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pacificpikachuSo, today was yet again devoted to very close to nothing other than birds. I fed the jay, fed him more, fed him more, and then I went to a songbird first aid class at the Raptor Center.
This was a lot of fun, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting buried in the wildlife rehabilitation lifestyle. Not that this is a bad thing at all--it's just crazy. XD;; After some socializing and feeding the jay again, the first thing we did was get a briefing on songbird first aid from a vet. This was extremely amusing because he used a chicken (a Silver Phoenix--yay! My favorite breed!) to show off wing bandaging, leg bracing for broken legs, and subcutaneous hydration. The poor hen was not too happy about this and made dissenting noises the whole time, much to the sympathy of the whole extreme-animal-lovers group. I couldn't help but giggle at how cute she was, especially with the funny noises she was making.
We spent at least an hour or two on Lesley's deck discussing proper care of raptors, which was really interesting although I missed parts due to feeding. My attention was definitely piqued when they brought out a kestrel, who is blind and therefore cannot be released. Usually when our group comes across a bird who can't be released for whatever reason, they are euthanized because it is cruel to keep a wild bird in captivity, but this kestrel just happened to be...well, happy, and one of the big raptor guys became so devoted to him, that he obtained a permit to keep the kestrel for the rest of his natural lifetime. The kestrel was gorgeous... I spent a long time just staring at him in awe. He was a lovely shade of gray with black shoulders and a white tail.
After quite a while on the deck, Jacqui went to get me even more supplies she got for me, and meanwhile I went to the HUGE flight cage to watch the raptor team capture a couple of red tail hawks to feed them and practice handling them. Again, such magestic birds. It was awesome to see them flying around in such a huge enclosure, too. I got to see them up close a little later. I'm not totally sure what they did with the hawks at this point, because I was going through a shed of supplies with Jacqui and Kari and trying to figure out what I needed and what I didn't. I know they chopped up a rat (and it smelled godawful) at some point, and I watched them handling the hawks a little, but I missed the main parts of that whole thing.
I also got to see about five juvenile great horned owls sitting right in front of me. They were adorable and reminded me of the ORLY? owls. I wish I'd had my camera--maybe next time. XD;; They started clicking every time I got close to them, and then if I didn't stop they'd all hiss. They had such big yellow eyes and they were so cute--they hardly even looked real. Of course, this is the first time I'd ever seen one (much less five!) up close and in the daylight, so it was an interesting experience.
The rest of the time I was at the raptor center was spent in long songbird discussions and trying to figure out what cages I should take. This is where I determined I'm crazy, because I ended up with two approximately 4'x3' cages and a cat carrier with a woodpecker setup in it (just in case). This doesn't sound insane, but in addition to all the other cages I already have... Haha, I have sooo much space for songbirds! This is going to be a crazy spring/summer. @_@ Jacqui and Chip gave me a ride home with all of the huge cages in tow. Mom got mad at me when I got home because apparently I didn't come home early enough for her, but...whatever. Mom went to work, so I'm at Dad's now. My bird is asleep. I was so proud of him today--he's been perching a lot, he ate some scrambled egg with no prompting whatsoever (until this point I've given him only Exact Baby Bird Formula), and he even made pitiful attempts at flying! I've only had him two and a half days and he's already growing up so fast. *Wipes away overdramatic tear*
Pretty much all there is to say at the moment. Tomorrow is going to be...an interesting experience, shall we say? The first day of the chaos of having a baby bird...at high school. I can't decide whether this is funny or nerve-wracking. Maybe a little of both. @_@
...I need to find some time for anime soon. I haven't watched about a million things I should be watching... I can always watch stuff with the baby bird in the other room. ^^;; He's not really supposed to be exposed to humans more than he must be, as he could easily become imprinted and be unreleasable. ;_; That wouldn't be good at all.
I've barely seen my friends lately. Oh well. Hopefully we can hang out soon.
This was a lot of fun, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting buried in the wildlife rehabilitation lifestyle. Not that this is a bad thing at all--it's just crazy. XD;; After some socializing and feeding the jay again, the first thing we did was get a briefing on songbird first aid from a vet. This was extremely amusing because he used a chicken (a Silver Phoenix--yay! My favorite breed!) to show off wing bandaging, leg bracing for broken legs, and subcutaneous hydration. The poor hen was not too happy about this and made dissenting noises the whole time, much to the sympathy of the whole extreme-animal-lovers group. I couldn't help but giggle at how cute she was, especially with the funny noises she was making.
We spent at least an hour or two on Lesley's deck discussing proper care of raptors, which was really interesting although I missed parts due to feeding. My attention was definitely piqued when they brought out a kestrel, who is blind and therefore cannot be released. Usually when our group comes across a bird who can't be released for whatever reason, they are euthanized because it is cruel to keep a wild bird in captivity, but this kestrel just happened to be...well, happy, and one of the big raptor guys became so devoted to him, that he obtained a permit to keep the kestrel for the rest of his natural lifetime. The kestrel was gorgeous... I spent a long time just staring at him in awe. He was a lovely shade of gray with black shoulders and a white tail.
After quite a while on the deck, Jacqui went to get me even more supplies she got for me, and meanwhile I went to the HUGE flight cage to watch the raptor team capture a couple of red tail hawks to feed them and practice handling them. Again, such magestic birds. It was awesome to see them flying around in such a huge enclosure, too. I got to see them up close a little later. I'm not totally sure what they did with the hawks at this point, because I was going through a shed of supplies with Jacqui and Kari and trying to figure out what I needed and what I didn't. I know they chopped up a rat (and it smelled godawful) at some point, and I watched them handling the hawks a little, but I missed the main parts of that whole thing.
I also got to see about five juvenile great horned owls sitting right in front of me. They were adorable and reminded me of the ORLY? owls. I wish I'd had my camera--maybe next time. XD;; They started clicking every time I got close to them, and then if I didn't stop they'd all hiss. They had such big yellow eyes and they were so cute--they hardly even looked real. Of course, this is the first time I'd ever seen one (much less five!) up close and in the daylight, so it was an interesting experience.
The rest of the time I was at the raptor center was spent in long songbird discussions and trying to figure out what cages I should take. This is where I determined I'm crazy, because I ended up with two approximately 4'x3' cages and a cat carrier with a woodpecker setup in it (just in case). This doesn't sound insane, but in addition to all the other cages I already have... Haha, I have sooo much space for songbirds! This is going to be a crazy spring/summer. @_@ Jacqui and Chip gave me a ride home with all of the huge cages in tow. Mom got mad at me when I got home because apparently I didn't come home early enough for her, but...whatever. Mom went to work, so I'm at Dad's now. My bird is asleep. I was so proud of him today--he's been perching a lot, he ate some scrambled egg with no prompting whatsoever (until this point I've given him only Exact Baby Bird Formula), and he even made pitiful attempts at flying! I've only had him two and a half days and he's already growing up so fast. *Wipes away overdramatic tear*
Pretty much all there is to say at the moment. Tomorrow is going to be...an interesting experience, shall we say? The first day of the chaos of having a baby bird...at high school. I can't decide whether this is funny or nerve-wracking. Maybe a little of both. @_@
...I need to find some time for anime soon. I haven't watched about a million things I should be watching... I can always watch stuff with the baby bird in the other room. ^^;; He's not really supposed to be exposed to humans more than he must be, as he could easily become imprinted and be unreleasable. ;_; That wouldn't be good at all.
I've barely seen my friends lately. Oh well. Hopefully we can hang out soon.
