12 September 2009

Awesome day at Fallen Feathers

Many of my friends know that I am disabled, having the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia (among a host of other medical issues). Many also know that I have been involved in wild bird rehabilitation for several years. There are days when the former is not so bad, and I am able to participate in the latter; yesterday was such a day, and what a great day it was!
Jody, the Executive Director & co-founder of Fallen Feathers -- my best friend -- called me to say that she needs help catching the Great Horned owls (GHO) so that we can take them to Game and Fish (G&F) for their flight and prey training prior to being released. It's not necessarily an easy task, catching GHOs; they like to dive bomb you, feet open with talons exposed for maximum damage. We have to worry about the kind of damage they can do -- their bite can hurt, to be sure, but each talon can exert 250 psi; in other words, it could totally crush your hand. We do wear welder's gloves, but pressure is pressure. They don't let go until they want to.


So we go to collect the GHOs when I notice that there is a panel which has fallen down, which divides an aviary in half; this aviary has a one-winged GHO on one side and a Short-eared owl (SEO) on the other. The GHO, named R2, was in on the SEO's side; this is not good!! So I fend off the very-ungraceful GHO while Jody captures the SEO and puts him in a temporary cage until we can get their duplex fixed.


Having averted crisis there, we move to the aviary with three GHOs. We have raised these three, and the other two which are going to G&F today, since they were just little balls of downy fluff. Baby GHOs are just too cute!

Great Horned owl chick
Picture by Delphia Strickland



The space in which we have to catch these three is not large; the two of us in there makes it just a bit too close for comfort, when avoiding flapping wings and razor-sharp talons. I managed to sneak up on one and catch him. Jody waved her arms and acted as a shield as I bent down to put the owl in the carrier; then she caught the next one and I was her shield. The third one was a bit more of a pain, but we finally got him in the carrier.



Next up were the two GHOs who were living in the aviary with our education GHO, Robert (who also has only one wing). These two we should have named Spitfire and Pi**-and-vinegar -- they are just about the feistiest ones we've had. It's a larger space in which to maneuver though, and while that sounds like it would make it easier, it doesn't; they have room to get a good run at you. Finally, we got them both and got them in another carrier. Yay! All five safely ensconced in carriers, ready to go for their next step in rehabilitation.

Right after this, Jody gets a call from a man who says he's bringing two American avocets (AA). We get lots of kinds of birds, but we've never had these before. Avocets are shore birds, with really long legs, webbed feet, and long, thin bills that curve upward at the end to probing the sand for invertebrates. However, these two in particular had gotten into oil.



The man who brought them works for an environmental cleanup company. One of his jobs is to clean up the oil in the reclamation ponds at a natural gas plant on one of the reservations. Natural gas is the vapor of crude oil, and when there is a leak in the line, a light-yellowish oil is released. It collects in a pond, and unfortunately, birds don't know that the pond is not safe. He said that he saw several birds already had succumbed, these two were the only ones that were still alive. He said he was frustrated because the residents of the reservation he talked to about the birds had no compassion for the animals which were being killed by the oil. I understand his feelings; it's hard to explain to people sometimes why it's important to do the work we do, to change peoples' minds about how we affect the wildlife, and when they just don't care, it's confusing at best.



When he arrived with the two AAs, I noticed immediately that neither one was very feisty. In wildlife rehab, being feisty is a good thing; it means the animal still has a sense of survival, of wanting to live. Lethargy is a bad sign. These two gave weak little flaps when he handed them over; they were covered in what looked like vegetable oil, every feather coated, in the eyes....and I knew they had ingested oil, as well. The feathers we can wash, using Dawn (approved for this very situation); we can try to give them a medication which helps to bind the oil and get it out of the animal's system, but if it's been too long, or they have ingested too much, then the damage is likely already done. Oil damages kidneys, blocks up the gastrointestinal tract, and can even blind the animal.


American avocet
picture by Delphia Strickland


With the GHOs in carriers waiting to be taken to G&F, we wrapped the avocets in towels and put them in an aquarium on a heating pad to warm them up and keep them contained until we returned. On our way there, we saw this amazing car. It's a "Shamu" car, from SeaWorld in San Diego, CA; I want one!



Shamu car
picture by Delphia Strickland


Flight training and prey training is an important step in the rehabilitation of raptors (birds of prey: hawks, falcons, eagles, etc.); they need to prove that they can control their flight accurately, and to be able to make kills successfully. These five are quick studies, and really not fond of humans; we suspect that they will not need more than a week to demonstrate their abilities. At G&F, each bird is weighed (at least two are females, one might be) and given a temporary band to identify it as one of our owls, and the information is recorded on a form. Then, I carried each bird to the big flight pen, which is about 50 x 20 x 150 feet, and let it launch from my glove. Each owl flew very well to high perches, and then glared at me as all good owls should do after such an ordeal.








Great Horned owls at Fallen Feathers
picture by Delphia Strickland



While we were there, we picked up three American kestrels which had completed the flight/prey training and are now ready to be released, as well as a fancy pigeon with a band; we will try to track down the owner of the bird and return it to him or her, and if we can't, then we will place the bird in a good home.


We returned to Jody's house, the Fallen Feathers base of operations, to take care of the avocets. Jody washed one, and I the other, taking care to wash each feather, the skin, the face, but keeping the soapy water out of the birds' eyes, nostrils and mouth. The bird I washed seemed to like the warm water, and put up virtually no resistance.





Washing the avocet
picture by Jody Kieran

Even though we lost the avocets, overall, the day was an awesome day in wild bird rehabilitation, for me.


:)