This week I had the interesting experience of helping clear out the kitchen so that the new floors could be installed. That meant moving EVERYTHING. I didn't have to move much of the heavy stuff, thankfully (My allergies started giving me issues with all of the dust flying around.) Not sure I would have been much help really, with all of my injuries acting up. Ick. Here's what the room looked like once it was basically cleared out.
I can't help but wonder how all of the animals inside faired during the construction. It must have been awfully noisy, but it was definitely something that needed to happen. Our floors were looking pretty bad in there. I can't wait to see the progress when I go back next Thursday.
On another note, Athena not only laid her first egg, but is now up to two!
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I actually wasn't feeling so great when I got to the wildlife center today. I was especially tired, and lacking in energy. Perhaps it was just my luck that one of my fellow volunteers was already there when I arrived cleaning flights along with one of the staff, and we were pretty far ahead. As a result I actually ended up doing things inside the clinic for the first part of my shift, which was fine by me as it gave me some time to bolster my energy reserves. I cleaned a few cages, prepared some food, and basically did little odd jobs wherever I could manage. I only did a small amount of outside work while I was there (All eagles, since the other volunteer was too young to do them.)
Later in the evening I helped catch and medicate a few birds. This can be kind of tricky depending on the bird. I generally only do smaller raptors, and birds. Not sure I could tackle an eagle to be honest. Anything much larger than a Great Horned owl, and I'm betting the bird is probably stronger than I am. They may be light, but they're all muscle and fight, and boy will they fight. If only they knew we were trying to help.
In any case, in my experience with capturing and medicating birds, I've found that the smaller the bird, the harder they are to catch. Even in the small enclosures in the bird room, they can easily slip past you. Today I captured a crow, and a red-winged black bird for medicating. The crow was the easier of the two. I was able to swoop in there with a towel, and scoop it up easily. It was the black bird that gave me trouble.
I knew that blackbird was going to make a run for it. I could just feel it in the way he eyed me, as he shifted nervously back and forth on his perch. I'm a relatively inexperienced bird wrangler, so It's possible I didn't stand a chance. The bird was faster then I was, and was out before I knew it. From there on it was a whole lot of herding him into the med room, where we could close him off in a smaller, less distracting space, and capture him more easily. Even once we had him he still put up a fight.
Blackbirds have long, thin, and surprisingly sharp little beaks. Not to mention they're pretty darn good at keeping them closed. It definitely takes a bit of maneuvering, and a lot of patience to get them to open up so that you can get in there with the medicine. I have to say, doves are much, much easier to work with.
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Later in the evening, around the time when I wandered outside to clean the eagle flights, I found some time to take pictures. I had been so focused for the most of the day that I hadn't really even thought about it until I was outside. I don't have a ton of pictures this time around but here are some of my favorites. We'll start with our education animals.
I actually took quite a few nice pictures of Hanble Okinyan. These were a few of my favorites of the bunch.
I visited Nanjiska as well, who is still a staff only bird. I can't enter his flight, as I'm only a volunteer, but my camera can take pictures through the netting fairly well.
I'sta, also posed prettily for me. I love taking shots of her up close.
Scout to decided to be social today as well. He's always so interested in people that happen by his run. Interestingly enough, he will try to reach through the fence to get to the closest part of you, and withdraw his paw to sniff it. Raccoons have some interesting habits.
Here's Cano, being the gorgeous bird he is. He's always so photogenic, even when he's unhappy. I've found that I feel like Great horned owls are the most expressive species, in my opinion. It's a mixture of those eyes, and their versatile ear tufts.
And lastly, as far as our educational animals go, sweet little Atka. She's especially mellow in comparison to most of the Saw-Whet's I've come into contact with. She seems perfectly content to sit and watch anyone who happens by.
Our visiting Wild Ones
Earlier in the day myself and another volunteer were charged with going outside an attempting to feed the gulls. Feeding isn't generally difficult. The big problem this time around was that our gulls were inhabiting the same habitat as a particularly daring Cormorant, who also happened to be bottomless pit. Our goal was to strategically place fish around the enclosure, all while trying to keep mr. Cormorant from eating absolutely all of it himself. My lead was mainly concerned that he was hogging everything, and the gulls weren't getting their fair share of silversides. I can definitely say that, that particular Cormorant is a very good eater. I'm pretty sure he managed to consume more fish then the two gulls combined in the time that we were out there.
As an interesting aside, Cormorants, like the one we were working with do not waterproof their feathers. A general bird's lung system is unique in the fact that, instead of filling and emptying a couple of sacks (In other words, lungs like we humans possess), then emptying them back out again, and leaving a smidge of air behind when breathing out, A bird's lung system is comprised of a series of sacks spread throughout their body, in addition to their lungs. As you can see in this diagram.
The air sack allows an unidirectional flow of air through their respiratory system. As a result, this provides the bird with a steadier supply of "fresh" air, which has a higher oxygen content than mammals. The air we humans breathe is mixed with older, less oxygenated air left over in our lungs.
The placement of the sacks throughout the birds body, coupled with some pneumatic bones, (the largest of which being the humerus), also helps promote buoyancy; something that is extremely useful to water fairing birds like the Cormorant. That's not to say that it isn't without it's disadvantages. Being so light and buoyant makes it hard to sink under the surface of the water, or dive for fish. Different birds adapt to the issue in different ways. Our Cormorant's means of adaptation is not to waterproof his feathers. As the feathers become damp and waterlogged, the Cormorant is better able to dive under the waters surface to retrieve fish. This is also the reason that you will often see a Cormorant standing in the sun, with it's wings outspread to dry.
I think Cormorants are pretty darn cool, but my goodness do they poop. Their poop is messy and stinky, as you may remember from one of my previous blogs where I got to clean up after this very Cormorant. I'm also proud to say that the Cormorant has since been released back into the wild, and I wish him a long happy life.
Here he is sunning his wings after a dip in the pool.
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I also cleaned the flight of a young Cooper's Hawk staying with us until he is ready to leave.
This little guy is still a juvenile. When he get's older the feathers on his belly will look more like the tawny, cryptic patterns on his legs. He's a bit wet in this picture, as it had been raining for most of the day. He's looking, and flying pretty good, so I'm hoping he'll find his way back out into the wild again soon.
We also see quite a few varieties of dove come through the clinic. These are both Rock Doves, who are enjoying their time in one of the outdoor flights for awhile until they are able to be released.
That's really all I have to say for this weeks adventure. Pretty soon here I may be able to report quite a bit more, as with baby season fast on approach, I'll probably be spending more time at the wildlife center.
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