Young Swainson’s Hawk Reunited With Family

After using acetone to remove pitch from the young hawk’s feathers, he was placed in a tree next to the pitch producing pine tree where had come from. You might wonder why we would do that? His parents (in my view) are much better equipped to teach him how to be a successful Swainson’s Hawk than we humans. We could place him in a hack box for two weeks to get him used to being fed in that location and then release him and keep supplying food, but he would not have the benefit of interacting with his parents. 

The Baby Board

Our lives are currently ruled by the baby feeding board. The column on the left lists the birds: House Finch, Barn Swallow, American Robin,Western Kingbird, Say’s Phoebe, another Western Kingbird and Common Raven and what they are fed. Across the top are the feeding times between 7:00 am and 8:30 pm (the days are getting shorter so we no longer feed until 9:00 pm). Each dot represents a time when the corresponding bird is fed. 

Least Chipmunk

These tiny Chipmunks (weighing 22 grams which is less than an ounce) were found in a parking lot on Weston Mountain near Jubilee Lake. Being fully furred with their eyes open, they do not need to be fed formula, but they do seem a little young to be separated from their family. we will do some research to determine when we should return them to Weston Mountain.

More Songbirds

An always hungry Western Kingbird…

And two American Robins…