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free bird!
Sep. 8th, 2019 12:04 amToday I caught a Great Horned Owl, weighed it, and held it for assessment, vitamins, and coping its beak and talons. So that was a long session. There were three birds in the enclosure, and two of them needed coping, so it was really long. The whole time, I was thinking, if I get stung by a yellow jacket while I am holding a bird,
1. Do not release the bird.
2. Do not tighten your grasp on the bird.
3. Ask someone to brush the yellow jacket off you.
Did not get stung! even while I was putting food in the hack box and on the platform, where a lot of yellow jackets were looking for dinner.
Great Horned parents keep feeding their young ones until late fall, even when they are fully fledged and hunting for themselves. They don't stop until they are starting to prepare for their next clutch of eggs. So when we raise orphaned Great Horneds, we do a "soft release": we release them on our property and put food up on a platform, so they won't starve while they practice their hunting skills. We raise the platform high above the roof of the flight enclosure, because we're not there to feed raccoons, but the yellow jackets always come for dinner.
I also got to hold a Swainson's Hawk that was going to be released today. Swainson's Hawks gather in large groups called "kettles" at the end of summer, in order to go together on their migration to Argentina. The young birds have to learn the way, so we have to find a group for them to join. I didn't go to the release, I just put the Swainson's Hawk in a box, because my husband and I got to take a barn owl to release in his barn.
She was one of this year's orphans, so she had never flown in open air before, but she was ready. She flew up to the top of the haystack, then up to the rafters, and spent a few minutes just looking around; then she flew out one of the open stall doors. We saw her land in one of the cottonwoods down by the creek. I hope she makes it!
1. Do not release the bird.
2. Do not tighten your grasp on the bird.
3. Ask someone to brush the yellow jacket off you.
Did not get stung! even while I was putting food in the hack box and on the platform, where a lot of yellow jackets were looking for dinner.
Great Horned parents keep feeding their young ones until late fall, even when they are fully fledged and hunting for themselves. They don't stop until they are starting to prepare for their next clutch of eggs. So when we raise orphaned Great Horneds, we do a "soft release": we release them on our property and put food up on a platform, so they won't starve while they practice their hunting skills. We raise the platform high above the roof of the flight enclosure, because we're not there to feed raccoons, but the yellow jackets always come for dinner.
I also got to hold a Swainson's Hawk that was going to be released today. Swainson's Hawks gather in large groups called "kettles" at the end of summer, in order to go together on their migration to Argentina. The young birds have to learn the way, so we have to find a group for them to join. I didn't go to the release, I just put the Swainson's Hawk in a box, because my husband and I got to take a barn owl to release in his barn.
She was one of this year's orphans, so she had never flown in open air before, but she was ready. She flew up to the top of the haystack, then up to the rafters, and spent a few minutes just looking around; then she flew out one of the open stall doors. We saw her land in one of the cottonwoods down by the creek. I hope she makes it!
