He's outa here

Bird TLC is an organization that has a really good staff and some really dedicated volunteers. But without our awesome supporters, TLC wouldn't exist. Let me introduce Karen & David, two supporters who outbid others at our auction this past March for a chance to release an eagle back to the wild.

They couldn't have picked a more beautiful day for a release. It was nice and sunny with just a little bit of wind. We all drove about 30 minutes south of Anchorage to Bird Point where Megan (our Events Director) had prearranged for us to meet for the release. As we picked out the spot we wanted to actually do the release, 3 vans full of 30 university students and staff from Alabama pulled up. It made us a little leery at first, but once we saw they were really interested we continued on.

We use a release box to release our eagles. We find it to be the safest for both the bird and the people doing the release. Also, the bird doesn't have to be handled too much before being released. The release box was placed on top of a table along a wall facing Cook Inlet with ample room for everyone to gather around at a safe distance.

Karen and David opened the box, the bird jumped up and flew almost directly at 2 of our friends, Britt and John, who came down to take pictures of the release. It continued straight for the Inlet, giving us a little concern and then it turned right looking for a tree to hang out in for a while.

A beautiful and successful release of a very handsome and healthy mature Bald Eagle. We stood around and talked about the release for a while and then we all headed in our own directions. Karen & David returned Megan to TLC, John & Britt went further along Turnagain Arm to take more pictures, Ruth and I went to Girdwood for lunch and all of the people from Alabama went to Seward.

Our eagle is in Bird Point. He originally came from Homer with a fractured wing back in February and who knows, he might head back there on his own or he might find Bird Point a little nicer for him.

Photo credits: Photo #1,3,4, & 5 Ruth Dorsey/ Bird TLC
Photo #2 Britt Coon/ Alaska Zoo

To see more of Ruth's photo's, click here.
To see some of John's photo's, click here.

Beauty gets her beak

Check out the video and then check out this link.

We'll keep you up to date on her progress.

The babies are coming

Baby birds that is. On Friday a lady brought in this little fellow that was found on the side of a trail in a dog park. She couldn't see a nest, so she brought him into us. She didn't want to take a chance that a dog would find it also. He'll stay with us or a Baby Bird Mom until it's ready to be released.

Can you identify what species?? Scroll down for the answer.

Northern Saw-Whet Owl

Good things happen

Thanks to our new friends at Rusty's Towing and Recovery, an eyesore was removed from the Bird TLC property over looking Potter Marsh.

Over a month ago someone or someones deposited this relic over the bluff making it extremely hard to retrieve. Also, with the end of summer, the ground was real muddy, so a recovery vehicle couldn't get back into where it needed to.

I called Rusty about 2 weeks ago. He asked for me to call back when the ground had hardened. It finally had and he sent a wrecker out in between other jobs. What's humorous is that Dave the wrecker driver had just dropped an injured yellow warbler off at the clinic this morning. Before that he had never heard of us.

You could tell that Dave had done this type of job before. He had the experience, the personality and the truck. TLC volunteer Greg took the cable down the bluff and attached it to the car. Within 15 minutes it was at the top and ready to go to the junk yard.

Thanks to some misguided citizens we aquired this car. Thanks to a generous local businessman in our community and his professional employee we had this fine Detroit specimen removed. Thier phone number will be the only one I give out when someone needs their service.

Rusty and Dave, Thanks a bunch!!!!

After oil catastrophe, lives rose on eagle’s wings

By ELISE PATKOTAK
COMMENT

Published: May 13th, 2008 11:42 PM
Last Modified: May 13th, 2008 11:42 PM

My sister is not exactly a bird lover. She lives across from a migratory bird sanctuary, but over the years some birds decided to build nests in her front yard instead. Daphne Duck returned annually for about five years. She’d lay her eggs and then defend her clutch against anyone trying to get up the front stairs. Having a cool summer drink on Judy’s porch while watching the sunset on the bay took on a whole new meaning when accompanied by a mad mama duck trying to attack.

This year, a robin chose to build a nest in a tree close to her front door. Judy has to use her back door now because approaching her house from the front leads to an attack from a tiny but furious mother robin.

And in what has to be the crowning moment in Judy’s relationship with birds, she has had more seagulls poop on her while she walks the boardwalk in Atlantic City than anyone else I know. I tell her this is karma because the birds sense her antagonism toward them.

My feelings about birds are quite different. I don’t know why I have such a passion for them. As a youngster, I had exactly two connections to birds — the seagulls on the boardwalk that Mom used to let me feed, which constituted my weekly contact with nature; and the pigeons my grandfather tried to grab in parks and bring home on the trolley for my nona to cook. Yet somewhere in there I fell in love with birds and the freedom they seemed to embody. Maybe it has something to do with my childhood fixation on being able to fly like Mighty Mouse. Is it really such a big leap from a flying mouse to an eagle?

OK, maybe it is. But however I got to where I am, here I am, doing volunteer shifts every week at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center, our wild bird rehab center in Anchorage. I feel privileged each time I enter a mew with an eagle and stand so close to such primal power.

Being next to such a magnificent creature brings me closer to the wild nature that is still humanity’s heritage than I ever thought possible. I know that eagle could take me down in a second. But it doesn’t. It eyes me warily and gives me the benefit of the doubt. Well, the fact that I’m carrying dinner might also have something to do with its tolerance.

One of our eagles, One Wing, died last week after almost 20 years in residence with us. Most people in Alaska, and many people around the country, know One Wing’s story. A victim of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, he ended up spending the rest of his life teaching us how to make lemonade out of lemons. A tragedy took his wing, but it couldn’t take his spirit.

So every Tuesday I would search through our freezers for a special treat for him and his mate, Old Witch. Maybe a rabbit one week, a squirrel the next, a turkey after that. Each week I tried to put some variety into the daily ration of salmon that nourishes our eagles most of the time.

Eventually Old Witch lived up to her name and got old. When we knew she couldn’t make it through another winter, we set her free to fly again in a better place. One Wing was now alone. I spent time with him when I could, talking to him, listening to his replies – which mostly ranged along the lines of “Where’s my rabbit, woman? Now get out of my mew and let me eat in peace.”

We didn’t know we’d be saying goodbye to him so soon. One Wing is flying free with Old Witch now. Bird TLC volunteers appreciate how privileged we were to get to know a spirit as amazing as his. Walking by his empty mew will always make us a little sad. We know, though, that he’s happy now, happy and free and as light as a feather, memories of an oil spill that crippled him faded into the past. That takes some of the sadness away but doesn’t stop the ache in our hearts for the eagle that stole them so many years ago.

Elise Patkotak is a writer who lives in Anchorage. Read her blog at http://www.elisepatkotak.com/.

This was copied from todays ADN without permission but I'm sure they will understand.

Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

One of my favorite presenters at Bird TLC, Lisa and I attended the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. While there she presented a Great Horned Owl and a Magpie and of course I presented Ghost the Snowy Owl. It's an event that I like going to every year and the birds are always well received by the people there.

On Sunday we did a 3 hour presentation at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center for all who were attending the Birders Breakfast and all of the Junior Birders who also received their awards there.

Both presentations are always fun. People from all over visit Homer during the festival. It's a great opportunity for them to view birds that aren't from where they are. We also get to educate them on the birds, our organization, our great state and hopefully they use the information to help the birds they do see so they don't have to visit our clinic.

After Saturdays presentation, we were approached by the operator of the City of Soldotna Animal Shelter. She had a Bald Eagle that was toxic from eating something it shouldn't have. She wasn't set up to care take it and asked if we would take it to our clinic. On the return trip I stopped and pick up the eagle and a Herring Gull that had swallowed a fish hook that she picked up that day.

That eagle became the 56 one to come to our clinic this year. It wasn't very grateful, it bit the heck out of my finger. You think it would learn what not to eat.

Thanks to our friend Alex in Homer. He helps us get around every year we go there. He also took the presentation pictures. THANKS BUDDY!!!

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,

It's nice to be recognized

It's always nice to be recognized. The unfortunate accident at Ocean Beauty Seafood in Kodiak back in January of this year got the Bird TLC organization a lot of recognition and a lot of it's members got it also. We had members being interviewed on the Anchorage news channels and newspaper, Kodiak news, APS released it all over the country, we even saw it on CNN.

Today the May edition of Alaska Magazine came out and guess what. Yup, the story finally made it and guess what. Yup, one of Dave's pictures made it also and guess what. My wife Ruth is in the picture. They cropped out Dr Palmatier and Laura Magowan, sorry.

More copies of Alaska Magazine go to people outside of Alaska than what stays in state. (That's including the copies I bought for my mom and sister back in Maryland). If you have or want to visit Alaska, you have ordered Alaska Magazine. It covers recent news, what going on during that month and things like that. It's more tourist minded, but it has a lot of neat stuff in it.

Sorry, you can't check out the story and photo online. We we're the main event or even the second even. But if you see a copy, check out page 10.

So yes I'm cheesing and Ruth has already called her mom and dad.

The sky is falling!

The first picture was taken at the Bird TLC Flight Center in Januray this year. The second one was taken on this past Sunday. I got a call from Linda Tidwell, one of the caretakers at the flight center. She was telling me how the snow was weighing the netting down and asking if I could come help out. I grabed Ruth and off we went. We met up with Linda and her dad Warren and we had 3 hours of hard work knocking the snow down.

The problem was how wet the snow was. It attached to the netting like a magnet. That in itself weighed the netting down, but as the snow melted it got heavier and heavier. The snow wouldn't fall by itself, it needed some coaxing, and coaxing it got.

We used brooms, nets, just about anything that was light enough to hold in the air for a while. It took about one hour per cell. The snow was so thick it was blocking out the light. We all were soaked by the time we finished. If Linda didn't catch it when she did, the netting probably would have given way by the same time on Monday.

There was some damage done. We'll take care of it when the weather allows. The place needs to thaw out real good first.

Golden Eagle release

I'm a little behind on posting some Bird TLC news. The Golden Eagle that was visiting with us for about a month was released on 4/20 during Hawk Watch. I was told the he looked out of the release box, took off and partially circled, saw some other Golden's and headed that direction never looking back.

Thanks to Chris Maack for the pictures!

#54 Bald Eagle arrived Thursday

We average 50 Bald Eagles a year. Our record was 52 which we've hit twice. Last Friday from Kenai, we got #53 in for the year. Unfortunately he arrived at the clinic already passed on.

Yesterday we got in #54 from Kodiak. It was found on the ground with a broken wing. Well, it's wing was so mangled, it was almost a self amputation. Unfortunately the wing couldn't be saved. The amputation was completed just below the elbow.

There is no way #54 would survive in the wild. He would have starved to death, like he almost did until he was found by U.S.F.&W. If you look closely at the picture, he was on the ground for a while. It's feathers are worn, he's filthy and very thin.

If #54 recovers, he'll become an education bird somewheres. He'll place easily in another program outside of Alaska. First he needs to get his health and strength back. That we'll help him with.

I don't ask this in my post much, but so far this has been a tough year. We have been getting excellent support from the local community for food supplies for the birds. Unfortunately it takes more than just food. The amount of birds we have been getting in this year has taken a toll on some of our equipment and supplies. Money is what it's all about. With it we can buy more supplies and repair our equipment. If you can find it in your heart to help out, it would be appreciated to no end. Just tell them Dave on the blog asked for it.

Send your checks to:

Bird TLC

6132 Nielson Way

Anchorage, AK 99518

or call with your credit card to:

907-562-4850

M - F

9:30 - 5:00 AST

In advance, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

Did you see us in the news?

A closer look at eagle rehabilitation Maria Downey and photojournalist Zac Gooch take a closer look at the Bird TLC eagle rehabilitation program. (Zac Gooch/KTUU-TV)

THE DEADLIEST CATCH

52 is the record for the number of eagles that have come through Bird TLC in a years time. Yesterday I picked up #52 at the airport. It was sent by USF&W from Dutch Harbor.

He was found on a crab boat. Don't ask the name, I don't know. (I took the title from the TV show The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel). The crew saw him on the boat, which isn't unusual in Kodiak. The next day it was still there, so they called the State Troopers figuring something was wrong with it. When they went to catch it it ran, but not well. They kenneled it up and sent it to Bird TLC.

During his examination, Cindy found a large abscess on its right foot and it's crop was full and a little hard. She drained the abscess and figured she let nature take its coarse with the crop. It did. She said it threw up last night and it stunk to high heaven.

It'll get another exam tomorrow when Dr. Todd Palmatier does his rounds. Cindy said he'll probably get his foot abscess drained again. He looks like an older eagle. We'll see how things go, but right now they aren't going too bad.

ANOTHER FIGHTER, CAPTAIN HOOK

Captain Hook was found by U.S.F.& W. in Homer with a halibut hook in its upper beak. If not found and the hook removed, he definitely would have starved. It would hurt too much to eat. Thanks to U.S.F.& W. in Homer for the pix.

I took him out to the flight center yesterday and he was glad to have some more room to move around. I went back today to check on another bird and Hook looked like he was ready to be released. He's flying well and showing off a little.

A few more weeks of observation and if all is well, you'll be able to say goodbye to Captain Hook.

SOME EAGLES WON'T DIE

And that's a good thing. BE 08-48 was the eagle from the last post. When we left him Wednesday night, I expected him to be found dead the next morning. He wasn't standing at all. The only response we were getting was a little blinking and very short breaths.

This picture was taken today at lunch time. I'm glad I was wrong. Those of you who spoke with the eagle gods, well it worked.

BE 08-49 I picked up yesterday with a little less fan fare. He was found at the Soldotna dump. U.S.F. & W. was on a call and drove past him. They saw him on his back and thought he was dead. They took care of their call and came back to pick up the body, and it moved. Then they shipped him to us.

Both birds were toxic. They ate something they shouldn't have and it tried to kill them. 48 Smelled of turpentine. Usually by the time we get a toxic bird it's too late. I'm glad that wasn't so with these 2.

Sheesh!!!!

Cindy asked me earlier today if I would mind picking up an eagle at 4:30 today. U.S.F.& W. was sending a toxic bird in via ERA Aviation. They wanted to send it last night, but weather wouldn't permit it. I have never told Cindy no before and she knew I wouldn't today. Chances are it would have been routine. Pick up bird, bring bird to clinic, examine bird, pump full of fluids and bed it down for the night. In and out in about an hour.

I arrived at Alaska Air Cargo right at 4:30. They handle

all freight for ERA when it comes through Anchorage. I have been there many times and know a lot of the girls who work they. Nice people! As I was checking in with a girl I've not seen before, one of the ladies I have dealt with before said "come with me, it's in the back and it's loose".

I followed her to the back and she pointed up. I looked up and there was a bald eagle

hanging upside down from a radiant heater. As I made it clear who I was the supervisors made their way over and were very helpful. I told them I needed something to get me up there. I ran to my truck and got a blanket. When I returned, the airport police and a couple guys from U.S. F. & W. showed up.

I took the F&W guy over to the forklift that was going to take us up to the bird and briefed him and the forklift operator on what we were going to do. The Alaska Air manager placed a strap around us and up we went. This bird had a talon stuck on one of the straps that hold the heaters shield in place. One of the employees had already turned the heater off.

As we got closer I gave my partner half the blanket and told him to grab the head and I would grab the free leg. This we did and then the other foot came free. I shouted I hope you have the head and grabbed the free leg with my other hand. The eagle taloned me slightly drawing a little blood, but just enough for a good war story. We got control of the bird and the forklift operator lowered us to the floor where we put him back in his kennel and zip tied the door closed.

I had to give a report to the airport policeman on duty, they notified U.S.F. & W. and A.D.F. & G. We are finally going to Bird TLC. I called Cindy and brought her up to date and told her we were finally on our way.

We got to the clinic, Cindy patched me up (there's a first) and then examined our eagle where we were joined by Greg. We pumped our eagle with 100cc of LR, a shot of dextrose and B12 and we bedded him down for the night. Unfortunately he's not looking too good. It was too late to give him any charcoal and we couldn't tube him since he wasn't standing on his own anymore. Please keep your fingers crossed and say a few words to the eagle gods tonight before you go to bed.

You can bet I'll never take an airport pick up for granted again. Sorry for no pictures. The bird wasn't in the mood for it.

Annual Baby Bird Class

So you want to be a Baby Bird Mom and don't know what to do. Come to the Annual Baby Bird Class at the BP Energy Center on May 6th at 6:00pm.

Every year Bird TLC gets hundreds of baby birds that have been orpahaned for whatever reason. Get the training to become an at home Baby Bird Mom. You can become a foster mom to a robin or maybe a magpie. Watch it grow as you feed it everyday. Then when it's time, bring it into Bird TLC for it's flight exam. When it's ready to be released, you're briefed what to do and where.

The Annual Baby Bird Class

@ The BP Energy Center

May 6th, 2008 @ 6:00pm

Become a Baby Bird Foster Mom

If you need more info, call

Bird TLC

562-4852

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.

The Great Alaska Sportsman Show

Every year we're at The Great Alaska Sportsman Show and we get to visit with hundreds of people. We bring our education birds and also inform them of our mission. Everyone has a good time. It's a hugh event, the biggest this time of year.

If you would like to see us there, heres a link to our schedule at the show.

Bye-Bye Snowy Owl

This is actually old news, back to November 2007. This Snowy Owl came to us from Barrow with a head injury. We suspect that it was hit by a car. After about a month of r&r, he was ready for release.

Snowies don't live in the Anchorage area, or do they migrate here much anymore. The crowded city life is not their style. Long time volunteer Bill Samuelson volunteered to take him with him to Cold Bay when he went on his hunting trip and release him.

Thanks Bill! It looks like the perfect place for him.