This will be a short update, as I’m still coping—barely— with Daddy’s death, as well as a massive editing backlog; also, there have been few intakes the past couple of weeks, as I had more pressing issues to deal with and tried to divert calls to other rehabbers when possible.
First, thanks to those of you who sent condolences in whatever form in the past week. I’m still not caught up on my emails and my presence on FB is almost nonexistent at the moment, so I may not have seen or acknowledged all of them individually yet. A special thanks goes to colleague Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center for taking the five brancher barnies off my hands during Daddy’s time on hospice.
As far as older intakes, we’re pretty much in a holding pattern. With the end of the nonstop rain, all the denizens of the songbird flight were released and most have stopped coming down for supplemental feedings. Currently there are two blue jays building up their flight muscles and awaiting release.
The barreds are still awaiting release; access to my preferred release site for them was flooded due to all the rain and I’m waiting for it to dry out sufficiently to get back there and give them their freedom.
The flyers are still awaiting release, as well; in another couple of days I should have most of the editing backlog under control so some of these poor babies awaiting release can go.
The two major intakes from the past couple of weeks were a starving red shoulder fledgling and a downy probable red shoulder nestling—not real sure on him; he could be a Coop. As colleague Steve Hicks says, “We know his last name; we just don’t know his first name yet.”
The starving fledgling was iffy for the first couple of days but is self-feeding now and looking good, if still a bit thin. Regular meals will correct that, though. The first photo below is day of intake; second is today.
First, thanks to those of you who sent condolences in whatever form in the past week. I’m still not caught up on my emails and my presence on FB is almost nonexistent at the moment, so I may not have seen or acknowledged all of them individually yet. A special thanks goes to colleague Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center for taking the five brancher barnies off my hands during Daddy’s time on hospice.
As far as older intakes, we’re pretty much in a holding pattern. With the end of the nonstop rain, all the denizens of the songbird flight were released and most have stopped coming down for supplemental feedings. Currently there are two blue jays building up their flight muscles and awaiting release.
The barreds are still awaiting release; access to my preferred release site for them was flooded due to all the rain and I’m waiting for it to dry out sufficiently to get back there and give them their freedom.
The flyers are still awaiting release, as well; in another couple of days I should have most of the editing backlog under control so some of these poor babies awaiting release can go.
The two major intakes from the past couple of weeks were a starving red shoulder fledgling and a downy probable red shoulder nestling—not real sure on him; he could be a Coop. As colleague Steve Hicks says, “We know his last name; we just don’t know his first name yet.”
The starving fledgling was iffy for the first couple of days but is self-feeding now and looking good, if still a bit thin. Regular meals will correct that, though. The first photo below is day of intake; second is today.
The nestling RS or Coop is doing well despite having been fed boiled chicken for nearly two days before intake—this AFTER the finder called, indicated it would be a couple of days before they could bring me the bird and asked for interim feeding advice. The one food I SPECIFICALLY said NOT to feed him was chicken, but the finder, obviously knowing more than an experienced, licensed rehabber, opted not only to feed chicken but to BOIL it first. People, no wildlife—mammal or bird—has stoves or microwaves to cook their food. When they’re fed cooked or processed foods, it can seriously and possibly fatally screw up their digestive systems. And then the finder called me condescending when I dressed them down about not following my very specific feeding instructions. Well duh, if you can’t follow simple, detailed instructions…
Sorry for the dearth of photos and details on current residents and releases; honestly, getting photos and videos was the last thing on my mind last week. I’m still trying to regain my equilibrium, and it’s not an easy task—still one breath away from hysterical sobbing most of the time, quite frankly, and my concentration is all but nonexistent. As Daddy said to me three days before his death, “It’s gonna be okay. It’ll all work out.” Just bear with me while I try to make those words reality.
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