Bald Eagle 17-202 Release
Eleven-and-a-half weeks after being injured, an adult Bald Eagle returned home. The eagle was found near Lake Chelan in central Washington. His left elbow was dislocated. Initially, there was little hope that he would be releasable. Fortunately, the eagle had other ideas.
Goodbye Hilary
Just before returning to Vet Tech School at Portland Community College, intern Hilary released Great Horned Owl 17-427. He had tangled with a barbed-wire fence one month earlier. Thank you for all your help Hilary. We wish you the very best!
Barn Swallow 17-504
A fledgling Barn Swallow was found in McNary, OR unable to fly. An exam revealed that the five outer primary feathers on both wings had grown in backwards. It must have been a congenital defect.
Thank You To A Future Ornithologist
When Ian turned 9 years old, rather than receiving gifts, he asked his friends to make a donation to Blue Mountain Wildlife. Ian and his mother delivered his gift to the birds this past week. What an amazing young man!
Another Special Visitor
Tasha interned at BMW in 2010. She stopped by for a visit on her way to watch the eclipse with relatives in Fossil. We were busy and quickly put her to work! Tasha is now a high school teacher. This year she’s teaching biology and astronomy. She’s going to have some great stories and photos to share with her students, including a picture of our medication dosage chart - calculating dosages is a practical use of those math skills! Way to go Tasha! Your students are very lucky.
More Visitors
BMW was a busy place this past week. Volunteer Garrett from Kennewick and a group from the Water and Environmental Center at Walla Walla Community College poured the footings for a new songbird/small raptor/bat flight pen. The WWCC volunteers brought a car-load of supplies as well.Thank you all! Can’t wait to get the new pen up and running.
Swainson’s Hawk 17-494
This was the week for bizarre admissions. A fledgling Swainson’s Hawk was found in a corn field. The details were a bit fuzzy, but the hawk seems to have tangled with the machine that harvests the corn. It is missing all of the primary feathers on the left wing, and most of the secondary feathers on that wing. No wonder he can’t fly!
