Three are gone

HUDSON

WILSON

PATTISON

Today is the start of a new life for three of my baby Swainson's Hawks. They've been here all winter because they weren't ready to handle a 12,000 mile migration to Argentina for the winter. They required a leader, even better, a large group of swainson's to lead them to their wintering grounds. Because the adults had already left it was necessary to keep them here until the older birds returned to the area.

That happened this past week so my friend, Julie, and I drove them to a wonderful release site and opened crate doors. The most exciting part was getting to that area. With all the rain we've been having, the two track alongside the canal was extremely muddy. And the side road to the area I wanted was so bad that I parked the truck and we walked downhill for a bit carrying the crates. I only fell twice when my feet slipped out from under me. So much for my clean jeans.

HUDSON took off wonderfully, heading left, and landed in a far tree. That was after WILSON finally decided to leave her crate. She also flew left to a far tree. Then it was PATTISON's turn. She walked out of the crate, stood for a couple moments and then flew off to the right and flew and flew. She finally landed on a far rock outcrop where some small birds let her know they weren't pleased at her choice of perches.

Surprise, surprise!

I woke up to this lovely sight this morning at 6 o'clock. I knew it was trying to snow when I went to bed but it managed to figure it out. We're lucky compared to the southeast corner of the state and the Denver area. And we, of course, need the moisture for the upcoming harvest seasons, but it was still a shock.

Most of the trees and bushes are already leafed out so don't know what they're thinking. I don't think this will last long as the ground is very warm.

Amazing news!

I had some wonderful news today. Yes, I'm being extremely sarcastic. Last Thursday I wasn't feeling all that perky and started coughing more than usual. Then on Saturday morning, about 2 o'clock a.m., my heart started bouncing around. Thinking I was having another minor afib attack, my first thoughtwas "gee, I wonder if Sara and Julie are in town". They're the helpers who do chores if I'm not here.

Then when I got up at 6 o'clock a.m., my heart was behaving normally. Monday I had to deliver eggs and pick up some feed, 750 pounds of it. Because I was still leery I asked Nathan to help move the 50 pound feed bags. I don't know what I'd do without that young man.

Well, Sunday and Monday nights my coughing was horrible so I decided to go into the walk in at Cody Clinic this morning to be checked over. They asked lots of questions and listened to my heart and lungs and finally decided to do a chest xray.

Back on March 19th I had my pneumonia 23 shot. Supposed to keep you from getting problem. NOT! I now have pneumonia and am on antibiotics for seven days. I'm not feeling all that bad, a bit tired, but it's not stopping me from doing my chores. Such fun.....

Harrowing trip

Yesterday morning I sent my one year old male Rough-legged Hawk, KING, to his new forever home. He is now living at the 5th oldest zoo in the US, the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park, in Binghamton, NY.

Unfortunately, because we're so small, we have to go somewhere to get somewhere. And his trip involved stops in SLC, then Detroit and finally Binghamton. All went well until the plane was heading for the last stop. It was scheduled to arrive in Binghamton at 11:09pm, Nancy was going to call me to let me know he made it okay. I got a call about 11:20 but not with good news.

When the plane was not quite half way to the final stop it developed some sort of problem so it turned back to Detroit. Poor KING had spent 10 hours in his crate being moved from here to there so I was concerned. Nancy called me about 20 minutes later saying that Delta was sending another plane out and it should arrived in Binghamton in a couple hours.

I got an email from her at 1:00 this morning telling me he made it and was doing just fine. This is the first time for a plane problem to happen when I've sent a bird out. As I have two more leaving IBR, one to KS and one to AK, I certainly hope it's the last.

Lost

I have lots of rabbits living on my property and this is nesting season. I also have a bunny barn where I raise domestic rabbits. Usually the two never meet but yesterday I found a wild cottontail inside the bunny barn digging a nest hole. The screen door had swung open so the animal decided to take advantage of the soft dirt. Needless to say I'll fill it in but she certainly made progress in a short amount of time.

Badly wounded

This amazing Peregrine Falcon, JIMMY, was probably hit by a vehicle or possibly hit something as he was chasing a meal. His left wing was torn off between his elbow and wrist. I'm hoping he'll survive this ordeal and be a candidate for surgery to clean up the tip of his wing so he can be an educational bird on a fist. Right now he's fighting hard and I'll be with him the whole way.

UPDATE: He did not make it.

Deer update

Remember DANCER? She's the fawn I got in when she was only a couple weeks old, if that? She's now a real deer and is spending more nights away from her foster home barn. Here she in on another walkabout. She had been gone a couple days but returned. She decided to head out again but picked the wrong night, a storm came through and dumped a lot of snow. She was back again a couple days later ready for a square meal and warm bed.

Eventually she'll just leave and only show up from time to time but not forever. She's done really well thanks to her foster parents and their excellent care of her during transition to a "real deer".

WHOO-DINI

That's his name according to the kids on the Annis Ranch in Alcova (pop. 76). They found him sitting on a fence post unable to fly. That's because he has a broken left wing. You can't see it but the wing is now bandaged so he won't do more damage by moving it around.

This Long-eared Owl is quite the feisty bird so he should do well when he has his wing repaired. Hopefully that will happen after he goes in tomorrow for xrays and an exam. Thanks to Toni Annis and her gang for driving to meet me in Thermop with the bird.

UPDATE: Sad news. Surgery was attempted to repair the fracture but unseen in the xray was a crack in the large bone. It split open the entire length of the humerus which was not surgically fixable. He was humanely euthanized.

Superman is gone

Well, CLARK is now gone. This is a photo of my Peregrine Falcon being released after six months of recovery and training. Chris Pfister, a master falconer, and my subpermittee, spent that time helping this amazing falcon recover from a bad wound to the back of one wing after it was sutured closed.

Because these birds eat birds, and have to be very quick and able to switch directions instantly, he had to be at 100% for release. Thanks to his expertise, Chris brought this almost one year old male falcon to peak performance and ready for release.

As you can see, this is a beautiful habitat full of small birds, and even pigeons, the perfect food source for CLARK. Thanks to the Lichtendahl's for spotting him and calling me so he could make this awesome release.

Shootings

Yesterday I received the sixth bird who had been shot in the past year. Most of them had shotgun pellets in their bodies, the crow I got in yesterday was shot with a BB gun. I don't know what possesses people to shoot something just to say they can and did but it's very frustrating to know they'll probably never be caught doing so.

The oldest bird, that I know of, who had been shot was a 20 year old male redtail. He was hatched and banded in CO and was shot in Riverton. He managed to do what most wild birds can't do, he lived to a very old age. And that was ended by some #^$%@ person who wanted to kill something.

So far I've received a rough-legged hawk, a bald eagle, a raven, two crows and a mallard, all shot and with the exception of the roughie, all died. The roughie suffered a fractured wing but with surgery she has survived. She can't fly well enough for release so she's heading for Operation Wildlife in Linwood, KS as a school bird. One in six survived, that is not acceptable but there's nothing I can do other than try to help those injured by ignorant, uncaring individuals.

Funding

As all of you know, Ironside Bird Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit facility. Our funding comes from various foundations who award grants to us so we can continue to help all wild birds. And from individuals who donate money to help defray costs.

Just to show you what it costs to run this place, I've totalled up the expenses for the past seven years. It comes as a shock to me too as this does not include any type of salary. I've never received one since I started IBR 29 years ago and I am a one person work force. I now have five volunteers to help if I'm out of town and with some construction. Otherwise it's just me.

2009: 16,368.01
2010: 13,638.98
2011: 14,645.26
2012: 30,912.00 This includes truck repairs and finally a new truck thanks to an anonymous donor for half the cost of it.
2013: 16,061.84
2014: 14,180.30
2015: 22,675.05 This jump is because I now have to pay for all veterinary care.

I couldn't do what I do without all the support from everyone. Thank you all.

Awesome eagle

photo from Moose Jaw Bravo Photography

Last week an amazing bird was brought to the Teton Raptor Center in Jackson. An adult female bald eagle was found near the elk refuge unable to fly. The TRC thought she had been hit by a vehicle, and are still not sure what happened to her. The most extraordinary thing is that she was wearing a federal band on her leg which was put on there in 1982. She is 34 years old! She's slowly recovering but with her age I doubt if she'll be released even if she can fly. She deserves to be in a facility where she won't have to worry about her next meal.

As of now she is the second oldest living banded bald eagle on record. There is another who is 35. And the oldest banded bald eagle on record, as far as I know, is one who lived to the age of 38 before dying.

Besides the 20 year old banded male redtail I got in a couple years ago, this eagle is the second oldest bird I've seen. The oldest is a golden eagle who was injured as an adult and taken in by a 16 year old man so he could help her. When I met the two of them, Gus had just celebrated his 56th birthday. The eagle was still with him making her at least 45 years old. Because he found her before the rules changed, he was allowed to keep her with him. Of course he could never have another one. When I met them the eagle was blind but doing really well. He fed her a good diet and she, in turn, was a companion to him as they grew old together. She's gone now and her body was returned to the mountain where she was found.

Solid gold

And he certainly is. This is an adult male golden eagle found up on the mountain off of Sunset Rim Road. He was spotted by three people while hiking and biking. Luckily Ward met me at the base of the road and led me to where this handsome fellow was laying. I don't know what caused his injury but his left wing is badly broken altho it is mid-shaft humerus, the easiest to fix. The bad news is that the wing had been twisted in a circle twice so I don't know how much the blood supply has been hurt.

More bad news, the pairs are now setting up to lay eggs and he probably has a mate in the area. There are a few nests nearby, anyone of which could be his home base. If his surgery does go well, it will be a couple months, at least, before he'd be ready to go back to the wild. That is way past breeding time so we've lost this season.

UPDATE: He's gone. I got up during the night to check on him and he was dead. Altho he didn't spend much time on the ground after he was injured, it was bad and just too much for his body to take in. Thanks so much to Peter, Buzzy and Ward for spotting him and calling for help.

A sharp little girl

I got a call about nine o'clock last night from a Worland officer stating they'd found a hawk under a car there in town. The bird flew off about 50' where she landed and they were able to catch her. This is COPPER, a 10 month old female Sharp-shinned Hawk. She is starving to death and had she not been captured probably wouldn't live out the week.

Thanks to Officer Sean Duffy for caring enough to catch her and call me. The weight for female sharpies varies from 5-8 ounces, COPPER comes in at 4.5 ounces. I don't find anything else wrong with her so it's a matter of putting weight back on her and then training her for release.

UPDATE: This beautiful young bird is now flying free. Because they eat birds, and because I have bazillion sparrows and some starlings living all around my place, I released her here. She took off without a backward glance or thank you.

For Robin's dad...

Here's an update on BUDDY, the great horned owl I received a few days ago. He's now in a much bigger mew so he can get some exercise for his injured right wing. The wound is still bad but his attitude is getting better by leaps and bounds. He's eating all his food which includes a mouse with his pain medication and antibiotic pill hidden inside.

It's going to take a long time for that bad wound to heal and only then will I know if he'll be strong enough for flight. In the meantime, he's getting feisty which is a good sign.

Critical patient

His name is PILOT and he came from off the Gooseberry Creek Rd, south of Meeteetse. I'm sure he was hit by a vehicle and has suffered very bad head trauma. Both his eyes were swollen shut altho his right eye is improving. His left eye may or may not recover. Xrays show no fractures in his skull or anywhere on his body. That's the good news, the bad news is just how much brain trauma he's suffered.

For now he's in a warm place, is on pain medication and I'm tubing him with fluids for a couple days. After that I'll start him on a critical care diet until he's strong enough for solid food.

Thanks to Tim Upton for rescuing this 10 month old male red-tailed hawk. Hopefully he will make it back to the wild.

UPDATE: Sad to say but PILOT died this morning. I believe that he suffered from more internal injuries than showed when he first came in. His xrays were clear but soft tissue doesn't show on film. He tried but it just wasn't to be.

New home

I just got this photo of DUNCAN in his new home at Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators in Hope, IN. He's only been there a few weeks and John already has him on his fist. That's amazing. I knew he would make an excellent school bird and he's proving me right. Thanks to Kathy Hershey for giving this splendid baby bald eagle a super forever home.

Very sore today

I have a new patient as of yesterday afternoon. His name is BUDDY, a Great Horned Owl who came from Casper and found on the Albertson's property near town. Robin called me about finding him just standing with one droopy wing. It took some doing to get him here as one of the game wardens told her she wasn't allowed to bring the bird to meet me in Shoshoni, he would do it himself. Then his boss said he couldn't so Daniel relented and told Robin she would be able to do that.

I met her around two o'clock and brought the bird home. I originally thought his wing was broken and was amazed that the xrays proved otherwise. His bicep muscle, between his elbow and shoulder, is damaged, don't know the cause. He has a wound on the wing but I didn't do anything other than give him fluids last night as he was traumatized enough. I also left him two mice in his cage.

This morning BUDDY is on his perch, ate his two mice during the night, and is much more alert. This afternoon Nathan is coming over so we can get his wing cleaned up. Then it's time that will tell me if he'll be okay and fly again.

As you can see in the photo taken by Robin before she called me, BUDDY is not a happy camper.

HERSHEY high

No, not the chocolate but this stunning immature male Red-tailed Hawk. He's what's known as a Western Dark phase and will have his red tail when he molts this year.

HERSHEY came in with a bad wound to his right chest but it's all healed now except for a very small scab. You can see the partially bare spot on his chest. He's in the flight barn and doing great and will be released soon down on a ranch south of Meeteetse.

SIDNEY update

I just wanted to let everyone know that SIDNEY is now in her forever home. She was spayed, which according to Dr. Prior, has not been done before to a porcupine, and is now living at the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary in Red Lodge. Dr. Prior researched the procedure on ppines and could not find any record of it occurring. This is the photo I got from the YWS for Valentines Day. She will join their adult male, ROCKY, as soon as she's all healed up.

She's gone :(

MISS TENNER died today. She's an extraordinary cavy who is about 4 years old. When most sows have 2-4 babies as a usual litter size, MISS TENNER's first litter was 10. Eight of them survived their birth and seven survived to adulthood. Over the past few years she's produced over 25 babies;, an awesome record for any cavy.

For unknown reasons, she got a tumor in her left ear and altho I tried to treat it, nothing would work. Because of her age, and not wanting her to go through the surgery to remove it, I had her euthanized this morning. It is a very sad day for me as she's so special.

She's finally away

It took two tries to release SHERRY. The first time she only flew about 100' and came down. When I approached her to make her leave she again flew only a short distance. After doing that a couple more times I just tossed my jacket over her and brought her home.

This time it worked. Nathan and I drove her out to Whistle Creek Road east of Cody and found a perfect release site. We tried off of Eagle Pass but the winds were howling and I didn't want them to push her the wrong way.

When she left the crate, she flew off, made one big circle, and landed on the ground about a quarter mile away. She stood looking at her surroundings probably wondering where the wall was. She roused once and a few minutes later took off again and flew out of our sight behind a hill.

She's been here for many months having come from Sheridan almost starved to death. She'd gained confidence, strength and proved she would make live kills so it was time. I have no idea why she wouldn't fly off the first time a few weeks ago but today it was perfect. As you can tell by my smiling face.

PS: I'm wearing Nathan's GoPro camera so there may be some film of the momentous occasion.

Her Majesty

She thinks she's a queen and she's now on her throne. MADDIE loves to sleep on a pillow so when I got a new one for myself I tossed the old one on the couch. She immediately settled her royal fanny on it.

He's visiting

CLARK, aka. KRYPTON, came here on September 18th with a wound to his back. I think he hit a barbwire fence while chasing a bird. He went to my subpermitte and master falconer, Chris Pfister, for training to see if he's strong enough for release. He's now almost ready for that big step, we're just waiting for the migration back of small and medium songbirds, the main diet for a Peregrine Falcon. He's only here for a couple days as the Pfister's are on a skiing weekend in MT. Isn't he just so handsome!

Freedom

Today I took FISHER back to where he was found caught in a barbwire fence and released him. I didn't get a photo, forgot to take my camera, but he flew off strong and never looked back. This is why I do what I do, to watch the rear end of a bird leaving as quickly as they can.