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.

She's back

I was amazed when I got a call last Friday about a golden eagle with a broken wing down near Lovell. I met James Hobbs, the WGF warden near Garland for the handoff and found out it was not a golden but a baby bald eagle. And the most astounding thing was which baby bald eagle. It's PRISCILLA, the one I released back on January 12th about three miles from where she was just found.

PRISCILLA is the one that had the very high mercury count altho we never found out the cause and why she wasn't dead from it. If you remember, she was originally found about 20 miles out the Southfork Road on Thanksgiving Day. Because she was in excellent condition and was flying very strong I made the decision to release her. That went well and it's on a video.

She also has/had a very large growth on the bottom of her right foot. I say had because today she underwent surgery to remove whatever it is. Both her blood and the tumor are on their way to the state lab for testing. Because the chance of ever getting a bird back to repeat a test is unheard of I'm having her blood tested for mercury.

Now it's a matter of time to see if her foot heals enough for re-release. The mercury level may determine her outcome.

NOTE: The results of her mercury test show that the level has gone down by half but is still high. She is also not eating nearly as much as I would like, possibly because she doesn't like having her foot bandaged. Mercury poisoning affects the brain which is what I think has happened to PRISCILLA. Because of that I've made the decision to NOT release her back to the wild. Now it becomes a question of whether she improves enough to live.

My new flock

I now have a total of 116 chickens but these won't be laying until Fall. In the meantime this flock of 50 tiny babies are eating and drinking and looking so cute. There are Rhode Island Red, Partridge Rock, Red Sex Link and Black Astrolorp and will all be laying brown eggs. I wanted to get some more Aracaunas but they didn't come in, perhaps this next week.

Another eagle

So far this year over 50% of the birds arriving at IBR have been eagles and all but one are goldens. This is CORD, an adult male found on a ranch out the Northfork Hiway near Wapiti. When I first saw the bird I was so afraid it was yet another lead poisoning but that's not the case. I believe this bird may have not been paying attention and perhaps came down too hard when chasing a meal.

Nothing shows up as broken in either leg, pelvis or spine but his legs don't work very well and he can't stand up. I hope it's just bruising but for now he's as you see him in this photo. He's sitting on a deep pile of shredded newspaper inside a baby playpen. It's the best way to keep him upright yet not put all his weight on his legs. I'm having to hand feed him and he's started some physical therapy too.

At this time of the year the female is either on the nest or is about to lay eggs. As her mate is now here we have lost the breeding season but if I can get him back to his territory before late summer they can try again for next year.

Thanks to the Cody Enterprise for donating the paper and Nan Curtis and Y-Tex for letting me use their giant shredder.

NOTE: CORD died the morning of March 25th.

Another loss

For those of you who have visited the Beartooth Nature Center you'll surely know of LEWIS, the mountain lion. He has been living there for a long time and sadly he was found dead today, quite unexpectedly. Perhaps the loss of HELEN some months ago had something to do with that. He was a much loved member of the BNC family and will be missed, especially by Don, his friend and caretaker for his entire life.

For everyone who has never been to the nature center in Red Lodge, MT, you must go there, it is a wonderful facility. The bears are still in hibernation altho the young male did come out for a few minutes before going back into his winter den. They have loads of different animals and birds and if you go in the summer you will see an amazing array of flowers and beautiful grounds.

He's away!

Today ROSIE was released back to the wild exactly where he was found. As you can see, he's way up in a tree daring me to catch him again. I warned him to stay away from golden retrievers no matter how friendly they are.

Disappearing DAVE

This morning DAVE was released so he could begin the long migration to his birth place above the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. He's been here since the end of November after being found by pheasant hunters. His right ulna was broken but in good position and had the intact radius for a splint.

His first flight was a short one and ended on the ground while he scoped out the territory and wide open spaces he found himself in. When I got close to make sure he was okay he jumped into the air and showed me his backside. I watched as he went a long way and then over a hill with strong wingbeats. Sorry it's not all in the frame but I had to quickly click the button as he was leaving in such a hurry so I didn't have a lot of time to frame the shot.

CHIP off the old block

Here's FUZZY's first born and there's no doubt who the dad is. He's only a few days old in this photo (I think it's a boar), one of three in the litter. The other two are red and white, closer to their mom in looks.

Seeing double

Not really but there are now two Saw-whet Owls here at IBR. This is JENNA, an adult female found on the ground hiding behind a bush at a local trailer park. I have no idea what made her go there as they are totally nocturnal and favor coniferous forests. There are some large evergreen trees not too far away so maybe she just zigged when she should have zagged. I can find nothing wrong at this point but will have her examined and xrayed, if necessary, to see if there is some damage.

What else ?????

Wow, probably shouldn't say that. I just got my truck back with new leaf springs, new sparkplug wires and a repaired tailgate. That was on Thursday. Today, as I was heading home from town the gears refused to change. Add the towing bill plus another whopping one for whatever is wrong this time.

Luckily my friend Susan has two vehicles and she is loaning me the use of her Subaru wagon until I get the truck back. Hopefully that will be only a couple days into the new week. Of course the garage doesn't know they have that ahead of them so I doubt they have the parts on hand and will have to order them.

The super young man driving the tow rig took me to the garage and we left the truck to save yet another charge. Then he brought me home and helped unload the grain sacks we'd transferred to his truck. Thanks Eagle Recovery.

BIG brother is watching you !

Well, maybe not BIG brother. Okay, maybe teeny brother. Especially as ROSIE is only four inches tall from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. This little Saw-whet Owl is making great time in getting stronger so he will be relesable in a few days. He's about seven feet off the ground and glaring at me. His words, "Drop the mouse and no one will get hurt". Okay, I'm outta here all right, all ready.....

Mystery flight

This is an updated photo of RANCHER, an immature male Merlin who arrived here a few weeks ago unable to fly. Xrays showed that he has practically no muscle delineation from his elbow to shoulder in his left wing. That would explain why he couldn't fly when found.

If you'll notice in this photo, he's rather high up in his 8'x 20' mew and this isn't the highest he's flown. He's regularly found at the very top of the mew, about 15+ feet up.

At this point I don't see how he's able to do this but will take him in for further xrays to see just what's happening with that wing. Now I'm hopeful that he'll eventually be strong enough for release.