http://nadlerphoto.smugmug.com/Category/Favorites/14320808_QGyL4#1061162825_GW5DY Falcons and Snowy's (Janet)

I'm lovin this guys work.

Red-shouldered Hawk

PATIENT:  Red-shouldered Hawk, #10-2257

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Hanover County, Virginia

CAUSE OF ADMISSION:   Gunshot

ADMISSION DATE:  December 12, 2010

PROGNOSIS:  Guarded

On the evening of December 9, a Red-shouldered Hawk was found injured in Hanover, Virginia.   Its rescuers took it to a nearby veterinary clinic; the bird was then quickly transferred to a permitted rehabilitator.  On Sunday, December 12, the bird was admitted to the Wildlife Center.

RSHA radsThe Red-shouldered Hawk was bright, alert, and in great body condition upon arrival.  It had a wound over its left pectoral muscle, an indication of a potential gunshot wound.  There was also some crepitus in the bird’s right shoulder — a grinding or crackling that typically indicates a fracture.  Radiographs confirmed that the bird had a broken coracoid — and a pellet lodged in between the two fractured segments of bone.

A blood test found that the hawk had extremely high levels of lead in its blood.  Dr. Kelly Flaminio and team started the bird on chelation therapy to treat the lead toxicity.

Sometimes, if a raptor is shot and a pellet lodges in the bird’s muscle, the body essentially walls it off and the pellet may not need to be removed.  When lead pellets make their way into the bird’s gastrointestinal tract  or the pellet is lodged in the bone, in contrast, lead is slowly leached into the blood.

In this case, Center vets knew that the pellet would need to be removed.  Given the location of the pellet, this was a huge challenge, as the pellet was lodged in a highly vascular area with many nerves and large blood vessels. 

On Wednesday, December 15, Dr. Miranda Sadar led the team in surgery to extract the pellet.  Using the fluoroscope — a tool that allows the veterinary team to see a “rePelletal timeâ€� x-ray of the patient — Dr. Miranda was able to continually visualize the pellet while carefully making her incision into the bird’s shoulder.  This was the first time she had done this particular approach in a raptor’s shoulder area.

After about an hour in surgery, Dr. Miranda’s patience paid off– she was able to safely extract the pellet.  Oddly enough, when she pulled the small lead pellet out of the bird’s shoulder, it had a chest feather still stuck to it.

Post-surgery, the Red-shouldered Hawk is recovering well.  Additional diagnostics reveal that the lead levels are gradually decreasing with continued chelation therapy.   The hawk has not shown a great deal of interest in eating yet, so the veterinary team has started to hand-feed the hawk; they hope that it will begin to eat regularly on its own now that the pellet is removed.   

The hawk is wearing a body wrap to stablize the coracoid fracture; the veterinary team should know if the fracture has healed in about three weeks.

This Red-shouldered hawk is one of four gunshot victims that has been admitted to the Wildlife Center in just the past two weeks.  Each of these cases has been reported to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.  If you need to report a wildlife violation, please visit the DGIF website for more details.


lead pellet removed   (Guns are bad)

http://www.jnphoto.net/ here's the website...lots of great pics of eagles and other birds!

[Pics from 12-20]

Pics from 12-20  Christmas is Saturday!!

The Beauty has landed

It's not clear and it's not good at all but I got this pic of Beauty taking off from Mercury before she went in a stoop across the river at some pigeons. I was down on Aqueduct St. so I missed most of the stoop behind the buildings. She returned to Mercury empty taloned and I concluded my watch at that point.   Nice pic MAK!!

[Same here! I really want them to winnnnnnnnnn!!!]

We've been stuck in 3rd place for awhile now. Hopefully we can move up and not down. Keep voting people!!!

I never miss a day and Bill votes too! 

Same here! I really want them to winnnnnnnnnn!!!

The whether might be fowl for some, but for those at the 107th annual Christmas Bird Count it couldn’t have been much better.

With binoculars in mittened hands, Mike Tetlow, 51, began counting at 8 a.m. An hour later, he saw a Black-headed Gull and the Red-throated Loon, rarities along Lake Ontario in Irondequoit.

Tetlow, of Fairport, said this time of year is best for counting because migration is done and most birds are in a stable place.

“Wintering grounds are better because you can find them in a concentrated area,� he said while eyeing Robins and Waxwings near berry trees in Durand Eastman Park.

Along the way, Tetlow met birder Jill Church, of Webster, who wasn’t helping with the CBC but whose good luck helped her see a hard-to-spot Bohemian Waxwing. Unfortunately it flew away.

“Trying to find them is like a needle in a haystack,� she said.

No worries, said Tetlow.

“Even though she’s not a participant, we know a birder had one so we can count it,� he said.

For the CBC, volunteers from the Rochester Birding Association split into territories within a 15-mile circle that extends from Braddock Bay to just east of Irondequoit Bay, and from the Greater Rochester International Airport into Lake Ontario. They compile their numbers at the end of the day. Last year they counted about 86 species.

Rochester’s tally will be added to the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count along with totals from the 50 states, Canadian provinces, several Central and South American countries and U.S. territories. Each location has its own count day, sometime between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, 2011.

http://nadlerphoto.smugmug.com/New/New/14378152_hkDbM#1130367639_or34U-A-LB

[Look what the stork brought: Cranes!]

Look what the stork brought: Cranes!

Six baby Sandhill cranes are making South Mississippi their home now, thanks to a breeding and repopulating program at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge just north of Gautier.
The birds, about 6 months old, were parent-reared at the Audubon Species Survival Center in New Orleans. At least one is male and two female. The records on the other three birds have not yet made it to the refuge.
Lauren Billodeaux, a biologist at the refuge, said at least three of the cranes were originally from the Gautier location. “In one case, there were two eggs, so we removed one to give us a better chance to have one survive. However, both chicks survived in this case.�
The birds were placed in a 2-acre, open-top pen to acclimate them to their new surroundings. They will be free-flying by mid-January.
Billodeaux said the acclimation period allows the birds to get used to the new surroundings and socialize with the resident birds so they are more likely to stay in the area once they are allowed to fly free.
The purpose of the program is two-fold. It helps increase the flock size at the refuge -- which currently is about 110 birds, including 12 new chicks -- and helps diversify the genetics of the flock to curtail inbreeding.
“Recruitment is the hardest -- getting chicks to survive,� Billodeaux said. “We’re getting better, slowly, but we need more birds from the captive flock to supplement what we have here.
“If we can keep the population up and bring in new genetics, we’ll have a stronger flock.�
Cranes mature and begin to pair at 3 to 5 years of age. Billodeaux said it is five to seven years before they lay a successful nest.
According to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR website, the Mississippi sandhill crane was recognized in 1972 as a distinct subspecies of sandhill crane and there are physiological, morphological, behavioral and other differences between them and other sandhill cranes.
They are considered a critically endangered subspecies, found nowhere else in the wild but on and adjacent to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. Only about 110 individuals remain, including about 20-25 breeding pairs.

Hey watchers, what are these 2 red lights?

Mr and Mrs Rudolph??

LOL Bobbie, of course!

They started showing up on the 17th around 4pm.
Maybe a reflection from something,

Hey watchers, what are these 2 red lights?

I saw that too. Looks like the devil!

 

As we rejoice in the crane migrations, others have different ideas... a lengthy piece but worth the time.

http://10000birds.com/sandhill-cranes-game-birds.htm

   Jeeze

[Now that's what I call a box of assorted greeting cards!]

Now that's what I call a box of assorted greeting cards! Thanks all, love them.

 

3 little pigs mega ditto!

Yeah, why can't I find cards like these in the store???

Yes, I remember this and how beautifully Imperfect indeed!  Thanks for posting this Lou.