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  • August 18, 2008
  • Here is a short note and 3 pictures from Cathy Nowak regarding the release of the adult Swainson's Hawk last Friday at Ladd Marsh near La Grande:

    Lynn, I have attached 3 photos:  1) Last minute Instructions (from me to the bird); 2) The takeoff and 3) getting reacquainted with the area. She sat on that wheel line and screamed and screamed.  I wasnt sure if it was expletives aimed at me or a celebration of being set free.  There was a Swainson's in the air above her almost immediately after she flew from my hand.


    Thank you Cathy and all the others who helped return this bird to her home!


  • August 17, 2008
  • We were having difficulty determining if the Grosbeak was eating on its own while in a small cage so Saturday morning Janene weighed the bird (37 grams) and moved him outside to the songbird pen. The hope was that he would be less stressed in the larger space and begin eating. It seems to have worked...weight was up to 39 grams this morning.

    The Virginia Rail died during the night.

  • August 16, 2008
  • BMW Board of Directors met today to review a report by Laurel McKeehan, Development Specialist and make plans for the annual Open House to be held Saturday, October 4.

    A fourth Kestrel was found near the "auger nest." After fluids and a meal he was happy to join his siblings...

    Late this afternoon Bob met volunteers Richard and Deb Herrmann in Stanfield and received a young Osprey they had gotten from the Irrigon Marina. Fisherman had pulled the bird, tangled in fishing line, from the Columbia River. The line had nearly severed the right wing above the wrist. There were multiple fractures in the wrist...almost as if the joint had been crushed. The bird was euthanized.

  • August 15, 2008
  • The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation provide a free bus service serving the reservation, the Pendleton area and La Grande. At 7:30 this morning we put an adult Swainson's Hawk on the bus heading for La Grande. She was met by ODFW staff, banded, and released at Ladd Marsh where she had been found injured in mid-May. What a wonderful service the Tribes are providing! Thank you!
    Hawk in a box headed for home...

    Then Bob was off to Umatilla to meet Marilyn with a young Black-headed Grosbeak and a Nighthawk. Sadly the Nighthawk died shortly after reaching the center. It had collided with something and fractured a bone(s) in the shoulder girdle. A sharp bone end ruptured a blood vessel in the bird's chest causing it to bleed to death.

    The Grosbeak was rescued from some Magpies (intent on having it for lunch no doubt) by  Jerry, a neighbor of master birder, as well as Audubon and BMW member, Nancy LaFramboise. It has an injury to the left shoulder making it unable to fly. Nancy is involved in a feeder site fidelity study and had banded the bird as part of the study. Hopefully he will recover and be returned to the location.

    As Bob was returning from Umatilla, I headed north out of Pendleton toward Helix to retrieve 3 branching Kestrels whose nest, a grain auger, had been moved 12 miles from its original location some three days earlier. The very hot and hungry Kestrels were discovered this morning. Fortunately, after some fluids and a snack, they seemed fine.

    Bob had time for a short break, and then headed for Ukiah to pickup a young Red-tailed Hawk from John Day. It has a fracture in the humerus very close to the elbow joint...not a good surgical prospect. We stabilize the fracture, give the bird fluids. and then offer him a rat which he eagerly consumes!

      







  • August 14, 2008
  • No new birds today. Thank goodness!

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