It’s shaping up to be a weeeiiiird baby season, with still the lone songbird fledgling and baby raptors out the wazoo—a complete reversal of the usual order of things. And raptor space is at a premium these days; I’m about to have to start stacking ‘em like cordwood, it looks like!
Lessee, where to start…the leg-trap GHO continues to recover nicely; the foot remains stubbornly splayed open, though, and I’m afraid that will be an issue later on.
The red shoulder recovering from a wing fracture is due for follow-up x-rays later this week but I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll get a good report.
The warbler fledgling recovering from the nasty wing fracture is actually making very strong short flights inside; next stop: the songbird flight to see how she manages out there. I honestly don’t expect her to have any issues, based on her current performance.
The barred owl who’d recovered from severe head trauma was released early last week and flew the coop quite eagerly—but did perch in an open enough spot to allow photos. It was a pretty day, about 90 minutes before sunset, so I may have gone a little wild with the release pix…
Lessee, where to start…the leg-trap GHO continues to recover nicely; the foot remains stubbornly splayed open, though, and I’m afraid that will be an issue later on.
The red shoulder recovering from a wing fracture is due for follow-up x-rays later this week but I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll get a good report.
The warbler fledgling recovering from the nasty wing fracture is actually making very strong short flights inside; next stop: the songbird flight to see how she manages out there. I honestly don’t expect her to have any issues, based on her current performance.
The barred owl who’d recovered from severe head trauma was released early last week and flew the coop quite eagerly—but did perch in an open enough spot to allow photos. It was a pretty day, about 90 minutes before sunset, so I may have gone a little wild with the release pix…
Since the third downy great horned owl came in last Sunday, we were able to go ahead and euthanize the poor baby with the unfixable leg injury. And yes, it hurt my heart to have to euthanize a baby. Always does. The day it doesn’t is the day it’s time for me to get out of wildlife rehab.
However…we still have three downy GHOs, because yet ANOTHER one came in mid-week. This tough guy was found in the middle of the road with suspected head trauma—luckily, it was a vet in a nearby county who found him, so she treated him that night and called LWR the next morning. I kept him separate from the “twins” for a day or two, to make sure he was ready for the rough and tumble “play” of two new foster siblings. When they were all three put together, the reaction was priceless.
First, the two who’d been together a few days longer crowded into one corner and glared alternately and me and him.
However…we still have three downy GHOs, because yet ANOTHER one came in mid-week. This tough guy was found in the middle of the road with suspected head trauma—luckily, it was a vet in a nearby county who found him, so she treated him that night and called LWR the next morning. I kept him separate from the “twins” for a day or two, to make sure he was ready for the rough and tumble “play” of two new foster siblings. When they were all three put together, the reaction was priceless.
First, the two who’d been together a few days longer crowded into one corner and glared alternately and me and him.
He responded by hunkering down and glaring back.
Then they decided to all three band together against me, the common enemy. Unfortunately, GHOs aren’t known for their smarts, so it took ‘em a while to coordinate their glares…
The downy barred owl trio are growing nicely; I suspect by late next week they might be ready to join their older foster sib in the raptor flight.
And yes, the older barred baby is in the raptor flight now. He’s flying quite nicely but still a bit unsure about self-feeding, which is kinda funny since he was totally self-feeding before the move outside. He’s still adjusting to his new digs, though, so it’ll take a few days.
Late in the week, on the same day, a dog-attacked mourning dove came in early in the day and a brown thrasher with a badly broken leg—at the hip—near dark. Sadly, neither bird survived the night.
The flyers are seldom seen these days outside of feeding time. The video and photo below were shot through the cage bars, as the door is in the wrong position to allow me to feed and film through it simultaneously. Still, it’s pretty much what I see daily!
Late Monday evening, LWR received an osprey with a broken wing. Tuesday, we headed to Smalley’s Animal Hospital, where x-rays showed SEVEN pellets in the bird, throughout his body. Yeah, some fool shot an osprey. Two of the pellets had broken both the radius and ulna but neither bone was badly displaced, so vets Richie Hatcher and Peggy Hobby conferred and agreed that while the bird’s chances of healing properly for flight were only about 50-50, it was worth a try. They know I’m always willing to give birds a shot at eventual release, so Richie wrapped the wing so the osprey couldn’t do anything stupid while we wait to see if those bones will heal to allow flight. Unfortunately, Mr. Osprey is stubbornly refusing to self-feed, so I’m having to force-feed—oh joy…
Meanwhile, his injury has been reported to GA DNR and US FWS. I think I’ve reported more illegal activity to them already this year than I did all of last year.
Meanwhile, his injury has been reported to GA DNR and US FWS. I think I’ve reported more illegal activity to them already this year than I did all of last year.
And just yesterday afternoon, a first-year sharp-shinned hawk came in. Now, understand, according to the range maps, sharpies are in Georgia ONLY during the winter. Apparently this bird didn’t get the memo, as he was found in Middle Georgia the Saturday before Easter—pretty sure that qualifies as NOT winter…
His wing is raw and swollen and definitely broken but it’s not an open fracture, so he’ll be headed in for x-rays Monday. Honestly, I’m not optimistic; it feels like a pretty badly displaced fracture. But I’ve been wrong before and am always quite happy when I’m wrong and the bird actually has a chance at healing for flight. Fingers crossed for this feisty little hawk.
His wing is raw and swollen and definitely broken but it’s not an open fracture, so he’ll be headed in for x-rays Monday. Honestly, I’m not optimistic; it feels like a pretty badly displaced fracture. But I’ve been wrong before and am always quite happy when I’m wrong and the bird actually has a chance at healing for flight. Fingers crossed for this feisty little hawk.
And finally…
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