General update 12/05/12

Good evening everyone!  It's been awhile since I've let you know what's going on at the RMRP, so I figure it's a good time for an update.  In a sentence, the overall situation can be described as "a welcome decrease in case load, with many ongoing, interesting and hopeful cases, and a whole slew of other activities."

Northern Pygmy Owl - released!!

Let's start with case load:  to date the Humans have admitted 257 birds for the year.  By comparison, last year they only admitted 242 birds.  A couple of weeks ago there were 35 active cases in house, and now the number is down to the mid-twenties.  Happily, almost all of that decrease can be chalked up to successful releases!  A quick summary of some of the birds to leave the RMRP in the past couple weeks:

-An immature Northern Goshawk (shoulder trauma)
-An American Kestrel (unknown trauma)
-A Red-Tailed Hawk with high-voltage trauma (from a power line)
-An American Kestrel (head trauma and fractured corocoid)
-An American Kestrel (hit by a car but without major injuries)
-The Northern Pygmy Owl (bit by car)
-The Boreal Owl (hit by car)
-Two Saw-Whet Owls (window strike and hit by car)
-Two Red-Tailed Hawks (hit by car and flew into truck cab)

Immature Northern Goshawk with quail lunch - released!!

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  Of course, to make up for the exodus, the Humans have been admitting birds, as well.  Fortunately, the admit-blitz of three weeks ago (admitted eight birds in one week) was followed by a much milder week of only four admits, then just two last week.  In fact, the Critical Care unit is nearly empty at the moment, a first for the year (and a welcome change of pace).

Some interesting species in-house right now, including two Merlins, the small falcons from the north.  One is a small male, and the other a larger female.  They're both in small flight cages so the Humans can assess their flight.  Falcons are like high-performance athletes, and perfect flight is the only option for them to survive in the wild.  Prognosis is guarded on these two at the moment, but the Humans are optimistic.

Merlin - active case

There has also been an influx of American Kestrels getting into odd situations.  For example, one male bird came in covered in sticky goo after running rampant inside an icky warehouse for awhile.  It took some time to de-gunk all his feathers and give him time for a wing injury to heal, but he's making nice progress now.  Another Kestrel, a female, came in with her feet encased in hardened spray-foam, the kind used in house insulation.  The kind people who brought her in have no idea where she got into the stuff as they hadn't been using any on their property.  A mystery, but one with a happy ending as she is doing well with her feet freed.

American Kestrel with feet freed from insulation

In non-active-case news, the Humans and Educational Ambassadors like me have been busy raising money, presenting educational exhibits and programs, and preparing for events.  We've been making a fun circuit of the public libraries all year long, with a different theme education program each month.  The last one for the year didn't include me, but it sounded great:  the topic was winter residents, and the three Educational Ambassadors who attended were the Merlin, the Rough-Legged Hawk, and the Ferruginous Hawk!  Check the RMRP's calendar in January for next year's schedule (the programs are free and very entertaining and educational).

Boreal Owl - released!!

If any of you are friends of the RMRP on Facebook, you'll have noticed the fundraising campaign we were advertising this last week.  The fundraiser was hosted by Colorado Gives, a campaign to increase charitable giving in Colorado (did you know that Colorado is in the top-ten richest states, but in the bottom-five in terms of charitable giving?).  The Colorado Gives project takes one day a year to campaign fiercely to help local non-profits raise money.  This year the RMRP earned $13,000!!  Huge thanks to everyone who helped out with that, either by donating or by asking your friends to support us.  However, that's not the last fundraising campaign of the year for us, as we're considerably behind in donations compared to last year, and taking care of more injured raptors than last year.  In order to get 2013 going, the Humans will be needing more money to feed and care for us birds--details to come!

Volunteer Appreciation Party! 

Oh yeah, the Humans had a party last week to celebrate the work all the volunteers did throughout the year. I wasn't invited, but I'm not partial to salads and peach cobbler anyways.  At any rate, the Staff Humans recognized volunteers who contributed the most hours, attended the most shifts, went on the most bird rescues, attended the most programs and exhibits, and more.  So far this year volunteers have contributed 28,000 hours of work!!  When I say this program wouldn't be here without the volunteers, I mean it.  They are essential and highly valued (not to mention it's fun to scare the pants off the brand new ones with a well-timed flight across the cage).

Now they're all busy preparing for the big shindig this coming Sunday.  It's our annual winter Open House, and there's a whole list of reasons you should attend:

Educational Long-Eared Owl

1. A behind-the-scenes look at our hospital facility, which is generally closed to the public
2. Knowledgeable staff and volunteers on hand to answer all your questions
3. Interesting educational posters and displays to explain what we do and why it's so important
4. Numerous Educational Ambassadors on display, including some of our newer and shier birds that you may have never seen before!
5. Snacks and hot drinks!
6. Access to the amazing gift shop, which is well stocked for your holiday shopping (jewelry, books, stuffed animals, clothing, bookmarks, postcards, stationary, calendars, adopt-a-raptor, and more!)

The Open House will be held at our main facility on Vine Drive from 11:00-3:00 on Sunday December 9th.  Visit here for directions.  Hope to see you there! 

Whew, that was quite the update.  I think I'll sign off for now.  Be sure to check back tomorrow as I will be writing about Burrowing Owls! 

Things to Be Happy About

In recent weeks, things haven't been all dark nights and dead mice at the RMRP.  What, would you prefer the Human phrase "sunshine and roses"?  Okay, things haven't all been sunshine and roses.  Recently many of the birds being admitted to the CCU have been broken beyond repair (multiple fractures, old necrotic wounds, etc).  These birds have been humanely euthanized, and while that's the kindest and most ethical thing to do with those cases, it still hurts to not be able to do anything to help.  In addition to the badly broken birds, the Humans are also admitting many young birds (lots of Swainson's Hawks) suffering from starvation, symptoms consistent with West Nile Virus, and often with traumatic injuries on top of all that.  While these cases are extremely labor-intensive, there is a reasonable chance of fixing and releasing them, and the Humans give care wherever there is hope!  Still, it's tiring and difficult work, so with an influx of such heartbreaking cases, I've decided to help keep spirits high by listing off six wonderful things that have happened in just the past couple of days! 

1.  This immature Kestrel is a probable West Nile Virus case (awaiting blood test confirmation).  He was so neurologically impaired that for his first couple weeks at the RMRP he couldn't stand on his own, and he didn't have the beak-eye coordination to eat on his own.  Now look at him!  Not only is he eating on his own and standing upright, but he can stand on one foot.  He still has a ways to go, but it's great to see him improving!

2.  The Humans released nine Swainson's Hawks into a kettle a couple days ago!  Every Swainson's Hawk that can be released into a migrating kettle is one less bird that has to be overwintered at the RMRP.  Fewer beaks to feed, less dollars spent, and, most importantly, more birds getting their second chance at freedom (and a trip to Argentina).

No, your screen is not dirty: those little black dots are all Swainson's Hawks

3.  This Cooper's Hawk grew up and was released today!

4.  A rehabbed Peregrine Falcon is flying like a champ, and is on track for release after finishing up a molt!

5.  A Common Barn Owl that was probably hit by a car tried to toe-dust yesterday.  Toe-dusting is something that Barn Owls do to scare away predators and other threats.  This bird suffered massive trauma and is being treated for her pain.  The fact that she was feeling well enough to try to be scary is great news!  The video below (not the RMRP's) will show you what toe-dusting is.

6. A Red-Tailed Hawk that was admitted with a fractured clavical was moved to a larger cage after time in the CCU, and quickly demonstrated that he can fly very well, thank you very much.  It's always nice to see a broken bone heal nicely! 

That's all I've got off the top of my head.  Not bad considering all that happened in the past three days.  Through good times and bad, the Humans at the RMRP will keep on taking care of every single raptor that comes across their threshold, and will keep on churning out success stories like these.  Thank you for your support!

Also, don't forget, the Open House is this Saturday from 11:00-3:00 at the main facility on Vine Drive!  Click the link for details and directions.  This facility closed to the public except on Open House days, so come on over for a chance to see what happens here behind the scenes.  There will be educational exhibits, lots of people to explain the ins-and-outs of the facility, and plenty of educational ambassadors on display.  Oh, and there will be snacks!  Hope to see you there!

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!