Apparently it’s gonna be a raptor-heavy year; at the moment, LWR has 11 owls—3 adult screeches, 2 baby screeches, 1 adult barred, 2 baby barreds, 1 adult great horned, 1 juvie great horned, 1 nestling great horned—2 still-mostly-downy black vultures, and 4—yep, FOUR—nestling red shoulders of varying ages…all still typically red shoulder mouthy, though.
As I type this, it’s after 7 pm Sunday—by which time I normally have the LWR weekly update done. HAH. Not this Sunday. This is the first time I’ve sat down since eating a quick dinner with my mother around noon—too many beaks to feed, phone calls to field, boxes to change…
Let’s start with the new raptor babies, shall we?
May 2 a nestling red shoulder came in, all mouth and attitude.
As I type this, it’s after 7 pm Sunday—by which time I normally have the LWR weekly update done. HAH. Not this Sunday. This is the first time I’ve sat down since eating a quick dinner with my mother around noon—too many beaks to feed, phone calls to field, boxes to change…
Let’s start with the new raptor babies, shall we?
May 2 a nestling red shoulder came in, all mouth and attitude.
And today, after storms all around us last night, he was joined by three additional nestlings, two sibs whose nest was destroyed and an “only” who narrowly missed being lawn mower fodder.
A nestling barred owl was also unnested during last night’s storms.
As for the older raptor babies, the vultures are now in a playpen (yes, an actual toddler playpen), as they’ve outgrown all the boxes I have and need room to stretch their wings. It won’t be long before they’ve outgrown the playpen, as well. Poor babies look a bit scruffy as their feathers are slowly replacing their down. Other raptors look kinda cute during this process; the vultures just make me shake my head and tell ‘em, “Bless your sweet, scruffy little hearts…”
The screech twins don’t even look like the same birds! But look at those expressions—even as babies, screeches have had enough of your nonsense, thankyaverymuch!
April 29, 2019
April 30, 2019
The nestling barred owl who had the eye injury is looking great; he has full use of that eyelid now, which is more than we expected.
The juvie great horned in the raptor flight has passed her live prey test not one but twice, both times with flying colors; she’s good to go as soon as the weather cooperates.
All wasn’t sweetness and light at LWR last week, of course—never is. An adult brown thrasher came in Monday evening and died overnight.
An adult barred owl was brought by a FWS agent, but he had an open fracture at the shoulder and a closed fracture on the opposite leg and required euthanasia.
The chipping sparrow was feathering out nicely and then keeled over last night…
Two nestling Carolina wrens didn’t even survive long enough for photos, and of the “pet store” Caros, only one survived and is in the songbird flight now, along with four others—three who came in together and one who came in today. Today’s Caro is looking stressed to the max, so I’m hoping placing him with the others will ease his stress; otherwise I don’t expect him to survive the night.
Two nestling Carolina wrens didn’t even survive long enough for photos, and of the “pet store” Caros, only one survived and is in the songbird flight now, along with four others—three who came in together and one who came in today. Today’s Caro is looking stressed to the max, so I’m hoping placing him with the others will ease his stress; otherwise I don’t expect him to survive the night.
Joining the Caros is this adorable little blue-gray gnatcatcher.
No clear shots of the Caros or gnatcatcher in the flight pen; they’re active little rascals!
And the brown thrasher from last week’s update was joined by a slightly older thrasher, both of whom are also in the songbird flight.
And the brown thrasher from last week’s update was joined by a slightly older thrasher, both of whom are also in the songbird flight.
The kingfisher is eating well but most definitely NOT a happy camper. Just in case he’s not releasable, I’ve contacted Flint Riverquarium in Albany, GA, and they’ve expressed an interest in placing him in their aviary of nonreleasable native Georgia songbirds. I hope that’s not necessary but it’s nice to have a plan in place.
The adult barred and great horned owls, along with the adult screeches, await their turns in the raptor flight; the plan at the moment is to place the adult barred out there as soon as the juvie great horned is released, and then get all the adults in and out as quickly as possible to make room for the babies as they mature.
The adult barred and great horned owls, along with the adult screeches, await their turns in the raptor flight; the plan at the moment is to place the adult barred out there as soon as the juvie great horned is released, and then get all the adults in and out as quickly as possible to make room for the babies as they mature.
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