Spring started with a record breaking 56 baby Barn Owls. Swainson’s Hawks are fledging now and finding ways to get into trouble. The first Swainson’s admitted this past week was electrocuted when he landed on a power line and touched another line with his right wing. The damage to his wing and both feet was not repairable and the hawk was euthanized. The second young Swainson’s apparently tried to cool off in a water trough and nearly drowned. He seems fine and will be hacked out with 9 other Swainson’s. 

A nestling Barn Swallow fell from its nest in a barn. The nest was too high to access and the swallow now has a new nest. Tricia is feeding it every 30 minutes from 7 am to 8:30 pm. The hungry aerial insectivore will take one squirt of formula (from a syringe), one squirt of saline and 4 mealworms each feeding. Tricia eagerly awaits the arrival of our next intern Monday afternoon!

The wildflower seeds that Tricia and intern Harini planted have grown into a beautiful wildflower garden.

The smoke has cleared leaving blue skies again. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 80’s for a few days and we are taking advantage of the cooler weather. A young Cliff Swallow was released Saturday morning.

The Songbird Pen currently houses 3 American Robins, a Brewers Blackbird and a Ring-necked Pheasant. All seem to be flying well and are ready to be evaluated for release. 

A young Barn Owl was admitted that had fallen from a nest. It had so many broken bones it was hard to differentiate between fractures caused by the fall, and those that were the result of metabolic bone disease, a condition resulting from the young, growing owlet trying to grow his body and simultaneously heal fractured bones. He couldn’t consume enough rodents to meet his extremely high calcium needs. Euthanasia was the only humane option.

Lindsay and Cody were back this weekend to clean cages and scrape towels. It is so nice to start the week with a clean clinic.

Four young Swainson’s Hawks were moved into a hack box today (Sunday). Five more will be banded and moved out to a hack box tomorrow. 

Thursday the air was filled with smoke from all the wild fires. The Coombs Canyon fire reached the field across the road from BMW’s Great Horned Owl hack site. The owls have fledged, but are still coming back for food as they perfect their hunting skills.

The clinic population of young Swainson’s Hawks increased to 8 this past week, mainly due to the continuing high temperatures. The forecast is for a dip into the 80’s on Thursday and Friday and then a gradual climb back to triple digits by next week. Below is a photo of the youngest Swainson’s. He is looking much better today. He fell about 80 feet from a nest. 

The most heart-wrenching case this week was a fledgling Golden Eagle. She was likely struck by a vehicle, fracturing her right leg just above the foot. There was no way to repair the black, exposed bone and she was euthanized. 

Thank you to volunteers Ken, Kirsti, Lindsey and Cody who helped this past week. Ken and Kirsti are working on a very exciting project that will include the installation of cameras in the Education Building, the flight pens and the clinic, allowing you to see what happens on a daily basis at BMW via videos posted on YouTube. Once the internet connection is upgraded you will be able to watch all these activities as they unfold. Exciting times at BMW!

Lindsey and Cody helped by doing some deconstruction on a flight pen that is being converted to a storage shed for lawn mowers and other equipment. They also helped by scraping towels, not a glamorous job, but very important. All the rehab cages have towels in them which get a liberal dose of mutes, aka bird poop, when the cage is in use. The washing machine is a lot happier when the mutes are removed before washing. 

We have been keeping a watchful eye on area fires. The Coombs Canyon Fire, the closest to BMW, is at 95% containment. Kirsti took the photo below on Friday evening…

Ways You Can Help This Week

If you have a couple of hours to spare this week, and would like to help, please call the clinic, 541-278-0215. There will be cages to clean inside and towels to scrape outside, as well as another shed to repurpose. You can also forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested in helping out. Thank you in advance!

The moon was full this past weekend and Kirsti took this amazing photo…

Triple digit temperatures were a factor in many of the 21 new admissions this past week. Young birds leave the nest prematurely in an attempt to escape the heat, or the heat makes it difficult for their parents to find enough food and the hungry babies end up on the ground. 

The clinic residents currently include 5 young Swainson’s Hawks…

5 young American Kestrels…

Two sibling Bald Eagles, a petit male and his (much) bigger sister. The female is thin, but the male is quite emaciated. He seems to be responding well to supportive care.

And two young Cliff Swallows…

Most will be moved outside to flight pens or hack boxes in the coming week.

The fire was a little too close on the Fourth of July. It started about dusk in a field just south of the wildlife center. Fortunately there was a quick response to a 911 call and the fire was quickly put out. The fire came very close to the Education Building!

The next day we admitted a starving fledgling Golden Eagle. The young bird was more than 50% underweight at 1.85 kg. That is 4 pounds. The average weight for a male golden eagle is 3.9 kg or 8.6 pounds. The eagle had no apparent injuries. Perhaps something had happened to one of his parents. Although we tried, we were not able to save him. 

The next day five more nestling American Kestrels were admitted after their nest was destroyed. They have quickly learned to eat off a plate.

The nestling Swainson’s Hawk admitted last week is growing rapidly.