Finally found

If you look back to a post I did on August 1st you'll read that I went to the town of Burlington twice to look for an injured raptor. I never found him and was saddened to think he would not make it. Yesterday, late afternoon, I received a call from a gentleman I'd contacted during the original search saying he found a hawk with a broken wing and as he was coming to Cody would bring the bird to me.

My first comment, when I found out where he'd caught the bird was, "I certainly hope it's not the one I was looking for 12 weeks ago". Imagine my amazement when I saw the hawk and because of the healing that had taken place at the fracture site I decided that it's a good possibility it is that bird.

SUPERMAN is in amazing condition after all this time and is a quiet bird in his cage. I will take him in to Drs. Blessing and Pedersen tomorrow for x-rays that will tell us if the damage is repairable. Even if he can't fly again he would make an excellent ambassador for red-tailed hawks at another facility. He is only about six months old now and has a long life ahead of him if all works out in his favor.

Update: Good and bad news. Good; the birds wing was not broken. The bad is his elbow joint was pulled apart about 1/2" to 3/4". Both doctors were stunned at what they were seeing in the x-ray. As it was impossible to fix this damage, SUPERMAN was euthanized. And after examining him closer I decided he is the bird I couldn't find in August. It's a case of "if only" but the damage may not have been repairable even if he had been found that day.