Sad News on Bald Eagle #005, Bald Eagle Hit by Car and Lead Poisoning Admitted, Red-tailed Hawk Juliet Ill



R.I.P. Sweet #005

We start with sad news. Our beautiful female Bald Eagle #005 succumbed this morning to multi-organ failure due to toxicity. We will have a necropsy to make certain lead was the only toxin involved in her case.

#005 was an amazing gentle eagle. She had many years under her wings over the farm in Polar, WI.  Her family and those of the landowners grew up knowing each other. She will be missed.

Each time we lose an eagle to lead poisoning I promise we will work harder still to educate the public. I would appreciate if each reader of our blog would do so as well.  We hate to lose them.  We tried our best, but it is always difficult.



An adult male Bald Eagle was admitted from Marathon, WI  
He was likely hit by a car...and suffers from lead poisoning.



About 6:30 p.m. this evening we admitted another adult Bald Eagle, #008, from Marathon, WI.  He was likely hit by a car.  In wild patients, unless someone sees an accident occur, we have to piece the history together from clues. Sometimes we feel like detectives.  #008 was first spotted near a busy country road.  He has internal bleeding, a left wing fracture and ...you guessed it, lead poisoning.  When a bird, or a human for that matter, has lead poisoning, they are disoriented.  Judgment and depth perception is affected.  Because of this, they suffer from accidents at an increased rate, such as being hit by cars. We are grateful his level of lead is high, but not over the limit as our last two eagles were. We will wait at least until he stabilizes before beginning the CaEDTA treatment. Internal bleeding all by itself is a very serious situation. The wing fracture is the radius but the ulna is intact. If he has to have a wing fracture, that is a good one to have. It is the least of his problems.




REGI's Steve Fisher rescued #008 during a harrowing adventure through snow and challenging terrain.

 

Thanks to the landowner that spotted the eagle and called the Marathon County Sheriffs Department who alerted us to the eagle in trouble. Long time volunteer Steve Fisher, took the call to rescue this eagle. Getting to the site before dark and then tracking the eagle through deep snow and challenging terrain was an experience right out of the movies.



Juliet our 23 yr old education Red-tailed Hawk in a photo tonight.

 Our 23 yr old education Red-tailed Hawk Juliet became ill 2 nights ago. Our Juliet is a California girl. She came to us when she was just 18 months old from San Dimas, CA. She has educated hundreds of thousands of people over these many years and is a part of the REGI family in the most real sense. We hope she can continue to do so. It is amazing when children run up to us as events and are eager to tell that their parents saw Julie when they were in school. Please hold her in your thoughts this week.

We have many school education programs this week as well. With the help of some great volunteers from Madison, we are working on a new web site. All of our other patients continue to improve! Yea!

Tomorrow is the 31st! I might not get to a blog, as I have to finish those tedious end of year reports. Color me crabby. In addition, as if it were scripted, my computer crashed on Sunday. I am grateful for all of our terrific friends and supporters that have been so amazing! Thank you all.

Have a wonderful tomorrow everyone,

Marge Gibson

Update on Lead Poisoned Bald Eagles, American Kestrel Admitted



#005 today. Note the green colored mutes on the blanket behind her ( rt)  That green color is a signature color of a lead poisoned bird.



It was a quieter day today. Knowing what you have in the clinic is somehow easier than being surprised by critical cases. It was refreshing to find the Downy Woodpecker doing so well he was able to be in the outside aviary.  The American Goldfinch was singing today even as he recovers from his cat caused injuries.  His happy song put some perspective on the day.

The male #007 is doing better. He is not longer hypersensitive to stimulus, his seizures have stopped. He was given his injections today sub-Q in the chest to try to save the legs for future days. The injections of Ca -EDTA is destructive to body tissue, so we are careful to alternate sites. Both eagles need 2 a day for the first four days and then four days off. The time off is so the blood can circulate through the bones, where lead is stored, to integrate it into the blood again. Lead is chelated from the blood and that is how it works. It is an arduous process at best.
#007 even ate some muskrat today on his own. That was a surprise, but we tube fed him anyhow as he remains dehydrated. His lead level is still sky high so many things can still go wrong within the next few weeks. Lead poisoning can cause multi-organ failure and often does. We have learned to take the good with the bad and are cautiously optimistic for #007 while being vigilant for signs of problems.

The female #005 did not have a good day. She has developed cardiac failure. We worked hard with her today, hoping against hope that we can correct the heart issue. That can and has happened in past cases, but it is discouraging.  With cardiac failure, fluid builds around the heart.  We treat for that problem as if it were a separate illness. We have had excellent results with that process in many cases that were thought to be hopeless. She is such a stunning eagle and a great gentle soul. She needs some positive energy tonight.



#007 with Katie, Albert and Stacy after a blood test.




We admitted an American Kestrel with starvation today. The weather can be an issue for birds that have remained in the northwoods during the winter season. This winter has been a gentle one at least for us in WI. Several species have remained further north than normal. Cold snaps catch then unaware and causes nasty surprises. I think our new patient will be fine with a little food and a warm place to finish out the winter.

We had lots of calls today most with questions about wildlife in their woods. A sweet elderly lady found a Chukar by her bird feeder. We don't have Chukar here in WI except those that have escaped from game farms.  We sent a volunteer to see if he could give her a hand catching up the little guy. 

No news on any of the eagles reported in past days with trouble. We have a fresh snow today and wind so maybe tomorrow will be a better day to find them. Lets keep our hopes up they are found in time.

I continue with the end of year reports.  They are due on January 31st.  After that I will be able to hold a normal conversation.  Paperwork is my least favorite part of this work and yet there is lots of it. :(

Have a wonderful tomorrow everyone.

Marge Gibson











Two Newly Admitted Adult Bald Eagles With Lead Poisoning



                                                                                       

      Katie holds the female #005 before afternoon treatments 1-27

It has been a long few days and nights here at Raptor Education Group, Inc (REGI).  Two adult Bald Eagles BOTH with lead poisoning were admitted.  Sadly BOTH eagles have blood lead levels of lead read out on the analyzer as" too high to calibrate".   These days we at REGI are not detered by that finding. There is no question it will be a fight for their lives, time consuming and expensive, but we hope to be able to recover the eagles or at least give them the best possible chance we can. 

The female eagle has a beautiful story as many of our patients do.  She was captured on a beaver dam after dark by two caring gentlemen.  The men ended up in the water in the recover process in below zero temperatures.  We don't suggest that kind of heroism, but when it occurs and everyone is OK, we are grateful.

It turns out the female eagle is one of the local eagles that has lived on the family farm for many years.  One of the men involved has since moved to another city for a career, but was home visting when they spotted the eagle not flying and acting oddly on the beaver dam.  As I worked on the eagle in the clinic, he recounted beautiful stories of the times he watched this same eagle with this grandfather through the years. Now to have her in his arms was a sad turn.  We hope we can get her back home again to breed once again on her territory and the land her rescuer grew up on. 





I draw blood on the female #005 when she is admitted while Don holds her.



Neither of the eagles just admitted will have an easy recovery. While found in different areas of the state, their cases are so oddly identical from a clinically perspective, I can talk about them almost as one.

Both eagles have neurologic symptoms. That means they still have siezures and other difficult symptoms.  When that happens I stay with them often holding them during siezures so they don't injure themselves. Sedating birds is not a good option as they have small but efficent lungs. When sedated, their breathing is shallow and the chance for pneumonia is great.  Since that is NOT what we want, we pull out all the stops to make sure they are safe even when it means I am up all night with them.  That is not unusal as a matter of fact and will be the norm for the next few days at least.



The female shows neurological symptoms and is disoriented. 



People often ask how we can do this work as it is gut wrenching watching these magnificent eagles endure the wrath of lead poisoning.  I am not ever sure how to answer because there is no good option. Lead poisoning is human caused.  I firmly feel it is a human responsibilty to help them in everyway we can.  

Our great joy comes the day they leave our arms as they are released to the wild.   There will be many long days and nights and months of rehabilaition including reconditioning on the other side of this critical care time, but it is the reality of what lead poisoning is. Until we do something about it... the birds suffer and we help them recover if possible.






Don holds the male Bald Eagle #007 after admission



The male Bald Eagle came from Park Falls, WI. The sad thing about his case is he was one of three eagles eating from the same carcass when they were found.  He was the only eagle that was able to be captured. That means two more are out there from the same feeding area that are likely dying as I write this blog.  Wisconsin has many remote areas in our northland.  This eagle is from one of those places where few people will come across eagles in trouble. 

I have calls out to volunteers in that area. With a new snow fall tonight it is possible they will be able to use snowmobiles to do a better search of the area and hopefully find them soon. 
We also have a report of an eagle down near Medford, WI. The DNR was unable to locate it tonight before dark. If anyone that is reading this blog knows of its location pleaes give us a call.

Don't worry I am not choking him :)) #007 is given a tube feeding of liquid food as his digestive system as well as other organs are failing.. 

The male eagle #007 weighs a little over 6 lbs.  He should weigh 9-10 lbs.  Lead poisoned bird are usually present with starvation as their digestive system shuts down due to the lead toxicity.

It is 3:15 in the morning and I have one more check of the eagles before I sleep.  Please keep our eagles in your thoughts as they struggle with this horror that is lead poisoning.

Until later,

Marge







Eagle Releases at Sauk Prairie's Bald Eagle Watching Days!

Hello everyone! What an exciting day we had today! We were invited to the 25th Annual Sauk Prairie Bald Eagle Watching Days where REGI's Executive Director, Marge Gibson, was able to release 3 Bald Eagles in front of a crowd of several hundred eagle lovers. It was wonderful to see that so many people came out to celebrate these special moments with us!

There were so many wonderful things to do at the Bald Eagle Watching Days; it was a great day for everyone who attended!

Photo above: You couldn't ask for a more beautiful location to release these gorgeous birds. All along this stretch of the Wisconsin River we could watch other eagles fishing and gracefully flying overhead. There were plenty of gulls and ducks for birdwatchers to gander at while the eagles were taking breaks from fishing. It was wonderful watching the resident eagles knowing that soon the eagles that were rehabilitated at REGI would soon be joining them in the wild once again.

Photo above: Marge gives the crowd of several hundred people a look at this magnificent Bald Eagle before he flies back to the wild where he belongs. Marge joked that as we were all watching this eagle in awe, the eagle was likely doing the same to us! Not many eagles see such a large gathering of people as these eagle saw today.

Photo above: Marge and the eagle take a moment to prepare for the release. Hopefully as she leaves Marge's hands it is the last time she will ever be touched by a human again.

Photo above: At this very moment, the only thing I could hear was the sound of several hundred people gasping. It is a wonderful sound which goes perfectly with the majesty of a flying eagle.

Photos above: There she goes! It must be an amazing feeling for her to be back in the wild where she belongs. We wish her the best, and we hope she never has to come back to us!

Photo above: A Native American Blessing is given to each of the Bald Eagles just moments before they are released. What an honor. This is a juvenile Bald Eagle who was admitted during the summer of 2011 as an orphaned eaglet after tornados ripped through the state. She and 21 other eaglets were raised by one very dedicated and patient foster father eagle. Although she is fully grown, she will not get her white head and tail until she is about 5 years old. This eaglet has had lots of practice flying in the huge flight building here at REGI, but she is about to take her first flight in the wild!

Video above: Click above to see the juvenile Bald Eagle as she takes her very first flight in the wild!

Video above: Click above to watch the video of the third Bald Eagle flying to freedom. This eagle was admitted in 2011 after being hit by a truck. He sustained a wing injury which has healed perfectly. He is now back in the wild!

A special thank you to each of the rehabilitators here at REGI for providing these birds with the best care possible. Months of dedication are required for each patient and these fine people would be the first to tell you that it is so worth it! A thank you goes out to rehabilitator, Alberta Halfmann, who stayed back at REGI to care for all of our current patients and resident birds. She held down the fort so the rest of us could participate in this wonderful event! We also send a thank you to our wonderful volunteers, Denny Stenstrom, for building wooden transport boxes for this event in record time; and Douglas Dittel, Adam Evans, Kristi Mohr, Steve and Evie Fisher, Greg and Marlene Toon, Megan Ackley and her family, and everyone else I've forgotten to mention for helping with handing out information at this event.

Thank you to everyone who supported us this past year. Each and every one of you helps to make releases like this possible and we truly couldn't do it without you!

I'm going to try to come down off of "cloud 9" after this wonderful day! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Karissa Mohr

Wildlife Educator

Wrapping up 2011, New Years Patients, Eagle Releases, and More!

Can you believe that 2012 is here already?! 2011was a busy year for REGI. We treated literally hundreds of patients, 76 of those were Bald Eagles, and 22 of those eagles were babies!

One of the highlights of the year was the successful rehabilitation and release of 7 poisoned eagles. It was a first for REGI and the world, as there are no records of any bird surviving this kind of toxin. It is normally 100% fatal! Imagine our joy to see them pull through this. Some of you may have been here with us to see them fly free. You can read what Fish & Wildlife Service had to say about this momentous occasion on their website.

Photo above: Katie Farvour releases one of the 7 Bald Eagles on June 1, 2011 (Photo: Karissa Mohr)

We have another big release coming soon! Saturday, January 14, we will be releasing Bald Eagles at Eagle Days in Prairie du Sac, WI. Prairie du Sac is prime eagle watching territory along the Wisconsin River. Hundreds of eagles gather there to take advantage of open water. This is a perfect opportunity to release juveniles, as the adults are there to guide them through their entrance to the wild world. We have about 30 eagles, juvenile and adult, who are destined for release at different times over the next month! Eagle Days is a public event, with releases by Marge and many activities for families. We hope you will all join us!

Photo above: Marge Gibson introducing the public to one of the eagles that was about to be released at an Eagle Days event.

We received so much support from all of you through the year! We ended the year with a very special Christmas surprise, Lori Schubring, from Wild Birds Unlimited in Wausau, brought us a truckload of donations which we talked about in our last blog. Well, Lori has amazed again, and started off the New Year with a bang! After hearing our plea for someone to transport a donation of mice, rats, and quail from Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee she conspired with her brother, Brian Thiede who lives in Richfield, to bring them to us! This morning they showed up with an entire truckload of food for the birds!

Thank you Lori and Brian, for the time, miles, and commitment to getting us the food we need! Marge and I were talking this morning about what a rare gift it is to have someone like Lori in our lives. When working in rehabilitation you see the very best, and the very worst of people. It is easy to become jaded. But people like Lori remind us that there are good people out there, she truly is one of the best.

Photo above: Lori and Brian work along with Katie and Stacie to unload the truck. (Not only did they deliver, but they helped with the unloading too!)

Photo above: Our newest education bird in training, Lou, enjoys a delicious mouse shortly after our big delivery came in. Yum!

Things in the clinic just don't seem to be slowing down. While the many eagle patients have moved up to larger enclosures or flight spaces we still have smaller patients in need of care. We have patients from the very end of 2011 in the clinic, and our 1st patient of 2012 has arrived.

Photo above: This little Downy Woodpecker is the first patient of 2012.

He came in just after the start of the year from Portage County. Found on the ground, and not flying his rescuers brought him in to the Humane Society. While humane societies don't typically deal with wildlife this little woodpecker was lucky enough to be brought to one that is aware of our facility. They called us right away! Downy Woodpeckers are tiny little things, only 5-6 inches in length, and look very similar to Hairy Woodpeckers. The easiest way to differentiate is to look at the beak. The beak of a Downy is about half the length of their head, and the Hairy's beak is about equal in length to their head.

Photo above: A beautiful Great-Horned Owl patient well on his way to recovery.

This large and lovely owl was found trapped in a fence in the Wausau area. He was found near the ground with his feathers tangled in the chain-link. It looks as though he got a bit too close to the fence while hunting, you could see tracks of a little rodent right in his path. Fortunately we found someone to untangle his feathers and bring him in for examination. He injured his wing slightly during his struggle, but the injury appears to be superficial, and he is on the road to release already. We have 2 Great Horned Owls in the clinic right now. If you are spending time in the woods this winter keep your ears open. Great Horned Owls are the earliest nesters, and you can begin to hear them calling for their mate starting in late January!

2012 is off to a great start! We hope to see you soon.

Molly McKay

Director of Education

Wrapping up 2011, New Years Patients, Eagle Releases, and More!

Can you believe that 2012 is here already?! 2011was a busy year for REGI. We treated literally hundreds of patients, 76 of those were Bald Eagles, and 22 of those eagles were babies!

One of the highlights of the year was the successful rehabilitation and release of 7 poisoned eagles. It was a first for REGI and the world, as there are no records of any bird surviving this kind of toxin. It is normally 100% fatal! Imagine our joy to see them pull through this. Some of you may have been here with us to see them fly free. You can read what Fish & Wildlife Service had to say about this momentous occasion on their website.

Photo above: Katie Farvour releases one of the 7 Bald Eagles on June 1, 2011 (Photo: Karissa Mohr)

We have another big release coming soon! Saturday, January 14, we will be releasing Bald Eagles at Eagle Days in Prairie du Sac, WI. Prairie du Sac is prime eagle watching territory along the Wisconsin River. Hundreds of eagles gather there to take advantage of open water. This is a perfect opportunity to release juveniles, as the adults are there to guide them through their entrance to the wild world. We have about 30 eagles, juvenile and adult, who are destined for release at different times over the next month! Eagle Days is a public event, with releases by Marge and many activities for families. We hope you will all join us!

Photo above: Marge Gibson introducing the public to one of the eagles that was about to be released at an Eagle Days event.

We received so much support from all of you through the year! We ended the year with a very special Christmas surprise, Lori Schubring, from Wild Birds Unlimited in Wausau, brought us a truckload of donations which we talked about in our last blog. Well, Lori has amazed again, and started off the New Year with a bang! After hearing our plea for someone to transport a donation of mice, rats, and quail from Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee she conspired with her brother, Brian Thiede who lives in Richfield, to bring them to us! This morning they showed up with an entire truckload of food for the birds!

Thank you Lori and Brian, for the time, miles, and commitment to getting us the food we need! Marge and I were talking this morning about what a rare gift it is to have someone like Lori in our lives. When working in rehabilitation you see the very best, and the very worst of people. It is easy to become jaded. But people like Lori remind us that there are good people out there, she truly is one of the best.

Photo above: Lori and Brian work along with Katie and Stacie to unload the truck. (Not only did they deliver, but they helped with the unloading too!)

Photo above: Our newest education bird in training, Lou, enjoys a delicious mouse shortly after our big delivery came in. Yum!

Things in the clinic just don't seem to be slowing down. While the many eagle patients have moved up to larger enclosures or flight spaces we still have smaller patients in need of care. We have patients from the very end of 2011 in the clinic, and our 1st patient of 2012 has arrived.

Photo above: This little Downy Woodpecker is the first patient of 2012.

He came in just after the start of the year from Portage County. Found on the ground, and not flying his rescuers brought him in to the Humane Society. While humane societies don't typically deal with wildlife this little woodpecker was lucky enough to be brought to one that is aware of our facility. They called us right away! Downy Woodpeckers are tiny little things, only 5-6 inches in length, and look very similar to Hairy Woodpeckers. The easiest way to differentiate is to look at the beak. The beak of a Downy is about half the length of their head, and the Hairy's beak is about equal in length to their head.

Photo above: A beautiful Great-Horned Owl patient well on his way to recovery.

This large and lovely owl was found trapped in a fence in the Wausau area. He was found near the ground with his feathers tangled in the chain-link. It looks as though he got a bit too close to the fence while hunting, you could see tracks of a little rodent right in his path. Fortunately we found someone to untangle his feathers and bring him in for examination. He injured his wing slightly during his struggle, but the injury appears to be superficial, and he is on the road to release already. We have 2 Great Horned Owls in the clinic right now. If you are spending time in the woods this winter keep your ears open. Great Horned Owls are the earliest nesters, and you can begin to hear them calling for their mate starting in late January!

2012 is off to a great start! We hope to see you soon.

Molly McKay

Director of Education