For the Birds" 2012

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Saturday, Be There!

"For the Birds"

Live & Silent Auction

March 24, 2012

Sheraton Anchorage

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A fun time at Saved by Sweets

Check out more photos to see all the fun. Click on the photo.

Saved by Sweets

Saved by Sweets is tomorrow, February 11th from 5 to 8 pm at the ConocoPhillips Atrium. We will be enjoying delicious sweet treats, and the company of some of Bird TLC's feathered friends. Come meet Hal the bald eagle, Ghost the snowy owl, Kodi the Northwestern crow, and our poster girl, Crawford the raven.





Education Birds annual exam time

All of Bird TLC's education birds are well taken care of. However, once a year their caretakers are required to bring the birds in to be examined, blood drawn and tested, talons and or beaks trimmed (coped) and anything else they medically might need.

Here Lisa trims Petra, a 17 year old female bald eagles talons and above Heather is coping Petra's beak. Both must be in ideal shape for the health of the bird.

Dr. Karen Higgs examines Galen, an estimated 19 year old great horned owl. Galen also got his beaki- pedi.

And of course the paperwork.

Today was a good day. 4 birds were examined and all were in excellent shape. Blood work was sent to the lab and we'll have results in a week or so. 25 more birds to go.

Alaskans can Pick Click and Give

Merry Christmas!

GHOW release on Winter Solstice

Thanks Verity!

We had a goodbye / thank you dinner for Verity at the Glacier Brew House. In the short time she's been with us as an intern, she has made a lot of friends. She got to see quite a bit of the state joining us at presentations as far away as Fairbanks. She was a huge contribution at the clinic. She also got checked off on Maverick the falcon and Gus the great horned owl
Verity leaves on Saturday for Seattle to visit family for a very short time and then she's back to Nebraska for school. Thanks for spending time with us Verity and we hope you make it back this way again.

2011 Thanksgiving Celebration

Happy Thanksgiving

Petra gets her turkey dinner also.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Pajot

Owl-O-ween

If you missed our Owl-O-ween, you missed a lot. Over 650 people filtered through the Alaska Native Heritage Museum to see the Bird TLC owls and corvids.

For more photos, click here for Britt Coon's album.
Photo by Bill Larson / Bird TLC.

Good Morning King Salmon

Ghost, Petra and I were guest of the USF&W Visitors Center at the Alaska Peninsula Wildlife Refuge in King Salmon over the weekend. Airfare for Ghost and Petra was provided by PenAir. On the first day, we visited Bristol Bay School in Egegik and did a 1 1/2 presentation to the students. I was amazed how well behaved and attentive they were. Many, many questions.

Lodging and transportation was provided by USF&W. Both Ghost and Petra loved being tethered outside were we stayed. The nights were cool and quiet. Being the end of the fall season, most other distractions weren't around.

Hopefully I'll have some presentation photos later. Many were taken the next day where we did about 3 1/2 hours of presentations at the visitor center. Over the weekend we saw over 250 people. At the visitor center alone we saw ove 120 people, which is 1/2 the population of King Salmon.

Ghost, Petra and I would like to thank USF&W for having us out to King Salmon and Egegik. It was great to meet the people of the Bristol Bay area, the people of USF&W and the Alaska Wildlife Troopers. I specifically would like to thank Julia Pinnix, Visitor Services Manager, Alaska Peninsula/Becharof National Wildlife Refuge. She was a great host and made our trip most memorable and enjoyable.

For love in Fairbanks

I was invited to participate in Owlpaloza at the Alaska Bird Observatory in Fairbanks by my friends Nancy and Jen. Little did we know that it would be such a hit and Gus our Great Horned Owl would find a friend.

On the first night after we arrived, Gus was staying in an outside mew on the deck. About 1AM there began a series of hoots and all were not Gus's. All night long they hooted back and forth.

As it got lighter, she got braver and came closer and closer to his mew. We could only get a faint view of her, but she responded to all of Gus's hoots.

As it got lighter, we were able to see what a beauty she really was. Her bib expanded with every hoot and her feet were bright and fluffy. I really don't know, but I believe she's a young gal. Maybe 2 to 3 years old.

Little did we know that she had got a lot closer when we weren't watching, and did some damage to the mew. Unfortunately for Gus, the next night he got to spend inside, for his safety and so we could sleep. He's a 20+ year old Great Horned Owl and not able to care for himself as well as a wild owl can.

The next day, as tired as he was, Gus and 3 other owls WOWed them at Owlpaloza! 775 people came to the event and saw 4 owls, but Gus was the only one love struck.

The story was all over Facebook and Twitter. For more on Gus and Owlpaloza, check these links.
Wickersham's Conscience
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
More to come!

Four immatures released in Seward

We released 4 immature bald eagles back to the wild in Seward yesterday at Lowell Point. A good day with fair weather was perfect for them to start their lives over in the wild again. Britt released the first one, BE 11-44 from Dutch Harbor which was this years bird. Britt has helped to release lots of eagles, but this is the first one she did.

Heather released the next one, BE 11- 30 from Kodiak NWR. He was about 4 years old. Heather is Bird TLC's Executive Director.

Verity, our newest intern released BE 11- 13 from Kodiak NWR and I got to release BE 11-41, this years bird from Anchorage.

This is BE 11-44 showing the rest of them on how to do it. They all did well and we hope not to see them again at Bird TLC.

For more photos, click here for Bird TLC's and here for Britt's.

Bald Eagle BE 11-42 Droopy released

A busy weekend for releases. BE 11-42, aka Droopy was released by Michelle and her friends yesterday.

Droopy found the nearest tree and decided to stay put for some time.

He had eaten the night before and had a full crop before the release, so he was satisfied with where he was.

Have a wild one Droopy!

Bald Eagle BE 11-52 released back to the wild

Roger Wahrer, former volunteer and long time supporter of Bird TLC got to release BE 11-52 aka Chatty back to the wild. She came to us earlier last month from the Anchorage area.

Chatty gave a good show and then flew around in the thermals for a bit showing off.

Thanks Roger!

For more photos, check out Britt Coon's album and the Bird TLC album.

TOTE & United Way Day of Caring

A lot of the things that come to Alaska, come by ship. That's where TOTE, Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Inc. comes in. Their large ships bring thousands of trailers full of the stuff we use everyday.

Today the employee's of TOTE donated their time to help us out. They filled 16 large garbage bags full of weeds from around the flowers and bushes at the Bird TLC property. Today they gave back to their community, and we appreciate them.

To celebrate, we released a boreal owl and a merlin during breaks. Both came to Bird TLC earlier this year with injuries that they have now recovered from.

After a hard days work of weeding, shoveling and raking, they still had a big smile on their faces.

Thanks TOTE! You guys and gals are the BEST!

Meet the new boss

 

We have a new Executive Director and it is Heather Merewood.  Some of you may already have neet her, as she has been volunteering here for a little while. She has quite a bit of experience in the raptor world. She has worked at the Carolina Raptor Center and Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, not to mention working with vultures in Nepal and animals in Costa Rica. Heather comes to us with excellent credentials and a warm, friendly way about her.

There's a Meet and Greet Potluck on Wednesday 9/14 at 6:30 at the Bird TLC office. Bring a dish and meet Heather and Guy Runco our new volunteer coordinator. We tell you more about him later.

Autumn Wings 2011

Click to see the whole album