Friends of REGI Brat Fry Fundraiser

( Photo: Brat Fry Organizer Kathy Fenno and Volunteer Natalie Quinn man the brat fry booth on Friday while John Fenno expertly grills the brats.)

Friends of REGI President Kathy Fenno and her husband John were front and center at the Antigo Copps Store on Friday. We are so grateful to them for this fundraiser.

The Brat Fry continues all weekend so if you missed the Friday event come on over on Saturday at the Antigo Copps from 11A.M. to 2:00P.M.

Thanks to Kathy and John and volunteers Natalie Quinn and Kim Woyak. We sure appreciate your help raising money and making brats so we can help our patients back at the REGI facility.

You guys are the best!

Marge Gibson and our entire REGI crew

Owl Ridge General Store

Every year the wonderful staff at Owl Ridge General Store invite REGI to their annual anniversary celebration! The second weekend in June is always made up of fun, food, music, and many of REGI’s owl friends. The weather was less than perfect this year. As you can see, I had to dig out my winter parka and mittens from my closet for the event on Sunday. Brrrr!! However, the gusty winds and cold temperatures did not stop the festival atmosphere. In fact the owner’s of Owl Ridge said Saturday was their highest sales day EVER. This was my second Owl Ridge anniversary and I have to say I recognized many of the same people from last year. It is wonderful to see the community supporting a local business.

Adults and children alike were lining up outside REGI’s tent to catch a glimpse at our five species of owls we brought this year including a: Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Eastern Screech Owl (both red and grey color phases), and Northern Saw-whet Owl. The REGI tent was full of action people of all ages asking questions, taking pictures, and learning some fun facts about each species. Festival events are different than our typical programs because we only have few brief minuets with each visitor. During this short time we hope to convey the importance and respect these beautiful creatures deserve. The REGI staff, interns, and volunteers this year greatly enjoyed interacting with all the visitors and Owl Ridge's staff. Thank you to Steve and Evelyn Fisher and Lance Holm for running the REGI booth on Saturday. Thank you to Natasha Siegel and Aprill Jaeger for helping me out on Sunday.

Our favorite memory from Sunday had to be a young boy who wanted a picture next to the stump of our Barn Owl. As his mother carefully aimed the camera the young boy turned to the owl and politely told him to say cheese. Hopefully, the close encounter with the owls that day and the memories in the picture will be carried with that young boy as he grows up.

To the left is our beautiful Barn Owl, Rhomey. He looks a little confused as to why that young boy told him to say cheese. He likes mice way more than cheese!

REGI often displays our owls in stumps like this one. A Barn Owl is a cavity nester so he feels more comfortable and protected inside his stump. It also allows REGI the opportunity to teach more about their habitat needs.

To the right is Bart, an Eastern Screech owl. He is also enjoying the comfort of his stump. He liked it in there so much he slept most of the day away as visitors walked passed and took pictures.

Nicole Swanson

Pictures taken by REGI intern, Aprill Jaeger.

REGI Birds Write Their Views of the Cold and Rainy June

(Photo: Fonzie, REGI's Educational Great-Horned Owl is tired of looking like this.)

Hey folks, this blog entry will be written by us, the birds here at REGI. The staff and interns are all too crabby to write today. Yesterday kind of put us all over the top. We are all TIRED OF COLD WEATHER! Steve Fisher, our educator supreme, came in this morning saying that this past week had broken temperatures records back to 1909! We could have done quite well without that bit of information.

This is me, Fonzie writing this section. My picture is just above. I am a Great-horned Owl. The rain drenched feathers and my ear tufts laid flat on my ample head is not my best look. It makes my eyes look big. To be fair my eyes are pretty big, but normally my feathers and
facial disk fluffs out nicely. I look handsome most of the time and not bug-eyed.

It isn't the cold weather that bothers me, Great-horned Owls do great in cold weather. In fact, I spend the winters outdoors in my mew. Winter is kind of cool actually, no pun intended. The white of the snow emphasises my cryptic coloration. I look stunning in a winter landscape and it is not just me that thinks that.

Cold rain is another story. Rain and especially days and days and nights and nights of it just plain makes me LOOK BAD. I hate looking bad! I am a professional educator here at REGI. I have my self-esteem to protect. People take hundreds of pictures of me everyday. What IF they were here today and got photos of me looking like THIS!
I am SO happy they didn't have any tours today.

I like water as in bathing, but then it isn't all dripping all over my head and my ear tufts. My attitude is going downhill fast. I am going to take a nap and let that bossy Red-tailed Hawk Juliet take over the keyboard.



(Photo: Juliet, REGIs' Red-tailed Hawk is bored with the cold rainy weather and eats to pass the time.)

It is about time that weird owl gets off the computer. He is only a year old and thinks he owns the joint. My photo is off the the right. If you have seen any REGI programs over the past 18 years you have seen me. I am stunningly beautiful. Every person I ever met has said that so it must be true. I am self confident and love to be the center of attention in programs. I think that means I am a great educator.

I am not fond of owls of any kind. You would be amazed at how many humans like them! From my perspective however, they stay up ALL night long! When we travel to programs they always keep us hawks and the falcons awake with their hooting and chortling. My worst night EVER was spend with FIVE owl species in the same motel room. We all had our own boxes, but they are so LOUD! So take it from me, do not travel with owls if you have a choice. But I digress...

The weather has been nasty. I don't let it bother me too much, but the interns were laughing at me today and that was irritating. I am nearly as old as they are! They were not looking any too sharp themselves with dripping rain ponchos and hair that looked like they just got out of the shower. I got some of photos of THEM, and will see if I can get them into this blog entry. Look towards the bottom for their photos.

I have been dealing pretty well. As long as I have a fat rat or gopher in my talons I am pretty content. When I am bored, and I am in this crummy weather, I eat. I eat a lot, as much as I can fit in my crop. I am likely to come out of this week of cold weather and rain a bit portly, but still beautiful.

Wait until you see the next photo of the Golden Eagle, Zephyr. He is pretty cool looking but I think looks worse than any critter on the REGI property in the rain. ( Including the humans.) I didn't have the heart to tell him. He is also much bigger than me so I try to be nice to him. So, here he is and it is NOT an attractive look. He is easy going he didn't want to write to complain. He was snacking on a gopher when I last saw him. He is kind of a "my cup is half full" kind of guy. When you see him next it might be good NOT to tell him what photo I used in the blog. It will be our little secret OK?



(Photo: REGI's Golden Eagle Zephyr in the rain. He is so handsome when he has dry feathers.)

I am going to sign off now, but here are some photos of the staff and interns in the rain. They look happier in the photos than they did in real life the day the photos were taken.

Bye for now and look for me in programs soon.

Fondly Yours,
Juliet, Red-tailed Hawk


( Photo: Katie, Lance and Hunter dig worms in the rain. We need to dig LOTS of worms for the Woodcock in particular.)

( Photo: Katie is drenched and this is BEFORE feeding time. BURR Notice she is still wearing her winter jacket and it is JUNE!)

Weekend of New Admits, Nighthawks. Great Blue Heron and Growing Youngsters

(Photos: The Common Nighthawk is an elegant bird in the air. Its huge mouth catches insects as it flies through the night.)

The weather continues to be very cold. Patients coming in reflect the cold temperatures and the problems created for wildlife that depend on insects for instance for survival.
The Common Nighthawk is a member of the Night jar family. There have not been studied well and therefore many questions remain about their life history. They eat only insects and accomplish this while flying with their huge mouth open. Dependent on insects this species will have a hard time surviving when cold weather limits the insects available to them. We have had several admitted suffering "migration exhaustion". Migration exhaustion is the term used either during migration or immediately following. Nighthawks winter in South America according to most references. At the end of that long trip to North Central Wisconsin they are expecting a bounty of mosquitoes and other flying insects to greet them. That has not happened this year. Birds that eat flying insects such at Purple Martins, Barn and Tree Swallows and Nighthawks unfortunatley are beginning to suffer from starvation.

In wildlife rehabiliation we are the first to see problems that occur with wildlife.
Nighthawks can be a challenge to feed in captivity. The female Nighthawk in the photos was first fed baby food meat when she was in critical condition and is now being force-fed pieces of beef heart with supplements as well as insects.


(Photo: Just admitted Great Blue Heron Chick is cold, tired and hungry.

(Photo #2 below: This photo of the Great Blue Heron chick was taken 12 hours later. It shows a more alert chick, wolfing down a piece of beef heart. The white material on the beef heart is Calcium supplement to assure his bones develop well.)

(Photo #3 below: This photo was taken Sunday night about 11P.M.. You can see the heron chick has already grown in the 24 hours since he arrived. With a full belly and a warm box he was ready for a good nights sleep.)





On Saturday evening we admitted a very young Great Blue Heron chick. Weighing in at just a pound this little one fell from the Cathedral Pines Rookery. This area is old growth pine and hemlock from historic Wisconsin. It goes without saying that the trees are very tall and thus the fall to the ground long and very hard. Our thanks to our friend Leslie Stewart for finding him and transporting him to REGI. The chick has recovered well as evidenced in the photos. He is now eating well, making up for lost time during the falling incident. He eats minnows, beef heart and mice. The adult herons "predigest" the food for the little ones and then regurgitate it back at the nest. It tired to get my interns to at least chew the food items first, but they balked at the suggestion. :) We do try to provide food that is as normal as possible for our patients, but for this one we will stick to pounding the mouse parts and beef heart until it is tenderized. He is eating a huge amount of food, which is normal for the species. We have messages out to other rehabilitation centers in the state in an attempt to find at least one more heron chick to raise this one with. Putting him back into a rookery nest is not possible since it could result in other chicks bolting and falling to their death. We do not want to rear him as a single baby as he could well be imprinted to humans as a result. It is great to network with other facilities and we do often. Doing what is best for our patients in always our prime concern.



( Photo: The adult female Mallard was hit by a car in Stevens Point as she led her youngsters across a busy road. She served as foster mom to our growing Mallard ducklings until they were feathered and nearly ready for release to the wild.)

Our Mallard ducklings have grown to nearly full size now. We have admitted several more young mallards since the photo was taken. The female Mallard in the photo was patient that was hit by a car several weeks before and had a leg fracture. She had been hit by a car while leading her youngsters to safety. She served as a foster mom for our ducklings while in care at REGI. Foster parents are worth their weight in gold to us and the little ones they help. It also give the adult some a normal activity while recovering and before they are released.



(Photos: Adult female Mallard foster parent from the photo with duckling above was released by our delightful Interns and staff last week. She swam away so quickly we almost were not able to capture the moment with photos. Minutes later she took to the air and we suspect is home by now.)



We had another weekend filled with programs. We do not yet have photos to share of the event, but will soon. We are admitting many patients per day now and unfortunately can share only a few of them on this blog.

But stay tuned, there will be much more to come.

Have a great day everyone.
Marge Gibson 2009

End of School Year Programs in Full Swing

(Photo: Isabeau one of our education Bald Eagles visits West Elementary School in Antigo.)

Whew, we have been so busy doing the end of school year programs! Many times we have three a day. Considering REGI programs are done at schools all over the state and often in adjoining states, that is a real accomplishment. We also do field trips to the REGI facility. The interns get to play an active role in education programs. They gain experience on many levels from handling the birds, presenting parts of the program, and all kinds of fun things about children.



(Photos: Crestwood Elementary School in Antigo comes for a field trip.)




The photos are of some recent programs. We don't often get photos since we are holding the birds. If anyone would like to share some we would be delighted. We love the letters we receive from children after experiencing a visit from our education team. We hear from teachers that seeing the live birds stimulates children to want to know more. After a program the kids search out books about birds and the environment or go on line and do research to answer burning questions. That is one of the best compliments we can receive.

This year Crestwood Elementary first grade students took photos of their own while on the field trip. The photos are below. We think you will agree these children have talent in photography and a great eye.

Enjoy the photos of our very special "working birds" as they educate the kids about wild species.
Until next time, have a great day.
Marge Gibson 2009

Chilly Weather/Washington Island Bird Festival/Adult PasserineToxins

More new patients are pouring through the doors. We admitted several adult passerines during the past few days including a Cedar Waxwing, Brown Thrasher and a Female American Robin to name just a few. The Thrasher and the Robin likely came into contact with a pesticide on the insects they ate as both suffered neurological symptoms. It is hard to see otherwise healthy adults in such a predicament. It is harder when you consider these adults likely have left a nest filled with babies. Understanding that what mom and dad eat, they feed the youngsters adds insult to injury. Many will die in the nest due to toxins. It is like a game of domino's. With the work we do we have a heightened awareness of the environment and everything that affects the balance. We would sleep better if we didn't. :(

My goodness, another week of "unseasonably cold weather", or as I like to call it " "unreasonable cold weather". For those of us in the north land that translates into suffering freezing temperatures all week. The forecast for next week may be more of the same. It is tedious to those folks that have to cover their tomato plants and flowers that were planted in an optimistic moment, but at REGI freezing temperatures mean all of our baby birds still have to some inside every night. Wild birds have their babies out with them, but have the advantage of not being raising in incubators. They are therefore more climate prepared than those raised at REGI. We have to step down the temperature gradually so their bodies can cope. Having said that, I suspect many species will have poor reproductive success this year due to the "unseasonable temperatures. It will be interesting to see how the bird counts go in the fall.


I was honored to be the guest speaker for the Washington Island Birding Festival Dinner this past weekend. The topic of the evening presentation was Wild Owls of Wisconsin. I brought with me four owl species native to Wisconsin. It is interesting for birders to see up close and personal some of the birds they often only hear or catch sight of as a fleeting glance. I had to laugh as my education birds are so well known they are often greeted by the audience as old friends. So many wonderful people attended. We talked on for hours even after the presentation.
What a terrific group it was. Many thanks to organizer Sandy -Ursula Petersen for inviting me.


The Wood Duck census is growing here at REGI. More tiny Wood Duck ducklings have been admitted. They are such tiny and fragile babies and will be able to join the older Wood Duck ducklings when they can tolerate life without a constant brooder and develop some size to prevent being picked on. They are eating LOTS of bloodworms and waxworms these days. We appreciate JADA Baits of Antigo so much for providing our patients with waxworms. Hearing our pleading voices on their answer machine cannot be easy.

We continued to have Internet connection problems this past week, but as of yesterday that appears to be a thing of the past. We will be able to update the Blog consistently now. I thank those of you that have written to me missing our daily updates. It is great to know we are missed!

That is all for now. Have a great day everyone. Ours will be busy with two patients have been admitted already this morning and it is only 6:30 A.M.
Best,
Marge Gibson 2009

American Woodcock Chick Growing, Many New Patients-Mergansers

( Photo: American Woodcock with a pan of his natural habitat complete with earthworms.)

I hardly know where to begin this morning. We have been having some Internet connection problems. Every time I sat to write the blog last week it seems I was unable to log on. Living in a remote area has wonderful benefits such as being close to the many often fragile species we care for, but the negatives are things such as Internet connection is spotty at times.

Our woodcock chick is growing well. He came in on May 23rd, and was just a few days old. He was grabbed by a cat near Tomahawk. Woodcocks fly by the time they are 14 days old. He is well on his way to that milestone.

On Friday our intern Lance was changing his bedding and was shocked to find how well he could already use those wings. It is fun to watch the birds teach the students the secrets to their natural history. They may well forget things that I say, but when a tiny woodcock takes to the air when it still looks for all the world like a fuzzy chick, that will remain a part of their memory. When the interns arrive we talk about the importance of observation. I tell them they will learn far more from the birds than they will from me. They may not believe me at the time but within a few weeks they understand entirely.

( Photo: The beak of the American Woodcock is flexible to "grab" earthworms as they probe the soil.)

In the photo of the woodcock you will notice he is on a pan of soil and leaves. That is what his natural habitat looks like. While he is still in a brooder we provide a natural area for him. He already feels most comfortable on the pan of soil and leaves. That is as it should be. Rehabiliation is so much more than just feeding little ones and having them grow well. It is also important to allow them to learn life skills and introducing them to their own habitats early on.

Woodcocks have the most interesting flexible beak that probes below the soil and grabs earthworms.



( Photo: Imperfect photo taken from above shows woodcock chick slurping earthworms as only woodcocks can.)

Woodcocks eat their weight in earthworms daily. Therefore if there is someone out there that loves digging worms or has access, we could sure use them for our patients.

The Passerine building is a busy place with incubators running and mouths to feed.
The great news is most youngsters are now older than a week so their feedings are no longer on the every 20 minutes schedule. I find myself wishing that those the bring the babes to us particularly for reasons less than necessary could spend a day with us. One recent story went like this...the nest was on their porch and Aunt Mabel was coming to visit. She is afraid of birds so they took the nest filled with tiny babes and brought it here. UGH! SCREAM! It is of course illegal to destroy a nest of federally protected birds and that means taking a nest down purposely. At least they had a conscience to not kill the chicks, but looking after Aunt Mabel's feelings translates into long labor intensive days for us at REGI. I say let Aunt Mabel use the back door! But I am all about common sense.



(Photo: Our incubators are filled with baby passerines.)


Our days are filled not only with feeding and caring for our avian patients, but with end of school field trips to REGI and classroom presentations. I will write a separate blog on some of the field trips so the children involved can see themselves on the blog. On Friday we had two classroom presentations in Stevens Point and then a rush back to REGI for a field trip here. Our education birds and our educators Nicole and Steve are all working overtime these days. They are all terrific. We are lucky to have such enthusistic and hard working teachers on the REGI team.



(Photo: Merganser ducklings are high strung and come many at a time.)

Merganser ducklings come from large families. When something happens to mom the tykes are up a creek so to speak and face certain death without intervention. I was doing a program myself this weekend so my dear husband and staff including the interns got busy saving a family of Merganser ducklings that were in trouble near Council Grounds State Park. The youngsters were huddled on the ground likely under their nest. There were in critical condition when found with one already dead at the site. Mergansers are hard to raise as they eat only insects their first month of life.


(Photo: Merganser duckling eating killed meal worm even at a day old. His siblings preen inder a heat lamp after bathing)

Taking photos of Merganser ducklings in not an easy process. They are very high strung. A quick shot with a camera will be the best photos I can share with sensitive species such as these day old ducklings. All 12 are doing well. Much appreciation to my crew for doing such a great job in my absence, to my husband for making a long drive twice to transport them, and to my grandson for doing the emergency set up for the hypothermic babes.

I am off to feed babes, wrap a wing and walk crane colts.

Have a great day everyone.

Marge Gibson © 2009