BE13-10

BE13-10. Let me explain what that means. BE is an abbreviation for bald eagle, 13 is the year it came into Bird TLC's clinic and 10 means the 10th bald eagle so far that year.

BE13-10 was sent to Bird TLC from USF&W Biologist Robin Corcoran in Kodiak NWR on Feb. 17, 2013. He was found in the water. She called me and asked that I'd pick him up at the airport. I did and brought him back to the clinic and bedded him down for the night. He would be examined the next day.

There were no real significant findings during his exam. He was thin, a little beat up, but nothing to keep him from being released soon or so we thought. A few weeks later he was sent to the flight center to build up his strength to be released.

At the flight center, things were a little different. After a few days we would have expected some type of flight. He was a good hopper and a skipper, but no flight. He was even having troubles getting on the perches. Nothing like what we expected. He was kenneled up and returned to the clinic to have another exam.

At his exam, he was found to not have a full range of motion in his left shoulder and also possible spinal damage. There was nothing we could do for him. He was returned to the flight center with the hopes this would work itself out in time.

Time goes by and there's not any improvement and BE13-10 is labeled as not flighted and not releasable. I know, because I wrote it on his chart. He is still being observed but no changes really. He's put on the list for placement, but placement of an adult bald eagle that's not flighted isn't good. Fortunately for him, business had been slow, so there is plenty of room out at the flight center.

About a year ago, I stopped volunteering at the flight center. BE13-10 was still not flight and his future was very uncertain. A few months ago I'm hearing that BE13-10 is flighted, not good but flighted. A few weeks ago I started hearing that his flight is improving and there's a hope of him becoming releasable.

Today I returned to the flight center for the first time in a long while to help with a cleanup and do some repairs. I checked in on BE13-10. He is flighted and looking really good. He's acting like a mature bald eagle and was even preening while I was in his cell.

What a great feeling after 3 1/2 years to see this guy doing so well. If all continues with him improving, he's going to be released back to the wild in Haines, Alaska for the American Bald Eagle Festival on Nov 19.

Dr Oakley, Yukon Vet visits Bird TLC.

It takes a few seconds to load, so be patient. The full episode airs on Saturday 12/6 9 PM EST which should be 5 PM AST, but check your listings. Dr. Oakly, Dr. Karen Higgs and I examine one of the Adak burn birds while at the flight center earlier this year.

Do you know the way to Haines, Alaska?

 These two eagles are going to Haines on Wednesday for the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in Haines. There they'll be released as part of the "Flight for Freedom".

 Both of these birds came to Bird TLC from Adak, Alaska. They received burns while at the local dump. All of the primary and secondary flight feathers were heavily damaged and they were unable to fly. We had to wait on Mother Nature to have the birds molt, to see if they would be able to fly.

The last two photos should tell you how that turned out.

 

Here's hoping for a wonderful life for these two young birds in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

Flight Center clean up

The Bird TLC flight center was built in 1990 by some very dedicated volunteers. Money to purchase the material came from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Disaster. Over the years hundreds of birds have recovered and gained their flight strength back so they could be released to the wild.  It's not open to the general public, but it has been visited by many celebrities like Alex Trebek, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Corwin and several others.

 

In recent years with the economy not at its best, the budget for maintaining the flight center had been cut over and over, until serious attention had to be made for the safety of the occupants, the birds. Every year at our auction, a cash call out is done. Your reward for this bid is the satisfaction that you helped Bird TLC in some way. In years past, much needed equipment had been purchased from the funds raised. This year the Bird TLC Board of Directors decided that the cash call was for the flight center. $10K was raised for supplies and material for the flight center clean-up and repair. It brought tears to my eyes.

 

Not long after, Heather Merewood, Bird TLC Executive Director was contacted by BP Alaska. They would like to help with a 2 day project with 15 of their employee's. The flight center is what came to mind first.

With the help of Home Depot, Heather and I went shopping for supplies. Five large carts and a stressed out credit card later, we were filling up the pick-up truck. What fun we had getting what we needed to get our flight center back into tip top shape.

When the BP employee's came out to work, they jumped right in and worked hard for the whole time they were there. Pressure washing the walls, hanging new tarps (for easy cleaning), removal of old perches, cutting and raking the grass, and much, much more.

Holes were repaired in the netting. The netting will be replaced as soon as the new netting arrives. Painting of the exterior will be done when weather permits. The astro turf will be replaced also. The industrial strength astro turf we require is on backorder at our supplier.

The BP crew was much larger, but these guys and gals are the ones at the end of the second work day. Some of the flight center occupants are in the background. All of the BP Alaska employee's did a fantastic job and all of us at Bird TLC appreciate their help and support.

 

Also, thanks to everyone who donated at the cash call out at the auction in April. If you would still like to donate, go here and say it's for the flight center.

 

For more photographs, click here for our Smugmug page or  go to our Facebook page here.

Snowy Owl prepped for release

One of our flight center volunteers, Cynthia helped me catch our snowy owl who has been with us since October. It was brought back to the clinic to prep it for release. ERA Alaska is flying it to Barrow tomorrow and it will be released there. Barrow is the snowy owl capital of Alaska.

Lauren Maxwell from KTVA CBS 11 visit the flight center

Hhmmmm

Lets see. Eagles like salmon. Eagles like squirrels. But this squirrel is eating salmon in a eagle mew. Go figure.

As the Snowy flies

Back in November, a couple brought in this snowy owl that wasn't doing well. It was very lethargic and obviously hadn't eaten in quite a while.

On Friday Britt and I took him to the flight center to see how it's coming along. It's eating well and all other signs are good. There is some concern about its eye sight, but we'll let it tell us how that's doing.

Right now, it's the only snow that's flying around here. It took off right out of the kennel.

 

A little more time is needed to know for sure how it's doing and if it'll be able to be released. Right now it needs to get its bearings, get it's flight strength back and remember how to hunt.

We'll keep you updated.

Fresh snow

Fresh Snow is very pretty, but when it snows a lot it creates a lot of work. Wet snow doesn't pass through the nets that cover our flight pens, it just collects it. The weight of the snow makes the nets droop lower and lower. To much weight from the snow can cause damage to the cells, so it needs to be removed.

Britt and I were out there Friday afternoon knocking the snow off of the nets and then shoveling the snow we knocked down to make paths for the non-flighted eagles. To knock it down we use long aluminium poles with squeegees on the end. The squeegee end keeps from tearing the net.We raise them to the nets and push up and down causing the snow to fall through. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Thrust me, your arms, neck and back feel it after 1/2 a cell. Your also guaranteed to be dumped on often.  By the time you're done, you are beat and soaking wet.

Everyone at the flight center gets their turn during the winter. This time was Britt's and mine. If the amount is too much, you call for back up.

It's winter at the flight Center

The birds that are at the flight center now will be there until spring. We don't release eagles in winter. We prefer that there's a easy food source for them when they first get released and they have to get use to defending for themselves again.

Some might not be releasable, only time will tell if their rehabilitation works. If not, we attempt to find them a permanent home. Right now, each eagle is fed 2 1/2 lbs. of salmon at each feeding. They get fed every other day.

There's no running water during the winter at the flight center. We haul it in 5 gallon jugs. The eagles use 5 gallons a day. It's not that they drink that much. They drop food in it, take bathes or whatever else you can think of. We place heaters in their water bowls so it doesn't freeze. Also, because of the low temperatures and lack of running water, the cells aren't cleaned as in washing until spring. Scrap food, feathers, etc. are picked up When it snows, the nets need to be shaken cleaned and pathways shoveled and perches cleaned off.

 

The great horned owl is a little easier. He uses very little water and a large rat a day. Being a volunteer at the flight center isn't for everyone, but it sure has its rewards.

Valdez courting eagle recovering at flight center

Now known as Lilith (from Cheers and Frasier fame), our surviving gal from a bad courtship in Valdez is now at the Bird TLC flight center. This is her chance to prove to us that's she's going to be ready for release or not. She'll have ample time to build her flight strength back and prove that there was no permanent damage from her crash last month.

Right out of her travel kennel, she flew to perch at the far end of the flight cell where she was placed. It's a little obvious that she needs some practice, but that's expected. She's been through a horrifying ordeal. She'll be sharing a cell with other eagles in different levels of recovery. Most are either not flighted or are partially flighted, still working on building their strength and skills back.

The weather has been cooperating. The temps have been staying above freezing at night and mostly sunny during the day. Lilith and her new companions have the perfect fall weather to get ready for a life back in the wild.

For more on Lilith's story, click here and here.

Is it spring?

If it is, it'll be the earliest spring has started that I can remember. Not that I'm complaining. The eagles out at the flight center seem to think that it's here. They are strutting their stuff, getting their strength back, getting ready for release.

They're flying in between the post, hanging from the nets and turning around in short spaces. You can tell they are getting anxious.

We seldom do releases during the winter. The idea is that a bird should have its best opportunity on its first night out. It has been in captivity for a spell with food being brought to it and protected from all. For it to start out on its own again, it should have all of the best opportunities available.

So, spring is the start of release season. And I think these guys and gals can smell it.

Juvenile Detention

Earlier this winter, we closed the flight center down for the first time in recent memory. We didn't have any eagles or large raptors to put out there. Things have changed around some this year. So far we have taken in 17 eagles at the Bird TLC clinic in 2010.

The majority of them have been immature bald eagles. So if you go to the flight center now, of the seven bald eagles out there, all but one is an immature bald eagle. Four of them are fully flighted and will be ready for release come spring. Two of them are partially flighted and are working on getting their strength back to be fully flighted. The last one is in question right now, but after a molt we'll see.

These guys and gals are practicing their flying skills everyday. They are feed fresh salmon and red meat. Sometimes they get a treat of chicken or turkey, depending how much we have donated.

Each one came to us for a different reason. One had a broken leg, another was caught in a avalanche and some were toxin birds. They ate what they should not have. But now they are being taken care of by dedicated volunteers.

Any ways, they are on the road to recovery and most will be released as soon as spring weather allows.

A little snow and Erin checks off on Phoenix

We got about 20 inches of fresh snow last week. Because of the previous heavy frost and the snow was very moist, it accumulated on the netting. The only way to get it down is to knock it down. It's not an easy task, but it needs to be done. Too much snow on the netting will cause it to tear and or collapse.

In the mean time there are still birds in the flight center. We need to keep and eye on them so we don't accidentally harm them or vise versa.

The temps were near 0°f. Gary and Warren were hard at it while I had to come in once or twice to thaw my mustache out.

Erin checked off on Phoenix the osprey on Saturday. I missed it due to work but Cindy took this picture for me. Congrats Erin!

More bad and good.

I guess the best thing about volunteering at a wildbird rehabilitation center, is its success stories. It's awesome when you have a bird that overcomes all obstacles. The one you wonder how it survived. Hopefully you get to see it released or placed as an education bird somewheres where people will also appreciate them.

The down side is when you loose one that you don't expect to. Captain Hook came to Bird TLC from Homer where he was found with a halibut hook caught under its tongue. He had over come that but had the scars to show his battle. Unfortunately he also got an infection in one of his wrist. He had to have a partial amputation, so he obviously wasn't releasable. After he recovered he was transferred to the flight center and the search began for a permeate home.

Unfortunately Hook wasn't the most attractive of eagles. His interaction with the halibut hook left him with few feathers around his right eye and even after moulting, they never grew back. What he lacked in good looks he made up with birdality (personality). He also stole the hearts of those who took care of him. He was a proud bird and we were proud of him.

I received a call from Gary while I was in a presentation. I called him back and he told me the sad news. He found Hook had passed away when he went out for his scheduled feeding. Later that night at the clinic we examined him and found not a thing wrong. We only guess it was his age that took him. I know of several sets of eyes that weren't dry for a few days. I hope he's with his friend Rollie.

Check out these other post about Catain Hook. Another fighter, Captain Hook, Captain Hook is Cool and Low Inventory at the Flight Center.

Later that night I took Gomes to the airport. He found a home at the Detroit Zoo. He came to us earlier this year after being electrocuted on a power line. He's probably in his third year and has a long life to look forward to.

Our flight center now has no eagles in it. That's the first I can recall in a long time. It does have two great horned owls that will be released in the next few weeks. After that we will shut the flight center down for the winter.

Low inventory at the Flight Center

We're down to one bald eagle at the flight center. Captain Hook is waiting for placement. Cindy says it's tough with him. He has a partial wing amputation and the feathers don't grow well on the right side of his face. He's not pretty. Hook has seen eagles come and go. Some were released, some were placed at other organizations, and he lost his friend Rollie.

Britt and I disagree. He has birdality and an interesting history. He's also a survivor. Any organization that accepts this bird will be getting an awesome representative of bald eagles. I wish he cold stay with Bird TLC, but our permits only allow 4 bald eagles and our Education Program is full. He's Hook!

We have 2 great horned owls that will be releasable. They're gaining their flight strength back and getting plenty of flight time. One came to Bird TLC with a broken wing and the other was pretty bruised up from being tangled in fishing line. Both are coming along well and we'll keep you updated