Sad Note...

I am unhappy today, MINNIE died last night. I was going to get a photo of her to put with the post on the 26th but got busy and didn't get it done.

Rare visitor

Today a rare visitor came to this facility, perhaps to pick out his next meal. This is DAVID, a coming four year old red-tailed boa. His owners usually come by themselves to pick up some mice for his meal but this time DAVID came along for the ride. He's an absolutely handsome snake and was very well behaved the whole time he was inside the rodent room.

I have eight people who come to IBR to buy meals for their snakes but DAVID is only the second one to come in person. Most of them are ball pythons, there are two red-tailed boas one king snake and one bull snake.

Flying Ghost

Today the last of my releasable owls flew away. GHOST came to IBR from near Ft. Washakie, brought up by Ken Smith, Shoshone & Arapaho Fish & Game Department warden. Ken has made the long drive from down south a few times and even returned to take an adult redtail back where it was found as it probably had a mate in the area. This very handsome Great Horned Owl was found caught in a barbwire fence. That usually means a torn up wing but in this case there were only some wounds that healed with time. As you can see in this photo, both wings stretch to their full length as he quickly headed for the trees.

More gold at IBR

I now have two more golden eagles here at the facility. This photo is what appears to be a very old fellow, BURL, who had trouble standing when he arrived on the 19th of this month. I have no idea what is wrong but it almost appears as if he's had a stroke. He's much stronger now after being hand fed elk steak two or three times a day until yesterday. When I offered him some steak in a container he ate it on his own. Now he's able to stand and walk around, eat on a rabbit and still eating some straight meat too. I have high hopes of his being returned to the territory where he was found so he can live out the rest of his life with his mate, if he has one. At his age he may be a bachelor or between mates.

The second golden is a baby of last year, SKINNY MINNIE, (I don't have a photo of her yet) who arrived on the 23rd with what appears to be electrocution burns on her right foot and left wing. She is very thin weighing only seven pounds. Female goldens should be between 12 and 13 pounds so she's almost half what she should be. Right now she can't hold her wing up in its normal position. With her swollen right foot she wasn't able to be accurate in catching prey and without that ability her strength went down. Sort of a Catch 22 because without the strength she just misses more often until she dies of starvation. Luckily this baby was seen on the road about dark and 40 miles from me. A wonderful lady called me and sat in her car until I arrived. I don't think I've climbed over as many large boulders as I did trying to find the bird on a hillside in the dark but eventually I did. The fun part was coming down that same path holding a very large squirmy bird and a flashlight.

It will take a few weeks to know if this is actuallly an electrocution and if so for the wounds to become worse. It may also kill her right foot. Electrocution is a horrible thing to happen as it kills from within. She is eating altho not as much as I'd like. Hers is a day by day process with my fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Another success story

This has been an outstanding 10 days. In earlier posts you saw that two golden eagles and one rough-legged hawk had been released back to the wild. Today another golden eagle, an immature named MISSY, took to the sky. I didn't have my camera so the photo accompanying this post was taken by Stacey Huston, photographer extrordinaire. She did a time lapse on this one, it's awesome. Go to her site, staceyhuston.com (see links) to see examples of her work. We drove this uniquely marked baby back to near where she had been hit by a vehicle and watched as she flew to the top of a tall hill to reconoiter. She then flew away out of our sight.

Olympic fever

I thought I'd include this photo from the eagle release shown below. My maternal grand-parents are from near Toronto and thanks to a friend over there, Morley Davidson, I have some of the paraphenalia that the Canadian Olympic athletes wear. The hat I have on is from the winter games a few years ago. The mittens are from this year and are very sought after. I also have three of the 2010 pins plus another hat from before. All in all I have enjoyed showing off my heritage and wish both the U.S. and Canada the best in all their individual sports.

DITTO went home

Wow, another super eagle release today. Joyce and I drove DITTO back to almost where she had been RUN OVER BY A SEMI !!!!. I opened the crate door and she immediately jumped out and started flying away (bottom photo) and landed in a distant tree to check out the area. Probably 20 seconds later another golden eagle landed on the same branch next to her (top photo). They seemed to chat for a minute then that eagle took off and joined a third one soaring just above them. I don't know if it was her mate but there was no aggression shown by either bird. It was an amazing sight, one I've never experienced before.

CARTER flying away

HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY ! ! ! ! !

There was another great release today but for some reason my camera says there aren't any photos on the card. I took some but luckily Joyce Patrick did too and hers came out beautifully. She emailed them to me so I can add them to this post. They show Nic Patrick doing the honors of tossing her into the air. Nic and Joyce are the ones who originally found her wounded alongside the road and brought her to IBR. They are avid supporters of all wildlife as well as Nic being on the board of this facility.

CARTER is shown in a previous post sitting up high on her perch in one of the new mews. When she took off she actually stayed above us for the count of four then headed out. She made a couple short flights to various trees but just before I left we spotted her cruising over the landscape enjoying flying without having to stop after 20 feet. Unfortunately by the time I got the lens cap off my camera she was below the horizon and not visible.

ARLAND away

Today was a wonderful day. This is the day that ARLAND flew away. The bottom photo shows him just as he left my arms, my shadow is on the ground. The top picture is hard to make out but the dark spot way up in the sky is this maginificent bird soaring above the wide open plains near where he was found.

Thanks to my friend, Joyce Cicco, for coming along and taking the photos. It's so great to have a record of these happenings to share with others.

MISSY and DITTO are now in the large eagle flite barn getting needed exercise so they will be ready for release. They immediately flew to the lower and upper wall perches proving that they will soon be ready to also fly away.

Golden girls

This Saturday one of my golden eagles will be flying away. I'm driving ARLAND back to his territory south of Cody for release as he probably has a mate in the area waiting for him. I'll include a photo of his release if my friend Joyce can get one with my camera. It doesn't always work as they either go faster than expected or the opposite direction from where you think they'll go.

I also now have five goldens, MISSY came in a few days ago with a concussion but thankfully nothing broken after being hit by a car. It took her a couple days to get her balance and not seem as if she was in a fog. The bottom photo shows DITTO after she'd flown to a corner perch and was busy eating her rabbit.

The other photo shows both MISSY (l) and DITTO(r) sharing the tallest perch in the mew. That's where most raptors like to be, at the highest point, but I was surprised to see both of them in the same small area. These beautiful ladies will be returned to the wild in the next two to three weeks. Again, that's what makes all this worthwhile.

ESTHER

This beautiful Great Horned Owl is named ESTHER. She seemed to love to swim in her water pan when I got her. You have to be old enough to know who Esther Williams is to see the connection.

She came here with a badly broken toe on her left foot which had to be amputated. ESTHER spent some time in this smaller cage while the surgery site healed and then out with the other GHOs getting her flight muscles strengthend. As you can see from her attitude in this photo, she certainly knows she's a big tough bird and nobody better mess with her. She is now out in the wild and hopefully will grow old where she belongs.

Lots of eagles

Here's an update on a couple of eagles that are now at IBR. On top is ARLAND who came in suffering from a sour crop as mentioned in an earlier post. He is now flying just great as you can see from the photo showing him up on the highest wall perch. He will be heading back to his territory in a few days.

The second photo shows DITTO sitting on a lower tower in her pen. She came in after being hit by a car. She was a bit out of it for a while and not eating well but that has all changed. She scarfed down almost a whole rabbit yesterday and is much more alert. She will also go back to where she was found sometime in the next couple weeks. Both these birds are adults and have to be returned to their territory so they can hook up with their mates as breeding season will be upon us very soon.

The third photo is of DAVE, a baby golden eagle of last year who was also hit by a vehicle. He suffered a fracture of the two bones between his wrist and elbow (same as in humans). On Friday he spent four hours in surgery having the bones pinned. Thanks to Dr. Erin Pederson and Dr. Andy Hawkins for all their work. Only time will tell if the floating piece of ulna had enough blood supply after the accident to live. If that piece of bone dies then the wing cannot be saved. This beautiful baby has a super attitude and is now eating his rabbits. The white and pink around his chest is the bandage holding his wing in place. With the pink perhaps I should have named him FLOYD??? I have my fingers crossed for a positive outcome.

My new road

Anyone who has driven into IBR has not had a fun time of it as the road was very washboardy (is that a word?), enough to knock the fillings out of your teeth. No more thanks to Harris Trucking. As you can see in this photo it is almost a super highway now. There's a lot of frost on the ground as this was quite early in the day but the road is now two lanes wide. And when it's warm enough they will wet down the recycled asphalt and roll it so it will be smooth as glass. This is not of my doing, they are working on another section of their gravel pit and wanted a road wide enough that two of their big trucks could pass each other. I just happen to be lucky enough live on the same right-of-way. I wish I could have afforded to have it taken all the way to my front gate but this comes very close to that so I'm not going to complain. As it is they did run it towards my place for 50 feet. That's IBR in the distance behind the third power pole. Thanks guys.

As you can see by the dirty truck in the photo, living on a dirt road isn't easy on the vehicles. Now I won't have any excuse for the truck being so covered with dust and dirt.

JULIE ANDREWS

Yesterday was a busy one. I got a call from a lady who spotted a golden eagle on the side of the road between Deaver and Frannie, about 50+ miles from Cody. She was great in that she parked nearby and waited for me to arrive. Lots of times by the time I get to the area the bird has disappeared. Just as I was almost to where she was parked I got a call from the Greybull WGF warden. He also had an eagle. Now Greybull is many more miles from where I was at the time but Bill Robertson is wonderful about sharing the driving. He asked if we could meet in Lovell, another 15 or so miles from where I was. I chased down the first eagle, an immature with a broken right wing, hooded him, got him into my large crate and headed for the meeting. Luckily Bill had another large crate to loan me.

The bird I got from Bill is also a golden eagle but an adult female. She had obviously been hit by a vehicle, there was dried blood in her nostrils, but there doesn't appear to be anything broken. If she's lucky she just has a slight concussion and will be ready for release where she was found in a couple weeks. Both birds have an appointment with Dr. Blessing this afternoon to do x-rays and exams.

SEEDY

As previously mentioned, I've been doing bird rehabilita-tion for over 23 years. In the beginning, and for most of that time, I took some non-releasable birds around to schools and groups for presentations. All of the birds used in this way cannot be released back to the wild for various reasons. This bird, a Great Horned Owl, is SEEDY, who just started his 18th year with me. He started out as a replacement for SNAP, my first school GHO. Then when I gave up my possession permit I had SEEDY transferred to my rehab permit as a foster parent. He is just about the best foster dad on the planet. He takes his job very seriously and when there are babies present with him he's much more dangerous than he usually is. Note that this bird is not a pet, never has been, and is just as dangerous now as he was 18 years ago. He is, however, handlable which helps in moving him around. SEEDY has successfully raised more than a dozen baby GHOs, all have been returned to the wild knowing just what they are in the scheme of things in their world. Thanks, old man.

As you can see, his left eye is solid grey. He ruptured his lens many years ago so is totally blind in that eye. He is also getting a cataract in his right eye but he still has good vision in it and has no trouble finding his food or a perch. The reason he came to IBR in the first place was a broken right wing from being hit by a car.

ARLAND in new mew

This is ARLAND, an adult male Golden Eagle who came to IBR after it was thought he'd been hit by a car. He'd been picked up by a Wyoming Game Warden and taken home for the night. As he didn't think anything was wrong he took the bird back to where he was found and turned him loose. The next morning he was still in the same place. By the time I got ARLAND I realized that his crop was still full, it should have emptied during the night. I took him into Dr. Blessing, we anestisized him and removed all the old meat out of the crop and flushed it with a weakened solution of Pepto Bismal. It worked and as you can see from this photo, he is up and doing well. He can fly to the top of this short tower and will be put into the larger eagle flight barn this weekend. As this is an adult bird and the breeding season is fast upon us, I will take him back to the area where he was found for release. Not, of course, near the road.

One of the things that injures raptors the most is a vehicle. The easiest way to fly is into the open, and the area that fills that bill is a roadway. It takes a large bird quite some time to get going from a standstill so they have no way to evade a fast moving car or truck. If you ever see a roadkill please slow down so that any birds feeding on it are safe when they try to fly away.

CARTER up high

Here is a roughie success story. This is CARTER, another young bird that met a vehicle on the road. She suffered a fractured right leg that made it impossible for her to stand long enough to take flight. That's a good thing. She would have starved to death having only one foot to catch prey. When Nic and Joyce Patrick saw her alongside the road near their home they immediately gathered her up and brought her to IBR. I then took her into Dr. Malcolm Blessing for x-rays. The break was mid shaft femur, a good place if you're going to have a broken bone. The problem was it was so even that it looked as if someone had sawed through the bone. Dr. Blessing then put an internal pin the length of the bone and added two connected external pins (X-fix) to the outside to keep the ends from twisting.

CARTER then spent six weeks in a small cage before the X-fix pins were removed. Another two weeks and the internal pin came out. This photo shows her up on the tallest perch in her mew, about 15 feet up in the air. She is now able to navigate from the floor to the perch very easily. She rips and tears her food with strength, I don't have to open the rats for her anymore. She will be released probably next month so she can make the migration back to where she was hatched. THAT IS WHAT MAKES THIS ALL WORTHWHILE !

WHIT

I have been doing bird rehabilita-tion for 23 years and every time I have to euthanize one of them it bruises my heart. Today it was a young Rough-legged Hawk who had been hit by a car over a week ago. These birds are born near the Artic Circle in Northern Canada and migrate here for the winter. To them this is the beaches in FL. Because they are so isolated after hatching they know nothing about humans or vehicles. This baby of last year was probably on a road kill when he was hit. The damage was not external, no broken bones, but it was to his eyes. The optic nerve in his right eye was destroyed and the sight in his left eye so compromised that altho he could pick up movement if it was close enough, it was not sufficient for him to recognize a meal under his foot. As you can see in this photo, he is standing on dinner but never reached down to eat it. Although I could have kept him alive by hand feeding him it would not have been a very good quality of life. He is a wild bird and every time I came near him he was stressed. He had a short life but could take pride in making it all the way to Wyoming before he was a year old. I applaud his life.

Warning about feathers

This morning, while in the grocery store, I spotted a young man walking around with an adult redtail feather in his hatband. I informed him that it was illegal for him to have that to which he replyed, "It was given to me by an Indian". I told him that didn't matter, he wasn't an Indian and therefore had to have a permit to possess anything from a protected species. I doubt very much if he was impressed with my statement and probably won't remove it from his hat. I just hope that he isn't wearing it when a Game Warden comes upon him. The feather would surely be confiscated and the young man would probably be given a ticket for its possession. Even the native people have to obtain permits if they want new or replacement feathers from the Federal Feather Depository near Denver. If they have old feathers, such as those in PowWow costumes, they are allowed to posses them as they have provenence for them.

I know it seems a bit harsh to enforce that law but if it isn't done then people could just kill any raptor, yank out some feathers and say they found them. To combat this inclination a law was passed stating that no part of any protected bird can be in possession without the proper permits. That means every bird but those you can legally hunt, i.e. geese, ducks, pheasant, etc. or pigeons, European Starlings and English Sparrows. All others are protected by law, including songbird feathers, i.e. bluebirds, robins, meadowlark, etc. In some states there are seasons for crows as they are nuisance birds but be sure to check the local laws before just going out and blasting away.

JULIE ANDREWS at home

"JULIE ANDREWS" came to me in December of the year she was born, 1995, after being hit by a car. She suffered a fractured right leg and a severe concussion. It took a week of hand feeding for her to be strong enough to stand on her leg cast but her eye/beak coordination was off to the point that when she reached for a mouse she missed finding it by a few inches. She eventually learned to compensate and was eating on her own after a couple weeks. JULIE was left with a permanent slight limp and brain damage to where she could fly but refused to go more than a foot or so off the ground for only about 20 feet.

One day, in her ninth year, I went into the flight barn and couldn't find her. Amazingly enough she had flown to the lowest wall perch, about a dozen feet off the ground. She spent a few days up there, receiving her rabbits by air mail (I tossed them up to the platform) She came down eventually but did return there from time to time.

JULIE is now living at the Delaware Valley Raptor Center (see links) in Milford, PA after living at IBR for over 10 years. When I stopped doing educational programs I had to place my school birds. I made the decision to send her to DVRC as they had just lost a golden eagle they'd had for 25 years. I've since visited her and she's doing well although there was a hole in my heart when I put her on the plane to PA. This photo was taken two weeks before she left this facility.

Long, long ago

Looking back in my archives of photos I came across this one. You can tell how old it is because my hair is dark and curly. If you look closely, sitting on my right shoulder is the first bird I rehabbed back in 1987. His name is REX and he's a European Starling. I found him on the ground after he'd fallen out of his nest. He grew up to be quite the character as I now know are most starlings. He knew his name, did bird things during the day and met me at the house when I came home from work. He eventually left for good, I was sorry to see him go. If you want to read a story about a particular starling go find the book "Arnie the Darling Starling". A fun true story about one lady's interaction with a wild bird.

Amazing baby release

This amazing baby Golden Eagle, "TWIG" was found sitting in the middle of a highway. She was luckily found by Mark McCarthy of McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary in West Palm Beach, FL. He was vacationing in Wyoming and knew how to handle large birds of prey so he gathered her up and had her transported to IBR. She was almost starved to death but quickly gained the needed weight on a diet of rats and rabbits. When she proved to me that she could catch and kill live prey she was taken to a very wonderful habitat and released along with another young female eagle of the same age.

As 80% of all raptor babies don't make it through their first winter it was awe inspiring seeing these two young birds fly away. The hope is that they continued their lives and will be successful in finding a mate and raising young of their own.

IBR overview

This photo shows what Ironside Bird Rescue looks like from the air. Thanks to Dr. Lee Hermann for taking this photo while piloting his plane. The pond is no longer there as the water came from the irrigation ditch and after 12 years it had silted in so much the eight foot depth had fallen to about four. It is now a flat surface ready for a garden or anymore buildings that are needed.

All of the buildings were built with grant money and donations from individuals and are just beautiful. They are also metal sided to make them maintenance free. The largest, the eagle flight barn, is 24'x 80', the smallest is one of the newest, it's 8'x 20', just right for the smaller raptors. There is also an Great Horned Owl flight area and various other sizes.

IBR is located at the end of a dirt road not far from the town of Cody but isolated enough to make it ideal for the birds to recover from their injuries. It is also close enough to many different habitats where these birds can be released back to the wild. And stepping outside at night reveals the most beautiful array of stars you can possibly imagine.