Last week was a frenetic few days, with five intakes all in one day and 13 total for the week…in addition to the 12 already in care. LWR is about officially at capacity, even with releases and euthanasias balancing out the number.

Where to begin? Although he came in mid-week, let’s start with the adult Mississippi kite (MIKI) who was found in the middle of a four-lane road on Wednesday. Two cars stopped to check on him, and the ladies in one car and gentleman in the other worked together to box the bird and get him to LWR, where—to my great delight—he appeared only stunned. Y’all have to understand that adult MIKIs seldom come into rehab with even fixable injuries, much less totally uninjured.
​
He was bouncing off the walls by Thursday afternoon, so I released him and he took off across the hayfield in short order. Gorgeous!

​Another mild head trauma case came in Tuesday, an adult barred owl. By today he was also ready to go and was released. Got video of his release but no post-release photos.

​Also on Tuesday a second nestling Coop arrived, a transfer from Bubba & Friends raptor rehab. He’s considerably younger than the first Coop who arrived a couple of weeks ago but is already self-feeding.

​The first Coop was released today after passing his live prey test. I didn’t manage video but he did pause long enough for one really good post-release shot.

​A nestling what-I-thought-was-a-phoebe came in Tuesday, as well, but as he matured, feathers came in and he started vocalizing, he’s looking and sounding more like great crested flycatcher—although he’s very small for a great crested. He was found sopping wet on the ground after a storm, and he’s still struggling from the aftereffects of that, I think.

​And a way-too-friendly fledgling blue jay came in Tuesday, after his finder reported he followed her around her yard for several hours and even came on her porch, begging for food. When he arrived he was less than half the weight of my somewhat younger other pair of jays, leading me to believe he’d been raised illegally on a crap diet and had MBD (metabolic bone disease) from a calcium-poor diet. He didn’t last 24 hours, poor baby.

Y’all, THIS is why it’s important to have the proper training and permits to work with ANY wildlife. There’s a helluva lot more to raising a wild bird than just feeding it some crap recommended by some fool on the Internet. In addition to a getting proper diet while it’s maturing, the bird must learn to self-feed on the diet it would find in the wild, have properly waterproofed feathers, build its flight muscles, etc. These wannabes who feed their egos by breaking the law and consigning the birds they screw up to death infuriate me.

Another brown thrasher arrived Tuesday, also—cat-attacked. He came in Tuesday night and though I started meds on intake, he didn’t survive the night.
​
In addition to the aforementioned MIKI, an adult great horned owl came in Wednesday. He was found in a ditch in a neighboring county and looked quite rough on intake, although nothing was broken and he showed no signs of frounce. Sadly, his condition deteriorated over the next few days, to the point he couldn’t even grip a perch. He was humanely euthanized.

​A red shoulder who arrived Wednesday also required euthanasia, as his right wing and leg were broken at the joint and his right eye was swollen shut. The eye we could’ve worked with; the joint fractures weren’t fixable.

​Friday people cut down a snag without checking first for nests and destroyed the home of three pre-fledgling bluebirds. Another 48 hours and they’d’ve been out of the nest—the first “fledged” from his box at LWR this afternoon. They’re not happy campers, bless their sweet little hearts, and I can’t blame them.

Also Friday, a nestling barn owl arrived after being found with dead siblings in a toppled deer stand. Since Bubba & Friends has two barnies currently, this leather-lunged little rascal will be headed to form a trio tomorrow.

​In news of ongoing guests at LWR, the brown thrashers and grackle were released.

​I tried the blue jays in the mini-pen and they were none too pleased so they’re back inside for the moment.

​The mourning doves are also less than pleased with me at the moment, as I’ve cut back on their feedings to encourage self-feeding. They scatter the seed like pros but actually EAT it? Hah!

​The barred owl is now in the raptor flight; he’s only a brancher but he needed room to stretch his wings.

​And since the blue jays hated the mini-pen it was freed up for the screeches, who had me in stitches at their expressions in their new digs.

​There will be no update next Sunday—just a heads-up this week.

Yeah, so last Sunday I blithely announced just how the fruit basket turnover would go as birds were released and moved around, and of course, none of it panned out the way I’d intended, so nobody’s where I’d planned—aside from the releases, that is. Typical…
​
Before getting to the releases, last week was loosely bookended with the arrivals of two blue jays. Wednesday’s jay was a true nestling and adorable as only baby jays can be.

​Friday’s jay was *thisfar* from fledging—if he’d been able to stay nested for another couple of days he could have properly fledged. However, he and the younger jay have bonded nicely—young jays are neat in that respect—and are doing beautifully together.

​The only other new intake, early in the week, was a young female sharpie who apparently just had some minor head trauma; she was released Saturday, along with the red tail and both red shoulders.

​No video of the red shoulder releases; they were in the same box and shot out in different directions. But I did track them down by listening to the nuthatches in the woods raising Cain, so I managed a couple of photos of them post-release.

​The red tail didn’t hang around for post-release photos; I barely managed the video of his release.

​The plan last Sunday was to move the screeches into the mini-pen once the red tail was released; the brown thrashers, grackle and flicker needed to be outside sooner, though. The flicker self-released, not ideal but always a risk using a pen not really designed for songbirds while the songbird flight remains out of commission. The other three are more content to keep the handouts going.

​So the screeches went into a slightly larger box for another week or so, bless their impatient little hearts.

​The mourning doves, as I predicted last Sunday, aren’t even recognizable as the same little “cactus fuzz” babies! They’re starting to flap those wings in the nest, too.

​The Coop with the black eye is self-feeding entirely now, whole mice, and in the raptor flight as of today. I’d really planned to hold off and place him in the mini-pen after the screeches but he’s a Coop. He was literally bouncing off the walls of his box, so…

​And the original plan was for the barred owl to go in the raptor flight, rather than the Coop, but the barred refuses to eat whole mice. As long as they have to be cut up, they’ll attract ants too quickly in the raptor flight, so…picky eaters have to stay inside a while longer. But look at how this baby has grown!

You know, wildlife rehabbers emphasize over and over the importance of getting orphaned, injured or ill wildlife to us ASAP. Last week LWR had a prime example of exactly why this is so important.

Monday a caller reported having found a downed baby red tail, probably unnested in Sunday night’s storms. Wrong time of year for red tails to be nesting, so I suspected late-breeding red shoulders. When she arrived with the bird it was a nestling Cooper’s hawk.  Oh joy…if any hawk makes a rehabber cringe, it’s a pissy, psychotic Coop—and yeah, the babies are just as bad as the adults.
​
ANYway…his intake exam revealed a beauty of a shiner on his left eye and some bruising under his left wing, both most likely sustained when he fell from the nest. Aside from that, he was textbook Coop. And because his finder had sought help immediately, he suffered no lasting damage or nutritional deficiencies. Today he’s started attempting to feed himself, to this rehabber’s delight. Fighting with a Coop to get him fed ain’t on my Top 10 list of favorite things to do!

And then we have nestling Coop 2. Coop 2 came in Friday. The urgency of the call suggested the caller had just found the bird, but when he arrived he said he’d had the poor nestling Cooper’s hawk a WEEK, feeding it CATFISH  and CHICKEN—and based on the dark green in his poop, not a lot of that. And as for the poop, it was CAKED to his butt and his cloaca (his rectum) was red and swollen from sitting in his own waste for a week—he had a pelvic fracture and was unable to stand at all. So for a week this bird sat in a chainsmoker’s house (his car reeked when I retrieved the bird), being fed too little of an inappropriate diet and sitting in his own waste—and the finder admitted this isn’t the first time he and his wife have screwed over our native wildlife, because they “just looove nature” and are “real animal lovers.” (And yes, they’ve been reported.)

Initially, I’d planned to euthanize as soon as the poor bird had experienced a couple of decent meals comprised of proper food. But he went from feet dangling uselessly to at least tucking them against his body when I picked him up to feed him. And consultations with Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center and Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends Raptor Rehab led us all to the conclusion that maybe giving him the weekend wasn’t a bad idea—and he seemed to be making promising progress: After he’d been soaked in warm water to remove as much of the caked-on poop as possible, he was flaring and spreading his tail feathers. Saturday morning he’d sliced (pooped) a wee bit outside the nest, cast a small pellet, and was moving his tail feathers more. And the swelling and redness in his cloaca had diminished considerably after just one night in a clean nest. Another soak Saturday night removed even more of the caked-on waste, and there was slightly more motion in his legs this morning. Sadly, a week of crap nutrition was more than his little body could take, and he died sometime after his first feeding this morning. He was sprawled in his nest when I went in to give him his second feeding.

Could his fractured pelvis have been treated when it was a fresh fracture? We’ll never know now. In a young bird whose body is still growing, a week of improper caging, diet and nesting is an eternity of improper healing and malnutrition, as well. Pelvic fractures can frequently be successfully treated. This poor fellow had no chance, though, because some fool decided it would be fun to try and raise an injured baby with no clue what he was doing.

​Also on Monday, a nestling grackle came in, another storm victim. Young grackles aren’t especially attractive and their call is harsh and demanding. But their personalities are so endearing it’s impossible not to love ‘em. I’ve seen them called the “poor man’s crow” but they’re not corvids; they're icterids--in the blackbird family. Adults have long, slender bodies, dark iridescent feathers and striking yellow eyes—it’s an utterly gorgeous combination. But their poor voice never changes! This little fellow has matured rapidly over the past week and is ready for new digs with a perch.

​And Monday also saw the arrival of a pre-fledgling flicker, thoroughly stressed from being unnested when the tree his nest cavity was in was felled. Flickers are in the woodpecker family but the feather pattern and coloration on young flickers is noticeably different from either young red-bellied or red-headed woodpeckers. Stress isn’t an issue now, as he calls loudly if I’m two minutes late feeding him!

​Thursday two nestling mourning doves were found on the ground after a storm—it was a week of hit-and-miss storms throughout Georgia. They’re growing nicely; by next week you won’t recognize them as the same birds!

​An impossibly tiny pre-fledgling blue-gray gnatcatcher also arrived Thursday, weak and lethargic from an extended period without food before she was found. She rallied with warmth and appropriate food and I thought the danger was past, but she died overnight Friday.

​Thursday night a caller reported an unnested brown thrasher and was willing to bring it immediately, even though it was after 10 pm. He was placed with the surviving of the two cat-attacked thrashers, and both are thriving.

​The barred owl is now self-feeding and testing his wings.

The red tail will be released as soon as we have three consecutive days of low/no rain chances—this gives released birds time to acclimate to their new surroundings before experiencing any inclement weather.

​The red shoulders are also rarin’ to go.

​And the screeches will go into the mini pen as soon as the red tail’s released. And yeah, they do make just that big a mess in their box overnight…

And I obviously got to see a really neat bird last week—an anhinga! In twenty years I’ve only had one other anhinga, an adult male. This one was either a juvenile or an adult female—their coloration is the same. I’m leaning toward juvie, as this guy wasn’t nearly as aggressive as the only other one I’ve seen.

Friday evening one of the local game wardens called with the anhinga—also called water turkey for their turkeylike tail feathers or snake bird due to their unique method of swimming with their bodies submerged and only their head and neck above water.

This anhinga had a fish hook embedded in his neck. Initially I thought the game warden and I could probably handle it but it was embedded too deeply, so I called vet Jim Hobby of Smalley’s after hours to give him a heads-up I’d be bringing the bird in Monday, as Smalley’s is closed on the weekend. Jim, God love him, told me to bring the bird by Saturday morning while they were feeding and medicating the animals at the clinic. It took him less than five minutes to remove the hook—skill is everything!

While the anhinga ate the fish I force-fed him, he was not thrilled at the method of delivery and refused to eat the live fish from a deep dish of water. They’re more diving birds—and those beaks have sharp edges in addition to that pointed end. I sliced my fingers through gloves at every feeding—it was like rubbing a razor blade.
​
So given that I’d medicated the entry and exit sites for the hook for a couple of days, I decided today to release him. Sorry the for the quality of the video; my “real” camera froze—wouldn’t zoom, wouldn’t start recording, wouldn’t take photos, wouldn’t turn off—so thank God for cell phones, even if it is a really awful digitally zoomed video—at least you can see how anhingas earned the nickname snake bird!

The anhinga bookended a week that started with a nestling barred owl who’d been found May 29 and fed NOTHING until June 1, when he was fed “a few worms and 10 crickets.” Yeah. Some cretin kept a BABY owl all weekend and fed it NOTHING until Monday morning, and it was Monday EVENING before the bird arrived at LWR.

Angry doesn’t come remotely close to describing me at that moment. The poor bird was begging for food and so hungry he was trying to eat my fingers. I couldn’t slice up his mice fast enough—and he inhaled them like the starving baby he was.

For the record, if you wouldn’t let a human child go an entire weekend with no food, what the hell makes you think it’s okay to let a baby raptor go hungry all weekend? I won’t even get started on that rant again; I’m furious all over again just thinking about it.
​
The sweet little fellow is doing well, despite his harrowing weekend. He’s alert, when he’s awake, and eating very well. Below are some shots of him, and a short video of him sleeping. Baby owls face-plant to sleep—they literally fall face forward, legs outstretched, and sleep. It’s adorable.

​Friday and Saturday saw two cat-attacked brown thrasher fledglings come in, from two different counties. Both are doing well and on meds. Friday’s bird has some nerve damage to his right leg; Saturday’s has a neck wound.

​An adult barred owl also arrived Saturday, emaciated and lethargic. Nothing was broken but his left eye was totally trashed, and it was an old wound. Normally an owl with only one good eye will still be able to hunt and survive, as they hunt primarily by hearing rather than sight. Apparently this poor bird never adapted to having only one good eye. I’d planned to euthanize but he died quietly before I could.

​The blue jay I thought I might have to evict from the mini-pen decided to leave on his own and is, of course, still screaming down for handouts. I love blue jays; they’re such intelligent clowns.

​The red shoulder juvies are in the raptor flight and doing well. As soon as they pass their live prey test, they’ll be releasable.

​The red tail is in the mini-pen and intimating he’s ready to go. I disagree; he needs another week to ten days. I have opposable thumbs and can work the lock; he doesn’t and can't. He’s staying another 7-10 days.

​The juvie barred owl from last Sunday’s update not only has the wing fracture to deal with; he also has some vision issues and he’s still really loopy. Head trauma can take a while to fully resolve. We’ll see how this plays out.

​And the screeches would very much like their turn in the mini-pen, which should come soon. They’re getting antsy!

Nope, no joke—another bald eagle arrived at LWR early in the week, leading your intrepid rehabber to come close to a nervous breakdown: “What the…? Not another one! I’m only supposed to see an eagle every couple of years or so!”

This was a mature adult male, banded, severely underweight, lethargic and with a scabbed right wing and massively swollen and obviously broken right leg. Cue more panic: I was unsure the bird would even survive the night, as he arrived from Bulloch County after Smalley’s had closed for the day and was all but comatose by nightfall, leading to a series of panicked texts to state and federal officials. Eagles still have a lot of regulations surrounding them that “regular” raptors don’t.

He did survive, however, and x-rays at Smalley’s showed an old, healed wing fracture and a massively displaced tibiotarsal fracture. The scabs on the wing were from using it as a crutch. This bird was also headed to Auburn.
​
Now, to back up a bit, yes, he was banded but the bander had not reported using this band yet, so we still have no idea as to age, where he was banded, etc. Given his recognition of feeding forceps and willingness to accept food from them, I’d guess he was in rehab for quite a while somewhere, and that’s probably where he was banded, as well. The link to his patient profile at Auburn is https://w2.vetmed.auburn.edu/rm1/html/2020-134.html. 

Y'all enjoy that video; it's probably the first and last time you'll ever see an adult bald eagle willingly accept food from feeding forceps!

The same day the eagle arrived, a juvenile red-bellied woodpecker came in after having hit a window as he fell from a tree. There was something neurological going on with the bird, possibly as a result of his fall, and he began having seizures and died within hours of intake.

​The day the eagle went in for x-rays, DNR delivered a juvenile barred owl to me at Smalley’s, which was a good thing—the poor fellow has a wing fracture but it should heal for flight. More worrisome was his dazed demeanor, which lasted for about 48 hours after intake. He had obviously suffered some sort of head trauma. He’s still, even now, a bit loopy acting, but he’s eating so I can handle loopy and eating.

​And a nestling blue jay who fell from his nest came in that night with massive belly bruising. I hoped it was only bruising and not internal bleeding, but he died overnight, without ever fully regaining consciousness, the poor baby.

​Two days later a game warden brought a juvenile barn owl to LWR, after his sib was killed by a dog and the surviving bird took flight—with no real skills or experience at flying yet—and soared over a pond, only to drop like a rock into said pond. According to the game warden, two 14-year-old boys dove into the pond to rescue the barnie. Well done, young men! This guy is well-fleshed and not a happy camper, not at all. Again, however, as with the barred, he’s eating, and eating well. Since Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends currently has a barnie, slightly older and already in a flight pen, this barnie will be joining Steve’s later in the week.

​Hot on his heels, an adult male red tail came in after I think everyone in his neighborhood called or texted about him being down. He has no obvious wing fractures, can spread both wings equally, but cannot get lift—classic coracoid fracture symptoms. He just needs time and a safe place to heal.

​Saturday an adult red-headed woodpecker came in after he was seen falling from a tree. Nothing broken, seemed alert, well-fleshed—should’ve been an easy rehab. But he died overnight. Not a clue what was going on.

In news of older rehabs, the blue jay is currently in the mini-pen and may need eviction, as he seems quite content to remain there indefinitely. It’s a jay thing—I’ve had jays I rehabbed the previous year sit in the tree and give me a somewhat shamefaced begging call and wing shimmy, like it’s worth a try; maybe she’ll still feed me a year later. 

​The two bluebirds spent very little time in the mini-pen before deciding they’d rather join all the other juvenile bluebirds hanging around the yard. They’ve almost stopped coming down for supplemental feedings, too, following the lead of the older, previously released juvies. I didn’t even manage a photo of them in the mini-pen, just these from several days before they went into it.

​The two red shoulders still inside have been moved to slightly bigger digs; they need to show me they can eat their food without it being sliced and diced before they can go into the raptor flight.

​The wood ducks were released and seemed quite content with their newfound freedom.

​The two red shoulders in the raptor flight passed their live prey test with flying colors and were also released. They both flew out of the box at the same time and in different directions, so I was only able to get one on video.

​This hummer arrived today after being cat-attacked. Honestly, she looks quite rough and that right wing doesn’t look promising, but she’s on antibiotics and we’ll see how things play out…

​And the screeches continue to grow apace. And get cuter daily. Screeches just ooze personality. All of it bad. Which is probably why I love them so much!

It’s nonstop full throttle at LWR these days, hence the even later than usual update today. I mean tonight. Whatever. It all starts running together...

Let’s lead with the older two red shoulders, who’re in the raptor flight now and liking it quite well, thanks.

​Red shoulder #3, a nestling, came in Monday and was joined just an hour or so ago by red shoulder #4, an older fledgling but painfully thin. Number 3 ain’t real happy to be rooming with #4 overnight but, to adjust a phrase from my childhood to deal with birds rather than humans, he can just get glad in the same feathers he got mad in. Space is at a premium around here these days!

​Late last Sunday night a fledgling brown thrasher came in having seizures; he didn’t survive the night.

​Tuesday another nestling bluebird came in, this one found in a barn with no nest in sight. He looks to be male; his feathers are slightly brighter in certain lights than the little female’s. She’s a bit older than he is, and he's a bit on the timid side.

Wednesday an as-yet unidentified hatchling came in, found on the ground with a dead sib. As you can see, he’s pretty tiny. Beak kinda makes me think phoebe but voice doesn’t sound like a phoebe. We’ll see; the feathers are starting to come in nicely…

​And later that day an adult female cardinal came in with a swollen left wing. She was alert Thursday and eating well but died sometime Thursday night.

​Thursday an adult barred owl came in with an open wing fracture; there was nothing to do but humanely euthanize.

Friday a fledgling robin came in with a leg fracture and some other underlying issue(s); he died within 2 hours of intake, which I honestly wasn’t expecting, as he was alert and eating well.

Today a barred owl came in with a massively trashed wing after getting hung in the ropes of someone’s tire swing. The broken feathers, raw flesh and maggot eggs were all “fixable” issues; the wing fracture right in the joint was not. He was euthanized humanely.

No new photos of the barn swallow, who will be released as soon as rain chances drop; right now we have a spate of high rain chances over the coming days.

The wood ducklings are fast approaching release size—and not a moment too soon, honestly. They’re getting too big for the limited space I have available at the moment. No new photos or video of them; the focus kept struggling on the video for some reason.

The blue jay with the leg injury and busted hip surprised me by perching late in the week. I honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to perch, given that hip, but he’s perching like a pro and flying some, too. And, of course, I adore him…Y'all know how I am about my corvids!

​The screeches are growing too fast; they’re still half-down and half-feathers but they’re starting to test those wings and are now eating mice halves rather than mouse “cutlets.” Won’t be long now before they’re ready for the mini-pen, which is an ideal size for screeches.

​And we met the $1000 goal in the fundraiser, so thanks to all who donated!

…’cause this may take a while. What a week!

First, the painted bunting was released. No video, no post-release photos. I had the camera out, on and ready, finger on the shutter button, and when I opened his box, he was outta there faster’n greased lightnin’, before I could even fully open the box, much less focus the camera. 
​
And then a second red shoulder, this one a late nestling, came in. After some typical red shoulder mouthing off, she’s settled in nicely and is currently housed with the red shoulder now-fledgling, who’s pretty clearly a male when “stacked” next to this big ol’ gal.

​Then a blue jay came in, a fledgling, the first of three last week. He wasn’t looking so hot—very lethargic and toes already “clawed”. He didn’t survive three hours after intake.

​Hot on his heels came an adult Mississippi kite with an old open wing fracture. He was rail-thin and the bone was already dried out—no blood supply to it at all. He was humanely euthanized.

​Then an adult black vulture came in with a horrific open wing fracture and was immediately humanely euthanized. The photos below were taken post-euthanasia.

​On Wednesday, blue jay #2 came in, DOA. Not gasping, not on his last breath—quite literally dead on arrival, poor baby. He’d been cat-attacked the previous night and his finder simply sat him in a tree, where he was cat-attacked again the next morning. The poor bird didn’t have a chance…

​In happier news, all three robins, the cardinal, the single house finch and the mockingbirds were released. It’s deafening walking over to the “feeding tree” and having five house finches, four bluebirds, a brown thrasher, a cardinal, three robins and three mockingbirds all vying for your attention! But those bluebirds and robins, especially, as “cousins” in the thrush family, are absolutely the sweetest birds. They never fail to make me smile.

​Two red tails came in, one DOA and one euthanized. The DOA simply couldn’t stand, although he was well-fleshed and nothing appeared broken.

​The second was seen being hit by a car, and although his wings and legs were just fine, his esophagus was badly ruptured. He was again immediately humanely euthanized.

​When folks showed up Friday night with an adult male great horned owl, I initially thought he was another literal DOA; when I picked him up for an intake exam, his head lolled listlessly and he didn’t respond at all to being handled. He then began having tremors throughout his entire body, like mini-seizures. He was just…out of it. Badly. Unsure if this was really bad head trauma from a collision with a car, I opted to give him the night to see how he fared the next morning, but he died overnight.

​Yesterday, two brown thrashers, nestlings, came in after being dragged from their nest, one after the other, by a marauding outdoor cat. Although their wounds were minor and I started antibiotics, one died within an hour of intake and the other died overnight. 

​When the first thrasher died, I placed this sweet little nestling bluebird found in a cardboard box that was about to be trashed in with the (at that time) surviving one. The poor little bluebird was sitting next to a dead thrasher this morning but she’s doing well at the moment. (While her wing feathers are just starting to emerge, they’re the dusty blue that marks a female.)

​And in the “third time’s a charm” category, a third fledgling blue jay came in today, this one with a swollen and somewhat bloody  right leg and what looks like a possible left hip fracture. He’s also pretty dirty, suggesting to me he might have been rolled around in the dirt by a cat, so he’s on antibiotics. He’s alert and eating well, so we’ll see…

The barn swallow is doing well; no new photos of her this week.
​
The wood ducks…well, when they’re not swimming, this is my normal view of them…

​The barred owl pulled from fishing line was released. While his release flight made for a sort of “meh” video, when I turned off the camera and started in his direction to see if I needed to recapture him, given that low flight, he suddenly discovered that those wings had lift. By the time the camera was back on, he was out of sight.

​The red tail, however, more than made up for the less-than-stellar optics on the barred release. She took off long, strong and steady. She’d been at LWR since February, so I was delighted to see her finally regain her freedom.

​And, of course, the screeches are no longer tiny balls of down. They’re branching a bit, in a larger box to accommodate a perch along with their nest, and totally refusing any “handouts” from me. “Just put the food down and back away, slowly, lady, or we’ll kill you with cuteness.” Gotta love a screech…or three!

 ​Finally, we’re at $900 on the “soft” fundraiser—just $100 to go, folks! Thanks to those who’ve already donated; for those who haven’t, let’s get that last $100! PayPal links are on every page of the website.

It was another week of intakes and releases, and a couple of DOAs…Typical for any time of year but especially baby season.

Leading with releases, both mourning doves, the brown thrasher, four house finches and four bluebirds were released. While a couple of the finches, the thrasher and all the bluebirds still come down for supplemental feedings, they get spooked at the sight of my camera, or even my phone camera, so no post-release shots of them. Yet. I’ll keep trying.

In the soon-to-be-released category, we have the painted bunting—here again, no new photos, as that little rascal will shoot out and lead me on a merry chase through the rehab area in a heartbeat. Aiming at release tomorrow.
​
The female red tail is slated for release either tomorrow or Tuesday.  She’s getting antsy. The male…that soft tissue damage shows no signs of healing and, sad to say, the day the female is released, I’ll more than likely call it on the male. As heartless as it sounds, I need the raptor flight for a brancher red shoulder who came in last week and is ready to be outside. 

​Also, the robins are nearly ready for release. They’re in the mini-pen now and are loving it. They just need about a week more to be fully prepared for release.

​Two additional house finches came in; one was DOA and the other is ready for the mini-pen. But I wouldn’t put a bird that small in with three rambunctious robins, so he’ll have to wait till they’re released.

​Same for the cardinal fledgling who came in last week—he’s also ready for the mini-pen but the size difference between him and the robins could spell trouble. He and the finch get along famously, though.

Last week’s late-arriving Carolina wren didn’t make it through the night, nor did a sweet little female downy woodpecker who came in near dark later in the week. Her only obvious injury was a swollen wrist, but based on the poop in her box the next morning, she had internal bleeding.
​
The wood ducks remain as paranoid as ever. I mean, I swim them every. single. day. They should be used to being moved from their “safe space” to the tub for a leisurely swim, right? WRONG. Every day, they shriek as if they’re being killed as I scoop them up and place them in their OPEN box and take them to the tub. Every day, they shriek in panic as I gently tip the box so they can jump into the water. Every single day, they shriek and swim frantically around the tub as I scoop them back out to take back to their safe space. Wood ducks may be pretty, but they ain’t the brightest light bulbs in the pack.

​Three mockers came in from various locations, all three at different stages of development. The two oldest are currently housed together; the youngest still needs supplemental heat.

​This adult barn swallow has a broken wing. It’s not right in the joint, so we’re giving her (gender arbitrarily assigned; both sexes look the same) time to see if it heals for flight. She eats well, so that at least is good. Sometimes adult barn swallows refuse to eat mealworms from a dish, as they normally snag their insects on the fly.

​This afternoon, an adult male barred owl came in after being caught in fishing line. Nothing feels broken but he was so covered in dried mud that I couldn’t tell what was mud and what might be blood, much less if there were wounds needing treatment. So adding to the poor bird’s already considerable discomfiture, I had to hose him down. He was NOT a happy camper. The good news is that in addition to no fractures, he also has only minor “hot spots” under his wings. I still didn’t get all the mud out of his feathers, though, poor fellow…

​And saving the absolute cutest for last, the screeches are growing like little weeds. They have most of their wing feathers in already, and at certain angles you can already see their “horn” tufts developing on those still-downy heads. They’re also already developing into independent eaters, taking only one or two bits of mouse from the forceps before glaring at me till I place the rest down for them to eat later. Brats…

​Finally, a reminder that we’re still in the midst of the “soft” fundraiser. As of today, we’re at $800, so just $200 to go to reach our goal! Thanks to those who’ve donated; to those who haven’t, PayPal links are on each page of the website, or the mailing address is on the website for those who prefer sending checks.

There was a fair share of beauty and ugliness last week; let’s start with something utterly gorgeous, shall we?

I’ve seen photos of painted buntings and considered them stunning birds, but since I seldom even see a blue bunting in the wild, I figured photos were as close as I’d ever get. WRONG.
​
Monday, when I took the brancher barred in for x-rays—and MUCH more on that in a sec—a lady who’d called earlier about a painted bunting that got hung somehow in her bird feeder brought it by Smalley’s so we could go ahead and, well, kill two birds with one stone, as it were, by x-raying both birds while I was there.

​His x-rays showed no fractures but he couldn’t gain altitude, usually a sign of a coracoid fracture which, as y’all know by now, doesn’t always show on x-rays.

​So this little work of art is spending a couple of weeks at the LWR B&B while we give him time to heal.

Now to the brancher barred…If y’all recall, he came in as ostensibly dog-attacked, and his wounds appeared consistent with a dog attack. So what we expected to see on x-rays was one or more wing fractures and definitely a femur or hip fracture. What we did NOT expect was to find him riddled with pellets.

Yeah. Some jackass shot a defenseless baby owl.

Let that sink in for a moment.
​
A young owl, unable to even fly at this stage of his life, just venturing out of the nest onto nearby branches, only a threat to maybe frogs and lizards, and some fool shot him for their sick jollies.

Oh, y’all don’t wanna know the things I said. Obviously, this was reported to both DNR and FWS, and as I told them, there’s a special place in hell for the jackass who shot this poor baby, and I’d like to send him/her there myself. At the least, I hope they nail the cretin’s hide to the barn door, very publicly.

Due to the amount of lead in his young body, as well as the injuries, he was euthanized.

The very next day a second barred came in, slightly older and seemingly in fairly good shape. No injuries, alert, hungry and willingly eating…within two hours of intake he was dead. Not a clue…
​
In more uplifting news, the singleton house finch and all six nuthatches were released, as was the possum.

​The bluebird and house finch quartets and the brown thrasher are in the mini-pen, which I’m using for songbirds as much as possible at the moment—the proper songbird flight still needs repair and the volunteer who’d planned to help has a torn rotator cuff. Been there and know how excruciating that is…It’s not ideal but it is a viable solution to a problem, so…

​Both red tails are in the raptor flight. The female is almost release-ready; she’s doing great. The male…well, that soft tissue damage looks to be permanent. The wing droops badly and he can’t fly.

​The wood ducklings continue growing apace and remain typical paranoid wood ducks.

The doves are nearly ready for the flight pen, but as they’re older birds and don’t trust humans at all, I won’t put them in with the fledglings. They’ll have to wait a bit. No photos, as they go ballistic when I walk near them, even to feed and freshen water.

Midweek, folks cutting down a snag in imminent danger of falling on their house inadvertently destroyed a screech owl nest. They were quite upset, as they’d checked and thought the snag was safe to fell and when it landed, three precious screeches bounced out.
​
They’re about two weeks old at this point; on intake their eyes had just started opening, which usually occurs around seven days or so. And no, they’re not auditioning for Wicked; because their little eyes are so light sensitive, I use red or green night vision lights so I can see in the dark to feed them. I prefer green, as my human eyes see it better than the red. 

They’re eating well and the runt, who had every chance in the wild of eventually becoming his sibs’ supper, is making up for lost time as far as food goes.

Two additional house finches came in yesterday and are struggling after over 24 hours with no food. I didn’t expect them to survive last night, honestly, and they’re still very iffy. One is already looking to be checking out; the other most likely won’t be far behind.
​
This little Carolina wren fledgling came in today after being cat-attacked. She’s on antibiotics, of course, and aside from stress and confusion, she’s doing well thus far. Caros are stressy little birds, though, so I won’t breathe easy till she’s actually released.

​And in a tale of doing everything right and still ending up with birds in rehab, a couple had been excitedly watching the first robins they’d had nest in their yard when the wife walked out to find two of the babies on the ground. The nest was too high to reach, so her husband rigged a basket and winched it up close to the nest, but the parents freaked out and refused to feed the basket babies or the one left in the nest. Basket babies ended up at LWR.

The next day the wife called and said the nest was tipped on its side and she was worried the remaining baby would fall out. He did. Again, they tried the winched basket. No go again from the parents, and robin #3 was a bit of a rebel and kept hopping out of the basket. After finding him back on the ground near dark, the wife brought him inside for the night and to LWR the next day.
​
So now all three sibs are reunited and are the sweetest little birds. As is the case with most members of the thrush family—and robins are the largest thrushes—they have the most winsome personalities.

​I give the couple full credit for attempting to rig a substitute nest, and honestly, most of the time this strategy works beautifully. They tried to do the right thing to keep the babies with their parents but were also intelligent enough to realize when it wasn’t working the babies needed help. Their quick action ensured these sweethearts will have a chance.

​And finally, the “soft” fundraiser remains stalled at $550. Remember, donations are through PayPal (links on every page of the website), and we have just $450 to go to meet the $1000 goal!

Between meeting editing deadlines and feeding songbirds every half hour, this is the first time today I’ve been able to focus on the update. I’m exhausted, so I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible.

In new birds, there’s a slew.
​
Early in the week a mature male red tail came in with what appears to be soft tissue damage to his right wing. Nothing feels broken and he can and will extend it when he feels threatened—which is every time I’m near him—but it droops badly. I’m thinking a damaged tendon or ligament, which may or may not heal for flight. Time will tell.

​Saturday, what was probably a nestling robin came in after being cat-attacked. While his wounds appeared superficial and he was started on antibiotics immediately on arrival, he died half an hour after intake.

​He was followed in short order by a window-strike hummer, who survived only 45 minutes after intake. There’s no telling how long she’d been without food before she was found on the pavement, and while she did eat for me, it was too little, too late.

​A hit-by-car red-headed woodpecker required euthanasia for an open wing fracture.

​When storms Thursday apparently unnested this young barred owl, he was left on the ground until attacked by a dog. His right wing is wounded and may be broken and his right hip feels “crunchy” but he still has neural response.  My gut says this is a fatal injury, and consults with two colleagues resulted in a general consensus that probably euthanasia will be needed but we all also agreed that since it’s a baby, we’d rather have x-rays just to be sure. We’ll find out tomorrow…

​Today, four near-fledgling bluebirds came in after at least one of their parents was killed by a cat. At this age birds can sometimes be difficult to feed but prior to lights-out tonight, they were all gaping nicely and eagerly.

​And hot on their heels came four nestling house finches, also orphaned by a cat attack.

Do y’all see a theme here? OUTDOOR CATS KILL BIRDS. If you claim to care about wildlife, particularly birds, in your yard, KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS.
​
The female red tail finally made it to the raptor flight and immediately soared to the end farthest from me. A few weeks to build up her flight muscles, and she’ll be good to go!

​The suspected blue-gray gnatcatchers turned out to be brown-headed nuthatches, and the possible titmouse, when he feathered out fully, was also a nuthatch. The six of them are chatty little things, and as cute as they can be. We’re aiming at release late this week, as they fly well now and are almost self-feeding.

​The brown thrasher is also doing a good bit of self-feeding, as is the older house finch. The finch flies well; the thrasher not so much yet.

The phoebe finally started to perch just before lights-out tonight; I was honestly getting a bit worried about her. No decent photos of her this week; she wasn’t real cooperative around the camera.
​
The wood ducklings, from what I hear outside the bathroom door when they’re swimming, are quite active; when I walk in, however, they clump-swim to the back of the tub and shriek. They’re such melodramatic little things…

The mourning doves are doing well; forgot to get photos of them this week.
​
The possum is growing like a weed; it won’t be long before she’s ready for release.

Finally, the “soft fundraiser” is doing nicely, with $550 raised thus far. Just $450 to go, folks!