I Just Haven't Felt "Bloggy" Lately

Sorry folks, but I just have NOT been in a blogging mood as of late. Not sure why, although it could be the weather weirdness we have been experiencing. Anyhoo, I am trying to get back into the blogging mindset and I want to start by sending out a HUGE thank you to everyone who braved the elements and came to the first Open House we have had in a couple of years and to those who made it to the "Keep the Wild Alive" concert fundraiser.

Let's start with the Open House. Now, the night before, I did some heavy begging and pleading with the weather gods to please let the weather be pleasant, as the whole week had been filled with days of sunshine, then hail, then snow, then sunshine...you get the idea. And sure enough, at least out at Wolf Hollow, we had a brief period of light sprinkles and that was it! It was only after I heard tales of the weather in town...hail, rain, and snow...that I understood why so few people came out after Noon. But for those intrepid souls who did venture out, they got to feast on a very yummy cake and other goodies made by staff and volunteers. But the cake, the cake was the piece de resistance:

Isn't it GREAT?! Oh, and did I mention that it's Wolf Hollow's 25th anniversary this year? Yep, 25 years of helping the locals....local wild animals that is.

The "Keep the Wild Alive" concert was great fun with lots of local musicians teamed up into duets singing great tunes. My favorite tune of the night was my favorite from last year as well and that was the song "Wolf Hollow Jamboree" written and performed by Teddy Deane with Cecil on backup:

That's Teddy on the left there. It's a great number about the animals rehabbing at Wolf Hollow having a musical jamboree after everyone leaves at night. And everyone got to sing along with the chorus, so that made it even more fun!!!

There was also a silent auction and the item that caused the biggest bidding war was this stuffed animal that has a webcode that you can enter on the manufacturer's website and interact with others in this toy community.

As you can see, the bidding was fast paced and furious, with frequent side trips to parents to borrow just 50 cents more for the next bid. It was great fun to watch (I have blurred the faces to protect the bid-icence of the kids involved). Thanks again to everyone who made that night so wonderful with their music and support. We appreciate it immensely!!

Now let's get to some animals, and honestly folks, there haven't been a lot of them. First we can start with another Bald Eagle that came in.

This guy was found downed in a field in Mt. Vernon and was suffering from organo-phosphate poisoning. This is different from the Bald Eagle poisoning that happened on Orcas Island in March of last year. Organo-phosphate poisoning is caused by some agricultural product, like rat poison. The eagle eats that rat, lets say, and then the meat stays in the crop and becomes septic. It was very messy and he required a good deal of flushing of the crop and his entire system with fluids and activated charcoal. Once he regurgitated the meat in his crop he started to turn the corner, but it was VERY touch-and-go there for awhile and they weren't sure he was going to make it.

But make it he did and he got released as soon as possible due to the fact that he went ballistic in the Indoor Mew, even trying to fly out the tiny, and by tiny I mean 1' x 2', window, even after it was covered up.

We also got in this beautiful Evening Grosbeak.

Found on the mainland, her left wing was drooping after trying to fly through a window. She initially had a light wing wrap on but messed with it so much we took it off and left her to her own healing devices. The funny thing about her was that when I went in and cleaned her cage for the first time, she never got overly flustered. She was very laid back and would calmly hop from one branch to another, watching me the whole time. Now that I think about it, she may have just been deliberately lulling me into a state of complacency to make her big break, as I got to see first hand how well her healing was coming along when she decided to exercise her wings in the Isolation Room during her cage cleaning the next week. After her dazzling aerial display, it was determined she could be moved to one of the outdoor aviaries.

She did great out in the Aviary and was taken back to the mainland and released near some other Grosbeaks.

And yes, baby bunnies, both of the European and Cottontail varieties, have slowly been trickling in:

Let's now move on to some updates. The Red-tailed hawk was finally released. WOOHOO! It had been with us what seemed like FOREVER, so we were more than ready to say goodbye to it.

As for the New Year's Eve Bald eagle? It's not looking good folks. We put him in the Heron Cage a few weeks back to see how this would affect his wing, and he still can't fly....at all.

Here he is taking off from the low perch in the Heron Cage....

...and here he is not 2 seconds later after landing on the ground not even 10 feet away from the perch he just launched himself off of.

Looks kind of stunned, doesn't he? I feel REALLY bad for him right now and the outcome of his situation will most likely not be a good one. I'm just sayin'.

In the last week we have gotten in a baby Rock pigeon, a baby Robin and this:

Care to venture a guess as to what this is? Here's a better picture of it:

Now do you have any ideas? Well, if you don't, that's alright, because while we do know that it is a newborn (See the egg tooth on the end of its beak?! And its eyes are still closed!) owl of the woodland variety, we have no idea which woodland owl type it is. Considering that it's about the size of my palm, mayhaps a Sawhet owl? Assuming it does well, we will know when it gets a bit bigger. It's always hard not to get too attached, but it fell a long ways out of its nest and while it is eating well, probably because it can't see that it isn't Mom feeding him, we try to keep in mind that newborn ANYTHINGS are more than a bit difficult to keep alive. Since I don't believe they have had this young of an owl in before, or at least not while I have been volunteering there, it would be great to watch and document its changes as it grows. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

Til next time...