Let the “games” begin!

And baby season is now officially underway, as LWR has one each of the “Big 3”—the birds we see most commonly in rehab.  The Big 3 varies from rehabber to rehabber; at LWR it’s mockingbirds, house finches and Carolina wrens. It never feels “official” until my Big 3 are represented.

The Carolina wren, a fledgling, was dropped off at a vet clinic about 60 miles away and Christina, a wonderful new volunteer, stepped in to make the drive, with four children in tow, to get this bird to LWR. The wren came in with a food-covered face from feeding by the vet clinic and leg issues that I honestly thought would require euthanasia, but with proper nutrition she seems to be improving and I think she may be a candidate for release after all.

The finch was found on the ground by an elderly person, who drove 50 miles one way to bring me this baby. He’s fine, a typical “fuzzy” finch whose voice is still very quiet. 

The pre-fledgling mocker came in last night, just before midnight, after a grandfather and grandson rescued it from a cat. The grandson’s parents drove the bird to a designated meeting spot after I suggested that it needed meds ASAP after being in the cat’s mouth. We started meds shortly after midnight and this morning he’s a typical loudmouthed mocker.

To avoid repetition, see last week’s rant about cats. To recap briefly, RESPONSIBLE CAT OWNERS KEEP THEIR  CATS INDOORS.

Of course, this time of year, no week is without its tragedies. The mysteriously paralyzed redheaded woodpecker showed enough improvement in its grip when I took it to Smalleys’ Animal Hospital that vet Jim Hobby and I decided to give it a little more time, especially since x-rays confirmed no spinal fracture. The poor fellow died that night.

The cardinal who stubbornly refused to self-feed also began to have neurological issues that seriously screwed up his balance, and then he began having problems swallowing.  He died in the half-hour between feedings mid-week.

And this poor barred owl who came in Sunday had a nasty wing fracture. I was pretty sure it was unfixable, and the x-ray the next morning at Smalley’s confirmed it. His wing was well and truly trashed; Jim and I both grimaced in sympathy for the poor bird upon seeing the x-ray. He was euthanized.

This apparent Nashville warbler (and any avid birders out there who recognize it as another species, feel free to correct me) came in lethargic and weak late one afternoon last week. Small, frequent meals perked him up a little, and his poop started looking normal, so by the time I put him to bed for the night, I was hopeful he might have a slim chance at survival. Alas, he died during the night. 

The barred owl currently in the flight pen is on borrowed time, as he still shows no inclination to fly. He has a “grace period” until I need the flight for another bird.  Unlike songbirds, raptors of different species cannot be mixed, as they eat each other.

The cat-attacked mourning dove is healing nicely but still doesn’t show enough feather regrowth for the flight pen.

The killdeer continues to develop into a leggy teenager and should be in the flight pen by next weekend.

The gray squirrel was released and continues to show up periodically for a pecan treat.

Both the fledgling mourning dove and the Northern rough-winged swallow were released, but there are no pix or vids of that. Why, you ask?

Well, in case you missed it in the photos and video tour of the songbird flight a couple of weeks ago, here are photos, followed by an explanation:

Technically, this is called a release door. I prefer to call it an escape hatch. It’s a feature I’ve wanted on my songbird flight for a long time now, and I’m delighted to report it works like a charm. When the birds in the flight are ready for release, I open the escape hatch and leave it open for the morning. If the birds haven’t left by midday, we close the hatch and try again the next day. This means I can be busy feeding other birds inside without having to monitor an open flight pen door—which was my former method of release—or put the ready-for-release birds in a box for release while I video and further stress them out, which I had switched to over the past several months. Now it’s their decision when they leave.

The dove took two days to decide to leave; the swallow took about half an hour. Yep, I’m liking this escape hatch!

I promised Cody Rogers, the Georgia Southern student who spearheaded and coordinated the efforts to build both the new flights, that the first downy raptor of the season would be named after him. I honestly expected it to be earlier in the year, but Cody the brancher great horned owl came in last Sunday evening with a damaged eye.

The finder had actually done a really good job of trying to reunite baby and parents, but this stubborn fellow kept ending up where he shouldn’t be—and the last time the finder rescued him from an inappropriate spot, he noticed the injured eye and called LWR.

The cornea appeared to be torn or scratched, so Cody the GHO was one of the three birds vet Jim Hobby saw Monday. Jim said the cornea had actually been punctured and part of the aqueous humour had drained out. The iris had actually migrated slightly to seal the puncture, so we had a bird with a very painful eye, but it was treatable. It ain’t pretty and his vision may impaired, but he’s young enough that he can adjust, as it’ll be all he’s ever known when he starts to hunt.

This young flying squirrel was brought up sopping wet by a dog several counties away during last weekend’s storms. She didn’t appear to be injured but was lethargic and reluctant to eat. Meds have corrected her issues and she’s eating like a pro and is alert and bright-eyed now.

We had two more possums added to the gang last week, too. Again, these babies were self-feeding, which is the only reason I was able to take them. They’re in with the previous three, and all five have been moved to a bigger pen.

And finally, probably my two favorite intakes from last week, LWR received a pre-fledgling pileated woodpecker and a pre-fledgling downy woodpecker—the opposite ends of the woodpecker spectrum in terms of size!

The pileated was lucky in that the finder had been watching the nest and knew when he heard the parents raising a fuss that something was wrong. He found this baby on the ground with a slightly injured wing that he was afraid was broken, so he drove 100 miles one way to bring the bird to LWR. Fortunately, his wing injury was minor. He’s doing great and will be ready to “fledge” to the flight pen soon.

This adorable little pre-fledgling downy woodpecker was found by a young girl walking through the woods. Her sibling was dead next to her. The teen called and even though she wasn’t old enough to drive, she got a friend who was to drive her to meet me with this sweetheart. She’s doing great and has actually surprised me with the volume of food that little crop will hold. She’s got an appetite, that’s for sure!

Finally, this is baby season, so please delay cutting limbs/trees, as they may have active nests, and check your yard for ground-nesting birds or rabbit nests before mowing. And just a reminder—it’s a violation of federal law to disturb an active bird nest, i.e, one with eggs or nestlings. If you find a baby bird or other wildlife, please call your nearest rehabber or refer to http://www.laurenswildliferescue.org/i-found-a-wild-baby---what-do-i-do.html for assistance.