No longer a mystery

I found out, thanks to Jerry Liguori of Hawkwatch, just what species she is. She is a juvenile Redhead Duck hen. Not one I would have thought about but when you know what you're looking for, it's obvious. Now my records are complete.

Mystery duck

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: I picked up this duck an hour ago after getting a call from town. The bird was rescued as a newly hatched duckling in Pinedale this past summer after it had been separated from its mom and siblings.

At first I thought it's a ruddy but that's not right. The eye ring has me baffled. Then maybe redhead, nope, how about lesser scaup? Can't see that either. It's not very large and is obviously a juvenile and may be a female. Not a woodie either. I've even posted a question on David Sibley's facebook page hoping he will see it and be able to give me a positive ID on this duck.

Any thoughts everyone? I'm going to take it to Beck or Alkali and release it on Sunday.

UPDATE: It's now 11 o'clock on Sunday morning and the mystery duck is back in the wild. I drove to Beck Lake and finally decided on a release site. I gently tossed the bird toward the water thinking she'd slowly swim away. NOT! She decided she'd had enough of people and took off flying. I never saw her land. This isn't the best photo but it's all I could get in the nanoseconds she gave me to press the camera button.

This little bird is a non-breeding horned grebe. He was found north of the Powell airport on the side of the road. Because these birds are very poorly designed, they cannot take off unless they are on water. Apparently this bird thought the wet pavement from our recent rains was water and came down. Hard. He scraped his feet making a couple small sores. Then he sat there until found.

Unfortunately the blood from his wounds dried and his feet were stuck to the undersides of his wings. When I got him, thanks to Jerry of Vanguard Operating, I just separated the wings and feet and told Jerry to take him to Beck Lake and put him in the water. I haven't heard back so assume all went as planned.

Photo by Sara Wood of Vanguard.

Floating away

Today I went to a friends house and released the seven little ducklings I got in a few weeks ago. They were so quick when I got them out of the crate and into the water that I never got a photo. And one of them decided to go a different direction. We searched but couldn't find the little fellow. Julie went out again later and found all of them together but when she went to take a photo only these two were out in the water. The others were probably on short drying off and taking a rest.

Different babies this time

At the same time as we were trying to remove oil from the baby GHO there was a call for other babies in a yard. This time it's seven newly hatched Mallard ducklings. No adult was found so Sara rounded them up. They're now in a brooder while I try to find a hen Mallard with babies to foster them.

Whoa!

I picked this bird up this morning in a yard near the old Sunset School property. What in the world an adult Western Grebe is doing in Cody at this time of year is a mystery. They all left here quite some time ago.

They can't take off unless on water so I usually just drive them to Beck Lake and release them. It's what I did this time but unfortunately this bird didn't do as they usually do, flap their wings and then dive. He landed in the water, rolled to his back and just floated. I netted him up and brought him to the vet for xrays.

They showed no breaks and no bullets, I have no idea why this bird can't use his legs or feet. Right now he's sitting as you see, in a pan of water while waiting for some small suckers to thaw. Perhaps due to frost on the ground he came down thinking it was water. That still doesn't explain why he's still hanging around this area of the country, he should be long into his migration.

I'll give him some time to see if it's just bruising and he'll recover.

UPDATE: He did not improve and died on Friday night.

Another first for me

Yesterday was a busy one for me. I got a call from a lady who had been walking around the reservoir above Beck Lake and spotted what she thought was a seagull. It wasn't trying to fly or get in the water.

I drove up and finally found it thanks to another walker. The bird wasn't hard to catch, never tried to fly, so I brought it home. Then I had to figure out what species it was. After going through bird books and sending photos to friends, it was decided the bird is a Caspian Tern. I thought it was a very rare sighting but not so, they've been documented around the Cody area before.

Now for the bad news. I couldn't find anything wrong and after buying 20 goldfish at Walmart and him eating half of them I thought all was going to be okay. It was not, the bird died last night. Just as a precaution, the body is on its way to the state lab for testing. They will check for WNV and avian flu among others.

Severe damage

They are large and unfortunately not very fast when flying. White Pelicans are here in the summer for breeding and then leave for parts south. Unfortunately this bird won't be able to make that trip. For some reason it was on the Powell hiway and was hit by a car. As you can see, his lower beak was broken off, the only thing holding the bone is the skin. He was humanely euthanized.

All gone

As in released. I took my six mallard ducklings out to Alkali Lake this morning and released them. There are scads of different species on this small lake and lots of cattails to hide in. They weren't quite sure what to do with all the space as their kiddie pool is much smaller. They came here at only about a day or so old and are now ready for the big wild world.

Another mystery

Just when I think I know what kind of bird it is something comes along to keep me on my toes. I received these baby ducks today from Basin, they were found at the local public pool with no adults in sight. Thanks to Heather for driving them here.

They are very small and I'm about 100% sure they're Wood Ducks. Their huge friend is the baby mallard I've had for a week or more while trying to find an adult pair to foster him with. Now that he has company it isn't as critical.

I've sent a note and this photo to the Wood Duck Society for a positive ID on the new arrivals. In the meantime, they will be moved to a bit larger room so they can enjoy their water dish without making such a mess.

NOTE: It's been confirmed, they are woodie ducklings and are going to live at the WJH Bird Resources in Billings, MT. They raise waterfowl, both common and rare, and have great knowledge of all species including the diet these little ducks eat. I'm meeting their representative tomorrow for the hand off. They're even taking the lone mallard.

I visited their facility last year as they took over the care and releasing of Ms. PIGGY, the baby squirrel I raised. It's a super home for any bird who swims.

Ouch, ouch

I know this happens to humans but I was unprepared to find an adult female Mallard with a fish hook in her right cheek. Thanks to a sharp eyed Eric Holdren and his children, she is now floating free in Beck Lake. He and the kids spotted her during a walk around the lake. Eric couldn't figure out why she didn't fly off when they got close. The long fishing line, with an attached bobber, was caught up in a tree branch.

Here I am after wading out to where she was snagged and cutting the line. Luckily the water depth was blow the top of my irrigation boots. It was also very chilly and windy this morning. I managed to push the hook the rest of the way through her cheek and had Eric cut the barb off with my wire cutters.

We then walked back to the edge of the lake and gave her a gentle toss. She flew off a ways and landed, very happy to be free of the tree, fish line and humans.

Ducks galore!

Our weather has had a dramatic change in the past few days. It went from 63 to -14 in one day. We did have some warning so full woodboxes and heavy clothing were in force. The horrible news is that all three lakes/ponds near Cody froze very quickly catching some waterfowl with their feathers down, so to speak.

I don't have any photos but in one day I took in two eared grebes, three coots, two shovelers, a pair of common goldeneyes and three lesser scaup. Thanks to Jeremy Gossert all but one coot, who died, were taken to the river and released. He is responsible for saving all but two of them, the two grebes came from different places. He found them partially frozen into Alkali Lake, three of them were also caked with alkali. He cleaned them up and kept them in his tub until I got there.

Unfortunately there are other ducks frozen into the lakes but there was no way for me to get them out as the ice wasn't thick enough to walk on. By the time I got there the ravens and one bald eagle had feasted. Life is just a bummer sometimes.

NOTE: Add one Lesser Scaup found on the ground at Stampede Trailer Sales near Cody. He was also taken to the river and released. He joined two Mallards and a Common Goldeneye male, probably not the one I released yesterday.

Absolutely amazing!

CHARLIE, 1989

CHARLIE, 2014

Back in 1984 I was looking for a Harlequin Duck to photograph to use in my entry to the Federal Duck Stamp contest that year. In a roundabout way I found Bill Hancock in Billings, MT who had a facility breeding rare and endangered waterfowl of all species. I went up in July and altho most of the ducks were in eclipse (molting) the Harlequin males were still looking great. At the time it was at his home but then moved to a much larger facility between Billings and Laurel.

On subsequent visits to the new place I was given a tour and came upon one of my favorite birds, a Canada Goose. His name is CHARLIE and he's a Giant Canada Goose, very large as the name indicates. All of you who get my newsletter will recognize him from the cover of every issue for the past 25 years. The top photo is that bird way back then.

Just this past week I took my baby squirrel, Ms. PIGGY, up to that same facility for a soft release in their tree laden property where other squirrels live. Sheila had raised a baby squirrel and released it there so Ms. PIGGY will have company of others of her kind. Sheila also gave me a tour and when I showed her copies of my newsletter I was in for a huge surprise. She walked me over to one of the pens and there he was, CHARLIE is still alive! That's him in the lower photo, still as handsome as ever but just like me, a bit grey around the edges and hanging in there.

Floating away

This morning, around 7 o'clock, my six baby mallards were released on Alkali Lake near Cody. The top photo shows them right after being put in the water. The other is them heading for the large body of water and hopefully getting acquainted with the resident adult ducks living there.

These babies came here about a day old after their mother picked a very bad spot to lay her eggs. She decamped and luckily the babies were found at the apartment complex and I was called. They've been growing like weeds and now that their preen glands are working they are waterproof enough for release.

Baby geese update

The three Canada Geese goslings are now at a release site near a wonderful pond. Until they are ready to fly they have some surrogate parents in the form of a couple decoys. As they had mine near them when tiny they readily took to the new pair. When they're old enough they will naturally go towards real geese and migrate at the appropriate time.

Mom????

In order to help make the baby Canada Geese more independent and releasable I decided to give them a "mom". This is a yard ornament I've had for decades. It's a magnum size decoy so I removed the legs to make it more normal sized and placed it in the goose room. They are now curled up against it every morning. And they also have a larger water pan so they can get used to being in water and perhaps get their preen glands producing oil so they will float and not sink.

The sound of little webbed feet

Some larger than others. I now have three baby Canada Geese here. Eggs were purchased and when they hatched the person found out that he can't keep them as pets and was told to bring them to me. Because they were not under mom when they came out they have no natural oil on their down to make them waterproof. If I put them out in the lake they would become waterlogged and drown. Sooooo, in about six weeks they'll be released in a protected area.

The other babies are Mallards, all six of them. They were found wandering around an apartment complex with no mother in sight. Because it's necessary for these young birds to be brooded, they can't just be taken to water and tossed in. They do have the oil on their down but without an adult to protect them from the cold they would die.

Wish fulfilled!

Aaron getting the boat ready for our outing.

Look closely and you'll see a dark spot in the lower right corner of this photo. That is the baby Canada goose peddling as fast as it can towards his forever family. The female has two babies following her.

Thanks to Aaron McGuire of the WGF department for volunteering to take me out in a boat so a family could be found for the baby goose in the previous post. It took a while to get close enough for a gentle underhand toss towards the adult and her chicks. There was one group of about 20 babies and adults but they went up the bank and moved too fast. Luckily Aaron spotted this adult mom and was able to maneuver the boat to just the right spot.

Parents wanted.....

A couple days ago this baby Canada goose was found in a Meeteetse hay field. The grass was so high that he couldn't be seen, just his path going through it. Luckily there was a curious owner in the area who followed the baby and gathered it up. There were no adults or other goslings seen so it is assumed this one got caught up in the ditch current and was swept downstream.

So far I've looked in all our local ponds and even drove almost 100 miles round trip to see if Brown Thomas Meadows had any family groups. They did but were nowhere to be seen today. I did find lots of families in Shirley Lake on the Lower Southfork but will need a boat to get close enough to them so I can hand over the baby. With him squeeking it will draw the adults my direction so I can gently toss him in the water. Luckily there isn't one bird who can count so adult geese will readily adopt any young bird they think needs help.

Wow!

I got a call this morning about an injured duck up near Bridger, MT, luckily Sean was willing to drive and meet me near Clark. I left Cody under sort of clear skys and dry pavement, got to the meeting place and chatted for a few minutes before heading back home. Imagine my surprise when I drove into a blizzard with visability to only a few hundred feet. It was, however, my favorite snow, large flakes gently falling to earth. I'm so glad that my 4WD was fixed three days ago as I needed it on the slippery roads.

Back to the duck....I think it's a female Redhead and she has some sort of wound to the joint of her right foot. She can move the leg just fine but the toes don't work right. Naturally it's a holiday weekend so I can't get her into the vet until Monday but this is not life threatening so she'll be fine til then. I suppose the logical name for her is DAISY.