Daily temperatures are hovering around 100 these days, so I guess I shouldn’t refer to them as extreme, but rather typical July temperatures. We are rotating several sprinklers in and around the various flight pens and mews to provide some evaporative cooling for the birds.

Thursday was release day: one Scrub Jay was returned to Hermiston.

Samantha released one House Finch in Milton-Freewater while Tricia and I released four House Finches at McNary Wildlife Refuge. 

Admissions were varied, although did not include a Varied Thrush. Most were youngsters, about ready to fledge, including a Say’s Phoebe:

A Downy Woodpecker with a head injury who is improving and able to “find” mealworms in a dish, and eventually dispatch and eat them, with a little help:

A Cassin’s Finch with the ubiquitous “finch eye” which we are treating with topical and systemic medications. We rarely see a Cassin’s Finch.  They are larger than a House Finch and found in higher mountainous regions where people don’t tend to be.

And a young Swainson’s Hawk with pitch on his feathers. Acetone seems to be fairly effective at removing the pitch. I think he will be ready to return to his family after one more session of feather cleaning.

We also had human visitors this past week. A group from the Tribal Summer Youth Program…

And young bird watchers from Robin’s Daycare…

Can You Find the Owl?

We have released five young Western Screech Owls at a hack site just down the road from the wildlife center. They are still roosting in nearby trees and returning for food as they perfect their hunting skills. Can you find the owl who was watching Tricia as she placed mice on top of the hack box this past week? 

We are in for an extended hot spell. If you can turn on a sprinkler in an out of the way corner of your yard and provide a shallow bath pan, the birds will appreciate it. During the heat dome of 2021, when the temperature reached 117 degrees, even Great Horned Owl Sage appreciated a sprinkler…