds have “graduated” to the flight pen, so I have fewer additional birds along for the ride because they can’t miss feedings. Once they’re in the flight pen, they’re doing a fair amount of self-feeding, so trips to the vet for other birds become less of a massive logistical nightmare.
The downy GHOs are, well, not so downy these days. They’re feathering out beautifully.
The leg trap GHO is due for follow-up x-rays as soon as I can manage to get him to Smalley’s—I’m trying to wait till most of the remaining inside songbirds have “graduated” to the flight pen, so I have fewer additional birds along for the ride because they can’t miss feedings. Once they’re in the flight pen, they’re doing a fair amount of self-feeding, so trips to the vet for other birds become less of a massive logistical nightmare.
The downy GHOs are, well, not so downy these days. They’re feathering out beautifully.
The barred owls are also looking great. These shots were a rare photo op; they’re seldom all clustered together like this.
The “little brown jobs” I thought were Carolina wrens last week feathered out to be Eastern phoebes. I knew the voice didn’t seem right; they never developed that “crickety” call that identifies young Caros. And then as the feathers came in and the beak morphed into that characteristic flat flycatcher shape, I was delighted to discover we had phoebes! They’re little sweethearts who’re starting to wing flap and perch a bit and have been moved into a larger indoor enclosure to give them room for both.
And the bluebirds are, of course, utterly adorable, sweet and just too photogenic. They’re also juuust before fledging—some occasional perching but no wing flapping yet.
Finally, a bonus shot: this is an eyed click beetle—totally harmless despite their fierce appearance. The “eye” part of their name is pretty obvious from those big ol’ spots on their upper body; the “click” part comes from the clicking noise they make when threatened or when flipping from their backs to an upright position. I don’t see these often, so I’m delighted to share this shot with you!
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