Yeah, the big news is LWR received a juvenile bald eagle Thursday. Fourth eagle LWR has seen in 11 years: 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2020.  And they’re a massive bureaucratic nightmare, in addition to having lousy personalities. Y’all get excited at the thought of an eagle; rehabbers get headaches.

This juvie was from Washington County. The nest had been under observation and the two sibs had branched about two weeks ago, so this guy wasn’t long out of the nest. A tornado in the wee hours Monday apparently grounded the bird; the nest was damaged but mostly intact, according to observers. The landowner had not been in the area after the tornado till Thursday,  and when he saw the eagle grounded called GA DNR Eagle Program Coordinator Bob Sargent and area deer rehabbers John and Luanne Brooker, who often transport raptors to me. Based on the landowner’s description of the situation, Bob okayed capture, and John and Luanne got the bird to me within an hour of capture.
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He arrived at LWR after Smalley’s had closed, so his vet visit would have to wait till Friday morning. His left thigh was a writhing mass of maggots and the underside of the right wing was discolored and it felt “crunchy.” I treated the thigh for maggots and started oral and topical antibiotics. He weighed about  6.5 lbs on intake—pretty definite confirmation that he was indeed male.

​A vet exam and x-rays Friday at Smalley’s revealed a slightly displaced fracture of his right ulna that would heal best with a pin. Vet Peggy Hobby said his thigh treatment was appropriate; vet Jim Hobby stated he’d do the surgery if needed but would prefer a vet with more raptor surgical experience to handle it if possible. Luckily in this pandemic panic, Auburn’s Raptor Center was still taking birds, so we arranged transport to them on Saturday. When scheduled transporter Joy Daniels spiked with a fever early that morning, she contacted me so we could make alternate arrangements, and Scott and Tonya Gaillard stepped in at the last minute and transported the eagle to Auburn.

Scott said Auburn’s people told him we could follow the bird’s progress on their website; he’s intake #81. He’s not listed as of this afternoon but the link is https://w2.vetmed.auburn.edu/rm1/html/patientList.html . Their format is year-case number so you’ll be looking at the bottom of the list for 2020-081.

So now let me explain to y'all why raptor rehabbers cringe when eagles come in: Life as you know it comes to a screeching halt, because EVERYTHING revolves around the eagle from intake till transfer. I spent from app. 3:30pm Thursday to 3:30pm Saturday talking on the phone, texting, and emailing to get everything arranged to get the bird, alerting DNR and FWS that I had him, alerting my vets that I'd be in with him this morning, taking him in for the vet exam, talking to Auburn to make sure they'd take the bird during this pandemic panic, arranging transport to Auburn, letting everyone involved know transport was arranged, medicating and feeding the eagle, alerting all the proper authorities the eagle was en route to Auburn...and I still had over a dozen songbirds, a red tail, a possum, and six wood ducks to care for as well, with calls continuing and more birds coming in, in addition to my editing—you know, that little thing I do that actually pays the bills...

And yes, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time the eagle left, but couldn’t relax until Scott and Tonya confirmed they’d made it to Auburn safely and had no problems delivering the bird. THEN I took 1000mg of Tylenol for my near-exploding head and crashed for half an hour, as that’s all the time I could spare between songbird feedings.

In slightly less stressful events at LWR this week, baby season has kicked in with a vengeance, with no less than 11 nestlings of varying species coming in throughout the week.
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Monday an adult great horned owl with an open wing fracture and no neural response in either leg came in and was humanely euthanized.

​He was followed by five adorable blue-gray gnatcatcher nestlings who were days from fledging. After Sunday night/Monday morning’s storms, the property owners were surveying the damage and the wife walked over to a downed tree to see what the noise beneath it was. It was these babies, with a dead sib nearby. They’re doing great—fledged last night but will remain inside for a few days yet, till they start self-feeding.

​Then we had a house finch who fledged a bit too early when a snake raided his nest.

​Wednesday a juvenile mourning dove with a broken wing came in and was placed with the cat-attacked dove who’s been an unhappy camper at LWR for a couple of weeks now.

Thursday’s intakes were a DOA adult male bluebird followed in short order by the eagle that led today’s update.
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Friday saw a nestling brown thrasher, a cat-attack victim, and two what appeared to be phoebes, one of whom required euthanasia for a nest injury that resulted in his leg bones fusing into a backwards-facing position. The remaining phoebe has some poop issues—struggles to poop even though its cloaca is clean. I’m monitoring this situation. Yeah, we rehabbers know our shit…

​Saturday, what appears to be a nestling pine warbler with a broken leg arrived. The break is too high to splint so I’m keeping him positioned “just so” in his nest in hopes it’ll heal properly. There’s no nerve damage; he can flex his little toes when I lift him to change his nest paper, so that’s promising.

​Also, a one-winged mourning dove came in and was euthanized, per FWS regulations—and just plain common sense. The wing had been ripped off at the shoulder; the bird couldn’t fly. The most humane option was euthanasia. The feds don’t arbitrarily make these rules; they take into account the health and wellbeing of the birds. 

​And another nestling brown thrasher came in Saturday, also a cat-attack victim. He’s louder and more insistent than Thrasher 1, so I can actually tell which of them is raising Cain.

​Of course, we also have the red tail, waiting impatiently for a week with no bad weather forecasts to move into the raptor flight.

​The sole survivor of the original four hatchlings from last Sunday’s update turned out to be a titmouse (we think) rather than a Carolina wren. When the feathers started coming in, it was obvious I’d misidentified the species. “Naked babies” are often difficult to pin down as to species!

​The possum continues to grow and is now self-feeding. She’s already got her PhD in napping, as well…

​The half dozen wood ducks are doing well and have mastered the art of “clump swimming” –see the video below!

​Finally, we’re doing an early “soft” fundraiser using the PayPal links on the website again—see the graphic below. Tom and AJ Rogers made a rat run (they picked up a load of rodents for our raptors) for LWR and Bubba & Friends last week, and Tom came up with the concept. Both Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends and I like the idea, so…LWR’s goal is $1000 for 1000 miles. That seems reasonable, right? And we have the first $100 donation already!

Hope y’all’re enjoying your quarantine Easter; for me it’s pretty much business as usual, pandemic or not.
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The cat-attacked mourning dove continues to recuperate nicely. She’s feeling great and refuses to accept that she can’t fly with most of the flight feathers missing on one wing. This makes freshening her food and water interesting, to say the least.

​The red tail in the mini-pen will be moved to the raptor flight this week; she needs some space to test that wing. 

The red tail who came in last Sunday with suspected capillaria required euthanasia. He had a great appetite but wasn’t gaining any weight, he refused to even attempt to stand after the first couple of days, and he got progressively more lethargic. When I walked in to hand-feed him his morning mice and found him near-comatose with ice-cold legs and feet, I knew it was time to call it on the poor fellow.
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Late last Sunday yet another possum came in, this one cat-attacked. She’s doing great, although she’s quite stubborn. She’s old enough to nibble at mealworms and soft solids but she refuses to touch anything but her formula. 

​Mid-week four hatchlings came in. The finders saw them on the ground the previous afternoon, made a makeshift nest, and put it in the tree closest to where they found the hatchlings. Smart thinking, and this approach will often work. In this case, however, when they checked the makeshift nest the next day it was obvious the parents hadn’t been feeding the babies, so the finders called LWR and instituted emergency warming and feeding measures per my instructions till they could get the babies to me that afternoon.  Two babies didn’t survive the night; the other two are doing well, and I’m cautiously optimistic as their eyes begin to open. They appear to be Carolina wrens.

​And Thursday night a caller reported capturing six wood ducklings after seeing them chased by a feral cat in the local Wal-Mart parking lot. She brought them to LWR the next morning; one of them died within 12 hours of arrival. The other five seem to be doing well; with wood ducks, stressy little birds that they are, I’m never certain they’ll survive till they’re actually released.

​The local barn swallows are busily building a new nest; the bluebirds have eggs in the nest; the Carolina wrens’ babies in the bluebird box near the mini-pen just hatched this morning, and the chickadees in the third bluebird box have babies as of Wednesday. It’s baby season!

​And here in Georgia, we’re battening down the hatches, as we’re expecting severe weather tonight into early tomorrow morning…The fun never ends…

With all the pandemic panic, the pace remains slow at LWR, although that could change at any point this month as baby season kicks into high gear.
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The red tail in the mini-pen continues to do well. Another week or so, and I’ll probably move her to the raptor flight to test her wings. That left wing droop worries me, but it’s been nearly 10 weeks since her x-rays so any healing that’s gonna take place has already done so.

​Mid-week last week, an adult red shoulder came in with an open wing fracture which, as y’all know by now, is a fatal injury. He was humanely euthanized.

​A day later, a caller said they’d found four baby possums with their dead mother. It would be the next morning before they could get them to LWR, so I explained emergency feeding and housing requirements. Two of the babies died that night, before arriving at LWR; the remaining two, both females, weighed in at respectable 26g and 28g, above the cut-off weight for survival. I thought they had a pretty decent chance, as their weights were reasonable, their eyes had just opened, and they were eating well and active. Both died within 24 hours of intake, however. 

​Friday night a cat-attacked mourning dove came in, and she was stove up, as the old expression goes. Her intake exam had me wondering if letting the cat finish what it started would’ve been kinder to the poor bird. Still, I started oral antibiotics and topical treatments on her extensive wounds, fully expecting her to die overnight. Today her wounds have scabbed over nicely, she’s perching, and she’s eating well.  Nothing was broken, surprisingly; she just has a lot of raw skin, abrasions and missing feathers. We’re taking it day by day but at the moment, I’m mildly optimistic she’ll be okay.

​And early this afternoon an adult male red tail came in, rail thin and lethargic but with no obvious fractures. There was no sign of frounce so I suspect capillaria, which is when worms from the rodents that form a large part of a red tail’s diet get in the bird’s crop and make it feel full even as it starves to death. I’ve started treatment for that and gotten a couple of small meals in the bird, which he ate eagerly. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic we caught this in time for the bird to make a full recovery.

​For those who may not know the lore, here in the South loblolly pines form what look like crosses from their new growth every spring, nearly always right around Easter. Since next Sunday is Easter, here are a few photos of those Easter pine crosses for your viewing pleasure.

Last week saw lots of calls, few intakes, several releases, and, of course, some deaths.
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Let’s lead with some good news, shall we? The cat-attacked bluebird, after escaping several times while I was putting in fresh mealworms for him and flying strong and straight as he eluded me, was released. Apparently it was just a badly bruised wing after all.

The flyers were released; not one hung around after the cage door was opened the first night. They were ready to “git!”
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While the red tail will still need follow-up x-rays soon, she’s in the mini-pen for now. The fresh air and sunshine have eased her antsiness a great deal and she can hop from perch to perch and from the ground to the lowest perch, so she’s happy for the moment. That wing looks as if it might not have healed quite properly, though. We’ll see…Waiting for things to return to some semblance of normal before loading her up for a vet visit.

​Tuesday night a Northern flicker came in; the couple who brought him had heard his distress call and found him behind their workshop. He had a minor neck wound but was alert and well-fleshed. I medicated the wound, started antibiotics in case he’d been cat-attacked, and put him to bed for the night. The next morning he was dead. As y’all well know by now, this is one of the most frustrating aspects of wildlife rehab—the deaths for no apparent reason. His wound wasn’t deep enough to’ve caused death; it wasn’t inflamed or hot to the touch like a snake or spider bite, and he appeared perfectly fine the night before…

And yesterday, three birds came in, a late-nestling great horned owl (GHO), a late first-year Cooper’s hawk, and an adult pine warbler.
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The GHO was another case study in frustration. He seemed alert but his mouth was white-pale—not good. His initial poop was the sort of chalky white rehabbers recognize as stemming from lack of food. However, he was reluctant to eat—definitely not normal for a GHO, especially a young one. Over the course of the day, feeding him every couple of hours or so, I managed to get five small mice in him, but his poop after the first one had me worried: it was thick, dark and tarry—the usual sign of internal bleeding. Now I began to worry that perhaps his parents had fed themselves and their babies one or more poisoned rodents, and this poor baby was the sole survivor…and he was becoming more and more lethargic. By 3:00 this morning, when I fed him his last small mouse, I was convinced he wouldn’t be alive come sunup. And he wasn’t. And it hurt my heart. 

​The Coop has an old shoulder fracture that began to callus in the wild. Although I know it’s a lost cause, I’m gonna try him in the raptor flight anyway, just to confirm for my own peace of mind that he really cannot fly, and then he’ll likely need euthanasia.

​The pine warbler’s right wing is broken, and there’s a puncture wound on top that would suggest a cat-attack. He’s on oral meds for that, but the wing itself looks pretty trashed. I can’t tell for sure; he was brought in with the injury fresh and still bleeding last night, so the swelling hasn’t gone down enough to actually do anything more than topically medicate the wing at this point. I hope I’m wrong, but it’s not looking too good for him at the moment.

Hopefully next week will prove less lethal for wildlife. Lord knows I certainly hope so…

With people “self-isolating” and whole counties going on Constitutionally questionable lockdowns, LWR  only got phone calls last week, mostly from the metro-Atlanta area, that didn’t result in intakes once they realized LWR was located a good 150 miles from them. Mind you, I’m not here to debate the pandemic panic or the legality of the measures being taken to control its spread, although I certainly do have opinions. This, however, is a page for wildlife.

That said, people are scared to be out and about right now, aside from grocery store runs to hoard all the toilet paper, so God help any wildlife in need of rehab. Even though every rehabber who’s discussed this issue has indicated they’re available to accept orphaned, ill or injured wildlife, most of us just aren’t getting the volume of calls we normally do this time of year. We’ll see how this plays out as baby season moves into high gear.

The flyers are good to go and should be headed for release next week. No photos of them this week; they’re practicing “social distancing” of their own, as they don’t come out till after I’ve turned off the rehab room lights for the night.
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The red tail could have gone in for follow-up x-rays last week, but it’d only been six weeks. We’ll give her eight and then see how things look. Fractures normally take six to eight weeks to heal. Given the precautions even vet clinics are taking these days, it just seemed better not to add to the disruption my clinic was already experiencing. So I opted to delay her follow-up for another week or two.

And the poor bluebird has been so antsy that I actually took him out to the mini-pen to see if maybe his wing had only been bruised—recall that his x-rays showed no fractures so we figured he had a coracoid fracture, which seldom shows on x-rays. Unfortunately, he was still unable to fly, so we have another couple of weeks, minimum, to give that “invisible” coracoid fracture time to heal.

​I walked him outside for a quick photo and some fresh air while I was cleaning his box.  Look at that sweet little face!

​Meanwhile, if the pandemic panic has you at home, don’t stay cooped up; get outside and get some sunshine and fresh air. Both are good for your immune system and getting outside for a while will stave off cabin fever. Here, at least, we’re getting a light rain that will settle the heavy pollen and ease allergies and hay fever so going for a walk won’t result in streaming eyes and uncontrollable sneezing!

​Temps are mild; wildflowers are blooming; songbirds are building nests—yep, it’s spring in Georgia! Yesterday there was a single straw in one of my bluebird boxes (the male takes a piece of straw into a potential nest in an attempt to convince the female it’s a good nesting site; if she agrees, she starts building the nest); today there was about a quarter-inch high ring of straw in the bottom of the box—too little to open the box fully for a photo, as the breeze would’ve carried away most of her hard work. And the other bluebird box has been commandeered again this year by chickadees; Mama Chicker’s been quite busy over the past few days and has her nest about half-completed.

​In actual rehab news, the red tail continues to eat well while she heals. She’s getting restless, too, as that wing feels better and better. We’re aiming at a vet visit for follow-up x-rays this week. If all looks good, into the raptor flight she goes.

LWR normally doesn’t take in possums, but a game warden from a neighboring county called and said Good Samaritans had gone to remove a dead possum from the road and saw feet sticking out of her pouch. They had removed nine pinky possums that he was pretty sure were too small to survive and he wanted verification and humane euthanasia if he was correct.

The survival threshold for pinky possums is 19g; if they weigh less than that, no amount of effort will save them. The rehab manuals advise euthanasia for any baby possum under 19g. When I learned that as a newly-minted rehabber nearly two decades ago, I was sure it had to be wrong; I learned from painful firsthand experience it’s correct.
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So he showed up with the nine teeny-tinies, and I knew just looking at them they were under the survival weight threshold. But I weighed every one, to be 100% sure, and their weights ranged from 6-7g—well under the survival threshold. I humanely euthanized them, and yes, it hurt like hell. Euthanizing babies is always the worst; they’ve had no chance at life.

​And this gorgeous male bluebird was rescued from a cat the evening before he came to LWR. His rescuers saw no injuries but said he couldn’t fly. An intake exam indicated a possible right wing fracture, so off to Smalley’s we went for x-rays. Vet Peggy Hobby agreed that the right wing didn’t “feel” right but the x-rays showed no fractures. Given that coracoid fractures don’t always show on x-rays and are especially hard to see in songbirds, we’re guessing that’s what we have with this unhappy fellow. 

​A coracoid fracture is essentially like a broken collarbone in humans. It can’t be splinted; he just needs cage rest for a few weeks to give it time to heal. And, of course, since he was cat-attacked, he’s undergoing a round of antibiotics, as cat saliva is toxic to wildlife.

​Once again, y’all, say it with me: “Cats belong INDOORS for their own health and safety and the health and safety of our native wildlife.”

Anybody else remember that old expression? Well, I put action to those words late last week when the first of four glorious, rain-free days arrived. Five birds regained their freedom—and, as many of y’all already know, Sisyphus the kestrel is now in his new home. So all in all, it was a great week, despite insane rain amounts early on.
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A third barred owl came in late Monday and was also one of the five releases on Saturday: three barreds, the Coop and the screech. Only the screech hung around long enough for a post-release photo, and he’s actually the only one I didn’t manage a decent release video of, so that balanced out nicely. The release videos and the screech’s photo are below.

​And with what seemed like record speed, Beth Thomson of Blue Ridge Raptors received both her federal and state approval for Sisyphus’ transfer in the same week, so she was able to pick him up Thursday and reports that he’s adjusting well to his new home and being trained for his new role as an educational ambassador for his species.

​The red tail recovering from the wing fracture has finally realized she’s not gonna starve to death in rehab and has cut back to a mere two large mice a day. In another week or so, she’ll be due for follow-up X-rays to see how that wing’s healing.

​And this is what I see when I feed the flyers at night:

Finally, with baby season already beginning for mammal rehabbers and not far off for bird rehabbers, let me hop on my soapbox and remind you that rehabbers rely on the public to get wildlife in need to them; we cannot go out and pick up the wildlife. I actually had someone argue last week that asking the public to transport wildlife to a rehabber is like asking them to extract wreck victims from a car and transport them to a hospital, rather than calling an ambulance. I initially said this was not an apt analogy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s not totally inaccurate.

Ambulance drivers transport their patients to treatment facilities (hospitals) where they are cared for by trained, PAID professionals—the doctors and nurses—who do NOT drive all over the place, loading up and transporting their patients to their facilities. They wait for the ambulance drivers to do this. Therefore, the wildlife finder/transporter serves as the "ambulance driver," transporting to wildlife rehabbers’ homes, which serve as the treatment facilities for our "patients." Wildlife rehabbers are trained, UNPAID professionals, outside large centers, which are few and far between. And just try calling any of those large centers with paid staff and see if they’ll hop right in their cars and come pick up your wildlife. I promise you, they’ll give you the same reply we home-based folks do—no can do.

Most of us are, in fact, home-based and have paying jobs to support our rehab efforts and keep the lights on. We can’t be on the road picking up the wildlife all the time; it’s a logistical impossibility. For example, with just 12 songbird rehabbers and 11 raptor rehabbers in the entire state of Georgia (per our latest list), those of us in the state cannot pick up all the birds we get calls about. If we're on the road picking up birds—or squirrels or rabbits or deer, for my colleagues who rehab mammals—when are we supposed to take care of the ones we already have in rehab?
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We will gladly walk anyone who calls through what they need to do to get wildlife secured and to us; we will refer them to volunteer transportation networks when the sheer distance requires it; we will refer to closer rehabbers when possible. Work with us on this; we want to help the wildlife you’ve found, but we cannot pick it up. Driving it to us is maybe an hour out of your day to bring us a bird or mammal that will require days, more often weeks or months, of round-the-clock care from us. Surely you can spare that measly little hour to do the right thing—the HUMANE thing.

Do y’all know how hard it is to come up with headlines about the rain that aren’t stultifyingly repetitive? We had a brief three days of no rain, but it remained too wet to get anything released. And now the rain is slated to start again…for most of next week…Anybody got any gopher wood to donate toward the ark?
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Last week wasn’t a good week, quite frankly. If you recall from last Sunday’s update, LWR had a turkey vulture come in with a leg fracture. I’d said he was slated for a vet visit ASAP. Well, Monday afternoon he got his vet visit, and it was bad news all the way. The poor bird had TEN pellets scattered throughout his body, including one in his eye, the leg was broken and there was an old healed-in-the-wild shoulder fracture that would have effectively grounded the bird, which is probably why some jackass filled him with birdshot.

Because of the sheer number of pellets and the fact that the poor fellow was already showing neurological signs of the inevitable lead poisoning that would result from so many pellets, vet Peggy Hobby and I agreed euthanasia was the kindest option.

And because he’d been injured as a result of illegal activity, both DNR and FWS had to be notified. It’s frustrating for all concerned because we know without eyewitnesses, no case can actually be made. Still, rules is rules, and at least both agencies know some jackass is taking potshots at raptors in the county where the vulture was found.
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Adding to the general “Mondayness” of the day, a local mammal rehabber picked up and transported a weak and lethargic adult female red tail to LWR. She had multiple issues: emaciation, early stages of frounce and, I was afraid, rodenticide poisoning. I loaded her up along with the turkey vulture in hopes she wasn’t too far gone. Unfortunately, she had two seizures in the vet clinic waiting room—and we didn’t wait long—and died.

​Y’all, let me get on my soapbox here: rat poison is deadly to more than just rats and mice. I don’t care if you’re using bait boxes—you do know the rodents eat the poisoned bait and then run back outside the bait box, as they’re not designed to trap the rodent they’ve just poisoned. As it bleeds to death internally, it becomes sluggish and easy prey for a hungry raptor, who then becomes a secondary victim of the poison—and, in even more horrifying instances, takes the poisoned rodent back to a nest of hungry babies, who then also die from rodenticide poisoning.

In short, DON’T USE THE CRAP. And don’t use glue traps, either—they also snag unintended victims like songbirds, lizards, bats and snakes. Use snap traps, humane traps (if you want to take the captured rodents far into the woods away from your property) and general hygiene, i.e., pick up your trash and don’t leave pet food sitting outside—and yes, even bird feeders will attract rodents, so you may want to bring them in at night. My preferred option would be, where possible, to place some owl nesting boxes to attract barn owls. One barn owl can eat a thousand rodents a year—imagine having a family of them on “rat patrol!”

In happier news, today the bumblesome Coop finally got it together enough to perch for the first time since intake. In another week or so, he should be good to go.

​The barred owl is ready for release but rain-delayed—well, actually soggy-release-site-delayed last week and a further rain delay this week. But he’s good to go as soon as the weather cooperates.

​The screech is also ready for release—ditto the above statements; meanwhile, he’s obviously got a PhD in stink-eye!

​And the red tail recovering from the wing fracture is, quite frankly, just a gorgeous gal. I confess to being just a wee bit besotted with her, but then, who wouldn’t be? Just look at her!

We had a couple of days of sunny weather, although as of sunset it had already started sprinkling again. Reminds me of the old Jerry Clower joke (for those of y’all who don’t know Jerry Clower, you have been culturally deprived…) about the idiot who got elected to Congress (a common occurrence, I know, but this was apparently a giant among idiots) and the first thing he wanted to do was move February to between July and August, since it’s a short, cool, wet month and people could use the relief about then.

Last week we had an infrequent but always welcome visitor—a sandhill crane. Y’all know how much I adore those birds, and this one appeared to be in bad shape on intake. He’d been found walking in the road with his head down by an animal control officer in a neighboring county and we were honestly not sure he’d survive the night. He had no external injuries but was reluctant to stand and kept his head bowed when he did stand. Over the next couple of days, though, he improved substantially and today was looking and sounding absolutely great. Given that the branch in front of my house is quite full at the moment, I soft-released him in the yard today and he immediately beelined for the branch. And of course, I followed, camera in hand.
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There’re more birds below him, but enjoy this gorgeous fellow! I may have gone slightly overboard with photos and video…

​Late this afternoon, a young turkey vulture with a broken leg came in. The leg feels broken right in the joint but without x-rays I can’t confirm. We’ll see how he’s doing in the morning and plan for x-rays if he’s stable.

​Another barred owl came in, this one a transfer for release from colleague Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends. He’s a youngish bird and Steve felt he’d do better if he had a few days with an older barred before his release. And I have an older barred at the moment, so…

​The Coop is in the mini-pen vacated by the sandhill. While he’s eating quite well (relax, the blood all over his beak is from his most recent meal), he has some balance issues still. His poop looks good and he’s casting pellets like a champ, so we just need to get that horizontal and vertical hold adjusted.

​The screech remains inside; his eye cleared up enough over last week that I opted for no vet visit, but with the insane weather, I was just more comfortable keeping him inside. 

​Sisyphus awaits his transfer approval; we know it can take time—up to six weeks, according to Beth Thomson of Blue Ridge Raptors—so as I said last week, it’s just hurry up and wait at this point. (Again, the blood and bits of flesh are from some messy eating. Apparently today was “sling your food” day among my raptors.)

The flyers didn’t show their faces last week, but they’re eating everything they’re offered so I know they’ll do well when they’re released next month.

And saving another favorite for last, the red tail continues to inhale mice like there’s no tomorrow. She cracks me up; she generally snags the first couple before they even hit the bottom of her box and slurps ‘em down like spaghetti, and the remaining five or six—and these are LARGE mice, mind you—disappear shortly thereafter.
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But look at that face—who could resist that expression?

Y’all, I’m tryin’ really hard not to complain about the rain. Really hard. But Lordamercy, my raptor flight has huge puddles in it; the songbird flight repair is on hold indefinitely, with more rain on the way most of next week, and there haven’t been three consecutive rain-free days since sometime back in late January.  

The good news, as far as the songbird flight goes, is once we got the debris out of the way, the damage isn’t as bad as it initially looked. Volunteer transporter AJ Rogers, who also constructed the mini-pen last summer, estimates about a day’s work to have it usable again.
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The red tail is looking great and inhaling food. She’s what colleague Steve Hicks calls a light eater: as long as it’s light outside, she’s eating! She was thinnish when she came in; the more she eats, the better. And proper nutrition will aid in better healing of that wing fracture.

​The barred owl, bless his heart, is in the raptor flight. He does have a covered blind at the back, out of the wind and rain, but apparently he was enjoying the wet the day I snapped this photo during a lull in the downpour. 

​The screech is opening his injured eye now, and it’s looking better. I suspect we may have a luxated lens, but there was no way to be sure with the blood that filled his eye most of last week. Now that we can see what’s going on a bit better, he’ll probably make a trip to Smalley’s this week for a more thorough eye exam.

​A young adult turkey vulture was found near the road midweek, apparently unable to fly. His intake exam revealed an old, healed fracture but he was able to fully extend his wing. Given the prevalence of deer carcasses up and down my rural road, I opted to soft-release him. 

​And yesterday a first-year Cooper’s hawk came in with apparent head trauma. Nothing’s broken and he was quite vocal on intake but it was pretty obvious from his head tremors he needs a few days to get his horizontal and vertical hold adjusted. (For those who wonder how to differentiate between Coops and sharpies, Coops generally have a pronounced “ridge” of feathers at the backs of their heads; sharpies have rounded heads. It’s not foolproof but it’s pretty accurate.)

Hopefully some of y’all are having decent weather for the Great Backyard Bird Count, which ends tomorrow. I haven’t participated this year, thanks to the rain. Yeah, I know birds are out in the rain. They have feather insulation. I just get damp, cold and irritable!
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We’re still awaiting federal approval for Sisyphus’ transfer. It may take some time, so we’re in “hurry up and wait” mode. And the flyers are still awaiting warmer, drier weather for release. But they do love those dandelion greens!