Not a good day

This might have been a Monday it's turning out so bad. This morning I found one of my golden eagles dead in her cage. RIO came to me a few weeks ago from Green River with undiagnosed problems. She's a three year old female that was very thin and wouldn't fly. We took x-rays and did blood tests but nothing showed up as abnormal. She wouldn't eat on her own but did not fight me when I gathered her up to give her fluids and hand feed her meat and mice. She even went from 8.5# when I got her to 9.25# today. Her body will go to the state lab for an autopsy and further tests of the tissue.

The second bad thing today is that I have to euthanize two of my great horned owls. BEAKER had his lower beak repaired after being hit by a car and having it split in two. That was a complete success. The bad thing is he came to me blind. Altho he now has some sight, can see my movements if I'm in front of his cage, he can't see well enough to find his food by himself. Having to force feed him twice a day is very stressful and doesn't make for a good quality of life. The second to be put down is the most hurtful. It's BOUNCE, the baby owl that came in not able to stand. He too has made some progress but it stopped a week ago and there is no improvement at all. He too has to be force fed as he can't stand well enough to find food. Force feeding sounds harsh but it means I have to open their beak, put the food in the back of their mouth and wait for them to swallow. And that is for every piece of food they take in.

The bright spot today is taking my new adult bald eagle (see below) in for x-rays to see if his left wing is broken and how best to repair the damage. He's a very handsome male in feather perfect condition and altho very cranky, as are most all balds, he will hopefully be repaired enough for release back to the wild.

MAGGIE

One of the first non-raptors to come to IBR this year. This baby black-billed magpie was one of a litter of four, all the others died for some reason. The person who brought the baby to me said that magpies have been nesting near her house for years but this time something happened. She hadn't seen the parents for a while when she found the dead young and this one survivor. I have lots of magpies living around my house so when he's old enough I'll just release him here or take him back to his home territory. I haven't thought of a name but then I don't know if this is a male or female. Any suggestions?

Lucky LARRY

Very few bald eagles come to IBR. I don't know why, either they're lucky in not getting hurt or are injured in places where they're not found. This handsome male was found up in Crandall. Larry and Linda saw him for a day and he'd not moved so they called Chris Queen, the Powell WGF warden. He transported the bird to IBR and helped me administer fluids just in case the bird was a bit dehydrated. LARRY's (the bird, not the human) attitude is typical bald eagle, cranky at all times. I tossed him a fresh rabbit but by the time I got back out to take this photo he'd not touched it. He isn't starving altho I'd like him to be a couple pounds heavier.

There was another adult near him and soaring overhead so it's a good bet he has a mate. Now the only question is if they have a nest in the area and are there babies in it. One is not known in the immediate area but there are a lot of large trees that didn't get burned in the '88 fires that could hold one. Of course this all happened on a Saturday afternoon so I can't get him to the vet til Monday to see if there's something wrong with his left wing. In the meantime he won't lack for groceries. As soon as he's able to return to the wild he'll go back to Crandall and his home territory.

That's better

Well, here's HAIRY after drying off and deciding he's the toughest baby owl on the planet. He's eating just great, scarfing down mice like popcorn.

The top photo is of another brancher, BOUNCE, who also fell out of a tree but unfortunately did some kind of damage. X-rays don't show a definitive answer but fractures in the spine and pelvis are difficult to see. He can move his legs back and forth, up and down and open and close his feet but he just can't seem to stand. He is improving but it's a very slow process. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery in time.

Eeeeeekk ! ! !

Wow, talk about a bad hair day. This is HAIRY, a baby Great Horned Owl that was found on the ground at the main office of the Oregon Basin oil field near Cody. I was told that they found an injured hawk but when I got there lo and behold this little fellow was there. As it's been raining for hours and the ground there is rather muddy he isn't looking his best. He's now in a dry cage where he can fluff out his head feathers and become the cutie that all baby owls are at this age.

He is what is called a brancher meaning he's old enough to be out of the nest but not strong enough to fly away. They spend some time going from branch to branch while practicing their flapping. Unfortunately this baby took one too many steps to the left and hit the ground. We looked around but didn't see any place where the nest could be so he came home with me. When he's dry enough and ready for it he'll go into the owl barn to be mentored by my old GHO, SEEDY. Then when he's ready for release I'll take him to a perfect habitat.

I forgot one....

I can't believe I forgot to include a photo of this huge bird. This is TRONA, an adult female golden that came to IBR from Green River a few months ago after being found in a service yard at a trona field. We thought the injuries to her right wing might have been electrocution burns but after having her for a month it was decided they came from something else. The folicles in the tip of the wing that enables the body to produce needed feathers were apparently permanently injured so she cannot replace them. That makes her non-releasable so she's now waiting for placement at a facility for use as an educational bird. She's huge, she's very active, she's a great eater and will be an addition to any program.

More gold in them thar hills

Gold, gold and more gold. Yesterday I took in the 14th golden eagle of the year. Considering I've only had 22 birds since the first of January, that's a very large percentage of these magnificent birds. The bottom photo is of RIO. She came up from Green River in a very starved condition but nothing seems to be wrong with her. I was told that there is a very low rabbit population in that area and altho this is a three year old bird, she just couldn't apparently find enough to eat.

The other photo is CHOOY (she was found near the railroad tracks). I got a call from a very nice man whom I met a few years ago. Gus had found an injured golden eagle when he was 16 years old and decided to help her back to health. When I met both of them Gus had just celebrated his 56th birthday and the eagle was still with him. Before you get all upset about his keeping her, he got her before the law was passed making that illegal. He can never own another one but he was allowed to have her until she died. And she did a couple years after I met them. This time Gus had noticed an injured baby eagle when he was hiking near his home and called me the next morning. He climbed into my truck and directed me to the place he'd seen her. Good heavens, it was the muddiest drive I'd been on in a long time and was wondering if even with 4WD we'd make it out of there.

The year old bird was right where he'd seen her and after a bit of a chase she was caught. We managed to drive out with no problem so I headed back to Cody after dropping Gus off at his home. A trip to the vet showed either a massive infection in her left wrist joint or a tumor. Today she went in for an exam under anesthesia and it turned out to be an infection. Now she's on antibiotics with the hopes it will clear up and she can fly again. She is also very thin but has a super appetite. She also had the largest lice infestation I've ever seen in a bird. After spraying her with something to kill them I wrapped her in a towel for a trip back to the vet. When I removed the towel I found many hundreds of dead lice on it and even more on her. She's been sprayed three times now and I can imagine how much better she's feeling now that those thousands of biting bugs aren't on her. The bad part is that she'll have to be resprayed weekly for a few weeks to take care of the eggs that will hatch.

THOR is back in the air

Today one of the gods is back where he belongs. THOR, the God of Thunder according to Norse mythology, was released today about two weeks after he'd been hit by a car (see his story in an earlier post below). A great group of people came to send him off, the Eagle Posse from the Draper Museum of Natural History at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. We are all working on monitoring eagle nests in various locations to document the birth and fledging of the resident babies. These people, myself included for the first time this year, spend hours just sitting and making notes on the happenings in the various nests every 15 minutes or whenever there's an interesting happening there. Most of the nests already have babies hatched, unfortunately some have already lost them to either predators or unforseen problems. So far my nest, one I'm sharing with other watchers, is doing just fine altho we don't know exactly how many have hatched. Golden eagles usually lay two eggs and in a good year both of them will fledge.

The lower photo was taken by Anne Hay at the place where THOR was released. My wildlife photographer friend, Matthew Riebel (see links) took the others. This magnificent bird flew away with great strength and will hopefully find a mate in the next couple of years and begin his own family.

New residents

It wasn't a Friday but the 13th was unlucky for these two birds. The Great Horned Owl, BEAKER, came in after being hit by a car. Not only were his eyes not working, his lower beak was broken in two pieces. Dr. Blessing anesthetized him, wired the pieces back together and then applied acrylic (think fake fingernails) over it to make a bond. After the eye exam it was questionable if he would be able to see again but today he is beginning to see me when I come to the front of his cage. He's not eating on his own yet but swallows the mice and rat pieces I put in his mouth. He's awfully thin too so he was probably on the ground for a while before being found. His ultimate release is questionable but I've not given up hope that it may happen.

The adult female Kestrel, BUNNY, was sort of lucky while also sort of unlucky. The bad part was having a broken wing. She was found in a window well, probably hit the window above. The lucky part, twice. She was found by some caring people who called me and drove her to the vet, (I was already there waiting for BEAKER to come out of surgery) And only the ulna of her left wing was fractured, the radius is just fine and is now acting as a splint while the other bone heals. She loves her mice and her wing should heal enough for release in about six weeks. I only hope she's not a mom right now as the male wouldn't be able to feed all of their offspring. They can have five or six at a time. The Morrell's are going to see if they can find a nest cavity near their home.

Official signage

Just as a lot of homes in the UK are named, this is the official sign for IBR. It was designed by a very talented graphics person, Kimber Swenson. The 14ga. steel was then cut out by John Cash of Cash Metals on his wonderful computer driven machine. Isn't it beautiful? I have to decide the best way to hang it from the front gate so took this photo of it laying on my cobblestone front walk. Thanks Kimber and John for such an awesome job.

Thor

His name is THOR and he's about the luckiest golden eagle on the planet. He is also the 12th golden that has arrived at IBR this year. The beginning of May, Wade Hoskin and his wife, Kellie, were driving along the Belfry Hiway behind a car and a semi. All of a sudden a large bird was hit by the car, tossed about 30' into the air and came down on the pavement. Wade stopped, gathered up the bird to move him to the side of the road and called the sheriffs office who contacted me to go out and see about picking up the pieces. When I got there, just about five miles north of Cody, they were standing beside a three year old male golden and had him covered with a jacket to keep him quiet. The most awesome part is that nothing was broken in the bird. Well, maybe his spirit a bit, but no bones, not even a feather.

It took two days for him to come back from the shock of it but in a couple days he finished the rabbit I gave him the day before and the cavy he got the next day. Thanks to these caring people this magnificent bird was back in the sky in about a week after he proved he could fly well and strong enough to go there. Thanks all for watching over THOR until I got there. Wade, Kellie, some of the Eagle Posse and wildlife photographer Matthew Riebel were there at the release.

Note: I’ve talked to the people in the front car who did stop but noted that Wade had also and conintued on their way with a completely smashed windsheild from contact with THOR. That makes it even more amazing that the bird wasn’t hurt.

SARENE is serene

She's back where she belongs and doing fine. Lisa and Jen took SARENE back to the ranch where she was found and released her. You'll note in the photo that she wasn't taking any chances and got as far away as she could as quickly as she could. Lisa said she had a slight limp but her wing beats were strong. Hopefully she'll be a bit more careful when landing on or taking off from her roost spot. Thanks ladies for doing such an awesome job for this beautiful bird.

High flying rescue

It's hard to believe just what some caring people will do to help a bird in trouble. Lisa Kemmerer called me last Sunday about a wild turkey that she'd seen caught by its leg in a tree. As you can see from the photos above, it was very high and very trapped. I suggested that Lisa try to find a tree service with a cherry picker but of course it was the weekend so none were available. This gutsy lady climbed up about 30' and after putting on some sort of safety rope, she worked her way out on the branch to free the bird. Her friend Jennifer Gross was at the end of that rope to make sure both the bird and human made it safely back to earth.

I was amazed when Lisa called to tell me she not only had the bird but there were no broken bones. The turkey couldn't fly and wasn't able to use the bad leg but her foot was warm so the blood supply hadn't been compromised. Only time would tell if she would ever walk again. It happened, she is now able to stand and hobble around and will be released back to the wild at the ranch where she was found.

Thank you Lisa and Jennifer for all your help, I'm sure this beautiful hen thanks you too.

Great friend

Just a couple weeks ago I signed up for the Eagle Posse with Chuck Preston of the Draper Museum of Natural History here in Cody. That entails monitoring of known golden eagle nests in the area that are being used this year to raise babies. For me, the only thing missing was a good scope so the birds could be seen but not close enough to stress them.

Those of you who receive my newsletter know about Jonathan & Susan Wood, The Raptor Project, in Roxbury, NY (see Links). He got an adult golden eagle, CODY, from me back in 1993 and had her for 16 years. Three weeks before she died he received another from me, a female he named MORIAH. Jonathan does hundreds of programs every year in dozens of states and one of his sponsors is Nikon. I contacted him about which of their scopes would work best for what I wanted it to do. He said, I'll send you one. Oh yes, and a window mount too.

Today I received his wonderful gifts along with a CD of him and CODY leading the procession of the Blessing of the Animals at St. John the Divine Cathedral in NYC. He and CODY had that honor for 10 years. Thanks Jon for all your help and being a great friend. Someday we'll meet face to face so I can give you a big hug.

HAPPY EARTH DAY ! ! !

Yesterday was my getting to know the earth day. I lost my horse about 12 years ago but the fencing around her pasture was still there. The fencing was sagging so I decided to take down the whole thing. I could then do some sort of clearing up. I borrowed a handyman jack from Ted Roes, Midwest Fence, and got to work. And work it was.... There were about a bazillion of the t-posts, okay not quite that many, but lots, and they had been in there for a couple dozen years. Plus a few wooden posts too.

The first few metal posts came out with a bit of a struggle but nothing compared to four that had been partially buried after some work on the driveway. Those took a combination of digging out and using the jack. The wooden posts that I put in all those many years ago were not about to give up the ghost easily. Guess I did a really good job putting them in. At least I never thought of using cement. I did leave the large ones that I'd put in as corner and gate posts as there are lots of birds who use them for lookouts.

Of course now this means I'll have to get to work raking up the old fenceline and moving "stuff". I did find a home for most of the old metal posts so they won't end up on my hilltop along with other materials. Thanks Joyce.

Three in a row

This appears to be a plain jane sort of photo but there is a story behind each bird. The one on the top came from Kathy, a rehabber in Lander. A Swainson's hawk, the bird was found unable to fly and in horrible feather condition. The one in the middle also came from another rehabber, Janet in Riverton. This bird, also a Swainson's hawk, was found barely able to stand and had neurological problems besides missing a whole bunch of wing and almost all tail feathers. The bottom one is a Rough-legged hawk that came in here last year with a badly fractured wing. Dr. Blessing repaired it but the prognosis was very poor. Usually birds spend about four weeks in a small cage then are put into larger quarters so they can begin to exercise. The pin is taken out at six weeks and then they go into a flight barn.

This young lady was in a small cage for 12 weeks and then went into one of the new mews, 8'x20'. She absolutely amazed me when she was up on the tall wall perch in just a couple days. She went into this large 32'x48' flight barn a couple weeks ago and has never looked back. She is now flying from one end to the other and up to the high wall perches. As this species won't be back in WY until this coming November, she'll stay here gaining flight hours until the others arrive for the winter. Then she will be released to join the migration back to the Arctic Circle in the Spring. If she was released now she would automatically head north but get there about the time the others are thinking of coming here. At that point she wouldn't be strong enough to make the return flight and would probably die in Northern Canada.

The wild birds constantly amaze me in their ability to overcome such great odds. Makes a person think about the trials and tribulations in their lives and to not give up, no matter what.

Overview

This photo is one taken just yesterday by Lee Hermann as he flew over IBR. Thanks to his talent as both a pilot and photographer you can see just what encompasses the entire facility. The main house has had four additions to the original 17'x35' old log cabin; a north room, bedroom, free flight aviary and sunroom. There are also the blue eagle and hawk flight barns with their open netting on top. The red roofs peeking out from the top of those barns are the new mews. No pond exists anymore but on the left you can see the chicken house with some of the hens out pecking around. The small pointed fenced area on the far right is my little cemetary. The single building in the middle houses the cage room for recovering birds and the rodent house where I raise mice and cavys. The bunny barn is the small red roof at one end of the blue hawk barn.

This looks a bit desolate due to the fact that Spring has barely sprung so all the trees are bare and the grass is just starting to turn green. When I bought this place about 25 years ago it looked like Little House on the Prairie with only three cottonwoods and some bushes. I love trees so at every oportunity I added whatever came my way. I won two during the Audubon tree giveaway in town plus bought dozens from the tree sales held every year. After I put in a lawn a few years ago all the trees bordering the yard started to take off and are now very lush due to the extra watering.

Not a good day

It's been about six hours since I had to put down the baby eagle shown below. I just got back from the vet having to euthanize another young golden eagle. She had been hit by a car but the break to her humerus was right into the elbow joint and not fixable. This poor three year old had led a hard life. The radius in her right wing had been broken at some point in her earlier life and healed on its own. And she was missing the center talon on her left foot. In spite of all that she was in rather good shape and had it not been for the vehicle she might have lived a long life. Thanks to WGF Warden Bill Robertson for transporting her half way here and to Dr. Erin Pedersen for taking care of her. It's never easy to euthanize any bird but as golden eagles are my favorites it's doubly hard.

AARRRRGGGHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! !

Let me begin by saying I HATE ELECTROCUTIONS... This photo of a beautiful baby of last year was taken just a couple weeks ago shortly after he came to IBR. He had been found in a oil field unable to fly. As there were burns to both wrists it was obvious that he'd been electrocuted on one of the many power poles in the field. These kinds of injuries are horrible in that it takes some time for them to become apparent. In his case, he went from just two small wounds to seven, one large enough to damage the main blood vessel in his right wing. And to destroy the tendons near his left wrist. He was euthanized today and his body turned over to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as evidence.

I know that the power company is doing a lot to make these poles safer for the birds but obviously it can't be done all at the same time so until the job is completed there will be further electrocutions of these amazing raptors.

Life goes on

In the face of death there springs life. Two days ago I discovered that my pair of cockatiels had produced a baby. Dad is a lutino color phase, mom is a "normal". I have no idea what this baby will be as you can see it's just covered with down right now. They had three eggs but only one was fertile. I certainly don't need any more 'tiels as I have eight already. They are either rescues or donations to the free flight area I have off my bedroom. Needless to say with all the varieties of small birds; 'tiels, parakeets, budgies, finches, doves and canaries, I awake to many songs in the mornings.

Elvis has left the building.

It is a sad day here as much loved ELVIS is gone. He has lived at IBR for many, many years and produced dozens of baby cavys until just recently. I believe it was his kidneys that failed, a common problem with the elderly. He has a son and granddaughter still here and they are carrying on the family name. ELVIS has been buried in my little cemetary along with my horse, various birds, a cat and a dog so he is in good company. He will be missed but the memory of his perky personality will live long in my heart.

Amazing release

Wow, today I released two Swainson's Hawks, an adult, BUNNY, and an immature of last year, DEE. This was probably one of the best releases of all those I've put back into the wild. My friend Joyce, holding BUNNY, and I were joined by Matthew Riebel, a man I met at our local Audubon meeting on Thursday night. He had asked if he could come along and watch the release.

As usual, I took along my Nikon D80 to record the event and asked Matt if he would do the honors while Joyce and I tossed the birds in the air. At that time I didn't know of his profession. He pulled out a larger camera so mine went back into the truck. After the release I was watching the birds fly around in circles above us when I turned around and was amazed to see Matt holding the same camera but with a lens attached that must have been three feet long. He is a professional wildlife photographer and it was with the greatest of luck we met at the meeting.

Some of his photos were taken with the birds soaring so high that to look away meant you couldn't find them in the sky again. In the shot with the two birds together, BUNNY was much higher so she's out of focus. The bird below her is actually a redtail that happened to soar overhead and joined the group.

Owl barn finished

Well the final work was completed today on the owl barn. Now all the mews and flight areas match except for their doors. As they are all used I have to get busy with my paint brush. The top photo shows the barn as it was before John and Alan did their magic. The bottom one was taken today. Now the two resident Great Horned Owls, SEEDY and SMIDGE have a fancy place to live along with any baby GHOs that come in for fostering.

I still have to do a bunch of raking up to clean the area and make a run to the dump. I think this will be the end of large construction projects but there are always small things that need to be tweaked. One is replacing the outside door to the hawk flight barn. Another one of the used doors will be used for that after John makes an adjustment in the opening. I still want to put a 6'x6' pen inside the cage room for the larger birds where I don't have to crawl into a small cage to treat them. It's always something.

Maddie's home

Just to catch up, Maddie is back living here. Now that my chickens are all behind their fencing I don't have to worry about her killing any more of them. The ones that were silly enough to fly over into the house yard were unfortunately too much of a temptation for her and she gave in to it. Her daughter, Sophie, is thrilled to have her back so she has another tug-of-war playmate.

WOW !, WOW !, WOW !

I was absolutely blown away with the "Walking With Dinosaurs" program I saw today up in Billings. I had a front row seat at the Metra and sat on the edge of it the whole time. I can't imagine how it was put together but the minds that thought it up are amazing. They were all life size, including the one with a long neck that is 35' tall and there were two of them in the center arena at the same time. The roars were earth shaking. I know if I heard that noise coming from a forest I'd turn tail and quick as a bunny run the other direction.

I did get a t-shirt, not the one I wanted because they only came in kids sizes, but here's a photo of it. Is that a huge eyeball or what? Again, this was the most awesome thing I've been to see in, well, forever, and I highly urge anyone who can get there in the next couple days make the effort. It's there until the 3rd and has two shows a day. Google, in quotes, "walking with dinosaurs" and check out their website.