The last day of the year didn't go quietly

BE 7-40 came to TLC about a month and a half ago with injuries from being caught in a leg trap. Little did he know that he would be participating in a blood transfusion on the last day of the year. BE 07-44 came to us from Kenai over the weekend where we believe she lost out in a eagle fight. She has contusions on her left wing and a broken left femur.

While BE 07-44's leg was being operated on by Dr. Todd Palmatier and Cindy at Pet Stop, we got a Red Tailed Hawk in from Homer. "It's not flying and looks thin" they said. Well they always look thin to me. By the time we got back from the airport, Todd and Cindy was back from Pet Stop.

Todd did a thorough exam and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. It did have a very full crop. My question is why is it still in Alaska? Why hadn't it already migrated to the warm country? The answers to that we may never know. For now it has a warm mew at TLC.

The Red Tailed Hawk was the 502 wild bird (not an eagle) admitted to Bird TLC this year. BE 07-44 was the 44th. eagle. That's the official count as of 3:00 PM AST for 2007

Click on pix's to enlarge.

Happy New Years everyone!

On Christmas Eve

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

because Ghost ate them all.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from our flock to yours.

Update on One Wing

I get asked often about One Wing and how's he doing since he lost Ol' Witch, his mate of almost 20 years. As you can see he's doing fine. He's still eating like a 35ish Bald Eagle with one wing. He calls at everyone that walks near his mew and he gives extra loud calls to those of us who enter his mew and want to get too close to him.

He has put in a special request to Jackie Purcell of Channel 2 weather to help and get the temperture up just a little. We do have a heat lamp in there to help him with the cold. Only having one wing makes a little harder to stay warm, specially at his age.

Click on pic to enlarge

Money doesn't grow on trees?

Obviously if it did, we all would have an orchard in our backyard. OK, so if you haven't been to the Bird TLC website, you might not know that we are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

This is our opening.......


The Bird Treatment and Learning Center is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned wild birds and providing avian education programs to the public. Dr. James R. Scott, an Anchorage veterinarian, now retired, founded Bird TLC in 1988. Dr. Scott, along with other Alaskan veterinarians, donates his time to treat the birds in need. In addition to medical care, Bird TLC provides a variety of educational programs to increase people's awareness of the wild birds around them and to encourage preservation of their habitat. Bird TLC is supported by education program fees and contributions from individuals, private foundations, corporations.

OK, got that? Let me give you some statistics also before we get to what this post is really about. So far this year, Bird TLC has taken in 43 Eagles and over 600 other types of wild birds. We take any wild bird that's native to or migrates through Alaska. So, that means we take Chickadee's to Bald Eagles. We have over a 50% release rate. That means that half the birds are released back to the wild. The other 50% are either placed in other facilities.because of their injuries or they didn't survive. We have an excellent rehab program.

OK, here's the beef. Unfortunately this doesn't come free. I'm not going to knock you over with a figure on what it cost to operate the clinic. We are fortunate to have some very GREAT supporters. ConocoPhillp's and BP are fantastic. On the local side we have Pet Stop and Umialik Insurance that donates equipment or computers and then we have people. If it wasn't for people, we would have to close the doors long ago. It's those people that we depend on to keep our clinic operating. It also allows us to have our Education Programs.

Fortunately our eagles eat salmon. It's a source of food that we have donated. But the other birds eat rats, mice, quail, seed, eggs, veggies, etc. Our food bill is worse than when the kids lived at home. Then you also have the day to day supplies, medications, x-ray film, utilities and it goes on and on. I feel sorry for our accountant.

So, to cut it short, if you're looking for that last minute holiday present that will mean more than a tie, or if you're looking for a possible tax write off, think of Bird TLC. You don't know how much it is appreciated. You can send a check to....

Bird TLC

6132 Nielson Way

Anchorage, AK 99518

Or call our office manager Lynette and give her your credit card number. Her direct line is

907-562-4850

Write on your check BLOG or tell Lynette where you got the idea from. I only ask once a year.

Happy Holidays!

Eagles do cry

On Monday I took off from work early and went to the airport and picked up BE 07 - 42 from Homer. It was at a local veterinary clinic where they did the best they could, but they weren't staffed for this type of situation.

When we got it back to Bird TLC and did an examination, we found it extremely dehydrated and it had been vomiting. There was also signs of blood in it's mouth and it was breathing heavy and erratically. I don't know if you ever heard and eagle cry, but it's not a pretty sound. It was so loud the admin staff came in to see what was making that noise. This bird was trying to die in front of us.

Matt and I restrained the bird, with didn't take much, and Cindy quickly inserted an IV of lactated ringers. After a 100 cc's of lr and 1.5 cc's of baytril, the bird started to breath a little more normal and stopped crying for a while. It was exhausted. We bed it down in a mew for the night with lots of blankets for cushioning. If it's alive in the morning, we're one step closer.

Chances are this bird ate something it shouldn't and had a toxic reaction. We couldn't insert a tube to flush it out or to feed activated charcoal to help neutralize the toxin. The bird wouldn't be able to handle the stress. Chances are it had vomited most of it out by now anyways.

I checked in on it on Tuesday morning. The first thing Cindy said to me was "It made it through the night". She gave it another 100 cc's of lr and bed it back down. The crying was back though, but not as bad as the first night on the exam table. I took this picture and as you can tell,, it has a very dull coloring in it's eye's. Cindy was going to give it another 100 cc's of lr before she went home for the night. We would still like to get some activated charcoal in it, but not just yet.

If it's alive in the morning we are again another step closer. I have a presentation in the morning, last one for Ghost and I for the year. I'll be checking in with Cindy to see how we're doing.

Update as of 12/12 @ 5:45 PM AST: BE 07-42 passed away this morning. May he rest now.

Click on pic to enlarge

Sandhill Crane visit

On Friday I picked up a Sandhill Crane at the airport that was sent to us from Fairbanks. The people that had it did a good job taking care of it, they just didn't have the facility to continue to house it until it was better.

Somehow it had got a broken left wing. They set it and it is healing. It's now in for some R&R for a while until we figure how to get it back to its own after it's done healing. It might have to stay with us until spring and we'll send it north. We'll see.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology says it is a very large bird with a long neck and long legs. They're right. They are fragile also. So utmost care must be taken when handling them.

We'll keep you updated.

We're leaving on a jet plane

Two Greater Yellow Legs that have been with us since July are going to the Seattle Aquarium to live. Both of these birds are now non-releasable and will become part of their education program. Cindy is taking them to the airport in the morning.

One of the GYL's I picked up in the Sears warehouse parking lot. It had been shot with a pellet gun. The injury healed but the damage already made left it non-flighted.

GYL #1 was sent in from Palmer. It got wiper out in some jet wash at the airport. It to is no longer flighted.

So, if you make it to the Seattle Aquarium and see 2 Greater Yellow Legs, they came from Bird TLC.

Christmas Potluck

Christmas Potluck

December 8th 3-6 PM

Cindy Palmatier's House

710 Bounty Drive

Test out those holiday recipies before you feed them to your family!!

Here's your chance!

Do you have a recipe that you've always wanted to try out?

Do you worry about unveiling it at the big family dinner?

Cook it up and bring it to the party!

We would love to try your culinary creations!!

For more info or directions, call Cindy at 562-4813