And too many birds to deal with in this heat! With temps hovering at or above 100 for the past few days and the same predicted for next week, the birds in the songbird and raptor flights are purely miserable; I’m refilling water dishes multiple times a day rather than once or twice.
And the pace hasn’t let up any, with 19 new intakes since Monday and number 20 on the way as I type.
Monday two new mockers came in; they were *thisclose* to fledging, so within a day or so they’d moved to the songbird flight. I don’t think I even remembered to take photos of them. Let’s face it: mockers don’t vary a lot in appearance—seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all!
And yes, more raptors came in, as well. Tuesday a man cut down a tree without seeing the red shoulder nest and so LWR gained two confused and traumatized nestlings.
And the pace hasn’t let up any, with 19 new intakes since Monday and number 20 on the way as I type.
Monday two new mockers came in; they were *thisclose* to fledging, so within a day or so they’d moved to the songbird flight. I don’t think I even remembered to take photos of them. Let’s face it: mockers don’t vary a lot in appearance—seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all!
And yes, more raptors came in, as well. Tuesday a man cut down a tree without seeing the red shoulder nest and so LWR gained two confused and traumatized nestlings.
To his credit, the man was quite upset, as he said he always looks for nests and will leave trees for as long as it takes for the babies to fledge, but he somehow missed this one.
Also on Tuesday, this hatchling woodpecker, probably a red-headed by his sound, came in. He must have been the runt of his clutch, as he never showed any signs of developing for the three days he lived. None. No signs of feather growth; eyes opened only slightly—just weird “runt” stuff. He died on day 3.
Also on Tuesday, this hatchling woodpecker, probably a red-headed by his sound, came in. He must have been the runt of his clutch, as he never showed any signs of developing for the three days he lived. None. No signs of feather growth; eyes opened only slightly—just weird “runt” stuff. He died on day 3.
Wednesday an adult mourning dove came in with a nasty wound on her back. Her finders didn’t see cats around, but that’s still a strong possibility. Even with meds, she didn’t make it.
A nest of four house finches was found in a trailer hitch after the trailer had been moved. They’re already starting to test those little wings.
And another mocker rounded out Wednesday. More on his fate later…
Thursday a cat-caught fledgling blue jay came in and by Saturday he trusted me enough I felt comfortable I’d be able to continue his meds in the songbird flight and moved him out there. Apparently there was more than just the cat bacteria going on, though, as he died Saturday night, literally falling over on the footstool I leave in there for a flat perch for the birds. I just realized I have no photos of him, either…
And yet ANOTHER red shoulder came in Thursday, as well. This one was on the ground and the teens who found him saw the nest but couldn’t reach it—and ants were already on the poor fellow. He’s still not the happiest camper but at least he’s eating. And ant-free.
Thursday a cat-caught fledgling blue jay came in and by Saturday he trusted me enough I felt comfortable I’d be able to continue his meds in the songbird flight and moved him out there. Apparently there was more than just the cat bacteria going on, though, as he died Saturday night, literally falling over on the footstool I leave in there for a flat perch for the birds. I just realized I have no photos of him, either…
And yet ANOTHER red shoulder came in Thursday, as well. This one was on the ground and the teens who found him saw the nest but couldn’t reach it—and ants were already on the poor fellow. He’s still not the happiest camper but at least he’s eating. And ant-free.
Yesterday yet another set of trailer hitch babies arrived. The boat trailer had been moved Friday afternoon and it was late yesterday before the trailer owner found the babies, so they’d been close to 24 hours with no food—in the brutal heat we’re having. Not good. Surprisingly , they’re doing quite well. I’m not entirely sure of species just yet but I’m leaning toward maybe phoebes. We should be able to tell by late this week.
And today, I pulled up under my mother’s carport to find two of her barn swallows on the ground. I backed up and pulled forward again to try and startle them into moving. Nope. *sigh* Put the car in park, get out, walk up to shoo them away…and they’d fallen from the nest mere days before they would’ve fledged. Couldn’t fly. At all. So now Mama’s resident barn swallows are very unhappy with me because I have two of their babies…
I have no clue yet what tonight’s bird is; the caller said her daughter found it at church covered with ants. And once again PetSmart proves what idiots they have manning their stores; when the family took the WILD BIRD into a PET STORE, the geniuses there tried to tell them how to care for it instead of explaining it was illegal to possess wildlife without the proper permits and referring them to a rehabber. It was the mother’s initiative and continued Internet searching that alerted her to the illegality of possessing wildlife without permits and led her to LWR. God bless her for having the good sense NOT to listen to the fools at PetSmart.
The adult barred owl with the shoulder laceration was doing so well…until she wasn’t. She died overnight midweek. And one of the red shoulder quartet, the runt, died 24 hours after they were moved to the raptor flight…And today within an hour, tragedy struck in my songbird flight as a rat snake managed to get in and eat a mocker and my precious robin between my hourly feedings. Needless to say, he was terminated with extreme prejudice. I know that won’t bring either bird back, but there are two things no-damn-body better ever mess with if they want to live: my family and my rehabs.
I did locate the entrance point for the now-deceased snake; there was a finger-width gap between the plywood of the blind and the bottom of the frame, hidden behind the base of one of the perches. It’s been closed now; I fixed that in today’s 100-degree temps. Too late for those two birds but the repair should prevent any more needless avian or snake deaths.
The adult barred owl who’d been at LWR since January was finally released, freeing the raptor flight for the red shoulder quartet, now trio. No videos or photos; he didn’t waste time skedaddling!
The vultures have discovered how to use their wings, so now they’re as likely to be out of their pen as in it. This morning I sat some thawed deer meat out to get room temp, and an hour later I walked on the porch to find them out of the pen and deer meat all over the porch…
The adult barred owl with the shoulder laceration was doing so well…until she wasn’t. She died overnight midweek. And one of the red shoulder quartet, the runt, died 24 hours after they were moved to the raptor flight…And today within an hour, tragedy struck in my songbird flight as a rat snake managed to get in and eat a mocker and my precious robin between my hourly feedings. Needless to say, he was terminated with extreme prejudice. I know that won’t bring either bird back, but there are two things no-damn-body better ever mess with if they want to live: my family and my rehabs.
I did locate the entrance point for the now-deceased snake; there was a finger-width gap between the plywood of the blind and the bottom of the frame, hidden behind the base of one of the perches. It’s been closed now; I fixed that in today’s 100-degree temps. Too late for those two birds but the repair should prevent any more needless avian or snake deaths.
The adult barred owl who’d been at LWR since January was finally released, freeing the raptor flight for the red shoulder quartet, now trio. No videos or photos; he didn’t waste time skedaddling!
The vultures have discovered how to use their wings, so now they’re as likely to be out of their pen as in it. This morning I sat some thawed deer meat out to get room temp, and an hour later I walked on the porch to find them out of the pen and deer meat all over the porch…
The two juvie great horned owls are awaiting their turn in the raptor flight…
…as are the barred owls, who at least are in bigger digs for the moment…
…and the screech twins…
There’s probably somebody I didn’t update y’all on, but it’s late; I’m tired after having to make emergency repairs to the songbird flight in the heat; my Internet connection has been out and just decided to restore itself—AFTER I tried everything known to man before calling technical support, only to have to magically start working 3 minutes into the service call; and I just wanna take a cool shower and try to get to bed before the wee hours.
UPDATE: Tonight’s bird appears to be a fledgling chipping sparrow.
UPDATE: Tonight’s bird appears to be a fledgling chipping sparrow.
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