Birdchick

Okay, I have to post this before I go to the list of errands.

When I arrived at The Raptor Center yesterday for my shift an animal control officer was waiting to be helped. He picked up a long-eared owl outside of Manny’s Steak House in downtown Minneapolis. Not the best hunting for a long-earred but there are some conifers there were one could do some roosting. I talked to someone from the MOU and he said that long-ears are on the move migrating back towards breeding grounds so they could be anywhere.

This particular long-eared owl had some bruising and swelling around the pelvis and a corneal edema. He either flew into a building or vehicle in downtown. It was treated and put in a crate to rest–that’s good, if this bird can make the first 24 hours he has a good chance of survival. A lot will depend on how well he cornea heals.

The vets warned that after we get this second round of snow, TRC will probably get more birds admitted, especially younger red-tails that have been spending the winter here and benefiting from the lack of cover. With another 10 – 16 inches of snow on top of the 11 we got last weekend, will make hunting a bit more tricky. They said so far that the winter has been very quiet and nothing unusual to report as far as birds admitted.

I just realized with the pounding of snow this weekend I’m probably not going to make it to the Houston Festival of Owls. I so wanted to meet Denver Holt. Man, I’m bummed about that.