Fall Has Arrived: A REGI Patient Update

Fall seems to have arrived here at REGI.  The air has cooled and the leaves have started to blaze.  Our resident turkey vulture population has doubled in size as they begin preparations for migration.  Our clinic is still full, but not with the chirp of babies waiting to be fed.  We are awaiting the arrival of our fall interns next week; you will get to meet them soon.  These interns will have a different experience then our summer interns, without all of the baby care, but it will be equally important.  This is the first year that we will have fall interns thanks to the generous bunkhouse donation from Wausau Homes.

One of our resident vultures rides the thermals on a beautiful fall afternoon.

The bright reds and oranges make for a beautiful backdrop here at REGI.

Last week we had a very special tribute on 9/11.  We were able to release a bald eagle patient that had suffered botulism poisoning earlier in the summer.  It was an amazing moment.  Seeing her open her wings and soar was such a symbolic moment on such a somber day.

Marge Gibson (center) poses before the release with daughter (left) and friend.

We have a wide range of patients in care, some of them new patients or some just about to be released.  We anticipate that next week will be full of releases.  We have many robins ready to make a big migration along with other birds.

A beautiful sora perches in the aviary while awaiting release.  Look at the size of those feet!  They are designed for wading through the marsh.

Sora are little marsh birds that are more often heard than seen.  They have a distinct descending trill.  Their bright yellow beak is another characteristic that stands out.  This little bird was found near a marsh with a hanging wing.  His wing healed quickly and well allowing for release as soon as the weather improves.

The wing of an Eastern bluebird with severely singed feathers.

This beautiful male Eastern bluebird was found in a dog park which happens to be on the site of an old landfill.  He has obviously burned feathers and the most likely scenario is that it flew over a methane flare and was burnt.  While he will be unable to fly until he grows new feathers in he is in good health, eats well, and behaves normally.

An osprey prepares for a feeding.

This beautiful osprey was found on the ground with a severe injury on the inside of his left wing.  He will have a long road to recovery, but we are hopeful that this injury will heal.  If only the birds could tell us what happened to them!

Great-horned owl that was caught in a trap and severely injured his foot.

If you have been following our blogs for the past few years you may remember seeing quite a few patients with severe foot/toe injuries from traps.  REGI is a big supporter of trapping done well.  Each year we get 1000's of muskrats for our birds from trappers; it keeps them fed through the winter.  But trapping done poorly is the cause of many injuries each year.  We will work our hardest to save this birds toes.

I am certain that we will have many release pictures to share with you soon!  Until then, enjoy your weekend.

Molly McKay
Director of Education

Bald Eagle Caught in "Wolf Cam" is a REGI KID!

( Photo: From a video put out to get photos of wolves, came this surprise! # 76-76-76 was a patient at REGI in 2002.)

A few days ago I received an email from DNR biologists Ron Eckstein and Pat Manthey. They had received some photos of a banded Bald Eagle. I band the Bald Eagles released after recovery at REGI, so they included me in a thread of several other folks to identify the leg band. Tim Wilder, serving the military at Fort McCoy, WI sent the following note to the DNR along with several photos of the eagle from his video cam.

"I thought I would let you know that I got photos of a banded bald eagle.

For several years I have been getting wolf photos using a trail camera baited with road-killed deer. Though I normally get a good number of wolf photos – I get hundreds of eagle photos. The other day I got numerous photos of an eagle with bands on each leg. The band on its right leg has the numbers 676 visible in some of the photos – assume that is not all of the numbers.

Anyway – thought I would let you know but assume there is no way to track down who would have done the banding and where the bird was banded."

Happily, Tim could not be further from the truth. The USFWS is very careful about following all banded or marked birds. Records are kept at the Bird Banding Lab in Laurel, Maryland. If you find a banded bird you can call and report the band number. You will be notified as to when and where the bird was banded and even who banded it. This is true for all kinds of birds from tiny finches to and through Trumpeter Swans and Bald Eagles. We are so lucky that our former patient was identified.



( Photo: "Hey, I think I might be on camera!")

I wish the photo quality was a bit better in the blog, but trust me the original were terrific and the band was very clearly a black band with white letters with the numbers 76-76-76 on the right leg. I was elated. The Band Permit Holder is Sergej Postupalsky of Madison and the eagle was banded by Joe Papp, an Eagle Biologist that worked in the Upper Peninsula of MI for many years. Sergej shared the following from his field notes:

This bird has an interesting history: Notes received from Marge at the time indicate that she had received it on 5/26/02 as a 4-week old nestling from “Hwy D Plainfield, WI.” For history she said: “Nest down, erected new nest,but parents gone. No response ” The eaglet was taken to Raptor Education Group, Inc in Antigo and put with a foster parent Bald Eagle to recover from injured suffered in the fall and until a wild nest could be located for fostering. Eaglet was fostered into a nest containing a single eaglet of matching size at Cisco Lake (Go 03), Gogebic County, Michigan, on 6/05/02.

( Photo: Guess who? Eaglet, no known as 76-76-76 when admitted to REGI was cold and wet having come down in a driving rain storm that downed trees in Wood County. She was dumped a river and nearly drown. A resident of the area rescued her and got her to REGI. )

We are always thrilled to receive information on former patients. This was a special day to find that this tiny eaglet survived her injuries but, was raised well at REGI by a foster parent Bald Eagle ( Miriam) and was not imprinted to humans during her stay at REGI. The wild eagles that were given an extra "bonus" chick cared for her well and now some eight years later she is alive, well and very beautiful.

Thanks to Tim, Ron, Pat and Sergij for sharing the information with us.

Go 76-76-76 and we hope you live many more years and continue to do well in the wild where is exactly where we want you to stay!

Have a great day everyone.

Marge Gibson © 2010