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

They’re still a-comin’…

7/26/2015

2 Comments

 
The birds, that is, and since the funds are getting on the dangerously low side with just under half the year remaining, LWR has an active fundraising campaign in place through August 21: 
Picture
Thus far $20 has been donated through Fundrazr and $417 outside Fundrazr, for a total of $437. We have $1563 to go to meet our goal, folks, so please donate generously and share our fundraiser with your friends.

Now, on to the birds…

The red shoulder has been released!
Picture
Picture
And immediately replaced in the flight pen by the juvy red tail.
Picture
The chimney swifts are progressing nicely and should be flight pen-ready in a day or two.
Picture
Picture
Picture
We had several songbird releases this past week, as well: both robins, the brown thrasher and the mocker.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
This juvenile cormorant came in with an old eye injury; it looked nasty but it had healed in the wild and had been injured for so long that he’d already learned to adapt, and adapt well. After a couple of days’ observation, he was released.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Unfortunately, the great blue heron who came in weak and emaciated was not as lucky, dying overnight.

A late-night call about a hit-by-car owl resulted in the intake of this youngish barred owl, whose right wing was shattered at the wrist, in addition to an eye injury. The wrist fracture was the deal-breaker, though, as the break was in the joint and this isn’t a fixable injury—at least, not one that will allow flight.
Picture
When these two mockers were found in the road with no nest in sight, it seemed a little odd for birds so young—older mockers will simply hop away from the tree their nest is in when they fall, but these babies were just getting their wing feathers in good, so it was a bit puzzling. They did well for several days and then both crashed the same day, leading me to believe there were issues that may’ve caused the parents to eject them from the nest.
Picture
Picture
The juvy kite is looking gorgeous and will be transferred to Bubba & Friends this week. Steve Hicks has a juvy slightly older than my guy, and with migration looming in the very near future for these birds, we wanted them to be able to pair up and at least have each other until they can join up with a migrating flock. Steve’s pretty much at capacity at the moment, but he does have his kite already in a flight pen. Recall, if you will, that my raptor flight is sorta occupied at the moment by that gorgeous red tail, who would definitely not “play nice” with the kite, so my kite will join Steve’s kite.
Picture
Picture
The wobbly brown thrasher has improved drastically in the past week and is in the songbird flight building up flight strength and skill.
Picture
The older screech is still a pissy little snot and needs to be in the flight pen, but red tails and screeches don’t exactly mix well, so he’s stuck inside until the red tail can be released.
Picture
The younger screech is, quite frankly, on borrowed time at the moment. If you’ll recall, since her initial intake, she’s had eating issues. She’s now at the point that while she refuses to even attempt self-feeding she’s also resisting being hand-fed and spitting back pretty much everything she’s fed.  I’ve consulted with colleagues Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends and Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center, as well as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and no one can come up with a reason the screech refuses to self-feed and likes to spit out her food—nor have we found a solution aside from a liquid diet, which is not helping her build any sort of survival skills. Bottom line: a bird that has so little self-preservation instinct that it won’t even attempt self-feeding has very little chance of survival in the wild. Her chances are looking grimmer by the day…
Picture
Picture
Given the wide range of territory LWR covers, reuniting nestlings or fledglings with their parents is usually impossible, but sometimes luck is on our side. My nephew saw this fledgling barn swallow, one of the colony who’s had nests under my parents’ carport this year, grounded; he started to pick the bird up and it flitted another 10-12 feet and landed in the hay field, wings outspread and unable to lift off again.
Picture
My nephew scooped him up and brought him to LWR, where we determined that he’d probably been the last to hatch and fledged too early under pressure from his newly-fledged sibs and parents. He was NOT a happy camper, but I kept him for a couple of days to give him time to finish maturing to flight-readiness and then took him back to my parents’ carport, camera at the ready, to release him back into the colony…

…And the little snot took off before I could even focus the camera on him, happily rejoining his family. So no pix or video of the actual release, but a very happy little barn swallow when he regained his freedom! The video below, taken from inside my parents’ laundry room, gives you an idea of the level of swallow activity under their carport. Pretty amazing, huh?!
2 Comments
Ann Feldman
7/28/2015 12:33:13 pm

That long neck serves the Cormorant well, letting him turn and turn so he can use the good eye. Some years ago there was a one eyed RT hanging out near the Prospect Park zoo. Sympathetic workers would leave dead rats. Love the Swallows!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
7/28/2015 12:40:42 pm

That long neck also allows the vicious little snot to jerk his head around and take a chunk out of the rehabber, Ann! LOL. You're right, though, and as I indicated above, he'd already adjusted to the impaired vision quite well.

Aren't those swallows amazing?! If you stand under their carport, they'll buzz by your face so close you can feel the breeze from their wings, chattering the whole time. Absolutely fearless little rascals!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    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.