Fundraiser falls slightly short of goal

The fundraiser ended with $1480, $320 shy of the $1800 goal, so we’re not ruling out another smaller fundraiser in December. Heartfelt thanks to those who donated—all 7 of y’all—and to those who missed the deadline, the LWR website has PayPal links on every page; you don’t have to wait for a fundraiser to donate.

The big news this week is this young osprey—I mean, like this year’s late-hatch, still-slightly-bluish-tinge-to-the-feet young. A family came home to see him on the dam to their lake and walked over to investigate; instead of flying away the goofball dove into the water. The husband had a fishing catch net and scooped him out to find blood on his chest and wrists.  When he arrived at LWR nothing felt broken and I couldn’t find an actual wound associated with the blood clotted in his feathers. Obviously, he was headed for x-rays at Smalley’s...

The really sad thing is that vets Jim and Peggy Hobby’s minds immediately went exactly where mine did—did the bird have lead in his body? We’ve worked with raptors long enough to know that’s a distinct possibility when they come in with blood and no clear wound—bird skin quickly closes up around an entry wound to the point that it can be undetectable aside from the blood.

This bird was lucky—no lead, and while we weren’t actually x-raying to confirm no fractures, the rads showed that, as well. Where did the blood come from? Maybe his last meal before capture; we don’t know. Given that even for a juvie he was a little on the skinny side, I opted to see if colleague Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends could take him, as Steve has a better setup for ospreys than I do.

Since basically the whole state of Georgia was in the path of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole late last week, though, we opted to wait till this week to transfer, so this gangly, awkward, gorgeous “teenager” will be headed to Bubba & Friends early this week.

Of course, we didn’t have all good news; that almost never happens. The barred owl with head trauma turned out to be blind and required euthanasia, and an adult red shoulder came in with his left wing broken at the shoulder and his right leg broken at the hip. He also required euthanasia.

The gray phase screech is still not using that left wing at all; until he shows at least some ability to use it, he can’t go into a flight pen.

And ending on a happy note, the illegally held red phase screech with the ruined feathers is molting! His tail feathers look wonderful, although he refused to cooperate for a photo of them—he’s finally starting to act like a proper footy, bitey, hissy, pissy screech! His head is looking a little rough due to the molt, but y’all have to admit, the unkempt look is kinda cute when you know it’s from a healthy molt.

Given our predicted frigid nights this week, though, he’s back inside for a while—better safe than sorry when dealing with compromised feathers and a molt at the same time.