Another baby bald

I don't get that many bald eagles here during the year but right now I have two that are about eight to nine months old. This one is PETUNIA and she came from near Manderson. Xrays show nothing broken but for some reason she can't stand. She can use her legs and feet tho, and is very fast at grabbing.

Her name comes from her being such a fat little girl (as in Petunia Pig). Right now she's on a flat perch and I'm hoping, given some time, she'll be able to stand normally. She was eating on a rabbit alongside the road so it's probable she was hit by a passing vehicle. Not enough to break anything but bruised enough to make standing difficult.

UPDATE: Baby PETUNIA died this morning. She was doing better for a while but then went downhill fast. She was unable to keep anything down including fluids.

Handsome bird

This is a Cooper's Hawk, the middle sized accipiter. I believe this is male, his name is BAKER, and he came from near Thermopolis. Found on a 500 acre ranch, it's unknown just what happened but he has a fractured left humerus. Xrays tomorrow will tell the story. As an adult, I think he's just a couple years old as his eyes aren't red yet.

UPDATE: Surgery was started today when the doctor discovered that the tendon in that wing was also damaged. He estimates he'd been on the ground for a couple weeks. He was strong so they went ahead and tried to fix his wing. His heart stopped a couple times but they got it started again. The third time they couldn't get him back. So sad.

More shooting

Today, thanks to Missy and Joey, a beautiful American Crow was brought here from Riverton. The bird, NICK, was seen in their yard unable to fly. They graciously agreed to drive him here to be cared for.

I took NICK into the vet this afternoon and found out the devastating news. This wonderful bird has been the victim of a gunshot. This time it was a pellet gun with most of the pellet still in his wing. The long bone between his shoulder and elbow is broken in two pieces with the part nearest his elbow completely shattered. There is no way of repairing the damage so he was humanely euthanized.

So far this winter I've received three birds who have been shot. What drives people to just shoot something for the sake of killing? These birds are not causing problems, are not a threat to livestock, but someone felt compelled to try and end their lives. In this one case that is exactly what happened. Of the other two, one may fly again, one never will. I am so angry.

Thank you

The year is almost over and I want to thank each and every person and foundation who've donated to the care of the birds here at Ironside. As many of you know, Dr. Malcolm Blessing has done my bird work, pro bono, for the past 28 years until he sold the business this past Spring. That was a great donation on his part.

Since May the birds have been charged for all vet work totalling, up to today, about $5,600.00. I appreciate the fact that Dr. Prior has given IBR a 50% discount but these charges are still very hard on a budget. Naturally the birds require surgery from time to time, xrays and lab tests. The charges from the state vet lab for specialized tests have totalled another $575.00. We get no funding from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department or the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. As a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are tax deductible.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and the new year is the best ever. Thanks again.

Victim

Her name is LINNY and she's a victim of gunshot wounds. She still has three pellets in her chest, one in her right leg and three fragments in her right wing. That wing, because of the trauma, has a fractured ulna in two places. None of the pellets are in a place that will permanently harm or kill her. Her wing will be repaired on Monday so she has a very good chance of flying again.

The hangup is that Rough-legged Hawks are only in this area of the world from mid October to mid March. Then they migrate back to their breeding grounds above the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. LINNY has her work cut out for her. As does Dr. Blessing who will be doing the repair surgery.

UPDATE: The surgery went well but it was discovered that the fracture closest to her wrist happened a few weeks ago, the other one is fresh. She now has a metal pin in the bone that will be in there for about six weeks.

I'm speechless

Today I opened my latest copy of the Cody Enterprise and saw this in the Letters to the Editor section. I am overwhelmed at such wonderful things said here. I've known Nic and Joyce Patrick for, well, forever, since their kids were teeny. Now those kids are all grown up and have kids of their own. In fact Becky is due for her second child today.

Thanks to supporters like the Patrick's I'm able to take care of so many birds. And release them to the wild when they're ready. Those that aren't strong enough to fly away are then placed in educational facilities so millions of people are able to see these magnificent birds.

Improvement

Today I moved ELSA into a larger mew as she was beginning to feel well enough to try flying. Not possible in a 6' x 6' space. Now she can sit on this corner perch and watch what's happening around her. She still has four more days of one of her meds. I hope she'll continue to let me hand her the steak pieces with the medicine inside it. Maybe she'll pick it up and eat it on her own.

Catch and release

I received a call from a young lady in Powell saying she had a large owl inside her pigeon coop. Apparently the bird was smart enough to follow them in their one-way door but naturally couldn't leave. The white pigeons were all pretty frantic by the time I got there as the owl had probably been catching them outside the coop for an easy meal.

Pigeons and doves are very fast flyers, owls are not, so I don't know just how many had been made into meals. I scooped up the owl, walked a ways from the coop and released it. I know, it may just return, but I told the owner to cover the one-way door to keep the pigeons in and the owl out. As an adult I couldn't take it away from the area as the mate was there. As long as a free meal is denied, the owl it will go elsewhere for food.

The second trip was also to Powell, this time for what I was told was a woodpecker that couldn't fly. When I arrived at the home the owners had the bird in a box which was the right thing to do. Surprise! When I peeked in it wasn't a woodpecker but an adult starling. He did have some blood on its beak. I believe the bird hit a window and was only dazed. I checked him out and opened my hand. He flew off and hopefully won't do that again.

Two more eagles

His name is DUNCAN.....

My second trip to rescue an eagle came mid afternoon when Daryl went into the museum and asked the security desk person, Dave, what to do. Dave immediately called me so I could get the directions to where the bird was found.

I met Jeff Duncan About nine miles from Meeteetse, on the way to the Pitchfork, so he could take me to the eagle. It's an eight month old male bald eagle that had been seen on the ground for almost a week. Unfortunately the Meeteetse game warden never returned his calls so the bird was on his own.

The injury probably happened when he was either hit by a vehicle or made a very bad landing. Young birds sometimes don't make the perfect stops. In this case his right wrist joint has been severely damaged, he will never fly again. I will place him at a facility as an educational ambassador so the rest of the world can see this magnificent bird up close.

Today was busy. I got a call about a downed golden eagle between the WGF office and the landfill road. I was told it was on the west side of the road but couldn't find it. On my second pass I had a state trooper stop behind me. He was also told about the bird so we both looked for it. He found the eagle on the east side of the road.

Unfortunately he was probably hit by a vehicle and couldn't use his legs. I took him to Dr. Blessing for xrays and learned the devastating news. His spine was broken, completely severed above his hips. He was humanely euthanized.

Another big black bird

It's rare to find an injured corvid, they are so smart and can usually get out of the way of any danger. The one thing they can't fly away from is a speeding bullet. Today I drove over to Ralston to pick up a raven that had eluded the rancher for four or five months. He just couldn't run fast enough to catch the bird.

Strangely, today the bird just stood still and let himself be picked up. He was quick and grabbed my right arm as I was taking him out of the crate they had him in. I stopped at the vet to get some xrays and found out there is a pellet lodged in his left wrist joint. It fractured his radius and ulna and ruined the hand joint.

As he will never fly again I'm hoping he can be placed as a bird ambassador along with the other non-releasable raven living here. He came in a few weeks ago. Now they're sharing a room so they'll have company and can compare damage.

Higher education

Her name is ELSA and she was apparently looking for more classroom work as she was found next to Sheridan College on Friday. The WGF kept her over the weekend because they couldn't find any damage. Then when she refused to fly they called me this noontime. Luckily WGF Warden, Bill Robertson, was coming back home to Greybull so brought her with him. I met him there which saved me lots of time and miles. Have I mentioned that this state has the best wardens and biologists in the world.

She's very nasty and I have the bandage on my right arm as proof. Bald eagles are bad biters and she obviously read that part of the book. I can't find anything wrong either so she's going in to the vet tomorrow morning for some xrays and blood work.

Because she's an adult she will be taken back to that area of Sheridan for release if it turns out she's fixable.

Owl selfie

I don't know what I'd do without Nathan's help. He came out this morning to help bandage my newest patient. This GHO came from just south of town between the WGF office and the road to the dump. Obviously he was hit by a vehicle and badly damaged. His left wing tip was shattered so it had to be amputated. And his right ulna was also fractured but the radius is okay.

At this point he's in a heated room to recover from the surgery and he'll be in cage rest for some time to let the fracture heal. He will then become a permanent resident to replace SMIDGE's companion as I'm permitted for two GHO's. That bird, after being here for a couple years, decided he could fly so was released this past summer. His original injury was to feather follicles but given enough time they were able to recover which allowed him to fly.

Now I just have to think of a good name for this new fellow. I believe it's a male, any ideas anyone?

UPDATE: His name is BLITZEN and he's doing much better now. He's eating rats on his own and altho his right eye will probably not ever be 100%, he's not squinting as much either.

Here and gone

I got in an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk a few weeks ago after she had apparently either hit a window or branch when landing. They hunt birds and often find themselves in trouble if the bird feeders are too close to a house. They just don't see the glass. SQUINT suffered a hurt eye and a wound to the left side of her head.

With medicine and time she's made a full recovery and today was the end of her time here. Because she's a young bird with no territory or mate, and I have tons of sparrows living here, I released her right outside the cage room. She's been eating a half a quail every day so flew off in great weight. With our weather becoming nicer in the next few days I doubt she'll have any trouble finding food.

She's gone

Yesterday I drove on very treacherous roads to Joyce and Nic Patrick's place out on the Southfork Road to release JACKSON. She's been here since August repairing wing feathers and getting over a head tilt from not liking the mews she was in at another facility. She wasn't happy here, at first, but got the hang of how long my flight barn is and started improving.

The weather was horrible, gale force winds and only in the teens. In fact it was only three degrees when I got up at six o'clock that morning. Luckily the sun came out to make it seem better.

A whole bunch of Patrick's were there for the momentous event, all bundled up in many layers. At first JACKSON didn't want to come out of the crate. Then she tried to rush and got twisted around, catching one talon in the door. Luckily Nic was quick and reached down to free the toe. He tossed her in the air and the rest was just watching this beautiful bird find her way.

She made one circle around us and then headed out helped by those strong winds. You can see she's still missing a couple feathers but they will molt in later.

Thanks to the people at the Teton Raptor Center for trusting me with her care and the Idaho Fish & Game for letting her be released here instead of back in ID. That trip there would have been too much for her to handle now.

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.

Awesome sight

This photo was taken by a friend, Leon Jenson. He's a gifted photographer of many subjects but when I met him in the store today he told me about seeing the aurora borealis at various places near here. I have only seen it once many years ago and only a green ribbon. This shot is extraordinary with all the various colors of the rainbow showing. You can see other photos by Leon on his site: leonjenson.tripod.com.

A pox upon you

Unfortunately that's what has happened to this amazingly beautiful, large, seven month old female Red-tailed Hawk. PUFF was found down in Worland alongside the road. I was told she had a broken wing but that doesn't appear to be the case. She does have a wound on the wrist of her left wing but it looks to be superficial.

Her biggest problem, and it is huge, is the fact that she has avian pox lesions on her feet. There are two varieties of pox, dry and wet. The wet type affects their throat and esophagus, the dry is on their body where feathers are lacking, i.e. their feet and face. The wet kind will kill the bird.

PUFF has the dry kind and so far the lesions aren't horrible. The bad news is that there is no treatment other than supportive care for avian pox. I had one roughie many years ago who had the dry variety and it took months for his body to recover. That will be the case here too. The only thing I can do is spray her bumps, perches and cage with 10% bleach solution. Because this is a very contagious disease she will be kept in this cage which is easy to clean.

To the good is the fact that PUFF is in excellent condition, she's fat, alert and as you can see from the photo, a bit confrontational. Her attitude will carry her far and hopefully beat this disease in short order.

Mystery death

I got a call yesterday from a friend who had received a call about a dead owl in a tree in Powell. As it was almost dark I decided to wait until today because it would probably require climbing to get the body.

My super friend, Nathan, came along as he's young and agile and could probably scamper up the tree with ease. When we got to the house it was apparent that climbing was out of the question. The bird was on a small limb without any others nearby to stand on.

Luckily the home owner had a long handled branch saw and another piece of PVC pipe we taped on it to extend the reach. Nathan got on top of the garage and managed to push the owls body off the branch.

At this time I have no idea what would cause the 7-8 month old GHO to end up there. He is in excellent condition, there are no wounds that I can see and his feathers are perfect. I am sending him off to our state lab for testing. Hopefully they can find a reason for this beautiful bird to die.

UPDATE: The test results are in, this bird died of herpes. Not the kind humans get, this is avian herpes.

Two more flying away

JESSIE (top) MINER (bottom)

Today two more of my rehabilitated birds have flown away. MINER came to me from the Belle Ayr coal mine near Gillette. His nest was on the top of a coal conveyor and he fell off before he was old enough to fledge. Because the rules of the mine forbid the operator to climb the belt and replace him in the nest, he came to IBR.

The other redtail baby, JESSIE, was found on Paradise Valley Road near Riverton. He was unwilling to fly, probably due to a wound near his right elbow. It took a long time to heal but eventually he was flying with strength.

Once both of these young hawks proved they could make live kills it was time for them to be released. That happened on the Pfister Ranch about 20 miles south of Meeteetse. The abundant voles and rabbits will make for a wonderful place for them to return to the wild.

Remembering

Happy Veterans Day to the members of my family who served in a few wars. Uncle Roy (Air Force), Cousin Roy (Air Force), Cousin Pete (Army), Uncle Tom (Coast Guard) and Cousin Mike (Navy). I still fly flags in my yard for them and will continue to do so. Every year I get new ones during our Field of Honor ceremony here in Cody. They are true heroes to me.

Happy Veterans Day to all of us in the USA
Happy Remembrance Day to my family in Canada

Flown away

DINO wasn't here long, just enough time to get over some bruising from being hit by a truck. He was stuck in the grill for a while but amazingly wasn't broken.

He spent a few days inside one of my new mews recovering his balance then joined SMIDGE in the owl barn for some flight conditioning. Thanks to my friend Julie for accompanying me to the release sight up the Northfork. After the release we had some Breadboard sandwiches while sitting and looking at a very beautiful day.

This photo was taken after only a couple flaps from the crate so his landing gear isn't all the way up and locked. He ended up on a far tree then flew off again to farther reaches.

The Gambler

He was found at the entrance to the Indian casino on the reservation south of Riverton. Hence his name is KENNY ROGERS. An adult male Bald Eagle, at just a couple ounces over five pounds, he is severely starved. The reason may be that he appears to be totally blind. After having gone through this recently with a baby Golden Eagle, I hope it's not true and this bird will recover.

He goes in for tests on Monday and I'll make an appointment for my own eye doctor to examine him.

UPDATE: He lost his fight, he died around noon today. His body will be sent to the state vet lab for testing to see why an adult eagle was starving to death when his age and experience should not have let that happen.

UPDATE: The test results just came back from our state lab. This adult eagle died of West Nile Virus. It is a terrible disease and I mourn the loss of a wonderful bird.

Another first

Of this winter season at any rate. Enough snow came down last night to make a print of my MADDIE's foot this morning. It's very sunny out now so melting will happen quickly.