Earth Day Celebrations
BMW’s Education Team traveled to Columbia Park in Kennewick on Tuesday and Wednesday for Salmon Summit. Area students release the young salmon they have raised in their classrooms and then visit various stations set up in the park. Nearly 400 students learned about raptors at BMW’s station.
On Thursday the team traveled to McNary Dam to celebrate Earth Day with McNary Heights Elementary students. They were surprised at how soft owl feathers are - the better to fly silently!
More Gunshot Birds
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife asked BMW to radiograph an adult Swainson's Hawk that was found dead, hanging in a tree near Walla Walla. The radiograph told a very sad tale. It appears that the hawk was hit by a car, fracturing the metacarpals in the right wing and the tibiotarsus in the right leg. The hawk was then able to fly well enough to get up into a tree near the road. A short time later, she was found dead, hanging in the tree, having been shot. The (round) pellet seen in her left leg had been in her leg long enough for signs of injury to heal, indicating she had recovered from her first gunshot injury.
American Crow 19-104
A Crow was fond in the front yard of a residential neighborhood in Sunnyside, WA, unable to fly. A radiograph showed the Crow had been shot. It’s injuries were not repairable and the bird was humanely euthanized. No matter what ones opinion is of Crows, it is not legal to shoot them in a residential neighborhood.
Great Horned Owl 19-103
Intern Kerry recovers a fledgling Great Horned Owl from anesthesia after its broken leg was splinted. The owlet fledged into a cow pasture. The adult owls tried to protect their adventurous youngster, but they were no match for the angry cows!
