Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

So much for timeliness…

8/14/2011

1 Comment

 
Sorry for the delay in getting out an update; the paying job is keeping me busy, busy…as in 4 hours’ sleep a night is a good night… ANYway, on to the critters; you’re not here to hear about how I pay the bills!

The barn swallow was released shortly after the last update. She didn’t look back; barn swallows seldom hang around after they’re released.

Picture
We’re having a massive overlap of fur and feathers at the moment, as I have late birds and early squirrels and clueless possums. I debated posting photos of the squirrels, as some of my new friends from the NYT Hawkcam chat might feel conflicted at the cuteness of these future candidates for hawk fodder.  Yes, folks, I’m a realist—squirrels are prey animals. I rehab them; hawks and owls eat them. It’s called the food chain…


Picture
The possums came in on July 28, just as their eyes were beginning to open.


Picture
This photo was taken on August 12. What a difference two weeks makes, huh?!


Picture
I also had a mocker with a ruptured air sac come in. The technical term for this is subcutaneous emphysema. Birds, in addition to having hollow bones, have air sacs throughout their bodies; it’s this combination that allows them to fly.  Various types of trauma, ranging from a hard fall from the nest to being attacked by a cat, can cause one or more air sacs to rupture. The air then migrates to the surface of the skin and looks like a huge blister.


Picture
If they’re not in awkward locations, they can be left alone and the air will gradually be re-absorbed. In this bird’s case, the ruptured air sac was causing his leg to splay out to the side, so I drained it. Unfortunately he died several days later from other issues. Ruptured air sacs are rarely fatal unless they migrate near the throat and cause choking.


Picture
These scruffy looking Carolina wrens are little miracle birds. They travelled from Maryland to Georgia, a good 18 hour trip, with no food or water. Their nest was in the driver’s vehicle and he didn’t realize it until he reached Georgia. (This is not uncommon for Carolina wrens, as they nest in odd places: boat motors, tractor tires, motorcycle helmets, pants pockets…) Three of the five nestlings had died by the time he found them; these two looked very iffy. I really didn’t think they’d make it, to be honest, but I went through the necessary procedure to rehydrate them and get some food into them, hoped for the best and expected the worst.


Picture
Here they are three days later—still scruffy looking but alive!  Scruffy and alive ain’t a bad combo, folks!


Picture
For those of you enamored of the wood duck, she has now been released. Yes, as her feathers came in completely, we determined she was female! At right and are photos of her prior to and at her release.

July 17…


Picture
July 22…


Picture
Another July 22…


Picture
And another…she was so darn cute that day! Notice the difference in her wing feathers from July 17.


Picture
July 29…


Picture
And at left and below we have her release photos, from August 12. After carefully checking out the water, she waded in and swam around for a while before soaring over the pond and circling down to land on the opposite side but still in the water. See how her wings now cross over her back? That’s the determining factor in releasing wood ducks.


Picture
Thanks to Shelley and Chris Baumann for allowing me to use their pond as a release site. For those of you who may not remember, Shelley is one of the wonderful vets at Smalley’s Animal Hospital; her husband Chris is a wildlife biologist with Georgia DNR.

Picture
Picture
Of course, those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that I absolutely adore Eastern bluebirds, and this gorgeous little lady came in August 4. She was found huddled against the curb in the parking lot of a local business. How she got there is anyone’s guess, as nowhere in that area is known as bluebird habitat.


Picture
Picture
She was just days away from fledging and should have still been in the nest, so my best guess is some predator killed her sibs and she somehow escaped. She’s adjusted well to rehab, though, and is even beginning to attempt—and sometimes succeed at—eating mealworms on her own. Mealies aren’t a complete source of nutrition, but they’re commonly used in rehab to coax birds to self-feed, as they’re very slow and easy for beginning eaters to catch.


Picture
How do I know she’s female? Look at her flight feathers, or primaries. They’re a dusky blue. Males have much more vivid primaries—almost a cobalt blue. Of course, she’ll lose the baby spots as she matures and goes through her first molt, but the dusky, muted blue will always serve as the indicator that she’s female.


Picture
Picture
Everything bluebirds do is just precious to me; can you tell? Here she looks like she’s planning to audition as a contortionist for Cirque de Soleil, but she’s actually preening after starting her bath. She hopped in the water, got a little damp, preened a bit and then decided she needed a full bath, below. She's out of her pen for the bath; it's less messy that way!


Picture
And that’s a good way to wrap up this update. By the way, for those of you on Facebook, Laurens Wildlife Rescue now has a Facebook page. I generally post the photos from these updates there within a day or two of the update. They’re larger and clearer on Facebook, for those who like to see more detail!

1 Comment
Uwestsider
8/18/2011 11:21:44 pm

GaR: you take such good care of all the little critters and I love reading your captions. Your teeny bluebird is a cutie and appears to be responding well to your loving care….very cute little bird….love the facial expressions.
But my Wooooody is the BEST!!!! she turned out to be so beautiful…hope she finds a male to mate with…loved the pix of her gorgeous feathers.
Thanks for taking the pix, V, and posting them with such love. So lovely……I even enjoyed see the silly possums…..hope the wrens are doing well….god…they're all so tiny……THANKS again, GaR!!!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.