Grown Ups, Patient Updates, & Interns

Hey everyone, were still swamped in baby season here at REGI.

Here's a picture-filled blog full of updates!

_____ All Grown Up _____

These merlins made their debut on our last blog (above), look how grown up they look now (below)

Hard to imagine that just several weeks ago these striking falcons were just white puff balls with large eyes, sharp beaks, and quick feet. Merlins go from hatching to flight in only one month, and we can attest to that here at REGI. This has been the summer of the merlins. We've seen seven fluffy babies come through our clinic doors. All of which are currently flight training in an outside enclosure!

The Virginia Rail is doing great, and enjoys fresh duckweed and insects daily

Look at who else is growing up! REGI's Virginia Rail is no longer cotton ball size! He stirred up quite an array of followers on our Facebook, and would like to thank everyone for their monetary donations to support his bloodworm addictions! He still has expensive tastes, and has moved up to waxworms & small minnows.

This baby turkey vulture had a high-speed migration in a car from the University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota contacted us this past week with an interesting request. They had acquired a turkey vulture chick that had fallen from its nest into a large body of water, and he needed a foster parent. Kayakers found the little one flapping around in the water and were able to pull him up into the kayak and get him to the University of Minnesota. Here at REGI, we have several successful turkey vulture foster parents, some of which who have fostered Minnesota vultures in the past. It appears that these two are over the whole Packer/Viking feud, and are getting along great!

_____ Patient Updates _____

This young broad-winged hawk came into the clinic just yesterday. His parents may have kicked him out of the nest because he appears to be fully blind in his left eye.

This red-tailed hawk came into the clinic starving and has an injury to a leg. Cases like this lead us to believe he she had some sort of collision with a car which left her unable to hunt.

This great-horned owl came into the clinic very thin. A male great-horned owl weighs over 2 lbs, and a female can be over 4 lbs. This one came into the clinic weighing just over 1 lb. Release is a long way in the future for this owl... but we are crossing our fingers/toes for success

_____ Summer Interns _____

 Licensed rehabilitator Alberta & intern Alyssa tubing one of several fledgling eagles in the clinic

The interns this summer are doing a fantastic job! They truly get the whole rehabilitation experience here at REGI. Although they work long hours (as all of our former interns will remember), their spirits stay strong. The following are all photos of the interns learning experiences to date. They have seen a vast array of different species come through the clinic doors, and never know which one could be next!

Licensed rehabilitator Alberta & intern Maddie tubing another fledgling eagle

Intern Kerry holding a belted kingfisher while he anxiously awaits a larger box in the clinic

Interns Maddie and Sarah tubing the 1 lb great-horned owl

Intern Molly enjoying some alone time with our education peregrine falcon

_____ Summer Tours _____

 Molly, our education director, leading a tour past our crows & raven

Our education peregrine falcon poses for the tour group. Come meet our peregrine up close on one of our on-site tours

Summer tours are still soaring strong. Tours run Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the second Saturday of every month. Most tours still have spaces for both the 10AM & 1PM time slots. Call the education office at REGI to reserve your spots ahead of time (715) 623-2563.

Enjoy your week, it sounds like we finally have some rain in the forecast!

- Katie Rymer, Assistant Avian Rehabilitator

Fuzzy Merlins, A "Goalie" Great-Horned Owl, Virginia Rail & Patient Updates

 

These merlin falcons are actually from two different nests, but they are getting along just fine in the clinic

The workload summertime is still in high gear as we soar on to patient 300 of the year! Above is just a few of last week's patients. It seemed to be the "Week of the Merlin" as we had 4 merlins enter the clinic. Three of which are pictured above, and the other is currently flying around her very own enclosure. The left and right birds pictured above were from the same nest, and the little guy in the middle was from a different nest. Even though there was a few day difference in hatching days... they are getting along great in the clinic! The little one is a PIG!

 

 After being tangled in a soccer net, this young great-horned owl was just in need of some rest! 
Assistant avian rehabilitator Katie Rymer moving the great-horned owl to an outdoor enclosure for rest and exercise.

Some wonderful folks in Merrill, WI made a daring rescue as they cut this young great-horned owl free from a soccer net. A group of kids watched the rescue ensue as adults pried the raptor from the nets on one of the warmest days of the year! She came in dehydrated and a little banged up, but we are happy to say that she's doing well, and hopefully will be back flying around the Merrill area this week!

 This Virginia Rail chick is gaining popularity of REGI's Facebook! He'd love some online donations so he can continue to enjoy his favorite treat... bloodworms!

This small Virginia Rail is a popular guy among our staff. He spends his days running around his enclosure, eating countless bloodworms, soaking up rays under his heat lamp, and jumping around in his water dish. When he came in he was about the size of a cotton ball, and he's growing like a little weed! We have high hopes for this REGI first! 

THINK HE'S AS CUTE AS WE DO?

** If you'd like to donate to our Virginia Rail's bloodworm addiction, you can donate online here, or visit REGI's webpage at www.raptoreducationgroup.org. He's already thanking you in peeping noises and unbelievably tall jumps for a guy his size! **

 Barn swallow fledglings catching some rays on one of their first days outside in the outside aviary

These little ones came in as featherless, large-mouthed, hungry kiddos. They've come a long way since their incubator days just a few weeks back. They are now spending their days outside in the aviary.

 This Blue Jay is one of the fastest growing babies of the season, and is doing quite well

This wide-mouthed baby has been eating on his own for a while now. Hard to believe that after feeding them every 20 minutes from sun-up to sun-down they are all grown up and ready to leave the nest. This blue jay is spending it's days and nights outside in hopes of an upcoming successful release!

 This American Robin is spending his days outside soaking up the rays

REGI has seen it's fair share of American robins this year! We are well over 20 robin babies, and hopefully we will be able to celebrate with a huge robin release. Several of these robins will be ready to go soon! Several of these smaller songbirds end up staying on REGI grounds even after release. We fill our feeders daily, and have several bird baths for them to enjoy on our warm summer days!

Interns Alyssa and Kerry learning how to bathe a sticky saw-whet owl

This owl had a run-in with some sticky fly tape, and is getting a bath in Dawn dish soap. Dawn soaps are used on animals during oil spill clean up, and do a great job! It only took a few baths and this little saw-whet was in his own enclosure getting ready for release!

Volunteer Mike & education peregrine falcon showing off our new peregrine falcon education station

This weekend was a warm one, but that didn't stop our volunteer from moving heavy rocks! After several hours and tricky engineering, we'd like to introduce you to our new peregrine falcon education station. For those of you attending upcoming tours, we're proud to say you'll be able to enjoy our adult education peregrine falcon in a more natural environment!


I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy there weekend! Here in Antigo, WI we were still in smoldering hot temperatures. We are all looking forward to an upcoming week of 70's & 80's!

Enjoy your week, and stay tuned to our Facebook for updates!
- Katie Rymer, Assistant Avian Rehabilitator

Hermit Thrush and Merlin Admitted...Bald Eagle Chase Down

At REGI we are always well aware of what bird species is migrating through our area. While many people have birding reports to rely on, we actually have the "bird in the hand" so to speak.



( This Hermit Thrush was hit by a car. They are migrating at this time to a warmer climate. This bird, however, will miss fall migration this year. It will stay at REGI as it recovers from a head injury. )

Merlins are on the move as well. Small but powerful falcons, Merlins dive or "stoop" at a high rate of speed. Our newest Merlin patient is a female. She is a big strapping lady bird with a wing injury. I never tire of experiencing what can only be described as their exuberance for life while they are captive. While some species are patient patients, Merlins do not fit that description.



( This female Merlin likely hit a guy wire and injured her wing. This is a common injury for this speedy little falcon. )

We had a busy day "chasing eagles" on Wednesday. We had 5 Bald Eagles in the large eagle conditioning flight. It was time to catch up each of them to evaluate their release readiness. In the end, over an hour later, Katie, Alberta and I were all huffing and puffing, and one of the birds was still happily avoiding capture. He is the epitome of being well-conditioned.

We were too exhausted to take photos of this event. But, trust me, it was very cool!

The weather has been nothing short of gorgeous this week. I love the change of the seasons. Fall is beautiful with the brightly colored leaves. It is also, however, a warning that winter will be upon us before we know it. We are making the most of preparing for the inevitable.



( Photo: One of the beautiful maple trees in full color on REGI property.)

We will be working until the snow flies getting painting done, winterizing the mews and enclosures, and doing repairs to existing buildings. If you have some time, give a call and come on over to lend a hand. I promise, you will be warmly greeted and will definitely feel needed. You can reach Molly at 715-623-2563 or the clinic at 715-623-4015 if you want to volunteer some time.



( Photo: Lance doing some "up high" painting on Thursday. )

Have a great day everyone.
Marge Gibson

Loon Release Photos and Video Is HERE, Along With Release of Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk and Merlin!

What a whirlwind of a week it has been. Less than a week ago Don and I threw a few things into the car along with a Red-tailed Hawk, a Broad-winged Hawk, a Merlin and a very famous Common Loon from Duck Lake and we were off on a fast trip to the Gulf of Mexico. The trip began just for the Loon, but we had several other birds that were ready for release but were not in the right climate. Ordinarily we would hold these birds over for the winter and release them in the spring. That means several months more of captivity for them. Since we we were traveling south, they just hitched a ride with us. To say we had a full car is an understatement.

We released the Red-tailed Hawk in Southern Illinois. Red-tailed Hawks move a bit south in winter. He will have easier hunting in Illinois and will likely be back on his home territory in the spring. He was an adult Red-tailed Hawk from the Rib Lake area. He was hit by a car and came in with a wing fracture on October 16th.

( Photo: Don prepares to release an adult Red-tailed Hawk in Southern Illinois. His hunting will be better in the open farm area than in snowbound and frigid Northern Wisconsin. You can see his photo and story when he was admitted on the blog of October 16th) )

( Photo: Red-tailed Hawk flying on mended wing is free after 2 months in captivity at REGI.)

The Merlin, a beautiful small falcon, was released much further south near the Florida, Alabama line. He was also hit by a car and injured in the fall.

( Photo: Don looks on as I fill the Merlin's crop one last time with beef heart. The next meal was on his own.)

Broad-winged Hawks migrate to Central and South America, but a few stay in Florida. We thought it best this young male bird spend the winter hunting in Florida. Broad-winged hawks have a wide prey base including insects, reptiles and frogs as well as rodents. He was released in an area of Florida where Broad-winged Bawks were reported recently. He and the others will catch the northern migration in April. This hawk left the box so fast I never got a photo. It seems he agreed with our decision to release him.

In less than a week we are home with lots of stories including snowstorms and closed roads in Tennesse. We left many miles behind us. Since it is so late tonight and we are exhauted from traveling I will sign off for tonight and post the loon story tomorrow. I promise it is worth the wait.

Have a good night.
Marge Gibson © 2009