Red-tailed Hawk 25-311 was found at a construction site near Boardman. The hawk had collided with something, fracturing his left humerus and damaging the left hip. Euthanasia was the only humane option.

After a finder called and reported a Great Blue Heron was tangled in fishing tackle along the Umatilla River, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists captured the Heron and brought him to the clinic. We removed the fishing line and noted swelling and bruising at the elbow. Radiographs showed the Heron had an arthritic right hip. It must have been quite painful for the bird to walk, making it difficult to forage for food and explaining why he was so thin. Again, euthanasia was the most humane option.

Fledgling Cooper’s Hawk 25-322 was also unlucky. His left tibiotarsus was fractured. The fracture could not be adequately stabilized and the hawk was euthanized

Fortunately there were some positive moments this past week. Twelve young American Kestrels and a Great Horned Owl were banded and moved to their respective hack sites this week in preparation for their release.

On Monday, Winnie released female Swainson’s Hawk 25-301 south of Madras, near where she had been found. As soon as the hawk was up in the air she was joined by two other hawks who were no doubt her offspring. It was a wonderful family family reunion!

No Sooner was the adult Swainson’s Hawk reunited with her family than a nestling Swainson’s was admitted. It was only two or three days old and had multiple black fly larvae in each ear. Tricia spent three days removing the larvae. The little guy is feeling much better!

It has been a challenging week with baby Season shifting into high gear. Most of the nestlings admitted were too badly injured to save after falling from their nests. Two of the five eggs admitted with the Say’s Phoebe last week have hatched. The two hatchlings each weigh about 2 grams. Very tiny birds in a tiny nest!

A fledgling American Crow who was found on the ground at Heritage Station in Pendleton in early June, has gained weight, learned how to fly and to forage for food. It will be returned to its family this coming week. Crows, members of the corvid family, are intelligent birds and very good scavengers. They will pick up discarded food, like french fries, and feed it to their babies. The fast growing young birds can quickly become malnourished. Properly discard left over food, unless you have an extra mouse or grasshopper to share!   

A fledgling Long-eared Owl was stunned and his siblings killed when their nest tree was blown down. We are hoping to find another Long-eared Owl family to foster him into. He is eating whole mice on his own and learning to fly.

An adult Swainson’s Hawk was found in the middle of the road near Madras, OR. The finders picked up the bird and continued on their way to Washington, stopping along the way to leave the hawk at an Oregon rehabilitation center. The hawk must have been stunned from being struck by a vehicle as we could find no injuries. We did find a brood patch, indicating she was likely out hunting for food to feed her young, when she was struck. She passed her flight test with flying colors, so the plan is to return her to the Madras area on Monday.

News flash! Just as the newsletter was “going to press,” a third Says Phoebe egg hatched!

If you want to reduce flying insects in an outside area, please make sure you use a device that is meant to be used outdoors. Flypaper is meant to be used indoors. If hung outdoors it may also catch small birds. That is what happened to the flycatcher below who has no tail feathers. It lost all its tail feathers when they came in contact with flypaper that had been hung outside. It cannot fly properly without tail feathers. We will need to keep the little bird until it regrows the tail feathers which will take 2 or 3 weeks.

We welcomed intern Sadie this past week. She is a pre-veterinary student from Colorado. She and intern Thomas have quickly become a great team. They are keeping busy with new admissions, treatments…

And baby feedings…

Although the young Great Horned Owls at the hack site are flying well, they still remember to show up dinner…

Thank you to all who have donated needed supplies or funds to purchase mice. They are appreciated very much. We are still feeding nearly 400 mice each day.

Below is a photo of Rainy, a gyrfalcon/peregrine falcon hybrid and the newest member of the Education Team, enjoying her dinner of quail…

I often say interaction with Cars, Cats and Windows are the top three reasons wildlife are admitted. This past week, Chimneys without spark arrestors or caps featured prominently. 

But first, some updates….

The American Kestrels admitted May 30th have grown a lot and are eating off a plate. The photo below was taken on June 2nd.

Six days later they look like this… They are saying “Feed Me!!!”

The Great Horned Owls who fledged at the hack site are exploring…

And have adult supervision by an owl who nested nearby…

Tricia and intern Thomas released the Chukar who was admitted with multiple injuries from being mauled by a cat.

Then Tricia traveled to La Grande to return a fledgling American Crow to its family and release a Bald Eagle at Ladd Marsh. The eagle had been found near Wallowa in April with multiple bruises and unable to fly. She wasted no time in flying out across the marsh.

Five Barn Owls were removed from a fireplace south of Pendleton and placed in a box in a nearby tree where they could safely fledge. The owlets were being well cared for by their parents who could enter and exit the chimney. Unfortunately, the young owls didn’t have the necessary skills to exit the nest.

The chimney was not immediately capped and 3 more owlets were removed from the fire place the next night and brought to BMW. After a checkup, fluids and some dinner, they were returned to the cemetery and placed in the box which was empty as the previous owls had fledged.

On Saturday, Thomas and I responded to a call about more Barn Owls in a chimney on a farm east of Pendleton. This situation was a little trickier. There was a dog-leg in the chimney. Five  owlets were about two-thirds of the way down the chimney on a ledge. We could see the center of the ledge from the top of the chimney, but the owlets could move to either side out of view. After nearly two hours effort we were able to get one owlet out of the chimney when it grabbed the net Thomas had lowered into the chimney on a long pole. 

We took a break to regroup and rehydrate and returned to the farm a few hours later. By this time The Chimney Guy had arrived to clean the chimney. He pulled the wood stove out of the fireplace. It took another two hours, but with his help, we were able to get the other four owls out of the chimney. Thomas snagged one from the top. The Chimney Guy used his amazingly powerful shop vacuum to dislodge creosote and eventually three more owlets were removed from the chimney. Unfortunately, one of the owlets was dead. The owls will be hacked at BMW bringing the total to 63 Barn Owls. Donations for mice are appreciated.

The house had been occupied for 41 years and the chimney had never been cleaned. It was a miracle that the house had not burned down. If you use a fireplace, have it and the chimney cleaned once a year. Also, please place a spark arrestor or cap on the chimney. It will prevent animals, debris or rain from entering the chimney and sparks from exiting the chimney and starting a fire. 

That is the common refrain at BMW these days.

The most vocal babies are the 4 nestling American Kestrels. When full grown they will weigh 3 to 4 ounces (100-120 grams) and be fierce predators. Small rodents and grasshoppers beware!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I’m sure Momma Barn Owl thinks these 5 owlets are beautiful. Once they grow feathers, they will indeed be beautiful. And, yes, there are 5 owlets in the photo below. The arrow points to the youngest of the quintuplets. It hatched on Saturday and is tucked under its older sibling’s head. 

Below is number five in the incubator just after it hatched. 

Number 6 is in the process of hatching. Its beak is chipping away at the shell.

The cutest baby award has to go to the 5 tiny Least Chipmunks whose home was destroyed when some brush and trees were removed near Haines, OR. They weighed just 12 grams each, less than 1/2 ounce, when admitted. Their eyes are open and they are completely furred which means they were on the cusp of being weaned. Hopefully we will be able to return them to Haines within the next month.  

Three classes of La Grande second graders traveled to BMW on Thursday. After walking through the Rescue foot bath to protect the Education Birds from avian influenza, they played the Migration Game, dissected owl pellets and learned about hawks, owls, eagles and vultures.

We also welcomed intern Thomas. He is a pre veterinary student planning on specializing in wildlife medicine. He has quickly become a valued member of the BMW team. Below he is helping Tricia give fluids to a fledgling Great Horned Owl. He also helped Winnie with the migration game.

His hair and beard are a downy Barn Owl fluff magnet!

BMW president and treasurer, Ken and Kirsti visited again from Portland, helping with spring cleanup and tractor maintenance. Kirsti also took lots of photos, including of Ken giving me a quick refresher in tractor driving. I haven’t done much of that since my college days! Thank you Ken and Kirsti for all your help over the weekend.