First off, thanks to those who donated to the fundraiser. With just two days left before the deadline and the total raised sitting at $2775, it’s pretty obvious we won’t meet the goal of $5500. Thanks to those whose donations will allow LWR to limp through another few months—we’ll operate till the funds get low, then cease taking in new birds in order to have funds to finish up with whatever’s currently in house. With luck, we might be able to stretch that $2000+ ($770+ has already been spent on more mice and various songbird/waterfowl feedstuffs) to the end of the year but I’m not optimistic on that front. Too bad more of the 600+ of you who “like” the LWR Facebook page didn’t translate that “like” into financial support…
The robin, last mocker and all three flickers are now released. The robin and flickers still expect handouts whenever I’m in the yard, which is fine; I can monitor their progress by how often they demand handouts and how long they hang around. They’re already grabbing a quick bite or two and flying away, so that shows they’re figuring out where the natural food sources are.
The mourning dove fledgling from last week—the one who’d been attacked by a dog—started uncontrollably drooling blood Monday morning; apparently there were internal injuries. He was euthanized.
The Eurasian collared dove, however, is looking good and perching. He hasn’t quite figured out the self-feeding thing, but he’s at least playing with the food he’s offered.
The Eurasian collared dove, however, is looking good and perching. He hasn’t quite figured out the self-feeding thing, but he’s at least playing with the food he’s offered.
Monday a chuck-will’s-widow came in; he’d been cat-attacked. He was missing most of his tail feathers and had a deep scratch on his belly. After treatment with antibiotics, he was released. While 10-14 days is the norm for a round of antibiotics, with some really stress-prone species, it’s best to release as soon as possible. Nightjars tend to fall in that category.
Sorry the video's sideways; it played horizontally on my PC...
Amazing camouflage, huh?
The brown thrasher and three red-headed woodpeckers went to the songbird flight last week; the thrasher is still there but the red-heads have been released. They flew the coop without a backward glance.
The wood ducks are *thisclose* to release—maybe within the next week, certainly within the next couple of weeks.
The young Mississippi kite with the wing damage is looking great. I don’t expect feather regrowth in the immediate future, so I may end up looking to transfer him out when funds start getting low; I can’t overwinter a bird without the money to feed him.
The flycatcher from last week is an Eastern kingbird, one of several members of the flycatcher family. He’s had a rough week, bless his heart. As you may recall, he was eating but not opening his eyes last week. Then about mid-week, overnight he developed severe diarrhea and was massively dehydrated the next morning. Then for half a day he couldn’t poop at all. I honestly seriously debated euthanizing but through all of this he was still eating well, so we did meds, wormer and crossed fingers. As of today—keep those fingers crossed—his poop is looking normal and he’s looking like he finally feels better.
The screech hasn’t been moved into the raptor flight yet, basically because it’s been too hot and muggy to deal with the between-birds cleanup required. The temps are moderating somewhat for the next few days, so he should be in the flight early in the week.
We attempted to release the broadwing, as planned. It was the stuff of comedy. He came out between the flaps of the box before I could even open it…and proceeded to sun himself on the box…
…then he hopped off the box and sunned some more on the ground…
…then he proceeded to waddle along the ground like a penguin…
…at which point I gave up, scooped him up, and called colleague Kathryn Dudeck at Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) on my way home from the release site. Broadwings are social raptors so I knew to begin with that releasing him solo would be a crap shoot. I also worried about his initial weeks with the hamburger and worms idiot—how much handling and possible imprinting occurred then? He seemed wild enough in the raptor flight but I was able to walk up to him and pick him up off the ground in open space—not good.
And to add to the general frustration, as soon as he was back in the raptor flight, he was flying like a champ again!
And to add to the general frustration, as soon as he was back in the raptor flight, he was flying like a champ again!
Kathryn had a couple of broadwings in that she could put my guy with; CNC is also on a major broadwing migratory flyway and within driving distance of a site where they gather prior to migration—all better than I could offer the clueless little fellow here at LWR. The day after his failed release here, he was en route to Kathryn at CNC, where he’ll hopefully figure things out in time for migration.
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