We started the week with three Barn Owls suffering from metabolic bone disease, a gunshot Swainson’s Hawk and a Great Gray Owl who had been struck by a vehicle. The week ended on a high note with the banding of 7 American Kestrels and the release of a Swainson’s Hawk. 

Three Barn Owls were admitted who had been fed chicken for several days resulting in metabolic bone disease from a lack calcium in their diet.  Barn Owls 26-185 and 26-186 had multiple fractures and were euthanized. The damage to Barn Owl 26-187 is more subtle. He is being fed whole mice and supplemented with calcium. I am not very optimistic that we will be successful, but we are trying. Below are x-rays of the three owls.

An x-ray left no doubt that Swainson’s Hawk 26-189 had been shot. The damage to the right tibiotarsus was too extensive to repair and the hawk was euthanized.

Great Gray Owl 26-193 was found in a road near Wallowa. She has a head injury, but seems to be feeling much better after a few days of supportive care. The vision in her right eye needs to be more fully evaluated, but she is eating 9 or 10 mice per day, so has a good appetite!

Seven American Kestrels were banded and moved outside to a hack site. They will soon be released.

The week ended with the release of Swainson’s Hawk 25-443 who had been over-wintered because of her poor feather condition at the time of admission. We suspect her feathers were damaged by shotgun pellets. This spring she molted most of the broken feathers. The new feathers were not completely grown in, but her flight ability was much improved. She will be ready to migrate to Argentina this fall with a full complement of feathers.

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.

Its been another busy week. The current baby count is 1 Swainson’s Hawk, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 7 American Kestrels, 3 Great Horned Owls and 33 Barn Owls. The rapidly growing youngsters are eating about 300 mice per day as of Sunday. The older Barn Owls have leveled off at 4 or 5 mice per day while the Red-tailed Hawks and Great Horned Owls are each eating 10 mice. Earlier in the year I took advantage of a rodent sale and purchased 10,000 mice. I’m down to the last few hundred and will need to order more this week.

Fortunately, most of the birds are eating on their own, with little encouragement needed. The kestrels need their mice cut into bite-sized pieces.  Almost everyone else can swallow them whole!

This newsletter will be short and sweet so I can start prepping food for the evening meal!

Its always gratifying to release birds. This week intern Sophie released Great Horned Owl 26-062.

Intern Mary released Barn Owl 26-066.

And volunteers Kenny and Janie released American Kestrel 26-099.

Swainson’s Hawk 26-064 was also released near Heppner.

The Education Team was busy this past week. Three classes of third graders visited from La Grande on Thursday and grade school students from Under The Sun School in Pendleton were here Wednesday. 

Five more Barn Owls were admitted after the haystack, along with their nest, was moved. The owlets were a little dehydrated, but otherwise in good condition. After being rehydrated they will join 25 more Barn Owls at the Barn Owl hack site. In the photo below, interns Mary and Sophie use a gavage tube to give one of the Barn Owls oral fluids.

Mary returned to school at Brigham Young University – Idaho shortly after the photo was taken to finish her last term of study where she is majoring in Fisheries, Range and Wildlife Management. BMW is very fortunate to have interns like Mary and Sophie working and learning at the center.                         

For the second year we have admitted a nestling Swainson’s Hawk with Black Fly Larva in it’s ears. Swainson’s Hawk 26-103 came from Baker City. Tricia pulled 16 larvae from its ears initially and one more the next day. We will keep checking its ears until there are no signs of unwanted guests!

Young Great Horned Owl 26-106 was admitted on Sunday after his nest tree was cut down. He has a few scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones. We will give fluids and anti-inflammatories for a few days and then place him with another young Great Horned Owl who is already at the hack site. The door to the hack box will be opened in about a week. The owlets will fledge in another week or so. We will continue to provide food into the fall. By then, the owls will be self-sufficient. Below, interns Mary and Sophie are anesthetizing the owl prior to his exam.

Meanwhile, volunteers Kenny and Janie were busy rescuing two broods of ducklings ( 5 in one brood, 11 in the other brood) and their mommas from city streets. All were safely released at McNary Wildlife Refuge.

On Thursday, Tricia and I and Gyrfalcon/Peregrine Falcon hybrid Rainy attended the Pendleton Bird Club meeting. Then, Saturday afternoon we provided a display and program at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Rainy is perched in front of the salmon wall at TCI

Below is one of the five Western Screech Owls who have fledged from the Screech Owl hack box. He’s trying to look grown up!