Monday, October 19, 2009

This Week at Liberty 10/19/2009

This was a week with some wonderful stories including our "miracle bird" and a little hummer that made a long journey. A new addition officially joins our Ed team, and some other news items of interest...
IT WORKS!!!
Debra takes the little sora rail out for release!
When that sora rail came in several weeks ago, we all were a little disheartened. Usually broken legs have a good chance of healing if the break occurs "mid-shaft" or between joints. This little guy had a bad break right at the main leg joint and his leg appeared to dangle from that point. Since he is a wader, he needed his legs to survive. Hope was small, but Jan never give up. The leg was splinted and wrapped, meds were given, and rest was prescribed. It was really too much to hope for, but last week, the leg had healed superbly! He could walk (wade!) normally and was taken to the Gilbert Riparian Area and released! Cheers all around for everyone concerned.
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A little Anna's hummingbird makes a trip.
3 - 2 - 1...
Release!
Up, up and away!
We got a call a couple of weeks ago from a rehab center in Montana. They had a little Anna's hummingbird who had missed the annual migration and was now coming for food amid sporadic snow and sleet storms. A few arrangements were made and he rode in a cage in a wonderful person's car down to Liberty Wildlife. Examined and found totally healthy, he went a few miles further (in my truck!) and was released at the Desert Botanical Gardens to join hundreds of other hummers who enjoy the foliage at the DBG. Now he has a story to tell his friends...
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A little inca dove has an injured leg.
A human hair is the offending object.
An inca dove came in last week with something wrapped tightly around his little leg. The usual suspect would be fishing line, but in this case, it was a long strand of human hair. Allowing for the effect of scale, human hair is about as strong as steel, and this little bird was hanging from this piece of human detritus. Jan and Joanie removed the substance and carefully treated the wound to allow it to heal.
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Our current resident osprey.
The young osprey is now outside and seems to be eating on his own. This is a very good sign as osprey are notorious for not eating well in captivity. He still isn't flying well, and it's possible that X-rays will tell us more about what his problem is. Stay tuned for further developments...
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A green heron gets some food from Lily.
A small green heron was taken in this week. presenting a wing injury, he is being given lots of cage rest and lots of minnows! Another problem eater in human hands, Lily helped him swallow some of our fishy food...
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It's official: "Dobbie" is part of our Education Team!
Part of his initiation was new jesses and anklets.
Jessing the smallest owl (species) in the world.
5 minutes later, jessing Phoenix... Somewhat more challenging!
Dobbie, the little elf owl, has joined the Education Team and got his first jesses last week. The tiny scraps of leather were attached by Joe and Rebecca. A few minutes later, Joe and Max gave Phoenix, our big golden eagle, a new set of anklets and jesses as well. As you might note from the photos, this was slightly more "labor intensive"...
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Jan and Rebecca apply some wrapping to a GHO wing.
As a non-profit organization, Liberty could hardly survive without the help of thoughtful companies who put the well being of wildlife ahead of profits. A supplier of Pet Flex, the wrapping we use quite often, recently donated a sizable quantity of this product for our use. As it is used so frequently, this gift was most appreciated.

2 comments:

Rosa said...

What a great way to start my day. Love Megan's column, the stories are heartwarming, and the photographs are awesome! Who gets credit for those? The photos of the hummingbird from Montana are terrific, and I especially love the look on the owl's face in the last shot.
Thanks for keeping us informed of all the wonderful work Liberty does! See you at the picnic!

Terry Stevens said...

---Actually, all uncredited photos are mine.

Terry---