Jesses and Leashes

The safety of the bird you're presenting and your audience is very important. It's only as good as your bird gear. As a possible Bird TLC presenter, you're required to complete a lot of training and some of that involves making your own bird gear.

Presenting non-releasable wild birds has a relationship with falconry. One of the things that relates the two is the equipment used. If you're independently wealthy, you can buy your gear at one of the many falconry suppliers throughout the country. Or you may make your own at a fraction of the price.

Cindy scheduled a class and there was a huge response. She got lucky when long time volunteer and master falconer Bob Collins had recently moved closer to Bird TLC and she recruited him to help.The large group was split in two. For half the class we stayed with Cindy or Bob and then switched for the other half.

Cindy taught leashes. There were the braided type (which I wasn't so good at) and the leather type. There are several types depending on the size and type of bird you will present. We have small song birds all the way up to eagles. By the time her shift was over, we all knew how to make both types of leashes. We also learned how to tie the falconers knot. Safety was discussed through out the clinic.

Bobs part was a little more involved. He showed us how to make aylmeri's, jesse's, traditional jesse's and anklets (bracelets). What tools and supplies that are needed and where's the best places to buy your supplies. The types of leathers were also discussed. And again safety was covered.

Everyone had a chance to make all of the different types of bird gear so once they have a bird to present they can make the gear that's right for it. Back up gear is also handy just in case something breaks at the wrong time.

It was a fun class but most importantly it was a very educational class.

All of the links in this post are for the Modern Apprentice by Lydia Ash. This is an excellent site to learn more about bird gear, falconry and falconry equipment..

New visitors this week

The Screech Owl came to us from Whittier. It was found on a barge there that started its journey in Seattle. How much of the cruise he took we're not sure. He was very skinny and not too alert when he arrived at TLC.

Screech Owls aren't common in the Anchorage area. You can find them in the Seward area and maybe even Whittier now.

Our new Raven came from Wasilla. He was found on the ground. He was extremely skinny and infested with feather lice. We just about have the lice issue licked and he's enjoying his meals at TLC.

He has some old injuries to his wing, but nothing that keep him from being released in time. Like most Ravens, he's got a birdality (personality) for sure.

Welcome to the Flight Center cont.

We got over a foot of snow over the weekend. Whenever we get that much snow at once it can make it interesting at the Flight Center for sure.

Fishing net is stretched over the top for a roof. This gives the birds a feeling of being released but are still contained. The net also likes to catch snow. The weight of the snow weighs the net down because it's very stretchable. The snow then needs to be knocked down. The first picture is in cell B before the snow was knocked down and paths were shoveled. There are 3 cells.

Paths need to be shoveled from one end to the other and to and around the perches. We need to be able to get to the perches to feed and check around them for left over food. We need to make sure the birds are eating and we need to clean up what they don't eat.

The kitchen is the only place where there is heat. The average temperature is about 65°. It needs to stay warm enough for the fish to thaw. During winter depending on the temperature, each bird is feed 2 to 2.5 lbs of salmon. Feeding is done every other day. It's always nice to have a place to warm up, but it's also a nice place to keep things you don't want frozen like water, first aid supplies, etc. Remember, there's no running water in the winter months.

My favorite time is after all the work is done and you just finished feeding. It gets all quiet and then all you can hear are the eagles eating. They stand on the fish and pull it apart with their beak. Every once in a while there's a heated discussion about who's piece of fish it is, but there's plenty for all of them. We don't interfere with the discussion unless it gets really ugly.

To be continued.......

Click here for part 1.

What don't they do?

In case you don't recognize her, that's Cindy the Director of Avian Care at Bird TLC. She tried to hide behind the mop, but I was too fast for her. I don't think she ran out of avian care things to do, but she had time for a much needed clean up.

In case you don't recognize him, that's Dr. Todd Palmatier. Our lead DVM is painting. He never runs out of DVM stuff to do, but a fresh coat of paint sure looks nice.

All of TLC is looking real nice this year. We got new carpeting (after a flood) fresh paint in the offices and now the rest rooms also and new furniture donated by I can't say who.


Erika properly identified this mixture of goo and goo and then did a thorough cleaning of the frig.
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I tell you, we have a great staff and some great volunteers. I'm beginning to wonder if they know what I found out Friday night on my drive out to the Flight Center? I bet they did. The word gets around fast. Not that these folks don't work hard all year long.





Yup, you guessed it. Santa's Workshop is open!

Patient visitors hours

We have two ravens that are under rehab and are in the outside raven mew. They have been getting a lot of visitors lately of the raven kind. I don't know if it's because of the holiday season starting or what.

Everyday several different ravens spend some time with them. Sometimes they exchange things. The ones on the outside pass a lot of twigs and the ones on the inside pass out food.

We've been getting quite a show for over a week now. This picture was taken from inside Cindy's office while we watched the show.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a new eagle presenter

Long time Bird TLC volunteer Lisa Pajot checked off on presenting with Petra our Bird TLC Education Bald Eagle. Lisa will be taking the place of Todd Boren who is leaving with the Air Force for England. Lisa has checked off on several birds through the years to include magpie, great horned owl, snowy owl and the short eared owl.

To become a eagle presenter with Bird TLC doesn't happen over night. The requirements are that you check off on 2 raptors, pass the Alaska Falconers Exam and then pass all of the handling requirements of presenting an eagle. Lisa did all those just fine.

Both Lisa and Petra are great representatives of Bird TLC. I can't wait to see them in action together.

Welcome to the Flight Center

Actually that's not right. The only people who are allowed there are Bird TLC Staff and Flight Center Volunteers. It's big and it has a very important role in the rehabilitation of raptors. But it can be very unforgiving.

The Flight Center (FC) was built on Camp Carroll ANG Base in 1990. The materials were paid for by money donated by Exxon after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Disaster. Labor was provided by volunteers. There is no phone service, there is weak cell phone service and no running water during the winter. You must have access to military bases to get to Camp Carroll.

We don't own the building where the Bird TLC Clinic is located. We sub lease it from IBRRC. Part of our agreement to use the facility is that if there's another oil spill disaster in Alaska, we have to evacuate the clinic in 48 hours. The Flight Center is where we would evacuate to.

Right now it's main priority is to house raptors before they are released back to the wild or placed at other facilities. There are 3 cells 30 feet wide, 20 feet tall and 90 feet long and the roof is fishing net. In one cell the non-flighted birds are placed, in another semi-flighted birds are placed and the third is where the flighted birds go.

We don't mix species. Mostly eagles are housed there, but if another species is to be housed there, we have to make some changes. That other species (like an owl or golden eagle) would get a cell all to themselves.

There are 4 volunteers that maintain the FC. They feed, exercise and water the birds on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, one person per day. Depending on how many birds are there depends on how long is takes, but on average it's about 1 1/2 hours. The rest of the time the birds run the place.

To be continued .......

Three years ago today

I was at the Bird TLC clinic and Cindy had a snowy owl that just came in from Soldotna with a broken wing. He needed to have x-rays done and she asked if I would give her a hand. Of course I said yes but little did I know that it would become a life long (so far) commitment.

The break was pretty clean and Dr. Palmatier said he was a perfect candidate for having a stainless steel pin placed in his wing for it to heal. I was well known for not being around for things that involved clinic type of things, but I was heavy into working on our website and the blog. So I asked, to the surprise of many, if I could tag along and take pictures of the operation. To my surprise they said yes.

I remember it like it was yesterday (with the help of old blog post and pictures) but the operation went fairly well with good expectations of the outcome. He was in the clinic for a few more weeks and the his wing wrap was removed and all looked good at the time. After he was monitored for a while longer he was transfered to the flight center so he could get more exercise for a possible release.

From there things took a turn. He was flying but he wasn't flying well. After observing him for a while, we determined he was flying sort of sideways. So he was brought back to the clinic for another thorough exam.

During this exam it was discovered that his wing hadn't healed properly. Somewheres along the way the bone slipped on the pin so his wing set a little off degree. This is something you can't operate on. Their wings can't be re-broken and reset. We took him back to the flight center to be observed some more. We decided that he was non-releasable. He can fly, but because of his new handicap he can't hunt well. He would probably starve.

From there He went to Cindy's (Director of Avian Care) house for her to evaluate him for possible being an education bird. He was working out well, so permits were applied for and approved. From there he was put up to be applied for by a Bird TLC volunteer to caretake, train and present.

The guy who back in 2004 that would tell his wife to go do her bird thing at TLC applied for the snowy owl. With the application I had to submit plans for the mew I would build for him to live in. The mew designs had to be approved by U.S.F.&W., the Bird TLC Education Committee and Cindy. I was approved and so was the mew. I had to build it before snow flew. I worked day and night and finished it 3 days before it snowed.

Cindy became my mentor with training with Ghost and I couldn't of had a better one. Then he came to live in his new mew on Nov 4, 2006. The training continued, some was a little challenging. On March 30th we

got checked off and had our first presentation with Cub Scout Pack 11.

Since then Ghost and I have done 108 presentations around the state. From Prudhoe Bay to Homer, for schools, private organizations and many other events. He has a new trainee. Beki started working with him last week and she's coming along fine. He is a seasoned professional at representing snowy owls and Bird TLC. It's been a blast and I feel very lucky to be working / living with him.

Happy Anniversary Ghost and many thanks to our friends who have supported us.

Birds have friends at the Loussac Library

Ghost and I had the pleasure of going to the Loussac Library last week. The Friends of the Library posted a bounty for kids to read. Once they had reached their goal, anything more than that was donated to Bird TLC. These young readers helped raise $390 for Bird TLC.

Many thanks to the readers, Friends of the Library and Theresa who took the pictures. It's help like this that makes Bird TLC what it is today.

The swan that didn't go home

Today was scheduled to be a boring day at home doing chores and all of that fun stuff. I have just started feeling better after being sick for about a week (if you couldn't tell from the lack of posting). I slept in until almost 10AM which is highly unusual for me. Sleeping in usually mean 7AM max if I'm lucky.

I got one cup of Maxwell House down when I got a call from Rachel at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside of Portage. There were reports of an injured swan sitting on the side of the road about a mile south of AWCC. At first I was a little leery about responding. I was just starting to feel better, I've been on wild goose (swan) chases before and this was an hour drive away, and if I found him it was a two person job to catch him. I told her I was going to call U.S.F.&W.

I called U.S.F.&W. and got a message machine. Rachel called back and gave me a little better location of the bird and says she's getting all kinds of reports on it. There's only her and one other person working today, so they can't respond. I called Megan who usually could help me out but I knew she couldn't today. Bird TLC was at an event for Trick or Treat Town and so were most of our volunteers.

Megan suggested that I call Beki. Beki is a relatively new clinic volunteer who also wants to become a presenter. We've been to a couple events together. So I called her and she was excited about getting to go.

We met up at Bird TLC and loaded up with blankets, a kennel and bird drugs. Off we headed to Portage. When we arrived we drove along side of the highway looking for our swan. There was no luck the first pass or on the drive back. I called Rachel to see if there was any updates and she said no. We decided to do another pass but slower. When we started our search again, a van pulled over and asked if we were looking for a swan. We told him we were and he said he was also but having no luck.

We started our search again and withing 20 feet Beki spotted our swan. The 3 of us put a plan of action together and caught the guy. He's a big one, 9.575 KG. Have I told you it was +27°f and then minus whatever the windchill was? It was cold! We checked in with Rachel at AWCC and thanked her for calling him in. Then we headed back to Anchorage.

There was no significant finds during his first exam, but we'll have a DVM check him out on Monday. In the meantime it's R&R, fresh food and a warm mew.

Volunteer Orientation

We have a Volunteer Orientation about once every October. It's aimed mainly at volunteers who are interested in presenting the Bird TLC Education Birds. A lot of people see us out in the public presenting these birds, but they don't realize what all is involved. So they get to spend about 6 hours getting a thorough orientation tell them all the good and bad things involved.

Each of our Ed Birds are required by U.S.F.&W.to be shown at 12 presentations per year. Bird TLC requires every Education Presenter to present 12 times a year. Each bird could have several presenters, but most have just one. Last year Ghost and I did 60 presentations together. It would be nice to have another presenter checked off on him to help carry the load.

Each presenter in training is mentored by another presenter that has been checked off on that species and has some good presenting experience and bird handling under their belt. I was mentored by Cindy and after 2 years of presenting Ghost, she still gives me some good pointers.

Depending on the person and the bird, it usually takes 3 to 6 months before they are ready to be checked off as a presenter. Large raptors like eagles could take longer. Bird TLC requires eagle presenters in training to take and pass the Alaska Falconry Exam.


Expenses will include buying your own glove, transportation expenses, and leashes. Some presenters help the presenter / caretaker pay for food for the bird, but that is up to the individuals.

Dedication is the key. It all looks like fun and it is, but first the person must be trained with bird handling and the background of the species being presented.

Good luck everyone and I hope to see you presenting soon!

Photo Credit: Dick Williams / Bird TLC

Bye - Bye BE 07-34

BE 07-34 came to Bird TLC early last year with a bone density issue. He wasn't eating properly and he couldn't fly. After some long term R&R at TLC with a proper diet, he became very aggressive around feeding time. We decided it was time for him to go back on his own.

Bird Point was selected along Turnagain Arm. The salmon are still in the area some and it gives a food source. It's nice for these guys to have the best day and night possible for the first one out. It's also nice for them to have a little easy food source at first also.

When we got to Bird Point, it was raining and had high wind gust. So we decided to move towards Girdwood and a little inland from the Arm. Our little caravan of volunteers agreed and most of them followed us to find a good release spot.

We found one in Girdwood. It was still raining, but hardly any wind. We were interrupted for a short bit by a dog that insisted we play fetch with him first. I guess new players is better than listening to the owner, so we played for a bit and then the owner recovered the ball and off they went.

Our bird came out fast. He headed towards the trees to settle down and figure out where he was. It's been over a year since he came to TLC and has some adjusting to do, but we think he'll do just fine.

Photo Credit: Photo's #2 & 3 by Dick Williams / Bird TLC

Photo #1 by Dave Dorsey / Bird TLC

Megan checks off

Bird TLC's Events Coordinator, Megan Pool checked off on the Northern Goshawk yesterday. She did a very good job and will make an excellent education presenter.

To get checked off, Megan must do a presentation in front of her peers and have at least 1 member of the Education Committee in attendance. She must show that she can handle the bird and tell us about its species. When she's done she also must answer questions from the audience.

Megan did all that. Now she must do 2 presentations observed by another presenter and then she's on her own.

Congratulations Megan!

For more pictures. click here.

Memorial release for Fran Reed

Several dozen friends of Fran Reed turned out at the Bird TLC property on 9/27 for a memorial release of a rehabilitated eagle back to the wild. As I walked through the crowd I could here many stories being told about Fran.

The weather was perfect. The rain that had been coming down stopped for a day. The leaves were in their full fall colors and we even had an eagle do a fly by checking things out.

The eagle that was released was in a hurry to get back to business. She left the release box and headed for Potters Marsh non-stop.

The crowd stayed around for a while afterwards and enjoyed apple cider, snacks and a few more stories. It was a beautiful day for a release and a beautiful memorial.


For more on Fran Reed in the ADN, click here.