We had no new releases and only one new intake last week: a first-year red tail with a massively swollen toe that falconer Dennis Mock called to say he was taking in and would get to me the following day. There are no puncture wounds or scabs to indicate bumblefoot, and the toe is too swollen to feel any potential breaks. He’ll be headed in for x-rays to make sure we don’t have a toe fracture. He was delivered to LWR by falconer Kayla Simmons. You may recall that Kayla is the falconer who took 2023’s “star” red shoulder—the one who came in as an app. 24-hour-old hatchling and had no surviving sibs and no other red shoulders in rehab to learn from. She’d been hunting yesterday with Bleu, as her husband named him, and had him with her. Look what a gorgeous bird he matured into! He and Kayla obviously have a great partnership. Aside from that, it was the usual: the screeches are approaching the date that their fractures should be healed enough to test for flight—more to confirm those injuries didn’t heal for flight than anything else, as we know based on their x-rays it’s highly unlikely either will ever fly again. But the raptor educator interested in them has already been back in touch to see where things stand with them. The falcon placement looks as if it’s going to fall through; the raptor educator who was planning to take her had second thoughts based on her described behavior and has found a bird who’s less problematic. Her spastic behavior is going to be an issue with any potential placement, I’m afraid, but I’ll be contacting Georgia DNR’s head biologist Bob Sargent this week to see if he has any leads. As harsh as it may sound, the reality is that she’s taking space and resources I need for other birds… The barred owl with the wing fracture required euthanasia; both the radius and ulna were broken, right at the joint. The other barred is one of the birds who needs to be in a flight. Red shoulder 1 remains in the mini-pen for the moment; I didn’t get him and the falcon switched out last week. Red shoulder 2, who came in with the nasty eye infection, is looking great; given his reluctance to eat in captivity—it’s been a struggle since intake—he may be a candidate for release next week, with no time in a flight. I know his wings work just fine, thanks; he’s gotten loose a couple of times as I was medicating his eye and led me a merry chase inside…
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Yeah, it was a GOOD week. Sadly, rehabbers don’t often have really good weeks, but this past week was amazing. LWR had 3 releases and one of the week’s intakes has made spectacular progress.
So let’s start with releases, as those had been postponed for what feels like forever due to weather. The red tail wasted no time leaving when offered his freedom.
Barred 1 also skedaddled.
Screech 2, however, had to sit and think about it a while, long enough to draw the attention of a very peeved ruby-crowned kinglet who, not content with cussing him out from a safe distance, insisted on dive-bombing him to the ground when he finally decided his release site was acceptable. He recovered and flew off, kinglet in hot pursuit. Talk about being too big for your britches!
And rounding out the amazing part of the week, a red shoulder with a massively infected left eye came in on Monday. On intake, it was such a mess I honestly didn’t think there was an eyeball to be saved. Once the eyelid had been rinsed enough to gently pry open, blood, pus and tears poured out like a small river, and I still couldn’t tell if there was a viable eyeball in that swollen mess.
But I started oral and topical meds, and just LOOK at the results…
He’s still got a while to go, but look at that progress!
The second intake of the week was another barred owl, this one apparently pulled from a vehicle grille at a convenience store overnight and stuffed in a box and put inside the store. A couple who stopped there the next morning saw the poor bird and got him to LWR. His left wing is broken; we’re aiming at x-rays next week to see if it’s a fixable break. His jaw may also be dislocated, as his beak grinds when he tries to click it in threat.
The other barred owl, also slated for release last week, proved unable to fly. Given that there are no wing fractures, this is most likely a case of coracoid fracture, which will just take time to heal.
Of the two remaining screeches, the likely nonreleasable pair, the red remains shy and has shredded the box lining to make a makeshift nest. The gray has slammed himself into the sides and top of his box to the point that he’s “scalped” himself a bit, poor fellow. He’s the one I think may surprise us all and end up being releasable.
Red shoulder 1 will be switched out with the falcon this week, so he can have a chance to build his flight muscles back up: red shoulder in main flight and falcon in mini-pen. Then maybe he can get his long-awaited release, as well.
And while colleague Steve Hicks will be working with the falcon in the interim, we have found placement for her with Steve Longenecker, a raptor educator in NC. Thanks are definitely due to Georgia raptor educator Beth Thomson of Blue Ridge Raptors, who saw Steve L.’s post about needing a falcon and passed it along to me. Once all the paperwork is approved by the feds, she’ll be on her way to NC—but the wheels of government move slowly, so it will likely be months before the transfer takes place.
Here’s hoping this week is, if not as amazing as last week, at least not one of “those” weeks…
While last week’s predicted rain never quite materialized in the amount or constancy predicted, it was juuuust enough to prevent any releases. This week, however, is looking promising, so…fingers crossed, y’all! LWR had just one new intake, another barred owl whose only injury appears to be mild head trauma. If all goes well, he’ll be among the birds released this week. The barred from last week’s update is also slated for release this week. The red tail pulled from a leg hold trap earlier this month has made it quite clear he’s ready to check out of the LWR B&B. And rounding out the aimed-for releases, screech 2 is ready to skedaddle. Screeches 3 (red) and 4 (gray), recall, are most likely nonreleasables, although screech 4 might just surprise us all. I’m hopeful but not optimistic, given his x-rays—remember, his radius and ulna were both broken, and the radius was pretty badly displaced. The falcon is likely going to colleague Steve Hicks for further evaluation and training, as Steve is a 30-plus year veteran Master Falconer in addition to being a licensed rehabber. Neither of us is under any illusion that the bird will be releasable, but Steve has the falconry skills needed to train her for use as an ed bird, which we hope will make her more easily placeable. And the red shoulder did indeed attempt self-release but was unsuccessful, proving he needs time in the main flight—time he’ll be able to get once the falcon is transferred to Steve. So the TL;DR summary is: If all goes well, look for a slew of release videos next Sunday!
Due to last week’s cold snap and this week’s prediction of rain all week, several birds at LWR that really need releasing are instead stuck while we await weather more suitable for release. And we had two additional intakes, so the inn is about full. Starting with the new intakes, an adult barred owl came in with mild head trauma and is eating well and alert now; he’s one of the “needs release” birds. The mature red tail who came in the same day had been pulled from a barbed wire fence. His leg was raw but looked like it should heal well with time and meds. He was alert and defensive, well-fleshed, eating well and casting pellets, all good signs, but within 72 hours he had died. Everything looked promising for a release within a month or so—there was no sign of infection, so the meds were obviously working—so I’m still not really sure why he died. Sometimes even when everything looks good, a bird dies for what we perceive as no good reason… Red tail 1, pulled from the leg hold trap, has healed nicely and is another of the “needs release” birds. The way he eats, I wonder if he thinks he’s a great horned owl… Screech 2 is the third “needs release” bird; he’s not a happy camper, as you can tell from the photo below. Screeches 3 (red) and 4 (gray), recall, are highly unlikely to be releasable once their wing fractures heal, but I already have several raptor educators interested in them, so they’ll be easily placeable. The red shoulder is the last of the “needs release” birds. He’s already bolted for the door several times during feedings last week, so he may end up self-releasing, inclement weather notwithstanding. And it appears the poor falcon can’t find placement as an ed bird for love nor money. Maybe I’m too honest about her temperament, but I’d rather any potential takers know she’s stressy to the point she’s trashed her tail feathers and still, after being at LWR for over 3 months now, ensures she’s at the opposite end of the flight pen from me at all times. Several potential takers have backed out on hearing that, so she’s most likely not going to be placeable. If our rain chances diminish any, y’all can expect some release reports next Sunday; otherwise it’s likely to be the same ol’ same ol’. We shall see!
Typically, December and January tend to be slow months but not Dec. 2023, nor is January 2024 shaping up to be a slow month. Well, I suppose it depends on how one defines “slow.” I mean one or two birds a week is still slower than baby season but it’s not all that normal for winter intakes, when LWR can sometimes average only 3-4 birds for a whole month, so… ANYway…last week’s intakes included this gorgeous adult male red tail, pulled from a leg hold trap on a quail plantation. Like last month’s great horned owl, he was extremely fortunate that nothing was broken. We’re treating the wounds to make sure they don’t develop into bumblefoot, but everything looks good so far. The barred owl who came in last week, however, wasn’t as lucky; he had an open wing fracture and required euthanasia. Of the four screeches, screech 1 required euthanasia; screeches 3 and 4 have injuries that will likely preclude release; screech 2 had only head trauma. I already have a couple of potential placements for the two that will probably be nonreleasable. Below are photos and x-rays. Screech 1 Screech 2 Screech 3 Screech 4 Still no luck placing the falcon, which is not boding well for her future. And the red shoulder should be good to go if I can just get him into the main flight for conditioning, which will require relocating the falcon—which isn’t fair to her, this constant shifting from pillar to post. It’s not helping her stress levels, that’s for sure, but the red shoulder needs to build up his flight muscles for release, and he needs the main flight to do that, so…poor falcon has to be moved AGAIN… Our temps this week are supposed to be about the coldest we’ve had all winter, so any movement of anybody might have to wait till the following week, though. We’ll see—as usual, we play it by ear where the weather’s concerned and remain ready to change plans at the drop of a hat!
Happy New Year, y’all! While a screech may not have been LWR’s first bird of the year, two more were added to the fold within days of 2024’s dawning, for a current total of FOUR screeches. Y’all know how I love my screeches, so I’m in hog heaven at the moment with four of the attitudinal little snots on hand—and three of ‘em are red phase! Screech 3 came in with head trauma but is now eating well and hiding in the back of his box in the blind I always make for screeches. Screech 4 came in with a broken wing but it feels like it should heal for flight; haven’t gotten him in for x-rays yet. Screech 1, from the end of December, may or may not heal for flight; it’s looking a bit iffy at the moment, but we’ll see… And screech 2, also from late December, had only head trauma and is unhappily glaring at me when he peers out from his blind. We’re working on clearing out a flight for the two head trauma cases so they can be released as soon as the weather permits. Meanwhile, the actual first bird of the year was a great horned owl with a massively broken leg—not an auspicious start to the year, as he required euthanasia. Despite my misgivings as to the potential of the falcon as an ed bird we’re trying to place her, but the week of New Year’s is just not a good time to contact facilities. I’ve put out some feelers to several educational facilities, falconers, DNR head biologist Bob Sargent, and fellow rehabbers for contacts they may have that I don’t. She cannot fly and has ruined her tail feathers through stress picking, so any facility/permitted individual who takes her will have plenty of time to work with her before she can go on display, as she’ll need a full molt first. The red shoulder appears to be ready for release. I’d prefer he spend some time in the main flight first, so this will entail some avian rearranging to allow him that conditioning time. But the weather guessers are predicting some potentially unpleasant weather (heavy rain and high wind) for our area this week, so most likely any bird juggling will be delayed for another week. Hopefully the weather guessers are off in their prognostications, but right now it looks like LWR may spend tomorrow afternoon battening down the hatches!
And I hope y’all are all set for your New Year’s plans, whatever they may be. LWR had a busy two weeks—in fact, all of December has been unusually busy as far as intakes. Two adult red-phase screeches came in, and y’all know how I love my screeches. One has a broken wing, right at the shoulder; he also had some severe head trauma and mild internal bleeding, which may have been caused by ingesting the red plastic he’s been casting and pooping for the past several days. Looks like the seal to some sort of sandwich bag or something. He’s eating a normal diet now, so hopefully we can get all the plastic out of his system. The wing is still iffy, but we’ll give him time to see what happens with it. Screech 2 had mild head trauma and just needs some time in a flight to make sure he’s fully flighted before release. However, both flights are occupied at the moment… The falcon is in the main flight and honestly, it’s not looking promising for her release. The right wing is still preventing her from proper flight. Recall, if you will, she came in with a broken toe; her x-rays were clear aside from that. But she’s kept that wing at an odd angle from the get-go. Apparently there was soft damage, and it didn’t heal for flight. I’m trying to give her a little more time, but if she can’t fly, it’s a done deal. Her temperament is not suitable for ed bird status, unfortunately. And in the mini-pen we have the red shoulder, recovering from a broken hand. He seems to be doing quite well, so as soon as we can move him into the main flight we’ll know more about his full flight capability. Gotta give the falcon a little more time, though. And sadly, the barred fatalities continued, with two more intakes. Barred 1 had massive head trauma and severe stargazing, which, as you may remember, can sometimes be resolved with a proper diet—worked beautifully for a juvie red tail a couple of years ago. But for this bird, it didn’t work; if anything, the stargazing got worse, to the point he couldn’t eat or maintain his balance. He was humanely euthanized. Barred 2’s head trauma left him blind; again frequently time will resolve this issue, but in his case it didn’t. He also was humanely euthanized. Hopefully 2024 will begin on a better note than 2023 is ending on. Wishing y’all all a happy new year!
Middle Georgia experienced heavy rain this weekend, and the barred owls were apparently out in force—calls started Sunday before 9am and continued until 6pm, with three intakes resulting. Barred 1 had a right wing fracture. The humerus was snapped and the two ends were nearly at right angles, with one *thisclose* to piercing the skin to form an open fracture. This was one of those cases where x-rays would have been redundant; it was obvious from a simple manual exam that the bones were too badly displaced to heal for flight. He was humanely euthanized. Barred 2 also had a right wing fracture; the wing rotated nearly 360 degrees—not fixable and no need for x-rays in this case, either. Euthanasia was required. And barred 3 had severe head/neck trauma, mostly likely from a head-on collision with a vehicle. He couldn’t even keep his head up and sprawled with his wings splayed out to the sides. He also required euthanasia. And yes, lemme tell y’all right now having to euthanize three birds back to back sucks big time. It’s never pleasant, but THREE birds in less than an hour leaves you reeling, I can promise. The sole comfort is that none of the three was left to suffer by the roadside until it died, becoming a magnet for possums, vultures, crows and other carrion eaters who then might also have become roadkill. Given the predicted crappy weather for this past weekend, I proactively moved the falcon back inside for a few days. She’s not happy inside, as evidenced by her dinged cere, and will be moved back outside this week. And the red shoulder would like nothing better than to be outside but his wing hasn’t healed enough to move into a flight yet. Remember, there will be no update next Sunday, Christmas Eve, and our last update of 2023 will be on Saturday, Dec. 30.
Merry Christmas, y’all!
Fall and winter are supposed to be a rehabber’s slow season but this past week proved that to be a lie. It was a truly strange week.
Let’s start with great news: We had two releases! The barred owl was released late last Sunday afternoon and wasted no time taking his leave.
The great horned then went into the main flight, where he proved himself ready for release within a couple of days and also had his freedom restored.
The falcon then went first into the mini-pen and then into the main flight after the great horned’s release. She’s still holding that wing oddly, so apparently there was soft tissue damage—if y’all recall, her x-rays showed no wing fractures; she only had a broken toe. Still, she is making low flights right now; almost half the length of the flight, so we’ll give her more time to see where this leads.
The red shoulder that was en route last week has a broken “hand” but vet Peggy Hobby of Smalley’s Animal Hospital and I think it should heal for flight.
The first red shoulder, the one with spinal trauma, seemed to be showing some slight improvement in mobility after a dose of steroids, and then died.
The starving red tail with what I thought was a foot injury turned out to have a shattered femur and required euthanasia. Peggy and I suspected an impact injury, confirmed when colleague Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center looked at the x-rays and said she’d seen similar impact injuries when red tails fought and one got slammed to the ground. Because the entire head of the bone was in pieces and almost the entire length of the femur was shattered, there was no humane option but euthanasia—and yes, it sucked to have to put down a bird who was perfectly healthy in every other respect and rapidly regaining the weight he’d lost in the wild before being brought to LWR. I was at least able to make sure he died with a full crop; that much I could do for him, poor baby.
A second red tail came in, this one a mature male. The story of his rescue is interesting, to say the least. Apparently a high-speed chase started in neighboring Treutlen County and was joined by Laurens County SO and the Georgia State Patrol. The suspect was tossing drugs out the window while fleeing, and when GSP PITted (Precision Immobilization Technique) the car, deputies from both counties were walking the interstate to locate the drugs and found the bird. Borrowing a blanket from EMS, they secured the bird and a Laurens County deputy brought him to LWR. He also had spinal trauma, and two doses of steroids did nothing for him. He produced no poop over the three days I waited to see if the steroids would help and then began having difficulty breathing, as if the paralysis was spreading, so he was also euthanized.
Thursday night a game warden from Pulaski County called with an injured owl that he was planning to bring to LWR Friday, but it died overnight.
And then yesterday, a new game warden from Baldwin County called with an injured barred owl. His leg appears to be broken at the hip, which doesn’t bode well for his future, either.
Finally, remember that with all the December activities on tap, our weekly updates will be cancelled or rescheduled; below is the schedule for updates for the remainder of the month:
Dec. 18--MONDAY Dec. 24—Christmas Eve, no update Dec. 30--SATURDAY
I’m pretty sure y’all know the second line, and plans did go awry last week, with cold temps and rain. We managed only one release, DNR decided late November would be a good time for a facilities inspection (we passed, of course; I keep my facilities inspection-ready at all times), and the seasonal but still unpleasant weather resulted in a couple of new intakes, with another en route as I type. The good news is that the fundraiser goal was not only met but slightly exceeded, with an ending total of $1300! Heartfelt thanks to all who donated.
Several nights of hard freezes, followed by several days and nights of rain, meant nothing else planned for the week got accomplished. The falcon and great horned are still inside, the barred awaits release, and LWR had a red tail intake, a red shoulder intake, and today’s en route bird is another red shoulder. So let’s start with the release: Just days before the cold and rain hit, the screech was released. Thanks to his finder, Connie Leonhardt, for returning to pick him up and release him back into his home territory, and for providing a video of the release.
The red tail is a late first-year/early second-year bird, male, who came in starvation thin (keel 1 for those who know the chart), lethargic, and with a right foot injury. He’s showing great improvement now that he’s getting regular meals and inhaling everything he’s offered, although it will take some time for him to reach a healthy weight again.
The red shoulder appears to have some spinal trauma; we’re trying steroids to see if his paralysis is caused by inflammation. He shows pain response in his feet, so that’s a potentially good sign.
The barred is ready to go and the weather looks much better for a release this week.
That will mean the great horned can finally be moved into the main flight. His toes have healed but still have scabs from being caught in the leg hold trap. He’s a very lucky bird; had the trap been larger, he’d be missing two toes.
And the peregrine can finally be moved into the mini-pen next week to begin her flight conditioning.
Finally, with all the December activities on tap, several of our weekly updates will be cancelled or rescheduled; below is the schedule for updates for the remainder of the month:
Dec. 10—as regularly scheduled Dec. 18--MONDAY Dec. 24—Christmas Eve, no update Dec. 30--SATURDAY |
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