The birds new truck!

I am so excieted, here's the new bird truck. I've had three places looking for a newer Ford Ranger and Brett Whitlock, here in Cody, found thie gorgeous 2009 down in Colorado. It has everything the old truck has and is even in my favorite color.

Unfortunately the birds didn't have enough in their account to fully pay for it. I've not had truck payments for decades and the price of even used vehicles is so high it takes a lot of grant money to pay for one. The old truck lasted for many, many years and I expect the same performance from this beauty. I'll get the vinyl words put on it next week so everyone will know when "The Bird Lady" is nearby.

Royalty?

Well, maybe not but his name is LORD BYRON and he thinks he's hot stuff. This seven month old GHO was luckily spotted sitting in a field. The driver, Anny Burkhold, thought that was not normal so called me. At first glance it didn't appear to be anything other than a starving baby but today, at the Lifetime Small Animal Hospital here in Cody, the reason for his not flying away was very evident.

He has a very bad wound on the inside of his left hock (think ankle) which has caused some tissue swelling and a large scab to form. He couldn't open his foot at all last night but this morning, after Dr. Pedersen removed the scab and manipulated the joint, he can now work the toes. He's wearing a bandage to help the silver dollar sized injury to heal and today had his first laser therapy treatment to help in overall healing of the joint and leg. He'll get one every 2-3 days to see if that will bring him back to normal. Thank you Stephanie Rodriguez for taking the photo of him getting his treatment. Note the fashionable goggles I'm wearing.

They're here again.

Every year about this time, Rough-legged Hawks arrive in Wyoming and surrounding states. They breed and live half their lives above the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. They show up in this area about mid October and stay until mid March.

Unfortunately this handsome little fellow, AUSTIN, encountered something he never saw in his young life, a bullet. Most of the roughies I get in have been hit by a car or truck as they eat on roadkill or are just flying across the highway. In AUSTIN's case it was someone who decided to shoot him.

He has a hole in his chest with the pellet still there and also another one in his right leg. He probably broke his left wing in the fall. He's in pretty good shape and will undergo surgery on Monday to repair the fracture.

Thanks to the caring homeowners he was brought here right after being found. Now I have my fingers crossed that he'll be ready for release before time to head North.

He's a PIP!

And as of this morning he's back in the wild. PIP came here many months ago as a brancher who made the mistake of not seeing the barbwire fence in his area. Luckily he was rescued by the homeowners who called me to come get him.

He had no broken bones but extremely severe bruising on his entire left wing. So much that I wasn't sure he could be saved. He proved me wrong and was flying much to my delight. He's been in my 32' x 48' hawk flight barn for a few weeks and today I decided he was ready to be free.

His first flight was a long one into the middle of a hay field, not to the trees I was hoping he'd head for. Immediately a rough-legged hawk stopped nearby to see what he was doing. Then PIP flew towards the trees but immediately some magpies came by to see what he was doing. There were even a couple chickadee's in the tree squeeking at him too.

He's back where he belongs and I hope will live a long an successful life.

More FIONN photos

Okay, not the ones you've been hoping for. This shows the break FIONN suffered after being hit by a vehicle. The second is with the pin in place four weeks later. She goes in for a further xray in a week or so to see how it's healing. She's getting a bit antsy in her cage so I rebandaged her wing to keep it from twisting and causing damage.

Pat & Chris, email me at thebirdlady@tctwest.net so I can respond to your comments. Thanks.

BOO ! ! ! !

This is GOBLIN, my newest patient. An adult female Merlin, she was found under a large window at the rec center while chasing a meal, a sparrow. Unfortunately neither bird saw the glass and crashed into it. Luckily for this tiny falcon there are no broken bones but she is a bit stunned. She's now able to stand up so will stay here for a few days to make sure she's back to normal.

NOTE: This beautiful bird died on 11/6.