General summary and Open House wrap-up!

Good morning to you all!  With the hubbub of the annual Mother's Day Open House last weekend, I got a little distracted from updating my blog, so this entry will be full of information for you.

First off, we released another bird!  The Great Horned Owl with the luxated elbow flew out of here on Monday, so big congratulations to him and to the Humans who helped him (both medically and financially)!  When he was released, he flew up to a tall tree, perched on the tiniest branch available, and was promptly greeted by a very displeased and noisy American Kestrel.

As for the other birds in rehabilitation, there are still four Bald Eagles in house!  And they're still eating like pigs, so if you have a surplus of trout to donate to us, we'd love to have it!  Whole and frozen is best. Call the RMRP for details.

There are also the three accipiters (forest-dwelling bird-eating hawks) going through rehab.  All three of them were likely window strikes, with the Sharp-Shinned Hawk being caught by a cat afterward (talk about a bad day).  All three are doing well, destroying button quail with no regard for the mess they're making, and steadily healing their injuries. I hope they get out of here soon because their energy level is waaay higher than mine, and I can almost feel the air humming around them while they're here!  Makes it hard to sleep, grumble, grumble....

On a sadder note, the Humans admitted an American Kestrel the other day that had been caught in a woodpecker trap.  I'd never heard of a woodpecker trap, so I looked them up and found out some interesting information: live traps are generally ineffective, so the kind of "trap" that is more commonly used is a snap-type rat trap mounted on the side of a house or placed in a nest box (which is where the Kestrel ran into one--"Ooh, look, a nice home for me to raise a family in!"...not).  They're allowed as a last resort for woodpecker removal, but require a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  To any Humans out there with a woodpecker problem, please do your research and try to find more humane ways of getting rid of woodpeckers before resorting to lethal trapping (there are plenty of humane methods to try).  For the record, the American Kestrel caught in the woodpecker trap didn't make it.

Now, onto some good news!  The Open House was a huge success!  Enormous thanks to everyone who came by to check out where I live, meet my neighbors and friends, purchase items in the gift shop, and donate generously!  I was resting in my cage for the day, but the birds who did come out say they had a good time, and the Humans were in high spirits! Thanks again!

Hm, there are Humans coming into my cage!  I have to put away my computer and act owlish!  Bye!