The week started with the admission of 5 baby Barn Owls and an egg which soon became 6 baby owls! There really are 6 owls in the second photo.

Then Tricia and interns Sofie and Sarah helped band 14 Barn Owls. Now all 30 young owls in the giant hack box, formerly Kathy’s Pen, are ready for the door to be opened so they can start exploring and developing their hunting skills.  We will keep feeding them until they disperse, usually around September. 

Tricia opened the Western Screech Owl box to release one more owl. Five screech owls have already been released. She also opened the Great Horned Owl hack box, releasing two owls for a total of three great horned owls owls this year. 

A Common Nighthawk from Ione was admitted this week. Its left wing was badly damaged. Euthanasia was the only humane option.

On a more positive note, we welcomed students from Ione. They had a busy day visiting Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Blue Mountain Wildlife.

We ended the week by by releasing young Red-tailed Hawk 25-102 from a hack box. She wasted no time taking flight after Sarah opened the door! If you look closely at the second photo you can see the band on her right leg. All raptors are banded before release.