Another baby owl

This cutie is TIMBER, a four week old Long-eared Owl found on the ground after a logger cut down her nest tree. The sad news is that there were three smaller babies that had apparently died some time before this one was rescued. A lot of people mistake these for baby GHOs but they are less than half the size and altho they also have "ears" they are closer together and shorter.

This young bird will be put into one of mews after I add a lot of natural branches and hopefully a whole tree to reproduce the forest habitat they live in. Then all she has to do is prove she can make live kills and she'll be released.

Black & white

SPARKLE came to this facility yesterday after being found almost two weeks ago when the rest of the baby magpies were killed. Luckily some very caring people found this survivor. They did a good job of keeping the young bird alive but remember, it is against the law for anyone to take in and keep a protected bird. Black-billed magpies are such a bird.

Right now this beautiful little fellow is learning how to eat food on his own as he's been hand fed by his rescuers. He should be ready to join all the local magpies in a couple weeks.

Beautiful view

Because of the wildfires near this area the sunsets are awesome. This is the view from my yard facing North. Aren't I just the luckiest person to live in such beauty?

What is going on????

Most raptors, in this part of the country, are hatched from March through April so the young are old enough and have the time to learn the skills needed so they have a chance of reaching maturity.

Not so with these two babies. I believe HOOTER, the baby GHO is about 8-9 weeks old. I don't even know what species of falcon the other baby is, perhaps a merlin. I think COTTON is only about 1-2 days old. And you can see his size relative to a regular chicken egg.

The owl was found under the nest tree and because he's very thin I made the decision to bring him back to IBR for some groceries and then return him to his parents and the other two siblings.

The baby falcon was found under the nest, along with three dead siblings, and no parents were seen. The owl has a super chance of being returned to the wild in a short amount of time. The falcon, iffy. I'll let you know when I make a positive ID on this very tiny bird.

An answer

Today I may have found out why SEEDY died. As I mentioned in his eulogy, he may have challenged the GHO I'd recently put in their flight area. He's been in there for almost two decades and has had many, many other owls sharing his space, this time it was different and resulted in his death. Today I found an egg hidden in a corner, an owl egg. That means I had the sex wrong on one of them, SEEDY or SMIDGE is a female.

They've been together for six years but apparently it's been a long courtship and it ended with SEEDY trying to be dominant with the newcomer. As I still have his body I can have an autopsy done to determine the sex but that won't bring him back so I'll just go on as is.

Hard landing

Most baby birds take to flying quite well but the landings are something else. This is PIP, probably around 12 weeks old who found himself in a rather precarious position yesterday. He was caught up in a barbwire fence which can be devastating. Naturally he fought to get free and he did but he took some hardware with him.

Caught up in the feathers on the leading edge of his left wing was a barb from the fence. How it came undone is beyond me but both points and the twisted wire in between were stuck near his elbow. The bad news is that the remaining barbs in the fence cut his wing up pretty bad. Luckily there are no broken bones but it will take some time to see if there is muscle and tendon damage.

He's a fiesty little bird so attitude make carry the day.

Short stay

Just last Saturday I received a beautiful adult male kestrel after he was rescued from the middle of the highway near the Chief Joseph turnoff on the Belfry Hiway. He had apparently been hit by a car while dining as a mouse body was near him. Thanks to a very caring person he was picked up and I was called.

CHIEF suffered no serious injuries which is amazaing as he only weighs a bit under 3.5 ounces, compared to the many thousand pounds of a vehicle. I believe he had a bit of a sore wing and probably a headache but is doing so well and flying so strong that he will be released this weekend near where he was found so he can rejoin his mate.

As you can see in this photo, his coloration is a very vivid orange, the look an adult male kestrel takes on during breeding season. That is over, the baby falcons have probably already fledged, but it takes a while for it to fade.

NOTE: He blasted out of the crate and instead of heading for the nearby trees he went up and let me see just how strong he is. He flew and soared in circles above me for a few minutes then as if deciding I'd seen enough, headed west over the hill.

Another good release

Today I set CARNEY loose to begin the rest of her life. This beautiful adult female Sharp-Shinned Hawk came up from Lander after apparently hitting a window in the town. She had a broken left wing but it was in good position so no surgery was needed.

These photos show her sitting on the highest perch in her flight area and right after release on the roof of my north room addition. I blinked my eye and missed her next takeoff so don't know which direction she headed. Hopefully it was towards a long and fruitful life.

Survivors

These two little cuties are the remaining babies in a nest of four robins found without a parent. Unfortunately the other two didn't make it but so far these are okay. They are almost old enough to fly and will go outside soon to practice that and finding bugs. I have an adult female in the yard that may (hopefully) help in that education.

Field of Honor

All this week, in the town of Cody, there is an amazing display involving 800 American flags. It's called the Field of Honor and celebrates Flag Day on June 14th. So far this is the only one of its kind in the state and I certainly encourage all to go see it. The Field of Honor obervances began in Sandy City, UT in 2002 on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The idea has now been celebrated across the country and includes honor or rememberance for active duty or veteran military personnel, first responders or any other loved ones.

Moth?

I have no idea what kind of moth/butterfly this is but it fell near my feet as I was moving my hose. I think it's a moth. So pretty and with such vivid markings. Anyone know the species let me know.

NOTE: I found out what it is, it's a member of the giant silk moth family. It's called a Polyphemus Moth and apparently mine is a female. The information said they only live a short time as an adult, probably near the end of her life when I found her. I'll check my aspen tree to see if there are a lot of little yellow caterpillars roaming around on it. Maybe they'll eat oyster shell scales, that would be super.

Now?????

Yes, this was taken at 6:30pm today in Cody, WY. That's the 25th of May, 2012 and there's a bit of snow on the ground with an outside temperature of 35. Not the latest snow we've received, that happend on July 4th many years ago. And not the most at this time of the year but I do have a fire in my woodstove to take the chill off the house. The top photo was taken just two hours after the middle one.

And to think, just a week ago it was in the 80s. Ahhhhh, living in the beautiful Cody mountains.

Con te partiro

In Italian that means "Time to say goodbye". They say things come in three and in about that many months I've lost three dear friends. This morning my wonderful old school bird-foster dad Great Horned Owl, SEEDY, was killed. He's been with me for 20 years and altho both he and I have a responsibility in his death, most of the blame goes to me.

This morning I did what I've done dozens of times in 15 years, I put another GHO in the same flight area that SEEDY and SMIDGE live in. The only answer I can come up with is that because of the time of the year, testosterone levels were high. The new owl, JONESY, is a male as is SEEDY. Perhaps this time my old boy decided to let the newcomer know who was boss. Unfortunately the new owl is much younger and stronger and was able to use that to his advantage and overpower the older bird.

I, of course, feel such guilt at this happening and will regret it for a long time. I will also remember all the wonderful programs this amazing owl and I shared over these two decades. The above photo is our last educational program before he and I retired from doing them. He will be sadly missed forever.

Flown away

Today I took BUMP back to where he was originally found after being hit by a car south of Meeteetse. When I opened the crate door he wasted no time in taking off but I held my breath as instead of heading for the large cottonwoods right in front of him he curved around towards the highway. His first landing was on one of the t-posts right alongside the pavement. A magpie came at him so he took off and this time towards open space and sagebrush. He landed in a clearing and by the time I drove away he was still sitting there gazing all around him as if amazed he'd been returned to his territory.

Fuzzy baby

I just received the first baby Great Horned Owl of the year and this one is hurting. I don't know if he fell out of the nest tree, I couldn't spot it in the huge evergreen he was hiding beneath. He has a very bad abrasion to the left side of his head and neck but there isn't an open wound. He only weighs 19 ounces and is probably just over two weeks old.

He does, however, know what a mouse is for and scarfed down three of them in quick order once I got him back from the vet and a sort of nest made. He also has a mirror hanging on the door so he can see another of his species. He's old enough to know he's an owl but I don't want to take any chances.

At this point he should make a complete recovery but the tissue around his left ear is also swollen so I don't know just how much damage has been done. When he gets old enough he'll join my foster GHO, SEEDY, in the flight area.

Oh yes, his name is vanGOGH

Untimely swim

I spent this morning at the Arbor Day tree giveaway in Cody and on the way home got a call to pick up a downed Osprey. This is BELLE. I hope she is just a year old and doesn't have a mate or a nest set up as she has a badly broken right wing so won't be getting home for a long time. That is if it's fixable. She is now bandaged to prevent further damage and will go in on Monday for xrays and to see if repair surgery is an option.

This is a very difficult species to keep as they aren't the best eaters in captivity. Hopefully she will be an exception and readily take to being handed a whole fish and not have to catch it herself.

NOTE: She died Wednesday morning. Just too much trauma and stress for this wonderful young lady.

Long drive

Last Friday I spent six hours on the road driving to Lander and back to pick up a beautiful one year old female Sharp-shinned Hawk. She had been found in the middle of town and was luckily gathered up before any more damage had been done. I got a call from the WG&F office there asking if I would take her for rehabilitation. I was told that she was in very bad shape but she came around and was standing by the time I got there.

Her name is CARNEY as she was found in front of a place called Carnegie. Her left ulna is broken altho the radius is just fine. Amazing how the larger bone fractured but not the smaller, thinner one. At this time she is behaving herself in a cage, eating her half quail a day and therefore isn't wearing any bandage. The unbroken bone is acting as a splint so given a few weeks she should be strong enough to put into a small flight area to strengthen her wing for release. By not having the wing imobilized she will keep the muscles stronger and not require physical manipulation. That would be very stressful for her and sharpies don't handle stress very well.

The pellet

This is a photo of the pellet removed from the redtail's wing. As you can see, it is a very large one so he was lucky the damage wasn't more extensive. The Powell game warden now has this as evidence and will be pursuing leads to see if we can find the shooter.

I am angry

This beautiful adult redtail was shot on purpose with a shotgun. You can see the spot on his right wrist where surgery was done to remove the pellet. There are two others in him, one in the right leg and one near his left wrist. Neither of those are causing problems. The one in his right wing landed in just the wrong place, his wrist joint. Hopefully by removing the pellet and with cage rest he will again be able to fly.

Thanks to Daniel Meyers, Meyers Ranch, just east of Garland, who spotted him as he was parking his tractor for the night. Because he called me right away this handsome hawk has a chance of returning to the wild.

The top photo shows the xray of this bird. You can readily see the one in his right wrist. Harder to see are the other two as they are smaller. Look hard.

Half tough

If this bird could raise both wings this adult female Long-eared Owl would be an awesome sight. As it is, STELLA can only use one because her left wing is bandaged to her body prior to the surgery tomorrow to repair the fracture. She was found by a WGF person on his rounds up in the mountains on a road rarely traveled so I have no idea how this happened.

As she was out and about it is hoped she is a young bird and not one of a pair as they would have babies in the nest by now. It will be many weeks before a decision can be made on her flying ability but her attitude is a good sign that she'll fight to be back in the air.

NOTE: It was discovered, during repair surgery, that the humerus in her left wing was fractured near both the elbow and shoulder and was not repairable. She was euthanized and her body donated to the Draper Museum of Natural History.

PRISCILLA's revenge

This is what happens when a bald eagle decides to make a statement about being handled. PRISCILLA had to go in on Wednesday for her weekly foot bandage change but this time she was feeling especially feisty. I am usually very careful when handling any raptor and especially eagles. This time she got her head from under the towel and zeroed in on my finger. I got the bleeding stopped, sort of, bandaged and drove her to the vet.

Then it was a trip to the urgent care facility for me. Three sutures and a large splinted bandage later here I am. It won't keep me from doing chores but it does make typing harder than usual.

UPDATE: I ended up having an IV antibiotic administered on Thursday with the catheter left in just in case it had to be repeated Friday. Not necessary but I have been in three times for a bandage change. Another today (Saturday) too. I'm also on a broad spectrum antibiotic for 10 days. Apparently infections become very dangerous in an extremely short time period. All these precautions were to make sure the tendons in my hand don't become infected and require surgical repair. Eeeeeeek!

Eagle killing okayed by USFWS

About two weeks ago I learned that the US Fish & Wildlife Service issued a permit to the Arapaho tribe in WY to shoot two Bald Eagles for use in religious ceremonies.

I realize that there are probably tribal members who do not agree with this drastic measure to obtain eagles but as long as they don’t voice that feeling it will happen. Right now there are three tribal aviaries in OK (2) and NM(1) where a total of approximately 65-70 non-releasable eagles stand around for one purpose, molting feathers for the tribes to use in religious ceremonies and on Powwow costumes. The facilities are beautiful, one of the OK aviaries, I was told, was built with almost $500,000 USFWS grant (taxpayer?) money. And in November of 2010 the USFWS decided that all non-releasable eagles from rehab facilities had to be offered to these tribes, again just for molting feathers. Tribes may receive feathers and eagle bodies from the USFWS feather depository near Denver but they complain there is a very long wait and the bodies aren’t in good condition when received. I have been rehabbing eagles for 25 years and in that time placed 20 of them in various educational facilities around the U.S. to be seen by millions of people. The eagles in the tribal aviaries are seen by a few thousand tourists who make the drive to the reservation and, of course, by tribal members. When the educational facilities lose their birds from old age they may not be able to replace them.

I have been told by a high ranking USFWS person that because of the Eagle Act, Congress will not stand in the way of these “religious practices” even if some of the USFWS personnel may not agree with that decision. The USFWS also permit the Hopi tribe to take baby eagles from their nests and smother them in a religious ceremony. Reasoning being that it is the way it was done a couple hundred years ago. Lots of things were done 200 years ago that were deemed barbaric so they were stopped, as this permitting should be. There is no reason for killing these magnificent eagles, ever. 80% of baby raptors don't make it through their first winter and the Hopi are not even letting them try to make it in the wild. And these two Bald Eagle killings will only satisfy one or two people with hundreds more individuals perhaps wanting the same right. Now that the Pandora’s box has been opened it can’t be closed. I don’t see how the USFWS can deny any other tribe if they also request to kill eagles for use in “religious ceremonies”.

What is so upsetting is that these birds have just been taken off the endangered species list. The success rate of human marriages is about 50%, not so in the raptor world, they mate for life. Depending on when this despicable act takes place, many eagles are probably already sitting on eggs this time of the year. If you have any opinion concerning this matter please send letters to both the USFWS Region 6 office in Denver and the Arapaho tribe in WY so this atrocity can be stopped before any more Bald or Golden Eagles are killed.

Linda_Downey@fws.gov
Katherine_Jensen@fws.gov
dantelope@northernarapaho.com

B.I.T.N..

That translates to BUMP in the night. This beautiful Great Horned Owl was hit by a car near the rest area south of Meeteetse a week ago last Saturday. Luckily the driver stopped immediately and picked him up. She lives in Thermop so called me Sunday morning then drove and met me at the rest area. She did all the right things to keep him safe and comfortable until the transfer.

Unfortunately BUMP has lost the use of his right eye, it was totally damaged in the collision. The good thing is that he's in excellent condition and has been eating a rat a day since arriving at IBR. Now all he has to do is to prove to me he can make live kills and I will release him back where he was found.

The bad news is that GHOs are now probably sitting on babies and if this is a bird old enough to have a mate we will have lost them. One parent, especially the female, is not able to both brood and feed the offspring. Until they are 10 days old the baby owls can't thermoregulate their temperature so have to be continually brooded by the female. The male's job is to bring the food to her for distribution. At some point the female will have to leave the nest to hunt leaving the chicks ungarded and open to the weather.

I can but hope this is a bachelor and there isn't a female waiting in vain for him to show up.

SPARKY update

Here's a recent photo of SPARKY, an immature male Golden Eagle that came in on December 5th with what I thought were electrocution wounds to both wrists. Not the case but I have no idea what happened to him. He's lost all of his primary feathers (the long ones at the tips of his wings) and altho they're trying to grow back, some have broken off while only halfway in.

Only time will tell if he'll be releasable but I will give him as much time as that takes. He's only a year old and has a long life ahead of him.

Goodbye Stew

This morning I lost a valued friend, Stew McMillen. He and his wife Mimi were living in Wapiti when I met them but had moved down to Kerrville, TX some years ago. They have been avid supporters of IBR over the years and we've kept in touch via email and a couple of visits.

I will remember Stew with such fondness and will miss his quirky humor and the fun emails he sent almost every day. Goodbye old friend.

At just about the time Stew died I heard my first Meadowlark of the year. Perhaps it was celebrating this wonderful mans life in song.