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

A Thank You From the Birds!

We have had a really great response from everyone regarding food donations. We truly cannot thank you enough. Please keep the fish and other donations coming. On terribly cold days like today, wildlife needs more food than usual to generate enough body heat to keep themselves warm.

Here's another donation idea for you. Are you a trapper or do you know anyone who is? Well, do we have a deal for you! You keep the pelts and we'll take the carcass! Easy as pie. Give us a call if you'd like to donate! Education office: (715) 623-2563; Rehab clinic: (715) 623-4015.

Photo: It may seem strange, but those are frozen muskrats being loaded into the back of that pickup truck. The muskrats came from a trapper in Wisconsin and we are very grateful for these donations. Muskrats are very nutritious and a natural food source for our raptors. Since this photo was taken, only a week ago, most of these muskrats have already been eaten. We could definitely use more! (Photo credit: Alberta Halfmann)

Photo above: What's on the menu today? Delicious donated suckers!

Photo above: Denali, one of the resident Bald Eagles is very happy with her selection of sucker fish. She says, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Photo above: There is nothing like fresh fish on a cold winter day to make an eagle happy.

On another (slightly related) topic, this -19 degree weather has me thinking about our amazing feathered friends. In weather like this it is fascinating how birds manage to even stay alive, not to mention thrive. How do they manage to escape frostbite? The truth is that many birds do get frostbite, especially domesticated birds that may not have evolved in the climate, such as chickens and pigeons, but native species have adaptations that help them avoid it.

All birds have feathers; some designed for flying, and others for warmth. If you have ever worn a down jacket you know what I mean; feathers are warm! These feathers can be puffed out to create air spaces that hold heat. To keep their feet warm they can take turns tucking each foot into their warm belly feathers or squat down and cover both at once. Birds also have body temperatures that are naturally much higher than that of a human. With a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit you would take your child to the doctor, but birds are very well at this body temperature.

Some birds, like gulls, have special veins in their legs that transfer heat through a system called countercurrent exchange. As warm blood comes from the body down to their legs, it passes some of its heat to the cold blood returning from the feet. This helps to keep their body warm by not sending super cold blood from the feet into the body.

When birds are compromised or injured in some way, winter can be a very dangerous time. Not being able to get to food or stay warm can result in further injury or death.

Photo above: The feet of a Trumpeter Swan that arrived at REGI with frostbitten feet. Due to a wing injury, this swan was unable to get herself off of the ground or regulate body temperature. The frostbite killed the delicate webbing between the toes causing it to dry up and fall off. Swans can survive with damaged webbing, and this one is quite lucky someone found her and brought her to safety before more damage was done.

If you want to help out your local birds you can make sure your feeders are full of seeds and suet. Simply having food available can save a bird's life in a harsh winter. Keep a lookout for injured birds and try to keep warm!

Thanks everyone!

Karissa Mohr
REGI Wildlife Educator

Thank you! and REGI in the News Again!

Thank you to all of you who have been donating food items for REGI! We have been getting calls about food items and the donations have been coming in. With the high patient load that we have been dealing with we will still be in great need of any donations that you can spare. We are currently the only facility accepting raptors in the northern part of Wisconsin! Our clinic is full, our enclosures are full and we are so busy! Channel 7 contacted us last week. They heard about our need for food and Steve Fisher stopped by the station to tell them a little bit more about it. Check our this video clip to see what they had to say.


One of the birds who is greatly benefiting from donated food is this beautiful dark morph Rough-legged Hawk patient. (Above) This beautiful bird has a rare coloration with light eyes, their eye color is not typically a blue-grey color. He was admitted from Upper Michigan. He has a fractured wing but got to us early, so it was set right. The future looks bright for this beauty. We are looking forward to the day when we can return him to the wild. (The DNR called us to say that they normally bring birds to another facility a bit further north, but they can no longer accept birds. Birds are being transported from all over to REGI.)

For comparison, this light morph Rough-legged Hawk (Above) who was in the clinic in December being treated. The Rough-legged Hawk is a beautiful bird that makes it way down from the Arctic regions during the winter months. We like to say that this is their Florida! They are feathered all the way down their legs for warmth, this is where the name Rough-legged comes from. You may notice that Rough-legged Hawks have very tiny feet relative to their bodies, this is because they eat mostly very small mammals, like mice.

In addition to the normal REGI events and patients we have been fielding calls from people who would like Marge's expert opinion about the reported mass bird deaths in Arkansas. Last week Newsline 9 from Wausau paid us a visit to interview Marge. Watch the video to hear what she had to say. Something that experts, including Marge, believe played a huge role in these deaths were the New Years Eve celebratory fireworks. If you are interested in learning more about acoustic concussions after you watch the Newsline 9 video follow this link to read an interesting article.

Have-A-Heart collection update. A busy week for REGI!

Our Have-A-Heart campaign is proving to be successful! And we now have 2 more locations to drop off deer hearts!

Northwoods Veterinary Center, LTD

(9920 State Hwy 22 E, Gillett)

and


Gary's Quality Foods
(N5977 US Highway 41, Wallace, MI)

have offered to be collection sites for us!

Thank you all for your support. Every deer heart collected provides an additional meal for our beautiful birds.

Here is the current list of donation sites for deer hearts:

Antigo

Ken’s Hwy 45 Meat Market (N2220 US Highway 45, Antigo)

Land O’ Lakes

The Tackle Box (4267 County Rd. B, Land O’Lakes)

Rhinelander

YMCA - Ministry Rehabilitation Services (2003 Winnebago St E.)

Wausau

Zillman’s Meat Market (1910 6th Street, Wausau)

Wild Birds Unlimited (4121 Rib Mountain Dr, Wausau)

Country Fresh Meats (9902 Weston Ave, Weston)

Stevens Point

People’s Meat Market (6811 Burr Oak Rd, Stevens Point)

Renee’s Red Rooster (2339 County Road PS, Stevens Point)

Rusty’s Backwater Saloon (1715 W River Dr W, Stevens Point)

Milwaukee

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (1111 E. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee)

Wallace, Michigan

Gary's Quality Foods (N5977 US Highway 41, Wallace, MI)

Gillett

Northwoods Veterinary Center, LTD (9920 State Hwy 22 E, Gillett)

It has been a busy week at REGI, as usual. We have been doing some

seasonal cleaning. (It has suddenly become winter again!) Along with getting ready for the next newsletter.

(Karissa Mohr (Wildlife Educator and our newest addition to the REGI staff) in the midst of a deep clean.)

We have had some visits from reporters lately.

We were featured on WSAW Wausau, Channel 7 for our deer hearts program!

View the clip here: Have-A-Heart for REGI

Today we had a visit from Rhinelander's Channel 12 News! Look for us featured tonight about our use of Goodsearch and Goodshop for online browsing and shopping and again this weekend for a special feature on lead poisoning in eagles.

We will share those links when we get them.

Have a safe and happy holiday this week, and hunters, don't forget to have a heart!

Have-A-Heart for REGI

(Photo: One of our resident education birds, a Red-tailed Hawk, who will greatly benefit from our deer heart collections. By Karissa Mohr)

Gun deer hunting season is almost upon us again. Here in Wisconsin this coming weekend is opening weekend for hunting. That means it is also opening weekend for our Have-A-Heart for REGI program. Have-A-Heart for REGI is a great way for hunters to help us care for our raptors.

So hunters... DON'T LEAVE YOUR DEER HEARTS IN THE WOODS!
Put them in a plastic bag and drop them off at one of our donation sites located around the state. If you can't drop it off right away just store it in the freezer. Deer heart is an excellent source of low-fat protein for our birds. It also helps us to keep our food costs down. With over 150 birds to feed the cost really adds up quickly. Last year we collected over 500 deer hearts, which helped us feed the birds for months. We hope that this year will be even more successful! Deer hearts are collected from November 20-28, 2010.

So what can you do?

1. Shoot a deer (or know someone who has shot one.)
2. Save the deer heart in a plastic bag
   
3. Drop it off at one of our donation sites around the state from 11/20-11/28/2010
   
4. Start your own collection site if there isn't one near you!

(Photo: Pat Zillman gets donations ready for pick up for the 2009 Have-A-Heart collection. Zillman's Meat Market is one of our annual collection sites.)

2010 Collection Sites:

Antigo

Ken's Hwy 45 Meat Market (N2220 US Highway 45, Antigo, WI)

Land O' Lakes

The Tackle Box (4267 County Rd. B, Land O'Lakes, WI)

Rhinelander

YMCA - Ministry Rehabilitation Services (2003 Winnebago St E. Rhinelander, WI)

Wausau Area

Zillman's Meat Market (1910 6th Street, Wausau, WI)

Wild Birds Unlimited (4121 Rib Mountain Dr, Wausau, WI)

Country Fresh Meats (9902 Weston Ave, Weston, WI)

Stevens Point

People's Meat Market (6811 Burr Oak Rd, Stevens Point, WI)

Renee's Red Rooster (2339 County Road PS, Stevens Point, WI)

Rusty's Backwater Saloon (1715 W River Dr W, Stevens Point, WI)

Milwaukee

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (1111 E. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee, WI)

Contact Molly for more information at:
(715)623-2563
or
mollym.regi@gmail.com