Tall one

On Tuesday I drove to east of Buffalo to release the osprey. Then that night, after I'd gone to bed, I got a call from a man in Riverton about a sandhill crane who had been hit by a car. On Wednesday morning I drove another long distance to pick up this very large bird, DAGGER, near the Honor Farm. The mate had been calling for him but to no avail.

Unfortunately his left wing is badly broken, both radius (in one place) and ulna (in three places). Amazingly all bones are in good alignment so tomorrow (Friday), Dr. Blessing is going to do surgery to repair the fractures. Both bones will be pinned so it'll be many weeks before I'll know if he can fly again.

I believe this is a Greater Sandhill Crane, he's very large in stature. They aren't the safest birds to handle. They can't grab you with a foot but their beak is very pointed and they're very quick at striking shiny things. Eyes being the most shiny thing I'll have to be very careful when working around him.

PS: He does have two legs, he's just holding his left one up near his body.

NOTE: Sad news, just as the surgery was winding down his heart gave up and he died. Such a loss.

Resounding success....infinite sadness

On Monday I received a beautiful Sandhill Crane from MT, brought down by Micsha from the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge. I believe this may have been the bird that was seen about three weeks ago but they couldn't catch it. His left hock (think human ankle) had become dislocated and he'd managed to survive but barely.

Yesterday Dr. Blessing did repair surgery to put the joint back in place and it was an amazing job as he not only got it in place but the joint worked. The leg was then put into a fiberglass cast and I brought PALMER home. Because he apparently hadn't been able to find enough feed he was quite thin but his attitude was good. I tubed him with a special powdered diet, mixed with warm water, made just for carnivores. I know, but they are, they eat lots of bugs, mice, small mammals, so it was what he needed.

The sadness part came when I checked on him very early this morning and found out he'd died during the night. It was unfortunate that we weren't able to capture this wonderful bird much earlier, the outcome may have been much different.