Well, slowish for a monsoon-like week at the beginning of baby season, anyway. (And within a few weeks, I’ll probably be looking back fondly at this nice lull…)
Let’s start with the long-termer—the barred owl. He’s in the flight pen now, after almost a week’s delay thanks to the aforementioned daily downpours. However…I’m not real hopeful he’ll ever be able to fly. Apparently, as we feared, the tendons in his barbed-wire damaged wing tightened/shortened as they healed, despite physical therapy in hopes of avoiding that scenario, and he’s currently not able to extend it even far enough to flit.
Since he’s just been in the flight for a couple of days, though, I’m giving him some time to see what transpires. He may surprise me yet.
Let’s start with the long-termer—the barred owl. He’s in the flight pen now, after almost a week’s delay thanks to the aforementioned daily downpours. However…I’m not real hopeful he’ll ever be able to fly. Apparently, as we feared, the tendons in his barbed-wire damaged wing tightened/shortened as they healed, despite physical therapy in hopes of avoiding that scenario, and he’s currently not able to extend it even far enough to flit.
Since he’s just been in the flight for a couple of days, though, I’m giving him some time to see what transpires. He may surprise me yet.
The mourning dove experienced the same rain delay and was about to go stir crazy by the time I got him out to the songbird flight. He’s got the flying thing pretty well under control, and he’s totally self-feeding, so basically he just needs another week or so to build up his flight muscles a little more.
Unfortunately, not all was cause for celebration at LWR last week. When the call came about a nest knocked from a tree in a parking lot some 50 miles away, volunteers Marshall and Laurie drove there and picked up the only baby found, who was in such bad shape that Laurie thought he’d died several times on the way to LWR.
This poor nestling grackle did, in fact, die just two hours after arriving at LWR. You can see some of the bruising on his little body in these photos, taken when I was trying to rehydrate him prior to his death. Because he had no use of his legs or feet, it seems likely he had spinal trauma of some sort, as well.
This poor nestling grackle did, in fact, die just two hours after arriving at LWR. You can see some of the bruising on his little body in these photos, taken when I was trying to rehydrate him prior to his death. Because he had no use of his legs or feet, it seems likely he had spinal trauma of some sort, as well.
When the county seat’s water treatment plant called, reporting an owl just sitting in the open on one of their pipes, they were worried it was a baby. Because their description was more confusing than helpful, I asked them to send me a photo, since if it had been a brancher there was no reason to intervene, as the parents were likely nearby. However, it was an adult great horned owl in really bad shape.
Since this facility was within “baby-feeding” distance (feed the cardinal, drive like a madwoman to the site while cussing like a sailor at all the slowpokes in front of me, get the ailing owl and haul butt back home, arriving just in time for the cardinal’s next feeding) and due to…other factors related to the ability—or lack thereof—of the folks there to deal with the owl, I drove there to capture him myself. This wasn’t too difficult, as he was so far gone he pretty much just sat there and let me toss a small net over him.
A quick “parking lot” exam revealed he was starvation thin; a more thorough exam back at LWR indicated capillaria and possibly frounce, as well. Rehydration was the first order of business, followed by very small, frequent meals and meds for the capillaria and frounce. He kept all the food and fluids down, seemed more alert, and even hissed at me once—all promising signs. Unfortunately, by the next morning, he had relapsed to his lethargic intake state and died later that day.
A quick “parking lot” exam revealed he was starvation thin; a more thorough exam back at LWR indicated capillaria and possibly frounce, as well. Rehydration was the first order of business, followed by very small, frequent meals and meds for the capillaria and frounce. He kept all the food and fluids down, seemed more alert, and even hissed at me once—all promising signs. Unfortunately, by the next morning, he had relapsed to his lethargic intake state and died later that day.
The Northern rough-winged swallow is self-feeding, which is excellent news. As for her wing, it will be at least another week before we know anything for sure. I’m hopeful but not optimistic about her chances for release, but we’re gonna give her that long shot and keep our fingers crossed.
The squirrel is now in pre-release caging and doing well; another couple of weeks and he’ll be good to go.
Normally during baby season I don’t take on “fur” unless it’s flying squirrels, but when game warden Rodney Horne called to see if I could take 3 possums whose mother had been hit by a car, his description of their size indicated they should be self-feeding. That I can manage without feeling like either the fur or the feathers are getting short shrift, so these three hissy, pissy little rascals are now partaking of the LWR buffet until they’re big enough to release.
And saving the “best” for last…my, what a difference a week makes! For your convenience, I’ve re-posted a photo of the cardinal from last week.
Here’s the little rascal three days later:
He’s actually not gaping, or begging for food, here; I caught him in a yawn!
And below are two pix of him from Saturday. Guess who else will be in the flight pen by next week!
Nestling cardinals have naked, bulging eyes that I find adorable. They also have an endearing habit of “beak licking” after eating. Because all three of these videos were cute, you get three chances to watch this darling lick his beak and doze off after feedings!
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