Friday, May 25, 2007

Birds, Birds, and a Squirrel

Okay, this is going to be a short, but cute, post! Needless to say, baby season has kicked into high gear so I am going to concentrate on the animals we had in 2 weeks ago, which is the last time I was there on Saturday.

Here is a Euro Starling nestling we got in and yes, I know it's a blurry pic. I was in a rush since he was in an incubator.

His head was tilted to the side like that, possibly from trauma from falling out of the nest. So while he ate well, it was a bit nerve-wracking feeding him, as he couldn't tilt his head back and I was constantly worried about getting food down his glottis (airway). When I popped in last Sunday after being off island Saturday, I was told his head tilt was straightening and that he was doing great!

Here is a Euro Starling fledgling and he is NOT happy!

See him all hunkered down like that. He's probably more than a little scared as well. But he was being difficult enough to feed that we fed him with a syringe, so that we could get enough food in him without having to spend too much time on it, considering how busy we were.

We also have in some young Towhee fledglings.

These two are a HOOT and very cunning. They act all cute and come up to the front of the cage screaming to be fed and then zip out before you know what's happened! The pillowcase that covers the front of their cage has a written warning stating that they are escape artists. I got to clean their cage and needless to say, that was interesting, as I had to catch them, put them in a box while I was cleaning, and then get them back out of the box and into the cage, all without letting one of them accidentally practice their flying skills!

Here is a BEAUTIFUL Barn Swallow we had in that had gotten caught by a cat, so of course it had to be on antibiotics for a week.

He was found inside a house and couldn't fly. He also was eating sporadically, sometimes eating on his own and sometimes we had to force feed him.

The Killdeer is doing GREAT and is now completely feathered!

Look! Isn't it beautiful?!

Okay, let's get to the one mammal we had in on that Saturday, and that was this Grey Squirrel baby we got in.


Isn't it ADORABLE?! And, they are SO easy to feed at this stage, as they are eager eaters and require little to no work whatsoever, unlike the baby bunnies we get in.

Now, being off island last Saturday, I of course offered to bring back over any animals that might need a lift to WH and sure enough two Black-capped Chickadee youngsters were put into my expert care.


Man, were these two VOCAL about wanting to be fed! And not wanting to leave them in the cold car while on the ferry, I bundled them up, along with their food, and hauled their cute butts up into the ferry with me. Thankfully I didn't attract much attention, but after they started screaming for food for the millionth time, the guy in the booth next to me finally turned around and looked at me with this questioning expression. I apologized profusely for interrupting his peaceful ferry ride, explained what, exactly, the noisemakers were, and where I was taking them. He just smiled and went back to reading.

And that's it. I can hear some of you sputtering "But, but...you posted a picture of some fawns. WHAT ABOUT THE FAWNS?!!! Well, we actually got in last Friday, and after hearing this list I was feeling more than a bit guilty about not coming in the next day, 16 baby ducks, 3 baby opossums, 1 baby raccoon, and 1 fawn! And to top it all off, when I showed up on Sunday with my peeping cargo, I learned that we had gotten in FOUR MORE FAWNS in on Saturday! Again...SORRY SERENA!!! So here are a few more teaser photos:

and....

Oh, alright, here's a picture of an entire fawn, color coded and all!

Tomorrow promises to be interesting and HECTIC!!! Til next time...

2 comments:

anne said...

Do I have to say it again? Ok.

THANK YOU for these photos, and I am envious of you! Wonderful, as usual.

By the way... I decided today that I would order my study materials and application to become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in my state. I won't be able to take the exam till next year, but that's fine - nursing school will keep me plenty busy in the interim. It's something I have always wanted to do. I've worked in WL rehab quite a bit, but I'm not official, so... perhaps after next year, I will be.

Thank you again for your fabu blog.

Anonymous said...

WHAT ABOUT THE FAWNS?!! Oh, wait, never mind. :)

The squirrel is so cute!!! As are all the birds, natch.