We had a very quiet week at the Pendleton Center which gave us time to work on a 
Get The Lead Out rack card. Scroll down to see both sides of the card…

Another Eagle Lost to Lead

A Bald Eagle was found coated in mud and  unable to fly in a feedlot near Hermiston. The initial exam found no injuries, but the eagle’s blood lead level was 105.7 micrograms/deciliter, a critical amount of lead. We administered IV fluids and the first dose of chelation (to lower the lead level) and then spent an hour bathing the eagle to remove the mud. The eagle died during the night. A rapid Avian Influenza test was negative. ODFW will confirm the eagle did not have influenza with a PCR test.

The eagle’s lethal lead level was likely caused by scavenging on a gut pile from a deer or elk that had been shot with lead ammunition. The hunter would have field dressed the animal, leaving the entrails and the part of the carcass damaged by the bullet. Lead is a relatively soft metal that fragments upon impact. It is also likely that there were lead fragments in the meat that the hunter took home for his/her family to eat. 

There is no safe level of lead. Lead impacts the functioning of various organs, including nerves that effect coordination, decision making and learning. Young children are particularly susceptible to its effects. To protect both wildlife and humans, Hunt Lead Free.

Welcome Casey

We welcomed intern Casey two weeks ago. Casey is from Wisconsin and is a pre-veterinary major at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Dartmouth requires students to take a term off during their junior year in order to explore their interests. At BMW Casey has already had the opportunity to learn some of the aspects of veterinary care of birds and help with the finishing touches of the new Intake Center.

Release of Great Horned Owl 22-422

A Great Horned Owl was found on December 16, 2022 in Baker City, tangled in fishing line and hanging in a tree. Initially the owl had a droopy right wing. Once the swelling went down and he was able to start exercising, he was soon flying perfectly. Since we did not want the owl to re-encounter the fishing line, the decision was made to release him at Ladd March near La Grande. Tricia and Casey made the trip, and Casey released the owl…

The second week in January finally brought the first three admissions of 2023 to the Pendleton Center. Sadly, we were not able to save any of them. Red-tailed Hawk 23-001 was an adult exhibiting symptoms of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, HPAI. We are unable to successfully treat HPAI so the hawk was humanely euthanized. 

We learned this past week that there is a test for HPAI that can be done in-house. The test kits have been ordered and should arrive in the coming week. 

Rock Dove 23-002 had major chest trauma and was also euthanized due to its poor prognosis.

Red-tailed Hawk 23-003 had likely been struck by a vehicle and had a fractured left ulna. The fracture was very close to the wrist joint virtually ensuring that the hawk would not be able to fly well enough to be released. It also was euthanized. It was a very sad beginning for 2023.

New Admissions Center Update

The news is much more positive for the new Admissions Center. An old mew that had been empty  since the new Education Building was completed was dismantled so its walls, chain link fence panels, could be repurposed.

We picked the least windiest day of the week and finally got the pen apart with no injuries to humans or the fence panels! The panels will be reassembled around the new Admissions Center. Good job deconstruction crew: Winnie, Samantha, Tricia and intern Casey!

BMW’s Education Birds Will Soon Be On Youtube!!!

We are a step closer to being able to view the Education Birds on Youtube. Volunteers Ken and Kirsti (BMW’s Treasurer) Strandberg visited from Portland, bringing a new computer, monitor and more cameras. There are now 11 cameras that can be used to view birds in a variety of locations. Now we need to work the kinks out of the system and learn how to best utilize it. Thank you Ken and Kirsti for all your work!

Although no birds were admitted to BMW’s Pendleton center this past week, it was an eventful time. On Tuesday, Dakota Castets-Didier of the East Oregonian visited BMW to see the new Intake complex consisting of Admission, Triage and Quarantine buildings that will allow new birds to be safely screened for avian influenza or other infectious diseases before being admitted the main clinic. His article can be seen on the front page of Saturday’s EO.

Then BMW President Carl Scheeler and I met with Ryan of Pendleton Outfitters to record a podcast. It will be posted on BMW’s website as soon as it is available, probably in a month or two.

Max Hughes of KNDU’s NonstopLocal visited BMW on Wednesday to learn what BMW is doing to safely rehabilitate birds during the current outbreak of avian influenza. If you click the KNDU link above you can see the story. 

Max had never seen a turkey Vulture before. Daryl was very happy to give him a closeup view in return for some tasty tidbits.

Annual Blue Mountain Wildlife Membership Meeting

Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting. It will be held via Zoom on January 14  at 11:00 am. The link is posted on BMW’s website: https://bluemountainwildlife.org/ We will look back on 2022 and ahead at some of the possibilities in 2023. I hope to see you there!

Barn Owls Helen and Carmen Think it’s Spring!!!

They have laid 10 eggs in the last two weeks…

Thank you to everyone who helped make Blue Mountain Wildlife’s year-end fundraising such an over whelming success. You raised just shy of $80,000 in December. That is more than one-third of BMW’s annual operating budget and puts us in an excellent position to deal with the opportunities and challenges of the new year. You have helped create an organization that is valued throughout eastern Oregon and eastern Washington by members of the public who find wildlife n need of care. Words do not adequately express how grateful I am for your ongoing support. 

Bald Eagle 22-424

 We could not save a Bald Eagle that came from Enterprise, Oregon this past week. He died of lead poisoning. Raptors, and other wildlife who scavenge, are secondarily poisoned when they feed on gut piles or carcasses of animals that have been shot with lead ammunition. 

The x-ray below shows two small pieces of lead in the eagles gut. The eagle’s blood tested ”high” which means the lead was above 66 micrograms/deciliter. Ten micrograms per deciliter is considered a toxic level of lead. We know lead is toxic and there is no safe level of lead in our food. I understand there are significant costs in switching from lead to nonlead ammunition, but the cost of not switching is even higher. For information about nonlead alternatives visit Hunting with Nonlead.

 Wishing Everyone Peace and Purpose 

 And This Much Happiness in 2023

Annual Blue Mountain Wildlife Membership Meeting

Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting. It will be held via Zoom on January 14, 2023 at 11:00 am. The link will be posted one week prior to that date on BMW’s website.