Last week was quite busy at LWR, with an influx of songbirds, only one new raptor, and a building project begun.

The “star” of the week was an adorable Mississippi kite, aka MIKI (abbreviation used by ornithologists), who was taken away from a dog. The rescuer had no idea where the nest was located, so wee MIKI will now grow up at LWR. It’s MIKI nesting time, so others will be likely arriving over the rest of the month. In the meantime, ya gotta admit, there’s very little cuter than a baby raptor!

A mockingbird fledgling was also dumped at LWR after the finder kept it for 4 days and decided feeding a baby bird was too much trouble. At least they had the common sense to feed it insects and not give it water… No photos; I just realized I didn’t take any of the mocker, and the lights are off on the babies for the night.
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A dog-attacked robin fledgling arrived breathing heavily, with a badly mauled wing, a ruptured air sac, blood on his belly and a watery, swollen eye. He didn’t survive the night.

​A juvenile male cardinal who likely struck a window looks to have a coracoid fracture; his wing droops slightly at the shoulder, which is typical of such a fracture. He’s too active for a still photo; here’s a short video.

​Friday afternoon four nestling Carolina wrens were found in a car about to be crushed. A last-minute check by an employee for anything that needed to be removed prior to crushing the car resulted in these babies being brought  to LWR Saturday morning. So far, so good, although the runt may be iffy. We’ll see…

And when her neighbor’s lawn care service blew down a nest of baby birds and planned to leave them to die, a young woman in the metro Atlanta area scooped them up, called all the listed rehabbers for the metro area, and ended up bringing the poor babies some 150 miles one way to LWR Saturday. They appear to be barn swallows, although again, the runt is struggling.

​Rounding out Saturday, a fledgling blue jay was rescued from an imminent dog attack and is now at LWR.  

​Rain chances of over 50% most of last week nixed the planned screech release, so that’s now slated for this week, as rain chances are in the more acceptable 10-20% range. They’re both antsy, so the sooner we can release, the better.

​That will free up the raptor flight for the red shoulder trio, and the red tails will go in LWR’s newest structure, a mini-flight that will serve as a holding pen of sorts for birds who need more room to stretch their wings when the raptor flight is full. Volunteer AJ Rogers realized this was a need for LWR and drew up the plans, purchased the materials and did the bulk of the work on this 4x8 foot mini-flight. I assisted where I could, but the bulk of the work on this is AJ’s. We should finish it up tomorrow, or that’s the plan at the moment, anyway.

The Cooper’s hawk dropped dead. I mean, literally. Coops are prone to—I dunno how to describe it—apoplectic seizures or something when stressed, and after this poor gal slid down a tree on her release attempt the previous week, she was majorly stressed. She literally keeled over face-first, feet still clutching the perch.

The wood ducks are growing steadily; the older is getting some nice color on his wings—and the color does make me think he’s really a male. I meant to video them swimming every day last week and got sidetracked every day, so…next week!
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The juvie black vultures are still bringing friends into the yard; this week started with a youngish turkey vulture and ended with an adult black vulture. Of course, they also had to supervise the mini-flight construction and assist with water for the wood ducks, who will soon be too big for their little swimming tub that makes capturing them to remove them from the water so much easier…

And finally, the promised—or threatened, take yer pick—rant, beginning with the reason for it…

Today a call came in from a neighboring county. Some person had an egret—they thought. They’d had it since Friday and had taken it to their vet, who’d given it an antibiotic injection and then broke the law by returning it to the individual (vets in GA are allowed to treat wildlife but are supposed to confiscate it if brought in by the public, and call a rehabber to take it). Said individual had been feeding the poor bird tilapia and SARDINES. The tilapia’s fine; the sardines will end up killing the bird from the sheer salt content. I explained all this to the individual, who then asked, “Are you qualified to treat birds?”

I paused a looong moment while I bit my tongue, since the person had apparently not listened to my voicemail message—in which just about every other word is ‘birds’—despite leaving me a message. Then I replied, “I have state and federal permits for bird rehab.”

I don’t have the egret as of tonight and will be reporting this person tomorrow, giving them the benefit of the doubt until then. But I don’t expect to see the bird.
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Meanwhile, this is what I wanted SO badly to tell this person but didn’t because I knew they’d hang up mid-rant:
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Here are my qualifications for “treating” birds:

• I have state and federal songbird and raptor rehab permits.
• I have 20 years of hands-on experience, 15 of it under my own permits.
• I had to pass a state exam and serve apprenticeships with licensed songbird and raptor rehabbers in order to meet the federal requirements for a permit.
• My facilities are regularly inspected by GA DNR. Both DNR game wardens and FWS agents have the legal right to inspect my premises at any reasonable hour, with no advance notice, and because I have nothing to hide, representatives of both agencies know they’re welcome at any time.
• I have the trust and respect of the game wardens and FWS agents throughout the state that I’ve had dealings with.
• I have vets with wildlife training and experience who volunteer their services to ensure the wildlife under my care receives the very best care possible.
• I have a worldwide network of colleagues I can call upon for advice, assistance or just to vent.
• I continue yearly to add to my knowledge of best practices, through study, rehabber groups, etc., so that the services I provide to the wildlife under my care reflect the current best practices in the field.

 
And you, caller who feeds sardines to a wild bird—what are YOUR qualifications to even breathe the same air as my precious birds?

As in more intakes, one release, and them what’s still hangin’ ‘round…
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Starting last week with a bang, as it were, a window-strike Cooper’s hawk came in on Monday. As y’all are by now aware, Coops are psychotic, high-strung birds. It took a couple of days for this gal’s swollen eye to go down, then the threat of rain delayed her release, and when we finally tried to “git ‘er gone” earlier today, she flew straight into a tree and bounced onto the ground on her back. Needless to say, she’s back at LWR…

​Hot on her heels, on Tuesday a late nestling brown thrasher came in from a vet clinic in a neighboring county. He was brought in by one of their clients after being found covered with ants. One of their vet techs brought him to LWR after she got off work.  He’s on antibiotics for the ant bites and is up and down.

​Later that day, FIVE wood ducklings came in after being found in someone’s yard with no mother in sight. These babies still had egg teeth on their beaks. One of them had been roughed up by the finder’s dogs and died shortly after intake, and one died a couple of days after arriving at LWR. Wood ducklings are high-stress little birds, so honestly, some attrition is always expected with them. It’s never pleasant but it’s expected. The remaining three have adopted the older wood duck already at LWR as a surrogate mother, much to that poor bird’s consternation. S/he walks around with one or more in tow, looking at me like, “What’s goin’ on here?”

​On the Fourth, a sopping wet young barred owl came in after being found in a pool. Once he dried out, rain threats also delayed his release until today.

The next day, a fledgling blue jay came in, already agonal breathing and stone cold. He’d wandered up to his finders on the evening of the third and his finders assumed his parents would come back for him the next morning—which is a valid assumption; fledglings aren’t abandoned by their parents. The fact that a supposedly wild fledgling just wandered up to these folks sends up all kinds of red flags for a rehabber, though—it honestly sounds like someone tried to raise the bird illegally and then dumped him, for him to wander to the nearest humans he saw for help.
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At any rate, the folks he wandered up to placed him back outside on the Fourth and monitored the situation; by that evening, he was still alone, so they took him back in and offered him an emergency diet of blueberries—not a horrible option for an older bird. They called LWR and left a message but Verizon didn’t deliver their voicemail until early on the fifth—gotta love the non-service we all too often get from these cell phone providers, considering the ungodly fees they charge.  By the next morning when I actually got their message, he wasn’t in good shape, and he didn’t last too long after arrival.

And yesterday, this baby was delivered to LWR after a storm in a neighboring county knocked his nest from the tree. His finder said all his sibs were killed either on impact or by ants and yellow jackets. He’s still a bit iffy, but fingers are crossed. Can you guess the species? Here’s a hint: “nekkid as a…” (For you non-Southerners and for those Southerners who’ve been too corrupted by a steady diet of TV and/or who’re in denial of their rich Southern heritage, I’ll provide the answer at the end of the update.)

​The red tails were briefly roomies, but I worried that the slightly older of the two was hogging all the food, so I separated them again.

The screech twins should be ready for release by mid-week, freeing the raptor flight for the red shoulder trio.

​The vultures are still hanging around, usually up to shenanigans due to their natural intelligence and inquisitiveness. I have to say they’ve been the highlight of the 2019 baby season thus far!

​(The mystery baby above is a blue jay; the expression is “nekkid as a jaybird.” Now you know why!)

It was a glorious week of releases, with 15 birds returned to the wild, and a neat first-time-at-LWR bird, as well, who was also one of the releases—even better!
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Let’s start with the first-timer, as I’m sure y’all’re curious by now. We had a juvie yellow-crowned night heron come in late night, mid-week via a volunteer transporter. The finders thought it had a broken leg, as it was stumbling when they saw it. By the next morning, however, he was standing fully on both legs, no wing injuries, and highly peeved at being confined, which he announced to me every time I went near his box. As is the case with most waterfowl, he was a bit on the skinny side, so a couple of days of the LWR buffet seemed in order before releasing him. And boy, was he happy to go!

​Both juvie barred owls were also released, freeing the raptor flight for the screech twins.

​The concussed adult red shoulder from two weeks ago was finally released, as well.

​And we had a slew of songbirds opt for freedom when the escape hatch on the songbird flight was left open for them: 2 Eastern phoebes, 2 house finches, 4 great crested flycatchers, and 1 Eastern kingbird. And yes, I’m currently being mobbed every time I walk out the door by birds eager for a handout. Hitchcock ain’t got nothin’ on me!

For all intents and purposes, the juvie black vultures have also been released. They hang around the farm, but we never know where they’ll show up next: my roof, my mother’s roof, the toolshed roof, the top of the raptor flight, the top of the songbird flight…

However, they do know when I’m in the yard and, like the Elephant’s Child, being ‘satiably curious, they swoop in to see what I’m up to and hint that they really, really need a handout just like the songbirds…
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Only four new intakes, just one of whom didn’t require euthanasia. A juvenile mocker came in with severe nerve damage; he couldn’t stand at all. Two barred owls came in with fatal injuries: one had an open wing fracture; the other’s wing was so maggot-infested that there was almost no flesh left on it.

​The cat-attacked nestling brown thrasher, however, suffered only a ruptured air sac that has “deflated” already, although he is on antibiotics because of the cat saliva.

​The mystery hatchling from Monday’s late update is a bluebird. He’s kinda rough looking and is up and down, surviving but not really thriving, so we’re just taking it one feeding at a time.

​The wood duck continues to do well.

​The red shoulder trio will be next for the raptor flight, as soon as the screeches move out.

​And then the first red tail will have his chance, and....

​…The second red tail, having completed his treatment for capillaria, is acting much more “red-tailish” so I’m thinking I’ll put these two youngsters together and see how they do. Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends and I discussed it, and it’s probably in the best interest of both birds to have a buddy to be a red tail with, so…fingers crossed their introduction goes well!

​Finally, today is the last day of the LWR summer fundraiser, and we’re at $1540, still $960 from our goal. A huge thanks to those who’ve donated already; to those who’ve been waiting, today’s your last chance to “help give Nature’s children a second chance.” 

Which is unusual, given the raptor-fest of this baby season. Still, just one new raptor last week, and a slew of songbirds.
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Let’s start, though, with the fundraiser, as time is running out. The fundraiser is slated to end on June 30, and we still have $1080 to go to meet our $2500 goal—and I just placed yet another $600 mouse order. It’s costly to feed these birds of prey! Remember, your donations are tax-deductible—and more useful to LWR’s guests than attagirls or thank yous!

​The sole new raptor last week was another young red tail, still with heavy down behind his breast feathers, rail-thin, an incipient case of frounce, and possibly capillaria, too. Frounce is acquired from eating pigeons and capillaria comes from rodents. He flew into an open dog pen and when the dogs started in after him their owners snatched him up and brought him to LWR. This fellow is waaaay too sweet and docile; he’s really not ready to be on his own and will require intensive work to enhance his survival chances in the wild.

He’s finished his frounce treatment and started his capillaria treatment and will be transferred to colleague Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends for more individualized attention than I can currently spare as soon as he’s finished his capillaria treatment.
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Early last week, a bluebird nestling, almost ready to fledge, came in, the sole survivor of a snake raid on the nest. Physically she seemed fine but as I’ve mentioned a time or two in the past, stress is a killer. She never recovered from the stress of seeing her sibs devoured by a snake and barely made it 36 hours, poor little girl.

​Then a dog-attacked brown thrasher came in with a badly broken leg, and his poop was black and tarry, indicating internal bleeding.  He didn’t survive the night.

​A young cattle egret with a nasty triple fracture—shoulder, humerus and wrist—required immediate euthanasia. An elderly couple found him in a water trough, so no one has any idea how his wing was so damaged.

​Someone cut down a tree without checking for nests first and made orphans of these four great crested flycatchers, just days before they would’ve fledged. I’d wager a mere 24 hours would’ve been enough for them to be out of the nest, but noooo…And now, of course, they don’t trust a human parental substitute, making feedings a chore for all of us.

This grackle nestling was being tossed by a dog when the owner intervened, but it was too late; the poor baby’s wing was broken and his hip was fractured, as well. He required euthanasia.

While he awaited a spare moment for me to euthanize him, the grackle acted as a buddy to a brown-headed cowbird nestling. I’ll be perfectly honest; I would’ve preferred to euthanize the cowbird and save the grackle had it been feasible.  Cowbirds aren’t on my extensive list of favorite birds. They’re parasitic nesters—I call them welfare birds, as they lay their eggs in another bird’s nest and let the other birds raise the cowbird babies, often at the expense of their own offspring.

Another house finch also came in; no photos of him, as he’s a fledgling who totally doesn’t trust me and attempts to escape at each feeding. He’s fed every half hour from sunrise to sunset—you do the math on the number of daily escape attempts…
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And Sunday this hatchling, possibly a bluebird, was confiscated by one of LWR’s volunteer transporters when she saw a woman with it at PetSmart—and yep, they’d sold her the Kaytee Exact that will KILL wild birds.

Folks, in case you don’t remember, first, it’s against state and federal law to possess wild birds without a permit. Second, Kaytee is a crap diet for wild birds; the company even has a label on the product warning you NOT to feed it to wild birds. If you want to see what it does to a wild bird, go to the LWR Facebook page and look at the pinned post of its effects on a blue jay fed the crap for nearly a month.

In news of older LWR “guests,” much-needed rain has delayed the barred owls’ releases, so that’s put everybody in a holding pattern for the raptor flight. The screeches are next in line, followed by the red shoulders and then the older red tail. No new photos of any of them this week.
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On the songbird front, the mocker and blue jay were released and are still demanding handouts.  Only the jay will tolerate the camera, though...

Two of the three phoebes are in the songbird flight; one died. It’s so frustrating when birds are getting the same diet at the same frequency of feedings, and two thrive and one just dies for no apparent reason…

The house finch who was in the songbird flight last week is still there; he refused to leave  before new birds were placed in with him, and now he and the kingbird are buddies—go figure.
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The kingbird’s ruptured air sac took till mid-week to finally go down so he looked normal, but now he’s a gorgeous fellow. 

​And the juvie black vultures are starting to assert their independence a little more. I never know where they’ll fly into the yard from, as they’re venturing farther and farther from their comfort zone now but always seem to find their way back before sunset to roost nearby for the night. I fully expect them to disappear for good fairly soon, which is as it should be. They’re figuring out they don’t really need me anymore!

LWR had another hectic week, with 24 intakes in 7 days, five releases, and, of course, the umpteen other birds already in care. At this point I’m not even counting; if I do, I may end up in a corner banging my head against the wall. The good news is we’re just over the halfway mark on the fundraiser!
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Starting with the releases, the adult barred owl who came in a month ago with a broken leg regained his freedom.

​Also, the first-year red tail from the previous week was released.

​One of the great horneds took his leave; no decent video or photos. The other proved unable to fly and is back inside while the flight pen is occupied by the barred owl duo.

​The other two releases were a juvenile mourning dove that came in late last Sunday and a juvenile tree swallow that came in mid-week. They both were apparently victims of lack of full waterproofing during last week’s rain, as both were perfectly able to fly and self-feed once they’d dried off.  Since both were self-sufficient prior to intake, they had none of the trust birds that come in younger do and high-tailed it the moment I opened the “escape hatch” on the songbird flight. 

So that’s the releases and two of last week’s intakes sorted…
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The fledgling blue jay from last Sunday’s update is in the songbird flight, along with a kidnapped mockingbird fledgling. As a reminder, if a bird has short tail feathers and is capable of some unskilled and sloppy short flight, it is a fledgling and is still being fed by its parents as it learns to forage and improves its flight skills. Unless it is injured, in the middle of the road, or in imminent danger of a cat or dog (or other predator) attack, LEAVE IT ALONE and let the parents finish their job.

​They are joined by a fledgling house finch who was kept illegally for nearly a week, fed a crap diet and driven all over the state unrestrained by an individual who felt s/he was now an “expert” because they’d done a Google search. May I remind y’all that the VAST majority of wild bird care information on the Internet is just plain wrong and potentially lethal to the birds? Also, it is against state and federal law to possess wildlife without permits; the public is generally allowed a 48-hour window to locate a properly licensed rehabber before they’re considered in violation of the law.

​Contrast the actions of that individual with those of the woman who saw the nest that had been under her porch eaves on the ground as she as headed to work, with one baby dead. She attempted to place the nest as close as possible to its original location, left for work and was devastated when she came in that afternoon to find the nest on the ground again, with another dead baby. Having attempted to do the right thing in replacing the nest, without the results she hoped for, she immediately called LWR and brought the three surviving Eastern phoebes, who have grown like weeds in just a few short days. They’ll be in the songbird flight by the end of this week.

​LWR doesn’t see many yellow-billed cuckoos and they’re usually adults, so when this sweet bird arrived, I was—and remain—quite entranced. Cuckoos are shy birds; you hear them much more often than you see them. This sweetheart is also nearly ready for the songbird flight.

​And hot on her heels came a fledgling Eastern kingbird, another species LWR seldom sees, found in the middle of the road. This poor fellow has a ruptured air sac on the back of his head. Birds have air sacs throughout their bodies; they aid in flight. When one is ruptured, usually through some sort of trauma, the air migrates to the skin surface and creates what looks like a huge blister. If the ruptured air sac will interfere with proper positioning of the wings, ability to stand, or ability to eat, it can be drained. In this case, though, it wasn’t interfering with anything but the poor fellow’s looks, giving him a massively oversized head, so I’m allowing it to go down on its own. It’s already noticeably smaller.

When callers said they had a nest of chimney swifts fall in the fireplace, I explained that if they placed the babies back in the fireplace in a shallow saucer lined with a paper towel they’d be able to see if the parents were coming down to feed them, which they will do ninety-nine percent of the time—and to put up a fire screen or piece of cardboard or something to block off the fireplace. After the ninety-minute window I’d given the callers passed with no callback, I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief, as chimney swifts are highly labor-intensive birds. But Murphy cackled with sadistic glee…

Seems the callers had placed the babies back in the fireplace, per my instructions, erected NO screen to block off the fireplace, and left for a day trip. When they came back the parents had indeed tried coming down to feed the babies, but their cat had killed one parent and maimed the other badly enough that it required euthanasia.
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So…six naked chimney swifts, without heat or food for possibly 24 hours, and an adult with a ruptured eye…The adult was euthanized; the babies are hanging in there, except for the runt, who didn't make it. None of them look great and I’m honestly surprised they’ve made it this long, but they may surprise me even further; who knows?

​This adult red shoulder was found stunned by the roadside and is rarin’ to go now, after a couple of days at the LWR B&B. He’ll be released possibly as early as tomorrow.

​Two other red shoulders, both juvies, weren’t as lucky, though. One came in with a degloved leg—the skin was sliced neatly down the entire leg and the flesh was completely missing. There was no neural response at all. He was euthanized.

The second came in late yesterday with a wing broken right in the wrist and a leg broken and totally dislocated at the hip. He was also euthanized.

A third young red shoulder was emaciated but not starvation-thin, and was eating well and looking more alert and healthy…and died overnight.

An adult blue jay was found stuck—literally hanging by his neck—in a truck bumper. An intake exam revealed his right shoulder was shattered, so he was euthanized.

What appeared to be a fledgling swallow came in covered with dried mud and already agonal breathing. Before I could euthanize, he died.
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And this fledgling bluebird was a cat-attack victim. He was also agonal breathing on intake and also didn’t survive long enough to be euthanized. 

Let me hop on my soapbox yet again: KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS WHERE THEY BELONG. If you don’t want them killing wildlife, KEEP THEM INSIDE. Is that perfectly clear? CATS BELONG INDOORS.
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The final new intake for the week was a juvie barred owl pulled from a barbed-wire fence. The wing looked pretty raw and I couldn’t feel any fractures but swelling will often hide a break. As the swelling in the shoulder went down, the wing began drooping badly, indicating the possibility of either a shoulder fracture or a torn tendon. He came in late Friday afternoon, so we’ll see how things look tomorrow to determine if a vet visit or euthanasia is called for.

​The screech twins have about had it with their box; I’m hoping to get them in the raptor flight by the end of the week at latest.

​The red shoulder trio is in larger digs but would also prefer to be in the raptor flight. Maybe within another 10 days or so…

The red tail was camera shy this week, literally hunkering down and hiding his face every time I looked his way. His appetite’s good, though!
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The wood duckling continues to do well; I seldom actually see the little rascal except when I fish him out from under his feather duster “mama” for a swim.

​Without a doubt, however, the juvie black vultures were the highlight of my week. I never know where they’ll be anymore; their food is attracting wild cousins into the yard, and they’re so everlovin’ photogenic!

​Finally, at $1345 we’re just over the halfway mark with our fundraiser—another $1155 to go. A huge thank you to those who’ve donated; to those of you who haven’t yet, time’s a-wastin’!

Yep, they just keep coming in—and songbirds, too, of course. And the fundraiser is progressing slowly but it’s early in the month yet.

For you red tail fans (and who among us isn’t a red tail fan?), LWR had two red tails come in: a brancher and a first-year bird. Neither bird is happy to be at LWR but they’re both eating well.
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The brancher was found by a car; the first-year was running along the ground with a cat in hot pursuit. Neither has any injuries, although the first-year is a bit on the thin side.

​And late in the week, a man called with a duckling he’d found in his pool—a duckling that turned out to be a days-old wood duckling.  As many of you may remember from past episodes with wood ducks, they can be stressy little things, and a singleton, on top of everything else? Thus far, the wee fellow is doing well, although he runs straight back to his feather duster “mama” every time I walk near his little pen.

​The juvie black vultures enjoyed their first rain last week—and I do mean enjoyed! It’s now anybody’s guess as to where they’ll be: in the carport, on the carport roof, on the fence, on the walkway…

​The great horned owls fly to the ground and put on threat displays whenever I walk in the raptor flight to lay out their food for the night.

​The red shoulder trio is ready for the raptor flight, but the great horneds have to be released first, then the barreds and screeches get their turns, respectively. No new photos of the barreds or screech twins, but I did remember to snap one of the red shoulders.

The poor ratty-looking trailer hitch bluebirds didn’t make it, and one of the nest-injury blue jays required euthanasia. The other is doing well and will be in the songbird flight next week.
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Monday night a nestling robin came in, breathing heavily and favoring one side of his body. While I suspected damage from his fall from the nest, I was hopeful he’d survive, especially since the next morning he was weakly calling for food at sunrise. Sadly, it was false hope; he ate a little and then basically lapsed into a coma, dying less than two hours later.

​And the next night a lady called about a nest that had been destroyed when a fern on her porch fell. There were apparently only two eggs; one was shattered beyond hope, but she said she still could see movement in the other. I thought she’d candled the egg and could see the embryo moving, but when she arrived, she handed me an egg that, despite the severe damage to the shell, contained a baby trying to hatch. The membrane and all the fluids in the egg had leaked out when it was damaged in the fall, but the poor little hatchling, a house finch, was still weakly fighting to hatch.

As I have one songbird colleague I can count on to’ve seen the same weird stuff I see—and who keeps the same weird hours I do—I called Maureen Eiger in Virginia, who confirmed she’d actually just had a similar situation. After a quick exchange of ideas and photos, we agreed dampening the shell and carefully pulling it off was about the only chance to save this baby, so he did manage to hatch with a little assistance. After some emergency measures and a couple of tiny feedings, I put him to bed shortly after 1 AM and hoped for the best.

The next morning he was lethargic and refused to gape—not good signs—but he did swallow the tiny bits of food I fed him. A few hours after sunrise he just couldn’t fight anymore, though, poor little fellow…

And in a tale of two cardinals, neither with photos, we had one hit by car who didn’t survive the night and another pulled from a glue trap whose major injury was loss of tail feathers, which will grow back. Given his propensity to escape every time I freshen his food and water and lead me on a merry chase, he’ll be released in a few days, as soon as he’s had a chance to re-waterproof his feathers by preening oil from the gland above his (absent) tail feathers.

And let me rant about glue traps for a moment here: if you absolutely MUST use them, use them INDOORS only. They do NOT belong outdoors or in your garage or carport. INDOORS ONLY.
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Last night folks returned home from a vacation to find an injured red shoulder on their porch. The wife brought the bird to LWR, saying she could smell something when she boxed the bird for transport. What she smelled was a maggot-infested wing; they had already stripped the wing of any flesh at all. The bird would have required euthanasia but he died within minutes of intake.

​And finally, just a reminder that LWR is holding a fundraiser throughout the month of June. Less than five percent of the people who bring us birds donate toward their care and raptors, especially, are expensive to feed and usually longer-term “guests” than songbirds. We’re currently at $480 of the $2500 goal. Don’t wait for “someone else” to donate—YOU are that “someone else!”

And none too soon, as LWR was about to hit critical mass.  We had a total of 19 songbird and raptor releases last week, and there are still 20 birds in care!
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Certainly the most impressive was the red tail release. He kindly perched afterward long enough for great photos, then flew to another tree near the water, scoped out his surroundings a bit more, and headed straight for the water. I was hopeful, given his slight wing ruffling while he waded in and took a sip or two, that he might bathe, and after forty-friggin’-forevers while I melted in 100-degree heat, standing stock-still so as not to startle him, he did! He bathed! And I got it on video for your viewing pleasure!

​Of course, the songbird releases aren’t as impressive, as I just open their escape hatch. The scene afterwards as they come demanding a handout can be pretty funny, though. This video was after five of the 10 released songbirds had gotten said handout. 

Six mockers, a brown thrasher, and three house finches were released, along with an adult Carolina wren who apparently was either a windowstrike or just plain heat-exhausted; she came in lethargic and pretty pathetic-looking but had perked up by the next morning and was sent on her merry way.

And the two barn swallows from my mother’s resident population were reunited with their sibs. I watched till the remaining sibs fledged, just a day or two after these two fledged prematurely (i.e., they overreached for food and fell from the nest), and took them back up to see if they’d rejoin their family. They did!
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And a barred owl that came in with a black eye—really; the eyelid was swollen and bruised—was also released after a few days for the swelling to go down so he could see normally from that eye.

But wait—there’s more!

The adult great horned owl who’d been at LWR for several months recovering from a wing facture was released—no photos or video of his release; he shot out of the box and headed deep into the woods. I looked but couldn’t locate him for a post-release photo.
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The three red shoulders who’d been in the raptor flight for a couple of weeks were also released and while they scattered so I couldn’t get post-release photos, they did leave the box one at a time, so I was able to get short videos of their releases. The box was tipped on its side, so they all flew out low.

​Of course, it’s not all good news; never is. A juvenile barred owl came in severely emaciated, with bruising in his ear indicating a concussion and massive swelling in his beak. He died overnight.

A juvenile mourning dove with a broken wing, also severely emaciated, died overnight.
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A nestling Carolina wren, found cold and weak with its dead sibs, put up a valiant fight but only managed to survive 18 hours after intake.

Last Sunday night’s chipping sparrow appeared to be thriving and was about ready for the songbird flight when he just died in his sleep overnight, and the house finch runt actually made it to the songbird flight with his sibs but died his first night in the pen. A fledgling blue jay did great for two days and then dropped dead on Day 3.

And an adult barred owl with a nasty fracture right in the wrist required euthanasia.
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Two additional fledgling blue jays came in from different locations, both with foot injuries. Both look to be nest injuries, so we’ll just give them time to see how they adapt.

​The trailer hitch babies I thought might be phoebes turned out to be bluebirds. It wasn’t until they finally started vocalizing and their feathers started breaking through that their species was confirmed. But I’ll be honest, they’re the rattiest looking little bluebirds I’ve ever seen—like miniatures, almost. I don’t know if the nearly 24 hours they went without food or heat adversely affected their development or if they were exposed to some sort of chemicals or what, but they’re just kinda pathetic looking little babies right now. However, they’re alert and eating well, so time will tell.

​The two juvie great horned owls are now in the raptor flight.

​The juvie barred owls will probably be next…

​…And then maybe the screech twins.

​The new red shoulder trio will more than likely be the last of the current crop of raptors to go in the raptor flight.

“But wait,” you exclaim, “what about the juvie black vultures?”

HAH.
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I moved them into the old duck pen, as they’d outgrown the rehab room and the front porch. They stayed there for three days. Then I found them on the roof over the back of the old duck pen. Then I found them wandering the yard…Now they do their own thing all day and follow me like Mary’s little lamb back into the duck pen for the night but are already in the yard come daybreak. Brats…

​And finally as you may have guessed, given the oh-so-subtle header for this update, it’s that fundraising time of year again. With raptors out the wazoo this year—LWR has maintained a steady ratio of about 3:1 raptors to songbirds thus far—the mouse bill is through the roof, as you might well imagine. The goal this year is modest, just $2500, and I believe we can meet that in under a month, but the fundraiser will remain active through the month of June. 

And too many birds to deal with in this heat! With temps hovering at or above 100 for the past few days and the same predicted for next week, the birds in the songbird and raptor flights are purely miserable; I’m refilling water dishes multiple times a day rather than once or twice.

And the pace hasn’t let up any, with 19 new intakes since Monday and number 20 on the way as I type.

Monday two new mockers came in; they were *thisclose* to fledging, so within a day or so they’d moved to the songbird flight. I don’t think I even remembered to take photos of them. Let’s face it: mockers don’t vary a lot in appearance—seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all!
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And yes, more raptors came in, as well. Tuesday a man cut down a tree without seeing the red shoulder nest and so LWR gained two confused and traumatized nestlings.

To his credit, the man was quite upset, as he said he always looks for nests and will leave trees for  as long as it takes for the babies to fledge, but he somehow missed this one.
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Also on Tuesday, this hatchling woodpecker, probably a red-headed by his sound, came in. He must have been the runt of his clutch, as he never showed any signs of developing for the three days he lived. None. No signs of feather growth; eyes opened only slightly—just weird “runt” stuff. He died on day 3.

​Wednesday an adult mourning dove came in with a nasty wound on her back. Her finders didn’t see cats around, but that’s still a strong possibility. Even with meds, she didn’t make it.

​A nest of four house finches was found in a trailer hitch after the trailer had been moved. They’re already starting to test those little wings.

And another mocker rounded out Wednesday. More on his fate later…

Thursday a cat-caught fledgling blue jay came in and by Saturday he trusted me enough I felt comfortable I’d be able to continue his meds in the songbird flight and moved him out there. Apparently there was more than just the cat bacteria going on, though, as he died Saturday night, literally falling over on the footstool I leave in there for a flat perch for the birds. I just realized I have no photos of him, either…

And yet ANOTHER red shoulder came in Thursday, as well. This one was on the ground and the teens who found him saw the nest but couldn’t reach it—and ants were already on the poor fellow.  He’s still not the happiest camper  but at least he’s eating. And ant-free.

​Yesterday yet another set of trailer hitch babies arrived. The boat trailer had been moved Friday afternoon and it was late yesterday before the trailer owner found the babies, so they’d been close to 24 hours with no food—in the brutal heat we’re having. Not good. Surprisingly , they’re doing quite well. I’m not entirely sure of species just yet but I’m leaning toward maybe phoebes. We should be able to tell by late this week.

​And today, I pulled up under my mother’s carport to find two of her barn swallows on the ground. I backed up and pulled forward again to try and startle them into moving. Nope. *sigh* Put the car in park, get out, walk up to shoo them away…and they’d fallen from the nest mere days before they would’ve fledged. Couldn’t fly. At all. So now Mama’s resident barn swallows are very unhappy with me because I have two of their babies…

I have no clue yet what tonight’s bird is; the caller said her daughter found it at church covered with ants. And once again PetSmart proves what idiots they have manning their stores; when the family took the WILD BIRD into a PET STORE, the geniuses there tried to tell them how to care for it instead of explaining it was illegal to possess wildlife without the proper permits and referring them to a rehabber. It was the mother’s initiative and continued Internet searching that alerted her to the illegality of possessing wildlife without permits and led her to LWR. God bless her for having the good sense NOT to listen to the fools at PetSmart.

The adult barred owl with the shoulder laceration was doing so well…until she wasn’t. She died overnight midweek.  And one of the red shoulder quartet, the runt, died 24 hours after they were moved to the raptor flight…And today within an hour, tragedy struck in my songbird flight as a rat snake managed to get in and eat a mocker and my precious robin between my hourly feedings. Needless to say, he was terminated with extreme prejudice. I know that won’t bring either bird back, but there are two things no-damn-body better ever mess with if they want to live: my family and my rehabs.

I did locate the entrance point for the now-deceased snake; there was a finger-width gap between the plywood of the blind and the bottom of the frame, hidden behind the base of one of the perches. It’s been closed now; I fixed that in today’s 100-degree temps. Too late for those two birds but the repair should prevent any more needless avian or snake deaths.

The adult barred owl who’d been at LWR since January was finally released, freeing the raptor flight for the red shoulder quartet, now trio. No videos or photos; he didn’t waste time skedaddling!
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The vultures have discovered how to use their wings, so now they’re as likely to be out of their pen as in it. This morning I sat some thawed deer meat out to get room temp, and an hour later I walked on the porch to find them out of the pen and deer meat all over the porch…

​The two juvie great horned owls are awaiting their turn in the raptor flight…

​…as are the barred owls, who at least are in bigger digs for the moment…

​…and the screech twins…

There’s probably somebody I didn’t update y’all on, but it’s late; I’m tired after having to make emergency repairs to the songbird flight in the heat; my Internet connection has been out and just decided to restore itself—AFTER I tried everything known to man before calling technical support, only to have to magically start  working 3 minutes into the service call; and I just wanna take a cool shower and try to get to bed before the wee hours.
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UPDATE: Tonight’s bird appears to be a fledgling chipping sparrow.

LWR is now housing 20—yes, TWENTY—raptors of various species. My earlier joking comment about stackin’ ‘em like cordwood ain’t lookin’ so funny now, as they’re everywhere I look and the songbirds are tucked into corners where there’s not a raptor box. And just last week alone, another 17 birds came in… The inn is rather full at the moment, but we’re not hanging the “no vacancies” sign just yet.

I’m not even sure where to begin…

We did have one release last week, the big juvie female great horned. She was happy to go, and it freed up the raptor flight for the barred owl who’s been at LWR since January.

I honestly didn’t hold out much hope the barred would really fly again, given the severity of his wing fracture; even though it had healed, it still looked like an awkward mess on x-rays. To my delight, he’s actually flying well and will be released pretty soon here, to make room for some of the other raptors waiting in the wings…oohh, no pun intended…

And who’s waiting in the wings? Three adult screeches, two juvie screeches, an adult great horned, two juvie great horneds, two juvie barreds, four red shoulders and two juvie black vultures. Three adult barred owls are recovering from injuries that require cage rest at the moment, so they’re on the back burner for the raptor flight.  Still, I need a flow chart or something just to figure out priorities here…

At least the songbirds pay well together and can all be placed in the flight together. These are the four mockers and brown thrasher from last Sunday’s update.

I guess the logical approach for the update is by day of intake last week.

Monday an adult barred owl came in with her shoulder slit open. She’d been found in the road, so she probably whacked someone’s side-view mirror just right to rip the skin. Luckily for her, she had no fractures, but there was pure muscle exposed. Vets Jim and Peggy Hobby and I debated, as there was no way to suture or Dermabond the wound closed—bird skin is thin, anyway, and right there on the shoulder, she’d be constantly ripping it open again every time she moved. We opted for heavy meds, topical sprays and lots of prayer. Thus far she’s actually doing better than I expected.

Tuesday a fledgling cardinal came in; he was reported as lethargic by his finder but was fairly alert on intake. His eyes, however, looked weak. He ate really well for one feeding, then had to be force-fed the remainder of the afternoon.  Something just wasn’t quite right, and he died overnight.

Also Tuesday, a nest of five Carolina wren hatchlings came in. The finders had watched the nest all day without seeing either parent, and after a day of no food the hatchlings weren’t in good shape. Once they were warm, they eagerly took food and seemed to be digesting it properly, but all died within 24 hours of intake: two overnight and the remaining three by the next afternoon.

Wednesday another young great horned owl came in, this one from a colleague who specializes in squirrels. She saw him sitting in an open field on her way somewhere else, and when she came back he was still sitting there. When she got out to check on him, he didn’t attempt to fly; he ran, and not very fast. After she described his situation to me, I felt it was best to remove him from the field for his own safety.

Thursday a cat-attacked nestling grackle who’d been kept for 24 hours and fed cheap cat food, judging by the crap all over his face, came in. As a reminder, cat saliva contains bacteria that’re fatal to wildlife if antibiotics aren’t administered promptly. Twenty-four hours is the outside window for treatment, and in this poor bird’s case it was too late. He died within an hour of intake.

A cat-attacked mocker also came in Thursday, with what appears to be a broken shoulder. Smalley’s was closed Friday for a long weekend, so the mocker gets a reprieve till we get x-rays.

Friday an Eastern bluebird fledgling, also cat-attacked, came in with a broken leg. I honestly don’t think the leg is fixable, but we’ll wait for x-rays to be sure.

Are you seeing a pattern here, people? KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS. An indoor-only cat cannot maim or kill wildlife. If you care at all about the safety of the wildlife in your area, you will keep cats inside. I have two indoor-only cats. They’re perfectly happy to use the nearest window as their TV.

Saturday was a bumper-crop day, with 6 intakes in under 8 hours.

A barred owl was pulled from a barbed wire fence. The flesh is pretty ripped up and the right wing, which wasn’t drooping on intake yesterday, is drooping today. He’s another candidate for x-rays.

The people who brought the nestling robin deserve a medal for going above and beyond. The entire nest fell a week ago. Unable to replace it near where it fell, they sat it on a windowsill and placed the babies back inside. Within minutes the parents were feeding their babies in the relocated nest. For the next week, however, the runt of the litter kept getting pushed out by his larger sibs. And every day, multiple times a day, they placed him back in the nest. After a week of this, and seeing that he was behind his sibs developmentally, they gave up and called LWR. He’s a perfectly healthy, happy little fellow who probably hatched 24-48 hours later than his sibs, putting him at a developmental disadvantage. His rescuers said his sibs were ready to fledge; he is not. His wings aren’t even fully feathered out yet. But now that he’s not fighting older sibs for food and constantly getting kicked out of the nest, he should be fine!

Sadly, the nest of hatchling barn swallows who also came in Saturday were true orphans. Their finders said the parents were feeding the previous evening but the mud nest was shattered and the babies scattered on their porch the next morning, with no parents in sight. One baby had died on impact; another had obvious bruising and internal injuries. He died within hours of intake. Another died overnight. The sole survivor is struggling but I’m hopeful.

And rounding out Saturday, another mocker fledgling with a broken leg came in. His leg looks pretty trashed but I’m waiting for x-rays on him, too.

Today a mallard duckling came in with a totally missing leg. It was a fresh wound; probably a snapping turtle got him, poor baby. He was alert and trying to move around on that one leg, but realistically speaking, a duck cannot survive with only one leg. And federal regs also require the euthanasia of any bird with only one leg. He was humanely euthanized.

The black vulture babies continue to grow and eat everything in sight. I’m (only half jokingly) threatening to start collecting road kill for them.

The screech twins are starting to test their wings.

The red shoulder quartet is as mouthy as ever, and so melodramatic about their food—to hear them tell it, they’re starving to death. The 30-40 small mice or 15-20 medium mice they inhale daily tell a different tale, though!

The adult barred with the leg fracture is doing great; the wound has completely scabbed over and he continues to put weight on that leg.

The older of the juvie great horneds still under care is insistent that he wants out of his box, and he really does need to be in the raptor flight. I’ll probably put both juvies and the adult out there next. Maybe. There’re too many raptors vying for that same space at the moment; maybe I should do a raptor lottery to see who gets their turn next!

And I think that sums it up for the past week…Maybe I didn’t leave anybody out…

Last week’s sole raptor intake brings the total raptors at LWR to 18. Plus five songbirds. And two recent songbird releases still demanding handouts…
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Starting with the raptors, midweek DNR brought an adult barred owl found in the road. While his wings appeared to be fine, his right leg was broken and scraped raw on the back. He had his foot balled, often a sign of nerve damage in a leg fracture, but it was, of course, worth an x-ray to see what we had going on. Since he’d come in late in the evening, I stabilized the leg until the next morning.

​Lo and behold, the next morning he was flexing his claw and putting weight on that leg! X-rays at Smalley’s confirmed a pretty nasty break, but vet Peggy Hobby said since he was doing so well with just my stabilization, we’d maintain that, changing the bandages to prevent infection from the raw spot on the back of the leg.

He’s eating well; the raw spot has scabbed over nicely and, most importantly, he continues to put weight on that leg and flex that foot.

The songbirds who came in the day before and after the barred weren’t as lucky.
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A fledgling Eastern phoebe was seen dangling upside down from the nest; when her finders pulled her down, they discovered her leg had been caught in the nesting material. Sadly, this had happened while she was still a nestling and the lower portion of her leg was already black and withered from lack of blood supply. She couldn’t stand on her one good leg, so humane euthanasia was required.

​And an adult barn swallow was found in the road in a neighboring county, with no outward signs of trauma.  On intake, I suspected a coracoid fracture, as the bird favored the left shoulder a bit but I could feel no fractures. Again, since this was a late-night intake, the goal was x-rays at Smalley’s the next morning, but the swallow apparently had internal injuries and died overnight.

​Then someone called with a nestling songbird of indeterminate species, cat-caught. He’d taken it from the cat the previous night and got it to LWR late the next morning. HOWever…he’d been feeding the bird all this time, a mixture of water and dog kibble. Hard dog kibble. As soon as I took the bird from him, I could hear the click-breathing that indicates aspiration. The poor bird vomited water and bits of dog kibble for the entire two hours it lasted after intake, struggling for each breath. I started antibiotics immediately, but it was a lost cause. Birds, especially baby birds, have tiny lungs and it doesn’t take much to aspirate them, causing them to literally drown from the fluids that enter their lungs.

THIS is why I cannot stress enough NOT to feed a bird until and unless you’ve been given CLEAR, DETAILED instructions from a rehabber on a safe emergency diet, and NEVER attempt to give them water. No bird should have to suffer like this because of someone’s ignorance.
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A nest full of mockingbirds ended up at LWR after the tree their nest was in was cut down without anyone checking to see if there were any nests in it.  The people who cut the tree did at least call the game warden to see what they needed to do. Then they tried to get me to give them gas money to bring the birds to LWR…

As a reminder, LWR is a home-based rehab facility and receives no state or federal funding, i.e., no salary. Further, if I ran out to pick up every bird I received a call about, when would I care for the ones currently under my care? It is the finder’s responsibility to get any wildlife needing assistance to a properly licensed rehabber; we simply do not have the time and resources to pick them all up.
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And Friday night, people brought a nestling brown thrasher found in the road. There was no nest in sight.

The weather and my work schedule haven’t cooperated for the juvie great horned release; there was about a three-day window last week with no rain predicted but tight editing deadlines prevented me from releasing her. She’s not an unhappy camper, really, just aggressive and bored in the raptor flight. Fortunately, I was able to snag her live prey several days last week to further hone her skills and help alleviate her boredom.

The adult barred and all the others—the adult and brancher great horned, the brancher barreds, the three adult and two brancher screeches, and the half-feathered black vultures—waiting in line, as it were, for the raptor flight, however, are most definitely not happy.
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Speaking of the vultures, look at how they’ve grown!

​The two brown thrashers in the songbird flight did finally decide to fly the coop and are still hanging around for handouts. The one Carolina wren left in the songbird flight also utilized the “escape hatch” and quickly took up with a clutch of recently fledged wild Caros, so she only came for handouts one day.

The kingfisher died—no clue why. He was eating well, alert, aggressive…and then dead. I suspect it was sheer stress; he was most definitely NOT a happy guest at LWR.
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The brancher barreds and great horned are almost totally self-feeding now.

​The four red shoulders are also beginning to self-feed, which cuts down on the screaming fits quite a bit. Hand-feeding four mouthy red shoulders is truly a pain in the ear!

​And just look how the screech twins have grown! Recall, if you will, a mere three weeks ago, they were eyes-closed balls of fluff with their egg teeth still intact, and just look at them now! They’re also beginning to self-feed.