The young Golden Eagle admitted in August was returned to its family this past week and an adult Golden eagle was admitted. It was brought to BMW after being struck by a vehicle near Iron Side, Oregon. Iron Side is 160 miles south of Pendleton in a location that some might describe as the middle of nowhere, but it is great country for a Golden Eagle. The eagle had a measurable level of lead in his blood likely from scavenging carrion that had been shot with lead ammunition. The lead was removed with chelation and the eagle has been moved to a large flight pen. We are optimistic he will be ready to go back home in a fairly short period of time.

Great Horned Owl 24-342 was not as lucky with his encounter with a car. His right shoulder was dislocated and right leg was broken. The injuries were too extensive to repair.

Osprey 24-344 was found on the ground, unable to fly near Umatilla. Volunteer Dean captured and transported the bird to Pendleton. An exam revealed a coracoid fracture and some asymmetry in the hips. Alignment was fairly good in the fracture so the wing has been immobilized and the bird given cage rest. It will be a month or so before we know if we might be successful. Now the challenge is to get the bird to eat. Osprey can be challenging to get to eat in captivity.

A call came in regarding some owls nesting in a chimney. There was an insert in the fireplace and the owls were on top of the insert. The only access was on the roof of the house through the chimney. Tricia and I drove to La Grande and spent a couple of hours attempting to remove the owls. We netted two, but knew there were at least two or three more we couldn’t get. The occupant of the house was able to remove 4 more owlets later that day and will bring them to Pendleton. All 6 owlets will be placed in a hack box and allowed to fledge from there. We raised 56 barn owls earlier in the year using this method.