This Week at Liberty 12/08/2008

Ahh, the holidays! OK, some updates, some progress reports, some intakes, and some releases on which to report. Let's get started...

Winnie and Pooh are going home!
Talk about home for the holidays, Winnie and Pooh, the two swans that have been residing in our care since last summer, are going home! The City of Scottsdale finally finished the project to refurbish the pond that was their home and today they were taken back to their own territory! Although taking care of the pair was a lot of work for the volunteers, we know they will be much happier in their own pond. They can now be seen at the pond near City Hall and the library in downtown Scottsdale.
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Group Practice Partnering in front of Liberty.
One of the steps for Education volunteers in learning to handle birds of different degrees of difficulty is "Practice Partners", a program where new volunteers get to hold birds and to rehearse their programs for experienced Ed people. Even people who have been with the program before go through this step to handle birds at a higher level of difficulty, practicing with senior Ed team members. Here Jan brings in a group at a time, getting time in with the birds they will be displaying at programs.
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Sonora is a very quick learner.
If you've been keeping up with the videos the last two weeks, you know how fast Sonora, our new 2 year old bald eagle, is progressing. Under the expert training of Joe Miller, she has gone from her first bite off the glove just under two weeks ago, to going out front with a crowd of people and getting used to eating and performiing in public.
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Jan, Art, and Julie wrap a badly injured wing.
A great blue heron arrived earlier this week with a badly broken wing. His wounds were wrapped and he was deemed a candidate for surgery. Dr. Driggers will attempt to pin the broken wing as soon as he can be scheduled.
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Lilly and Travis assess a GHO.
An injured great horned owl was found last week below Ajo. He was taken to a rehabber south of Casa Grande where he was fed and held until he made it to Liberty today. Assessed by Lilly and Travis, he is now in a brooder and being observed and fed for further treatment.
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Greg prepares a RTH for treatment.

Three pellets (different sizes indicate more than one gun was involved!) are found by X-ray.

The fractured ulna is shown in the circle.

The unanswered question is always: WHY?

A red tailed hawk came to us last week with injuries of unknown causes. When she was x-rayed, it was discovered that she had been shot, not once, but three times, by at least two different guns! It’s hard to imagine what goes through people’s minds when they gang up on beautiful animals such as this with weapons for which they have absolutely no defense. The fracture in the ulna may have been caused by the pellet, but most likely was the result of ground contact after being shot. Unfortunately, gun shot wounds are all too common, even in protected species like the RTH.
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Megan keeps a gopher snake warm at a presentation.

A lucky barn owl gets to go home!
Last Sunday we did a program for a development that is interested in working within the environment as they build the houses. Liberty has committed to providing wildlife education and consulting work for both the developers and the residents as they learn to live in the desert community.
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From This Week at Liberty and all the volunteers and staff!