Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fly robin, fly.....................


Just a short update before I hit the pillow.
My computer (both the laptop and PC) have been giving me a headache these last few days so I'm sorry for the delay. We released another robin the other day. Connie released him at her house.
That leaves us with two robins.
Saturday, Diane drove to Phoenix with the Harris hawk AND she (Diane) won't be returning. She's moving back to go to school. She's been very helpful to us and will be missed. Hopefully she can find a group there to volunteer with.
So Jasper, the Harris hawk is now at Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center in Phoenix. He'll be hanging out with other Harris hawks and hopefully will "wild up" so he can go live as a hawk should, in the wild.
Tomorrow, I will be meeting up with Best Friends again. This time, I'll be picking up a couple of their robins that need to hang out with other robins for a little while.
Still waiting on the eagle transfer to Oklahoma and Ivy, the juvenile golden eagle with the pins still in her wing, will be going up to my vet's next week to have surgery to remove those pins.
The pictures in this post are of the robin release.
Debbie................

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Goodbye Lionus, robin, Acorn and Berry........

Well what a week it's been!
We released one of our robins at Connie's house. She has lot's of robins that hang out there so that should be a good place for her.
The last two rock squirrels were also released the same day. We put them in the same area as the others. They were acting so independent prior to the release yet when we let them go, they froze and didn't want to move. We had to coax them and reassure them. I could have just as easily have picked them back up and brought them home again, but that would have been selfish and that is not why we do this. Releases can be very difficult and these little rock squirrel releases definitely were. Goodbye my babies. Remember all that we talked about.



Also, that same day, we released the Peregrine falcon. The trip to the vet's office on Tuesday showed no broken bones or dislocation.


I've included the picture of the x-ray and us at the vet's office. Connie and Dr. Ipsen are working with the bird just before the x-ray. We let him go the next day, close to the area where we picked him up. We first had Tony Wright with DWR come and band him for us.
We band all of our raptors prior to release. They are banded with federally issued bands. We are lucky Tony helped us fight that battle to do this. At first, it was only the eagles, then, they wanted to stop banding entirely, but when it was all over, we were granted banding of ALL our raptors. Yeah!!! So Lionus went back out with some 'bling'.











It was a great release and since I'm NO photographer, I'm lucky I got him in the shot of the toss. Those falcons are little bullets with feathers! There was a short burst of intense flapping, followed by a long soar with a lot of lift and then he was out of sight.






I'm still working on the paperwork for the two golden eagles to be transferred to the Iowa tribe in Oklahoma. Right now it's just a waiting game on my part.


Jasper, the Harris hawk has been approved to go to Arizona. I spoke with the lady at the center where he will be going and they are thrilled to have him. Should he not 'wild up' like we hope, they are definitely interested in him as an educational bird, so either way, he'll have a wonderful life, something he is definitely deserving of and not been used to. I'll keep you posted as things progress for him. I've included some new photo's of him on this post.
We're still feeding several orphan passerines of different species and they are progressing nicely.
Connie has been busy cleaning out the living facilities (mews) that are now empty. It's an ongoing job as soon they'll be housing someone else who needs our help.
Time to go feed the feathered babies again...............

Monday, August 3, 2009

Moving right along.................


Well the transfer of the Prairie falcon to Best Friends went as planned. I drove to Richfield, Utah and met Erin, one of their WildFriends employees'. She will be there until her new feathers come in and then be released down there, somewhere in southern Utah. I'm happy for her that she'll be able to finally be a free falcon and be exactly what she is meant to be and won't be hanging out with people for their own 'selfish' reasons. I'm not a fan of falconry and make no apologies for it!

I also made contact with Arizona Game and Fish regarding the transfer of the other bird involved in the seizure by our state wildlife officials. That bird, a Harris hawk, will hopefully be going to Phoenix at a facility there where it can hang out with other Harris hawks temporarily. We're working on the paperwork end of that, but hopefully we can get this transfer done in a couple of weeks. Then he'll be closer to the life he deserves as well.

We will be releasing the last 2 squirrels this week. I'll be sure to take lots of photo's and the Peregrine will be going into the vet's tomorrow for his x-rays. Hopefully they will show nothing is broken, just swelling and bruising.
That's all for now.
Debbie.............


Feathered brothers and sisters, you came to us broken and as you bled…….we saw you desperate, dehydrated, desiccated, diseased, distressed, emaciated, famished, frayed, frightened, helpless, hungry, ragged, ravenous, shaken, shocked, shot, sickly, stressed, stunned, tattered, thirsty, traumatized, torn, weary and wounded. Defiantly, you stood us off with your last breath as we tried to tend to you. We saw you come in as cute, naked, fuzzy, cuddly youth, as mischievous, defiant adolescents, as fierce, regal rulers of the sky and as cunning, maimed elders whose time on earth was almost done. You endeared yourselves to us, bit us, charmed us, footed us, delighted us, hissed at us, talked to us, mantled at us, and graced us with your presence.

Some of you mended and were able to go on your way, never looking back. Some of you were injured in ways that prevented you from going, so you stayed with us to teach us…….And we came to love you. Others were too far gone, and you went home - where you fly free from pain with the Great One. All of you have touched us, and we are changed because of you.

used with permission by Arlene Powers


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