The smoke has cleared leaving blue skies again. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 80’s for a few days and we are taking advantage of the cooler weather. A young Cliff Swallow was released Saturday morning.

The Songbird Pen currently houses 3 American Robins, a Brewers Blackbird and a Ring-necked Pheasant. All seem to be flying well and are ready to be evaluated for release. 

A young Barn Owl was admitted that had fallen from a nest. It had so many broken bones it was hard to differentiate between fractures caused by the fall, and those that were the result of metabolic bone disease, a condition resulting from the young, growing owlet trying to grow his body and simultaneously heal fractured bones. He couldn’t consume enough rodents to meet his extremely high calcium needs. Euthanasia was the only humane option.

Lindsay and Cody were back this weekend to clean cages and scrape towels. It is so nice to start the week with a clean clinic.

Four young Swainson’s Hawks were moved into a hack box today (Sunday). Five more will be banded and moved out to a hack box tomorrow. 

Thursday the air was filled with smoke from all the wild fires. The Coombs Canyon fire reached the field across the road from BMW’s Great Horned Owl hack site. The owls have fledged, but are still coming back for food as they perfect their hunting skills.