Slow is a relative term, right?

​‘Cause I honestly thought this week had been a bit slower till I sat down to work on this week’s update and realized LWR’d had 12 intakes, in addition to the ongoing “guests.” The good news is that we had four releases this week! But first…
 
…can you stand this much adorable?

​This poor little downy red shoulder hawk's nest was destroyed by a logger, who then took him home and fed him worms and hamburger for TWO WEEKS before contacting LWR. He claimed he’d been trying through DNR to locate a rehabber for that length of time as well, but I wasn’t buying it. All DNR employees have access to the same list the public does, published on their website, so DNR not being able locate a rehabber sounds like hogwash to me. Especially since he kept lowering the amount of time he’d had the bird. It went from 2 weeks in a voicemail to a week and a half on the phone to a week to the volunteer transporter who rescued the bird to 5 days in a follow-up message to me. Sounds like someone could have had a promising career in politics to me…

​At any rate, the sweet little fellow finally, after three days of proper diet, cast his first pellet and I nearly danced a jig. It was small, but it was a PELLET! He’s eating well and casting those pellets regularly now; hopefully there won’t be any developmental issues that show later as a result of that early crap diet.

​Sadly, an adult red shoulder that came in the same day didn’t survive the night. He was emaciated and lethargic on intake and didn’t really have a chance.
 
Nor did this poor little hatchling, probably a mocker, who had been found covered with ants.

In another case of human idiocy, this fledgling blue jay had also been kept illegally for two weeks and fed beef strips and worms—and treated like a pet. He’s having to be re-trained not to perch on my shoulder, because that’s NOT what a wild bird should do. Again, there are no immediate signs of damage, but nutritional deficiencies sometimes come back to haunt us later down the road.  People, I cannot stress this enough: when you find orphaned, injured or ill wildlife, DON’T TRY TO “FIX” IT YOURSELF. CALL A REHABBER IMMEDIATELY. Not an hour from now, not tomorrow, not next week. IMMEDIATELY. 

​And yet another adult barred owl came in, probably hit by car. Luck was with him; he escaped with nothing more than a nasty headache and might be released as early as this afternoon.
 
This little mocker nestling alternates between lethargy and energetic gaping for food. His finders said the entire nest looked to’ve been attacked and destroyed, and he was found on the ground on top of a dead sib. Could have been a free-roaming cat or a raccoon or a hawk or owl, or even a gray squirrel. I’m presuming cat attack and medicating accordingly, just to be safe.

​When mammal rehabber Libby Carey said she had an anhinga, also known as a water turkey or snake bird (when they swim, only their heads and necks are above water; looks like a snake) and that it appeared to be a fledgling, we both presumed he’d just gotten lost somehow, since he was found in a parking lot with no parents in sight. He wasn’t self-feeding, and Libby got him to me ASAP. Sadly, he didn’t survive the night.

​I’d guess this juvenile house finch, who also came from Libby, whacked a window, as she reported him “helicoptering” when he tried to fly. He seemed alert and flying well the morning after intake here from Libby: he escaped and flew nicely through the rehab room, so to the flight pen he went, where he flew perfectly and was subsequently released. Not the greatest shot of him, but it was one of the few times he was actually not in motion in the songbird flight!

Libby is having issues with some stray cats she hasn’t been able to catch, so she was reluctant to release her last two flyers in her yard. Since I have a colony here, she asked if I could take her “babies” for safe release here. Of course, I’ll never say no to flyers! These two have the option of freedom every night but haven’t yet taken advantage of it. Once my local colony gets wind of them, though, I suspect they’ll be long gone, joining the happy throng that populates my woods.

​And just today, this mocker fledgling came in. The finder had seen adult birds that looked to him like mockers as well attacking the fledgling, and when he intervened, he thought he saw injuries to the wing. An intake exam revealed no injuries, just the normal bare-ish underwings of a fledgling bird. I explained that the adults were probably attacking this fellow because he wasn’t their baby but had wandered into their territory. Mockers are territorial little terrors.

​And now to those releases: three barred owls and a red shoulder regained their freedom this week! One of the barreds and the red shoulder weren’t too sure initially; the second barred took off like a flash, precluding video or photos; the third barred at least allowed for some decent video but no photos.

​The goslings still haven’t made it to their planned release site…time constraints on my part. We’re working on it!

​The adult screech eats well but I’m thinking based on his behavior that his eye is at least uncomfortable and at most painful. Wild animals mask their pain quite well; they have to in order to survive.  We’re probably looking at euthanasia for him, which hurts my heart. I love “my” screeches.
 
The two young screeches continue to grow but the foot issue on the little male that I mentioned last week has gotten worse. His feet are rigidly splayed; he cannot bend his toes, which are swollen. And the skin is peeling off his lower legs and feet. Vet Richie Hatcher recommended a course of treatment that I’m trying now, but neither of us is optimistic. Hopeful, yes; optimistic, no. It’s not looking good for the little fellow.
 
The female screech has no issues at all aside from being convinced she’s at least 100 times larger than she is…
 
No photos of the screeches this week; I honestly forgot to get any! Same with the pileated who, surprisingly, hasn’t totally trashed his crate yet. But it sounds like I have major construction going on from dawn till dusk…Gotta love a pileated!
 
The Carolina wren refuses to leave the songbird flight; sadly, an oak snake somehow got in and ate my sweet brown thrasher last night. All I can figure is he slipped in unnoticed yesterday while the “escape hatch” was open. Now I’ll be paranoid about checking for snakes every time I leave it open for birds to leave. Needless to say, this particular snake was terminated with extreme prejudice. I know it won’t bring back the poor thrasher, but he won’t by-God ever eat another bird.

​The GHOs passed their live prey test, so as soon as we have several days of low/no rain predicted, they’re good to go. We need the rain, though, so I’m not complaining about another rain-delayed release.

​Once the GHOs have vacated the premises, the FIVE fledgling red shoulders will move in. No photos of those rascals this week; we’re down to “flyby” feedings, as they’ll seize every opportunity to escape now. They’re beyond ready for the raptor flight!
 
The red tail whose broken wing may or may not heal properly for flight is doing well and eating eagerly. Fingers crossed she’s releasable; if not, as I’ve mentioned before, we’re looking at placing her as an ed bird.

Finally, the killdeer outgrew their box and have been moved to a tub until they’re feathered enough to head for the songbird flight. I was a bit hesitant to move them, given their overall stressiness, but they seem to be adapting just fine to their new, larger digs. They’re such pretty little stilt-legged dears!