Thursday was so jam-packed I don't even know where to begin! I had a few firsts today, met at least one personal goal, and in general I had a blast! So much happened in the later part of the day, that I barely remember the cleaning I did early on; and I did at least four straight hours of it. I guess I'll start from the beginning.
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Right of the bat things were entertaining. When I arrived, and dropped off my things in the lounge everybody seemed to be inside, talking and laughing. Definitely a great way to start off the day. Soon after that, I was on to the cleaning. A lot had already been done before I'd gotten there.
Although Iya had already been cleaned I made it a point to stop by and visit her. Once again, I found myself with an owl in my face. I'm loving how friendly she's been lately. She glided down to the netting, and twittered until I got in the flight. After a couple quick pictures I took a look around, since I was in there. I was ecstatic to find she'd dropped a gorgeous leading feather from her left wing. It was practically perfect. Way to go Iya! Thanks for the gift! The feather went inside the clinic, to the designated feather bucket, but not before I got some pictures of it. 
I have to say, I really look forward to seeing her now. She's one of those birds that is always surprising me. One day she'll be tucked up in a corner snoozing, the next she'll be down around the feeding tray, poking around. I love that she chooses to come down and investigate me when I show up, and that she doesn't mind me and my camera. Though if she keeps this up, I'm going to run out of ways to photograph her.
If I had to pick an owl species as a favorite based solely on what I've studied, as opposed to what I've experienced, I'd probably choose Burrowing owls. They're kind of the odd one out in the owl world, but in a good way. Iya has really made me fall in love with barn owls though, and I find that I can't wait to go see her when I get to the center. Even if it's just to say good morning, and get a twitter back.
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Since so much had been done of my general routine, I was happy to realize that I'd have the opportunity to clean some of the areas that I generally don't end up doing, usually because someone else has arrived and started it themselves. I headed into the building that now houses Chezmu, our Virginia Opossum.
I was surprised to find him just barely covered in blankets. Usually he's made himself a little nest and buried himself deep inside it. Today though, he perked right up when he heard me enter, and started poking his head out curiously.
I'm often surprised by the people I talk to about Opossums. I've always really liked the little guys. It seems though, that several people I know, or have met in passing actually seem to think they're vicious. I don't think I've encountered a vicious Opossum yet. They're really good at growling, and drooling, but when it's come down to it, and I've had to handle them, they generally end up stiff as boards. (And still drooling.) I can't say I've even had one try to bite or scratch me. Maybe that's why I'm always so caught off guard when I hear people talk about them in a negative light. The same goes for crows.
Today we had a middle-aged women, and a much older lady whom I believe was her mother, arrive at the center. The older lady was a huge fan of eagles, and that ecstatic for the opportunity to see one. Luckily enough for her, Askate was sitting right at the front of her flight.
When I bumped into them later, over by the crows, the younger women had begun a conversation about how she found them annoying, citing how they would caw in the mornings and wake her up. I'm always a little sad when people don't realize how special they are. I went on to explain how crows were actually very intelligent birds, and one of the few species that displayed definitive problem solving skills. Take a look at this article on Corvids. It's easy to understand, and show just how awesome they are.
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Everyone was acting peculiar today it seems. I stopped by I'sta and Lil D's flight to clean. At first nothing seemed unusual, but then as I progressed through the flight I'sta started squawking. I think this is the first time I've heard her legitimately make noise that wasn't the result of being startled by myself or Lil D. Sure enough though, she kept it up through the majority of my time in the flight. Not only that, but Lil D seemed to be more adventurous then usual and would inch closer when I wasn't paying attention. As soon as I noticed her she'd think better of the situation and scramble back to a perch, but it's behavior I hadn't noticed her partake in before. 
I also caught Tadita away from her usual perches, and as opposed to choosing to flee back to the top of her flight, she decided to stay put and mantle. Maybe she had some food cached from the night before that she felt the need to protect, but it was too early for it to have been anything fresh. One of these days I'm going to find a way to look up on the feeding tray (It's 6 or 7 feet off the ground. Just a wee bit high for me to reach), and just make sure there's nothing that's been up there for too long. Her flight is always just a little too clean. It's kind of suspicious if you ask me. She's got to have a stash somewhere. 
I believe I've mentioned in the past how I've segregated the flights in my mind; dividing them between easy to clean, and oh my god did your quail explode last night. The worst offenders are definitely the quail eaters. Mostly falcons, who like to pluck their quail clean of feathers, pull off the legs and wings, and decorate with the innards before eating. I inwardly refer to it as animal enrichment, because if they aren't enjoying themselves while making that mess then we obviously aren't giving them enough quail. That's not to say that other species don't make messes as well. Even the easy birds sometimes leave me surprises. I once entered Birch, the western screech owls flight to find the face of a rat stuck to the wall. I actually got a good laugh out of it. The first thought I had was of a rat materializing out of the wall. What can I say? When you prepare enough dead rodent, it kind of desensitizes you.
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The last of the educational birds I visited, was Hanble Okinyan. I caught her mid-meal, and was almost reluctant to enter the flight. I never know how an animal is going to react around food until I experience. I've never had a single problem with Hanble though, so I figured I'd chance going in, and keep a close eye on her body language. The moment she started to look uncomfortable I'd leave. Her flight is never all that bad anyway. 
Thankfully, after she gave me her customary eagle salute, she seemed to lose interest in the rat she was picking at all together. She let me go about my business, no fuss. Hanble has always interested me, because she doesn't really act like other eagles I've encountered. She has such an easy going demeanor. Which is great because she generally also wont move from whatever perch she's on, and heaven forbid, it's always a huge mess in only that one spot. If I take things slow with her, I can pretty much do whatever I need to. 
She's a funny bird. If I get down on my knees near a perch to scrub something, she waddles on over, and gets really curious. She'll pretty much just sit there above my head until it's time for me to get up and move elsewhere. Once I'm standing she'll back off a bit though. Generally her somewhat frequent decisions to change her spot on a perch end with me getting a wing to the face. It happened twice today. I swear she does it on purpose. I'm glad to say that's the worst I've ever gotten from her though. She's another case like Iya. She doesn't particularly mind the proximity, and actually prefers it when strangers show up. In situations where strangers show up at her home, she's more comfortable to be close to someone she recognizes.
Since Hanble is also not a camera shy bird, I relish the opportunity to get nice clear shots of her from close by. Had no problems with that this time. Most of the time that I was in the flight cleaning she was within a couple feet of me. She tended to migrate to the side of the perch I was on. There were no visitors today, so I'm chalking it up to curiosity, something I've seen her display in spades in the past. She likes to watch me work.
Here's a neat example of Hanble's Nictitating Membrane. The Nictitating membrane is essentially a transparent or translucent third eyelid. It can be drawn across the eye to moisten, or protect the eye while still maintaining visibility. Unlike the upper and lower eyelids, the Nictitating membrane runs horizontally across the eye. In birds of prey, it also serves to protect the parents' eyes from their chicks while they are feeding them, and when peregrine falcons go into their 200 mph (320 km/h) dives, they will blink repeatedly with their Nictitating membranes to clear debris and spread moisture across the eyes. Here's a picture I took previously of Canowicakte with his Nictitating membranes visible.
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Our visiting wild ones:
I also dealt with several Rehabilitating animals today. A few of them were acting fairly peculiar as well. I blame the sunshine. The first animal of note was a Bald eagle that is currently staying in an outdoor flight. This particular bird is missing a portion of her upper beak, and is staying with us until her beak hopefully grows back. As I reached the outside of the flight she was in, I had no idea what to expect. That is, until I noticed a note taped to the door. As well as making clear some other information, this note informed me that inside the flight was a bald eagle. Great. I have no problem with eagles. but this was a smaller flight, and while it's still definitely large enough to house an eagle, I've been in that exact flight with eagles before when the big eagle flight was damaged. Scared eagles, in a somewhat confined space is pretty much a recipe for being eagle-body checked. Needless to say I entered the flight with a fair amount of caution.
I can honestly say that nothing went how I expected it to, but in a good way. This particular bird, even with all of the trauma and stress she'd been through, was remarkably calm. Well... at least for a wild eagle. After a few initial, startled flights from one end of the flight to the other, she seemed to realize that I wasn't there specifically to bother her.
I'm thinking this girl had scoped out a favorite perch, and she was intent on returning to it. The only issue was that I was doing the majority of my cleaning under, or around that perch. She cautiously inched her way back toward the perch, making slow progress until she decided to throw all caution to the wind and land right above my head. Oddly enough, the only thing running through my head at the time was, please don't poop on me, or fall on me. My fight or flight never did work very well. I'm under the impression that it's defective. I once chased down a man with a chainsaw at a haunted house because he startled me. I didn't get very far before the people with me grabbed me, and ferried me along. Fortunately this situation wasn't nearly as eventful. She pretty much adjusted herself on the perch, looked at me for all of two seconds, and then jumped up to the high perch connected to it. She seemed to feel pretty safe up there for the rest of the encounter. Like I said, not what I expected, but a marked improvement over the last time when there were two eagles in that space. Both of them were scared and one of them was directionally challenged. You do the math.
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Here's miss Turkey, just in case you forgot about her.
The wild turkey that I got to see last week has moved outside. Turkey has also been laying eggs for the duration of that time. I realize Turkey's aren't exactly the most mentally accomplished birds, but I feel like she got comfortable awfully fast. None of the eggs are fertilized, and so they wont hatch. She doesn't seem to do much sitting on them either, so they pretty much end up being fed to some of the other animals. Crows for instance, love eggs. 
I have to say though, after watching her wander around and do Turkey things for awhile, I kind of want a Turkey, (Similar to how I also kind of want Quail). They're like great big chickens, and they make slightly more amusing noises. At one point while I was cleaning she settled down in a little Turkey ball, and seemed to start dozing off. That was also around the time that scout, who's run is beside the Turkey's flight, decided to start harassing the Turkey. Imagine if you will, a cat chattering at birds through a window, and then replace it with a snorting, growling raccoon. If I'd been thinking straight, I would have gotten pictures. It was terribly amusing. The Turkey seemed to be completely unfazed by his antics. 
Remember me lamenting over not having been able to capture the pretty, shimmering colors reflected off by turkey plumage? Well, I totally remembered to do that this time. Voila! Turkey plumage! As strange looking as wild Turkey are, they're awfully pretty in some ways.
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Once everything outside was finished, the next step was heading inside to work on things. I essentially finished everything in time to feed Baby squirrel. Baby squirrel is no longer kept company by baby bunnies. The three baby bunnies that thrived have now been released. Now there seems to be a recovering mouse in their place. I didn't look much into the mouse, as I only enter the mammal room to feed baby. Today she was eating five times a day, as opposed to the four times a day last week. That meant the schedule changed itself up on me for feeding again.
After the squirrel I assisted in the intake of a varied thrush, as well as witnessing my first euthanasia, (all the way through the process at least.) The thrush had been attacked by a cat, and unfortunately the damage the cat did to him was not reversible, and would have hindered his quality of life. This is the sad part of the job. It's also something I need to be able to compartmentalize, and understand the process of if I want to go into this as a career. As heart breaking as the experience is, it is also something I can learn a lot from, and hopefully did.
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Next up I was instructed to catch a red-tailed hawk, who has a case of Frounce, or as it's technically termed, Trichomonas. Trich is a contagious yeast infection of the digestive tract, and it often manifests itself in the form of "cheesy" or "white plaque-like" spots in the mouth or crop. This guy definitely wasn't feeling too great, and didn't put up much of a fight when I went to catch him. My lead tubed him while I held on to him, and back in the cage he went to rest.
While I was in with the hawk, one of my fellow volunteers had begun to prepare the Wigeons former cage (She was released today), for the Western Screech owl to move into. While he was putting the finishing touches on the new environment, I caught and held on to the Screech owl. He was nice enough to take a picture right before I introduced the screech to his new temporary home.
This is actually a good example of how we safely handle wild birds. Wrapping the bird in something soft like a towel, or a sheet gives the handler a barrier between themselves and the animal, and secures the animal in a way that keeps them from hurting themselves. This little guy was only making the short trip over a cage, but this method is incredibly handy, especially when an animal needs to be examined or medicated.
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At around that point, the volunteer that I've been helping out arrived, and the three of us made rounds to deliver food to the night feeders. I was originally going to have her make the run by herself for the first time today, but my lead wanted me to have the other volunteer tag a long, as he hadn't done it before. Thus, all three of us set out to deliver dinner.
When we returned, I had just settled in to pulling food for the next day when my lead walked in and asked if I wanted to catch an Eagle. I was understandably a little nervous, but at the same time, it was something I had wanted to try from the moment I caught my first screech owl for a tubing. So after A brief demonstration on how to hold the sheet, and how to catch the bird, everybody backed off to give me space, and the next thing I knew the dowell doors were open and I was facing down a frightened eagle with nothing but a sheet in between myself and his defense system.
It took me a bit to acclimated. It couldn't have been more then several seconds, but it felt like awhile. The trick was maneuvering the bird with the sheet so that you can come in from behind. And as my lead said, the moment I think I have an opening I just have to go for it. So, that's what I did. I can't say it was a perfect wrap job, but I managed to get my hands on the bird, and I held on. That was my first experience with the insane strength these birds possess. Even with a sheet over his head he struggled. All I could do was hang on to him, and hoist him out of the dowell. Just as an aside, did you know that eagles growl and snort? I had no idea until this experience. Hissing, I've come to expect, but an honest canine growl was something new for me.
Myself, and my lead with the eagle.
So off to the med room I went with Mr. Eagle for his exam. Eagles in tight spaces tend to get all sorts of crud on their pretty white tail feathers. It turns them green, and makes them really brittle. The big problem with that is that when they break off, and new feathers start to grow, the captive bird with often end up banging their tail around on things and breaking them off again. So what my leads were doing while I held the eagle, was fixing a clear plastic sheet over his tail feathers to keep them from becoming too damaged during his stay. That was the easy part of this venture. Next, they decided to medicate the eagle while he was out to avoid having to stress him again later that night.
That meant maneuvering from my comfortable position with the bird resting on the table, to sitting on a stool, bracing the bird against my body, while securing his feet out of the way. Sounds easy enough, but then you add ridiculous strength into the mix and it suddenly becomes a workout. There was a whole lot of eagle struggling, while my lead attempted to medicate him, and just as of much me fighting the birds attempts to get free. By the time we finished I had broken a sweat. I think the easiest part of the entire process was getting the eagle back in the dowell. I was definitely feeling the aftereffects of it in my arms and shoulders. (In the end it was my abs that ended up sore and the rest of me was fine. A somewhat amusing turn of events in my eyes. My arms aren't even the least bit sore now.)
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My work wasn't over after the eagle. My lead wanted the male volunteer to learn how to catch a bird. Well, the Turkey vulture needed to come in for a checkup so out we headed with a sheet. I tried to coach him on what to do, based on my previous experience catching the vulture. He managed to get a hold of the vulture, but the vulture also got a good bite on him, and we ended up transferring the vulture over to me so that he could extricate himself. The vulture got a nip on me through the sheet before I managed to secure his head. Luckily I came out of it with nothing worse then a bruise. My partner however managed to score his first battle wound. Those beaks are excellent at tearing flesh, and that is exactly what happened. It wasn't a bad wound, but it definitely bled a bit, and I'm sure it was uncomfortable. I think he did a great job for his first time, especially with as energetic as that vulture is.
We got the vulture inside, where he managed to bite my lead as well, (I'm the only one who escape without losing blood), and once he was secure again, my lead started the process of drawing blood. I can definitely say that the Turkey Vulture was easier to handle after that. I had the other volunteer do the honor of carrying him back, and we released the vulture back into his flight without further injury. There may have been some hissing on the vultures part though, and boy can they hiss.
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After the vulture, my evening started to dwindle to a close. I took the opportunity to eat something real quick before getting back to work. I of course neglected to realize just how late it was, and was just walking out the door to head back to the clinic when the staff member who usually gives me rides home asked if I was ready to go. I had been so busy I didn't even realize it was that late. In fact, it was an hour later then we normally leave. It's amazing how a busy day can distort time so easily.
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