It's Labor Day! So, no body works on Labor Day, right? HAH! TW@L flies on! Things might be winding down in terms of the number of arrivals, but the work never stops, and as the baby bird season ends, the education season begins - we pass through one transition after another in the cycle of life at Liberty... Plus, this week we endured the "Day of the Tortoise" with a massive intake of desert tortoises in a 24 hour period!
Just a few weeks ago, the walls of the Orphan Care room were filled with cheeping and cooing, the sounds of a myriad of tiny baby birds of all species begging food from their mothers, in this case, Liberty Orphan Care volunteers. Now, most have been released after the most successful baby bird seasons ever at Liberty! A few late arrivals are still being cared for, but soon, the mornings will again be silent and we'll take a breath before we prepare for the first arrival of next year...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the next few months, the injuries we'll see are in the "big 5" category: gun shot wounds, car collisions, window impacts, electrocutions, and poisonings. As the year moves along into the next season, birds that were hatched last spring will be learning to survive in world filled with peril, and some won't make it. A lucky few who are injured will find their way to Liberty Wildlife and get a second chance at life. Some will make it but sadly, some won't. The little burrowing owl above died soon after he was rescued from a roadside, and the barn owl had suffered a catastrophic auto collision breaking a wing and both legs and was put to sleep. The soggy GHO, however, is doing fine and is looking better each day! Extraordinary efforts are made to save everything that arrives at our facility, and our success rate is still remarkably higher than most centers in the country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wonderful local family has been caring for a few desert tortoises in their back yard for the past 35 years. Recently (in tortoise time!), a 5 year old male who is easily 10 years younger than the normal breeding age sewed his wild oats with a couple of the females and the next thing you know, over a dozen babies appeared! Not being able to get them to the Phoenix Herpetological Society, they brought the entire group to Liberty, a total of 22 in a 24 hour period. They are all healthy and seemingly happy. Some will remain with us, some will be used for education, and some will be transfered to PHS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaco practices his landing technique.
As the education season rapidly approaches, the birds of the Education Team get some much needed maintenance and practice prior to launching the new year
1 comment:
Love the picture of Chaco.
Post a Comment