Long-eared Owl

Awhile back, the center had an injured long-eared owl come in. It was transported up to the U of M Raptor Center for treatment of a wing injured. Today, it returned to center and I was lucky enough to release it! Here is a short video of the little one returning home :)

Owl Release

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to watch 2 immature male snowy owls be released on the Audubon Center property. These birds were brought up by The Raptor Center so they could begin their migration north. It is always great to see the birds return to the wild!

One of the owls right before release

 

Jeff releasing the owl

It landed in a tree and immediately got mobbed by crows!

There is also a video of the release if you want to watch it: Snowy Release

Sunshine and baby animals

It was another week that reminded me it was spring. We had a bunch of students come to the center, an outreach, a couple nice weather days and a number of phone calls about baby animals. And, this week was just a warm up for next week!
 

On Thursday, I presented 8 raptor programs to about 400 5th graders at Freshwater Fest in Pine City.

Orphaned gosling - unfortunately it didn't survive

Releasing a goldfinch with a first grader last week!

more signs of spring!

This week was another busy week as the school year is winding up. We had a BUNCH of schools here this week and I taught pretty much every day. As a change of pace, we had some littles (1st and 2nd graders) on site in addition to the 5th graders. So cute!

Frog catching - spring peeper

type of stinkbug? we found on a hike

We also have had several rehab birds over the past week and even more calls about possible injured birds. Yet another sign that spring is here. We had a young woodcock come in that was bitten by a cat. I thought is was going to survive but I came back to check on it a couple hours after admitting it and found in bad shape. It didn't survive but it was adorable (see below). This is why all you should keep your cats inside - they kill birds :(

American woodcock

Spring? Maybe?

Okay Mother Nature, I get it. Jokes on me. Just when I get my hopes up that spring is around the corner you prove other wise. I "love" the approximate 10 inches of snow in late March. Thanks. 

In other random news this week, we had a pair of mallard ducks come in for rehab. After an exam and a bath, we couldn't find anything wrong with them. We released them right away but they certainly entertained us with lots of quacking and even some unwelcomed advances by the male.

Female taking a bath

Male and female mallard

Another Eagle

Today, a staff member found a bald eagle on the ground near our dining hall / office building. It was just sitting there and made not attempt to fly off when approached. I got to capture it and then walk the new interns though how do the physical exam on the eagle. There were no obvious physical injuries so based on its attitude and fiestiness, I am guessing it is another victim to lead.

Demonstrating to the interns how to do a physical exam

Showing how to safely handle a raptor foot.

Demonstrating more of the physical.

A bird print in the snow near where the eagle was found.

A wing brush in the snow.

One thing that I noticed about this eagle was its feather patterns. This eagle was probably about 3 years old based on the amount of white the bird had. If you look closely at the face you will notice that it almost has a face band like an osprey (I actually did a double take when I got close to it). As with all birds we get in like this, I hope it beats the odds and is released back to the wild.

Here and There

Another busy week. It started with a long weekend and a trip to the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. Then, it got hectic when I was liaison for the school group on site. At one point I was talked into judging a "30 seconds of Fame" talent show. Jess and I took the opportunity to use the costume bins.

The center also had a juvenile bald eagle in for rehab. We had received several phone calls about an injured bald eagle in the area. Since it was local, we actually went out and rescued it. Based on its lack of physical injuries and people seeing it feeding on a gut pile, we suspect lead poisoning. A small amount of lead is enough to start having negative impacts on the birds nervous system. Unfortunately, we see a spike of birds in with possible lead poisoning each year in November and December, when hunting season gets underway. If you are interested in more information you can go toThe Raptor Center.

I rounded out the week by going to the new Harry Potter movie. Its good but frustrating and very dark. Now I only have to wait to next summer to see how they are going to play out the remainder of the final book.

Barred Owl Release

Went down to The Raptor Center on Tuesday for the little birds to get their beaks and talons trimmed. As a bonus, we returned with more birds than we went down with. A male barred owl had finished rehab and needed to be released...guess who got the honors!?!? Don't worry, the owl did fly off eventually :)

(I apologize for the sound ahead of time)

Merlin

Earlier this week, we got a female Merlin in for rehab.

This is the first Merlin that I had seen, in the wild or otherwise. Perhaps its because I work with falcons on a a daily basis but it was a beautiful bird. The long toes, nicely notched beak and the fun feather patterns. 

The people that brought the Merlin in found her after she hit a window, most likely chasing prey. After we examined her, the bird appeared to have some wing injury. I put a body wrap on the bird (the white bandage you see in the photos) so she couldn't move her wing. The good news is after a bit of rehab at The Raptor Center, this bird has a good chance for release.

What a Week!

The past week has been insane! We had the Ways of Wildlife Camp with 18 campers and many field trips connected to animals.

On the first full day of camp, my half of the group went to the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. We got a behind the scenes tour and got a glimpse into what it takes to run an aquarium. It was lots of fun and we saw a bunch of fish. As a special bonus, the tall ships were still in the Duluth Harbor when we got there. 

My group in with the scuba diver in the sturgeon tank!

Me and a moose

Tall ships in Duluth

The next day we went back to Duluth to be a zoo keeper for the day at the Lake Superior Zoo. Here we went behind the scenes and cleaned the kangaroo enclosure. Then we got to explore the zoo before rushing back to the center for a Wildcat Sanctuary program. As part of this program we made enrichment for the cats which basically means we used cardboard boxes and paint to make giant cat toys!

Campers in front the the 'roo exhibit

(notice the matching t-shirts we made!)

Me showing my arm span!

The awesome cat toys!

On Wednesday, we learned about wildlife rehab. We took out a bunch of salvage animals and learned how to do a physical and bandages on an injured animal. It was a great lead in to our afternoon at an animal hospital. We took a tour of the vet clinic and rehab facilities in Garrison. Afterward, we took our picture by a huge Walleye (Minnesota's state fish)!

Me in front of the giant walleye!

On Thursday, we started the day in the barn. Half the group did kestrel handling and the other half did barn chores. It was fun to see how excited the kids were to gut the food or feed a herp. That afternoon, we drove down to the Wildlife Science Center. We saw the wolves, bears and other critters that they house.

Four wolves checking out our group!

Friday morning was a repeat of Thursday and then the campers got picked up after lunch. All in all this was a crazy week. It was exhausting because I worked nearly 90 hours but it was fulfilling at the same time. Through the week we got to see alot of critters and the campers learned how much work goes into caring for animals. It was great to see the kids get so excited to see, touch or feed an animal!

Week in Review

To say the past week has been hectic may be an understatement. We had the first week of summer camp and a school group on top of the normal barn stuff.  When all was said and done, I put in over 100 hours this pay period (and managed to lose my voice temporarily)!

While I won't bore you with the day to day stuff here are a few photos from the week:

Danny and I getting dressed up for a class!

Northern Flicker that came in for rehab (it was found to

have a broken wing).

Red fox that was seen numerous times around the dining

hall by the kids!

Monarch Caterpillar

All in all it was a fun but exhausting week. I am in the middle of working 14 days straight so 6 down and 8 to go. And with that, its back to work for day 7. I am off to an outreach at Chippewa National Forest!

Mourning Dove

Yesterday, a mourning dove came in with a broken wing from the Wildcat Sanctuary. After an exam, body wrap and some fluids the bird was transported down to the cities.