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

Herky the Bald Eagle Update!! Poisoned Red-tailed Hawk admitted, Red-eyed Vireos Admitted with Migration Exhaustion, Trumpeter Swan cygnet update.

 We love great stories here at REGI.  Improbable success stories, are all the sweeter.  We are honored to live the recovery stories along with our patients. The story of Herky the Bald Eagle from Hayward, WI began on September 4, 2011.  It has been only twenty days, but what a difference that time has made for Herky the Bald Eagle.  The story of her rescue and link to the video of the actual rescue can be found in the September 7, 2011 blog .  If you have not seen it, I urge you to watch at the link provided below.   http://www.2dorks.com/Eagle.html   Her story continues below.




Herky on the scale this morning.  Look at that confident eagle face!

  "Herky" the Bald Eagle rescued near Hayward, WI by the Bill Obenauf family, of Davenport, Iowa is doing great.  She has gained weight by leaps and bounds and is starting to fly again.  Herky weighed in this morning at 7.094 lbs which is a gain of 3 lbs in the twenty days since she was admitted.

 


A very tired and sick Herky looked a lot different on twenty days ago when she was admitted to the Raptor Education Group, Inc. (REGI) clinic.  (photo taken 9-4-11)

Herky fans in Iowa are all abuzz about this magnificent young eagle and her story.  So, let me tell you about her. When I last updated Herky was still in critical condition.  She had gained a few ounces however we were not yet celebrating.  When any animals weigh sinks to half what is normal for them...the situation is dire. To add to the starvation issue Herky had a serious leg injury caused by cord wrapped tightly around her leg.  Frankly, it was a miracle she had circulation in the foot when she was found.  Our job was to make sure that good luck continued for her leg as well as navigate her through the turbulent waters of starvation and the associated fungal problems that affect birds when they are severely compromised.  

The cord from the snare was wrapped tightly around the eagles leg.  It did serious damage to the surrounding tissue.  In this photo the unhealthy tissue was debrided to allow the leg to heal from the inside out.

We will never know for sure how her story goes before Herky came into captivity on September 4.  Our patients cannot tell us their story. We have to piece it together as best we can.  It is possible  Herky was likely a healthy young eagle before she somehow came upon the snare someone left in the woods. The cord became tangled around her leg.  Unable to get the cord off, it twisted tighter until it embedded into the skin.  The cord may have been around the leg for weeks before she was found.  Encumbered as she was with the snare, and increasingly swollen and painful leg, Herky was unable to find food. A domino effect of disaster had begun.

Herky today with her "foster dad".  Dad is in front of her protecting her from my intrusion. The photo is poor quality from our monitor.

Today Herky, aka Herky Lerky, aka the Herkster is enjoying life with 3 foster siblings and 2 adult eagles, one our foster dad,  in a 40' long flight.  It is a smallish flight for an eagle, but just the right size as they recover from injuries and have limited activity again.  Our foster father eagle is in the flight as well with the two youngest Bald Eagles chicks. Herky is the terror of her flight room!  She is bossy and LOUD. She screams at everyone else during feeding time as it to say, "step away from the food" or else. In general Herky is "feeling her oats". We sometimes see this behavior in eaglets when they have been through a traumatic situation.  It seems they are so pleased to have survived, they take life to an entirely new level. 

You can be when she leaves here for her second chance in the wild, she will be living life to the fullest.



Another monitor photos...but that is Herky in the middle on the highest perch (28 ft high).  She is trying to "remove" a foster sibling from the perch with a one two punch with her wings. An adult female stands to the right.

In short, Herky is doing superbly and progressing quickly now. We are very encouraged by her progress and weight gain.  She does not ignore feeding time that is for sure.  Thank you everyone for keeping her in your thoughts. I wish every young eagle in trouble had such great friends.

Two of the five young Eastern Bluebirds just before they were released last week. They are still in the area and continue to eat the insects put out for them as they integrate into the wild flock that is currently in our area.

Two Red-eyed Vireos are recovering at REGI.  We often receive neo-tropicals such as these beautiful and delicate birds during their migration especially when our temperatures plunge and the insects that they eat are in short supply. 

Just admitted an hour ago a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk from the Stevens Point area. He is suffering the effects of an organo-phosphate toxin.

We continue to be very busy at REGI we are admitting several birds a day including every species imaginable from Trumpeter Swans to Ravens and Red-tailed Hawks thru Bald Eagles.  We currently have about 150 patients. We have done many releases during the past two weeks including 5 Eastern Bluebirds and 9 American Kestrels. 



Katie as she brings the cygnet Trumpeter Swan, admitted from Minnesota, in for the night. Our nights are getting mighty cold in the northwoods and this late baby is still in down and unable to stay warm himself during our frigid nights.

We have so much more to talk about. I wish we could share each patient and all of our days with our incredible patients. Stay tuned... Each day is a new adventure.

Have a great evening everyone.

Marge Gibson









Summer Interns are HERE!, Two Sandhill Cranes, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed hawk and Hairy Woodpecker Admitted

Our interns are here! What a terrific group we have. This year we have four students. All happen to be from University of WI Stevens Point. You will meet them often in photos during the summer.



( Photo: Intern Katie R. holds a three-week-old Sandhill Crane colt after he was admitted this evening with an injury to his right leg. Tomorrow we will have a better idea of the extent of his injury. He certainly is a little charmer. We hope he has a full recovery.)

It has been quite a busy night with two admissions about 9 p.m.. A Red-shouldered Hawk, a threatened species in the State of WI was transported by Menominee Tribal Warden. The male one-year-old Red-shouldered Hawk was likely hit by a car and has an injury to the spine. A stronghold of this rare species exists on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The habitat is perfect for Red-shouldered Hawks due to the tribe's excellent forest conservation methods. We are proud to work closely with Menominee Tribal Conservation Department supporting their efforts with this threatened species and many others.




( Photo: Orphaned Barred Owl chicks are introduced to their foster parent, Malcolm, our stellar education bird/foster parent today. One chick remains in the "basket" while the other moves about the enclosure checking it out under the watchful eye of Malcolm. From this point on they will be with Malcolm and not associate with humans. In that way they will grow up to be normal, well-adjusted owls, not imprinted to humans.)



( Photo: This young Barred Owl has big expectations for itself as it stands on a gopher hoping to eat the "whole thing". Foster parent, Malcolm, will be very helpful in showing him how to do just that.)

You just never know how your day is going to turn out when you are at REGI. Super volunteer Dave Koch is living proof of that. Dave was helping repair the many woes of our aging buildings the other day when we got a call about a Red-tailed hawk on the ground. Dave jumped in the van with me and we were off to rescue a beautiful adult male. Thanks Dave!



( Photo: Dave Koch holds a Red-tailed Hawk he helped rescue.)

The Red tailed Hawk had been hit by a car a week earlier but was able to avoid capture. He is suffering internal injuries and starvation.

Our passerine babies have grown and many are out in the aviaries learning how to be normal wild birds. It is amazing to us how fast the process goes. Some passerines ( songbirds) can go from egg to fledgling in 8-10 days!) About 10 days ago I posted photos of some very tiny American Robins. See their progress below.




( Photos: Remember the photo above just ten days ago? This is the little American Robin now. He is growing well as are all of our American Robin patients. Now they finally look like robins rather than an embryo. )

Our Savior Lutheran School came by for a field trip today to the REGI compound. They were a terrific group of youngsters and teachers.



( Photo: Children from Our Savior Lutheran School see how they measure up to the wingspan of and Bald Eagle and other raptors on our wingspan wall. )



( Photo: Intern Jen R. demonstrates the foot of a hawk for students during a field trip to REGI by the Our Savior Lutheran School of Wausau.)

We celebrated Intern Karissa's birthday today. Happy Birthday Karissa! It is going to be a great summer!



( Photo: REGI crew is always happy around pizza and birthday cake! )

Our days begin at daybreak now. Feeding the baby birds goes from daylight through about mid-night and then starts all over again.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone. Please remember and honor those that have served in Military Service past, present and future.

Marge Gibson © 2010

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

Owls Improve, Red-tailed Hawk Admitted, Vultures Fly Via Delta

( Photo: Turkey Vulture "A" checks out her carrier as she leaves REGI this morning for her new home at the Oregon Aquarium in Newport, Oregon.)

By 6 A.M. CJ McCarty, Curator of Birds from the Oregon Aquarium in Newport, Oregon and I were on our way to the airport. By that time we had already caught up the Turkey Vultures, installed them in their airline kennels and got them into the suburban for the hour plus trip to the airport and of course had to scrape ice off the windshield. :( Oh how I love October in Wisconsin.
CJ called me earlier this evening to let me know they are arrived at the Portland Oregon airport and were beginning the three hour drive to the facility. She promised photos soon of the vultures in their new digs. I will write about the entire adventure when I get those photos. We are happy when some of our birds that are not releasable to the wild find great homes in educational facilities such as the Oregon Aquarium. They will educate thousands of folks on a daily basis about how amazing vultures are and that is one of the missions here at REGI.



( Photo: Alberta and I tube feed one of the Great-horned Owls that was admitted Tuesday night.)

The Great-horned owls admitted on Tuesday are doing much better. While still on heat and being tube fed, they have improved to the point where they will likely begin eating some on their own tomorrow. It is great when we can see improvement in birds that arrived in such critical condition.



( Photo: This adult male Red-tailed Hawk has a broken wing and a story to tell. He is pictured with John and Vicki Kuester. The Kuesters rescued and transported the hawk to REGI.)

A few hours ago long time REGI volunteers John and Vicki Kuester brought in a Red-tailed Hawk with a broken wing from Rib Lake, WI. It turns out the capture of this beautiful adult male hawk was quite a story and they have promised to share it with me this weekend. I will update everyone then. When we called John and Vicki, we understood the bird was located near their home. In the end it was about 50 miles away from their location. We appreciate our volunteers so much and John and Vicki have so much on their plate as it is. They do animal rescue for llamas, rabbits and other animals. As they say if you want something done ask a busy person, and John and Vicki have come through for us so many times.

It has been a long week so I am off to bed. I can count on tomorrow being a busy one as well.


Marge Gibson 2009

Great-horned Owl Early Morning Arrival, Northern Red-tailed Hawk, Ducks Released

( Photo: Baby mergansers when they were admitted in June. Now grown, they have been released. See release photos and story below.)



(Photo: This Great-horned Owl admitted early a.m. after he was found on the side of a road. He has quite a headache,and a broken wing but is improving rapidly.)

My doorbell was ringing very early the other morning. I sprang from bed to find a citizen at the door. He found a Great-horned Owl on the side of the road and didn't know what else to do so he put it in his trunk and raced to REGI. Since I live on the property I am often jarred awake by ringing phones or doorbells for an emergency that occurs WAY out of normal hours. That was the situation with this Great-horned Owl.

The owl was unconscious when found and remained so for most of the day but has made a remarkable recovery thus far. Often owls with head injuries such as this owl has have vision problems even after recovery. This owl however has good pupil reaction in both eyes. He is also regaining his stamina quickly.

A few hours later a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk was admitted from the Mosinee, WI area.



( Photo: Red-tailed Hawk admitted from Mosinee, Wi with a wing injury of undetermined cause.)

As you can tell from his photo, this red-tailed hawk is intelligent and displays amazing curiosity about "us". The photo was taken minutes after he arrived at REGI. You notice there is no fear in this lovely face. His feather coloration, size and behavior tell us he is most likely from the far north. Where he was hatched there are more animals than people. While he knows all about four legged and winged predators he has no idea what people are all about. Not being aware of, or afraid of people can be a real problem for many northern species including Rough-legged Hawks and Snowy Owls. In their curiosity about us they are often injured or get too close to those that might cause them harm.

Our former ducklings are all grown now and were released. It was great to see them go off on their own after all these months of care. They have spent the past 6 weeks in a pond/lagoon area away from humans with their foster parents.
We were the last people they wanted to be with and that is exactly the way we wanted it to be before they are released. Rearing wild animals that have a hunting season on them makes contact with humans a dangerous thing. After their initial baby stage we limit contact quickly so they do not have a disadvantage once released. Enjoy the photos of the Mergansers, Wood Ducks and Mallards as they were released. They took off flying so fast, getting any photos was a challenge, but here are some so you can share our joy of seeing them finally in the wild.



( Photo: Our former ducklings, now grown ducks about to be released. A quick photo with the camera venturing a peek into their box shows Mergansers, Wood Ducks and Mallards just seconds before the box was opened.)



( Photo: Look at those strong wing beats as our ducks take their place in the wild world. They have been with us for several months being reared by foster parents in a pond area.)


( Photo: Some of the ducks as they settled to the water after release. )


( Photo: This great photo was taken by REGI's Katie Farvour. She got the water coming off the head and "duck tail" of one of our young mergansers. Check out that cool beak shape. Perfect for catching fish and other invertebrates.)

Have a great tomorrow everyone,
Marge Gibson © 2009