I am truly sorry that it has been so long since we have had time to blog, but REGI has been a whirlwind that past month. We currently have close to 300 patients in care! And 34 of those birds are Bald Eagles. Whew. It is exhausting to think about. With all of these patients comes a great need for food! If you like to fish we could use your assistance in feeding our patients!
We are also busy preparing for our 2nd annual Wings Over Wausau fundraiser at the Grand Theater this Saturday, August 13. Maybe some of you attended last year. We are expecting this one to be even better! But need your help to make it happen. We can use volunteers and, of course, we need attendees!
If you are having a hard time reading the poster above you can find out more detailed information on our events page at the REGI website.
Our interns have already begun to wrap up their summers and Katherine is the only one remaining. We could use some helping hands around here, so if you have any free time we would love to help you make use of it!
You can call Molly or Karissa at:
(715)623-2563
or email at:
MollyM.REGI@gmail.com
Karissa.REGI@gmail.com
Photo above: (Left to right) volunteer Stacie Wild, intern Libby Pearson and intern Katherine Tesch release a Mallard that was admitted as an orphaned patient earlier this summer.
Can you believe that it is already time to release some of the orphans that we have spent the summer caring for? Now, it is certainly not time to release all of them. As a matter of fact we are still admitting orphans, and some of them just take a much longer time to mature enough to be released. Let me update you on just a few of the birds that you met in blogs earlier this summer and introduce you to a couple of our new patients.
Do you recognize this young Ruffed Grouse (photo above) from our June 22, 2011 blog? He sure has come a long way in the last month and a half. Here he is pictured perching on a branch in a natural enclosure, snacking on some honeysuckle fruits, which he would be likely to find in the wild.
It may be surprising to see the size of this young Sandhill Crane colt (photos above). Just one month ago he was pictured taking a walk with intern Katherine Tesch. Now he has grown many times in size and has begun to get his grey adult plumage. This little crane is entering his adolescent stage already. He spends more time running and stretching his wings and, like many adolescents, he is beginning to assert his independence. When a colt is just a young thing it will follow any tall being with 2 legs, as they get older they explore more and want to go their own way.
Another bird from our June 22 blog is the Trumpeter Swan cygnet. He is well on his way to becoming one of the largest flying birds in North America. Trumpeter Swans can reach 27 lbs. in adulthood and have a wingspan up to 6.5 ft.! Juvenile Trumpeters have grey plumage, which will slowly turn to the beautiful white you may recognize them by.
One of our newest patients has a sad story to tell. This Common Loon chick (above) sustained a serious leg injury over the weekend when he had a collision with a jet ski. Please remember that the lakes that we all love to recreate on have wildlife who make their homes there. The beautiful and majestic loon is part of what makes the Northwoods such a special place to be. They are very sensitive to our actions. This is the second young loon that we have seen this summer who has been injured by jet skiers. Be aware of the wildlife around you and make your children aware of it as well. If you see a loon out on the lake give it a large buffer zone.
The last patients I would like to introduce you to today are these orphaned Red-bellied Woodpeckers (above). Red-bellied Woodpeckers get their names from the pinkish red plumage on their bellies, but what often stands out is the bright red coloration on their napes, in females, and foreheads and napes, in males. These juveniles have not acquired the bright red feathers yet, but it won't be long!
We hope you are all having a great summer!
Molly McKay
Director of Education
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment