Busy Earth Day, More Releases and New Patients Admitted, Volunteer

( Photo: This male Northern Cardinal was released on Thursday. He suffered a wing fracture in late winter. )



( Photo: THIS is why we wear gloves when handling Cardinals, Blue Jays and some other strong-beaked birds. They use that beak so effectively and not only for cracking open sunflower seeds. :) )

Earth Day was one busy day! Education Coordinator Molly McKay was up super early to be at the Port Edwards High School for an Earth Day Festival. What a great job the high school students did putting it together. Molly will write about it early next week. We are hoping to get some photos from the school as we forgot our camera.

I did an interview on Wisconsin Public Radio with host Glenn Moberg on the WPR program "Hwy 51". At the same time Education Director Steve Fisher was at WSAU Channel 7 doing an interview for Earth Day and for the Sunday morning show with our wonderful education partner, Malcolm, our Barred Owl. It was so good to hear about the great things happening in the world and hope even more are to come.



( Photo: Catching a well-conditioned passerine in the flight aviary is not easy task. At the end, everybody is exhausted including the staff. Here Alberta finally snags the Northern Cardinal. )



( The Northern Cardinal could not wait to get out of Katie's grasp. He headed for the woods and off to the rest of his life. He had such a severe wing fracture when admitted we were not sure he would heal, but he did and is now living proof rehab works!)



(Photo: Alberta releases an American Coot that spent most of the winter with us at REGI. It could not believe its good fortune to finally have a lake to call its own.)



( Photo: The American Coot quickly found cover from which it could survey the lake. We found it hiding in some cattails. It is well camouflaged. Can you see it in the middle of the photo?)

Yesterday we admitted another American Coot seemingly to replace the patient we released. That is the way it goes here at REGI. One patient sent out the door and two more admitted. The coot admitted yesterday has lead poisoning and will be with us for awhile as the lead is chelated from its blood.

Volunteer Dave Koch spend two days working and repairing caging at REGI. Our caging is getting older now and the harsh winters take a greater toll every year. Volunteers who help with construction and repair are vital to our work. Dave has worked several days every spring to help us, and we are so grateful to him for his time and to his wife for sharing him. :)



( Photo: Dave Koch, "volunteer extraordinaire" spent two days at REGI doing repairs to caging. Thank you, Dave! )

We hope to get some rain to fill our lakes here in the northland. Our area is all about lakes and many of ours are either very low or nearly empty. It is very hard to comprehend.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Marge Gibson © 2010

Updates on Eagles, Vulture and Coot

It was a tough day yesterday. The adult trapped Bald Eagle had a serious crash. He developed pneumonia. By noon I thought we would lose him.



( Photo: My grandson feeding the male Bald Eagle small pieces of meat. A gentle bird, this Bald Eagle just seems to look at us and wonder "Why"? )

Our veterinarians came through with an injectable form of a different antibiotic. Within a few hours the eagle looked better. Pneumonia is a very difficult illness in birds due to their tiny but very efficient lungs. Lungs are one area where birds are very different than mammals. Keep us in your thoughts that he can pull out of this.

We have been told that they found a name and address on the trap and therefore it was a legal set. We get trapped eagles in every year. It is not an easy thing on any level. I am not anti-sportsmen, but I do not think it is fair that we foot the bill and care for these magnificent eagles that were simply fishing in the wrong place. Trapping is less a sport than a business. My private frustration is there seems to be no sense of responsibility in these cases. It seems to be more a sense of someones "right" to do it. In all the years I have done this, I have only had one trapper horrified at having caught a "non-target" species. He cared, I wish they all did. Forgive my grumbling but I think it is valid in this case.



( Photo: The young Bald Eagle admitted with the wing fracture voices her opinion.)

On the other side of things the young Bald Eagle with the wing fracture is doing well. Her sassy personality is good for us especially with the sad case next to her. Her DNA needs to be out there for the future.

I picked up a young Turkey Vulture with a wing fracture and an American Coot that has been hit by a car at the same stop yesterday. The Turkey Vulture was transported by DNR Biologist Chris Cold from Ladysmith area. Chris is an amazing person, great biologist, educator and all around great guy. I wish we could clone him.

The Turkey Vulture was found wing an injured wing at least ten days after the other vultures migrated from the area. The little guy was scared! I put him in with my adult foster parent Turkey Vulture when we got back to REGI. The little guy could not believe his eyes! The adult actually fed him within minutes of meeting him for the first time. He reverted to babyhood and gladly accepted being treated like a fledgling. The other young Turkey Vulture admitted last week is also doing well in the company of our foster parents. What a difference those adults make for the frightened babes. We could learn so much about parenting from birds. They do not have to be their biologic young for them to care for and protect them.


( Photo: Turkey Vulture foster mom (on stump) helps the young vultures feel comfortable after the trauma of having been first injured and then left alone when their biologic parents had to migrate south. REGI is filled with amazing stories like this. )


We admitted a young American Coot that had been hit by a car. This guy is so young we have to wonder what his folks were thinking when they had such a late brood! The staff loves him! Within an hour he was happily eating and swimming. He has an injured leg, but everything else seems to be working.



( Photo: This American Coot was hit by a car. )



( Photo: American Coot swims in the clinic tub. )

Today will busy. We are releasing a Great-horned Owl in the Wausau area at 6:00 pm if anyone is interested in seeing the release give us a call for the location. This is a young bird that was raised at REGI by foster parents. She is SOOO Beautiful. Photos will be on the blog tomorrow!

Have a good day and keep us in your thoughts.
Marge Gibson © 2009