One Wing is soaring with Eagles again

It is a sad day at Bird TLC.

I went grocery shopping this morning and when I returned home there was a message from Barbara P., our Sunday lead volunteer. She said to please call her. Right behind her message was one from Dr. Scott, asking me to call him about One Wing’s death.

I tried to call Barbara, no answer, so Todd & I left for the clinic, hoping there had been some sort of misunderstanding. No such luck. The note from Barbara stated that the crew had found One Wing dead in his mew at 9:00am.

I was stunned, yes he was old, but he had been doing so well. Acting normal, eating, talking to everyone….. In fact, he had just chewed me out on Friday for some infraction when I walked through the mew yard.

I hate it when a bird dies and I don’t even see it coming. Especially when it is a bird that I’ve been keeping such a good eye on since Witch died.

A necropsy revealed a heart based tumor that had apparently ruptured. The pericardial sac was filled with blood, and the blood clot/tumor on the heart

were easily visible. The best that I can say is that it was a quick end. When the tumor ruptured, death would have been almost instantaneous.

We will all miss One Wing, but when I spoke with Dr. Scott, he said that he felt the bird had gone just the way he would have wanted to.

My condolences to all who had such a special relationship with this great bird. For my part, I remember being there when Dr. Scott amputated his wing so many years ago…….

Cindy Palmatier
Director of Avian Care
Bird Treatment & Learning Center
(907) 562-4813

Here's a link to "One Wing's Gift" by Dr. James Scott, DVM.

Here's a link to a story in the Anchorage Daily News, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, KTUU Channel 2,

The Birdman of Alaska

That's Dr. James Scott, founder of Bird TLC. In todays Anchorage Daily News, there's an excellent story about him telling some of his and Bird TLC's past. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

Also, check out the video slide show.

Flight Testing

All of the birds we release have to first prove that they can fly well. Then they must prove that they can hunt also. For example, we tried the Rough-Legged Hawk (1st pic) in a medium sized mew at the clinic with a pigeon and mice. It really didn't have the proper room, so nothing really happened. Cindy then took it to the flight center and it showed her what it could do.

The same goes for Eagles. They must prove that they can fly and defend for themselves. They don't always hunt, they are opportunist. So if several eagles are trying for salmon strips and one is bashful and just watches no mater how hungry it gets, that's not a good thing. They must be aggressive to survive on their own.

I tagged along to the flight center where they were going to flight test a Snowy Owl. I sort of have a special interest there. The door of the kennel was removed and he had to be coached out with a walking stick. When he got out he just looked around until Cindy jumped (3rd pic). He flew and flew well to the other end of the cell (4th pic).

Now he's going to have to prove to us that he can hunt. That we'll do a little later on. He seems like he is lacking a little motivation right now.

BTW, notice the young man in the red jacket (5th pic)? That's Dr. James Scott, DVM our founder. He's 70 something years young and is still helping out today with catching a few birds with a big smile on his face.

Ol' Witch not feeling well

We have two Bald Eagles that are permanent residents at our clinic since the Exxon Valdez Disaster in 1989. Ol' Witch is the female and she usually takes back seat in popularity to One Wing her long time companion and mew mate. I have written about them both a few times. They both have amazing stories and are quite the pair.

Ol' Witch was found in her mew the other day acting very uncoordinated. She was brought in and examined and found to be dehydrated. She was immediately given an IV and blood was drawn for testing. She was placed in an inside mew so she could be observed closed.

Here's an email to the clinic volunteers from Cindy Palmatier, Rehabilitation Director, on the blood results.....

Update: Ol' Witch

We got the blood work results back today. Based on these results and her
clinical signs it appears that she is either in kidney failure or has a mass
in her abdomen that has finally gotten large enough to cause a problem. I
spoke with Dr. Scott and he estimates that the bird is probably 35 or so
years old. She was a mature adult when she came in. This could simply be
the end of a long and pampered life for this old girl, but I'm not willing
to give up completely yet. If we can get her stabilized I will schedule
x-rays, but I don't want to add the stress right now. The vets feel that if
we can turn her around it will need to be in the next week, so here's the
plan:

She continues to be unstable on her feet, she is lethargic and not eating.
Due to the level of dehydration and lack of food intake we are now tube
feeding her. We will also be giving more IV fluids on Friday. Please
continue to offer small amounts of salmon or red meat to see if she will
begin eating on her own again.

Please tube feed 120ml of salmon slurry twice daily over the long weekend.
I know we are running one shift per day, but if you can tube when you first
get here, and once again before you leave that should be good. As usual,
plenty of water available if she decides to drink.

We are fortunate to have Katie here to keep an eye on things during the
evenings right now. :)

If you have any questions, please let me know. I will not be going out of
town for the weekend, so give a call if you need to.

My cell # is ***-****, as some of you know, I'm not always the best at
keeping it in reach, but I'll try.

Cindy

Cindy Palmatier
Rehabilitation Director
Bird Treatment & Learning Center

Ravens

Ravens


The snow builds up quietly as each flake falls,
the day slips away, then the raven calls.


I watch them go, in two's and three's
as they fly to roost in far off trees.

Ravens scorn the winter, they play and sing;
the snow melts quietly and then it's spring.

With spring comes courtships and flying skills;
rise up the thermals, then a stoop that chills!

These bold black dancers of wind and sky
I watch and wish that I could fly.


James R. Scott


Borrowed from "That I could Fly", A collection of Bird Song, written by James R. Scott D.V.M. Founder of The Bird Treatment and Learning Center, Anchorage, Alaska.

Where have you been?

Dr James Scott founded Bird TLC in 1988 and it was located in his veterinarian clinic, Arctic Animal Hospital for a long time. He has long retired from his practice and semi retired from Bird TLC. As with most of us, he's been having medical issues as he gets older. Some that don't allow him to stand for long periods of time.

We were lucky to have him the other night to operate on our pox eagle. Dr Todd Palmatier who does most of our operations has not had much experience with pox. He got to see first hand from the master of the avian world on how pox is handled.

Pox is an ugly disease and seldom deadly, however the next day we did loose our patient. Hopefully it wasn't in vein and the opportunity for Dr Palmatier to watch Dr Scott in action helps other pox birds in the future.

Photo Credit: Cindy Palmatier / Bird TLC