baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
while walking to volunteering from the bus stop, I saw a raccoon fishing in the runoff pond next to the center. I got a couple of pictures as it froze and WATCHED ME VERY INTENTLY while I walked around the corner and up the driveway. that's the first (live) raccoon I've seen "in the wild" (the ones at the rescue center don't really count) in years. I also passed a young crow trying to imitate the adult crow rattle, sounded like a crow-purr! (1/?)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
it turned out I was the only volunteer in the bird nursery; we usually have two volunteers and an intern. at least there *was* an intern this time, as opposed to last week when we just had two volunteers. so I kept busy the entire shift--not too bad, but solidly busy.
for whatever reason we don't seem to get many wrens in the rescue center, but now we have a tiny wren nestling, fresh-hatched. so cute! it *vibrates*! XD (2/3)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
at that point I couldn't help laughing a lot, but I finally did the *sensible* thing and got two more boxes, and put each of the juncos in one box, and it went much better after that. XD young birds need flight practice, I guess?
tree swallows are a joy to feed, they're always friendly and hungry. barn swallows are much more aloof. and as usual, robins will ATTACK YOUR FACE FOR FOOD. (4/?)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
one of the fledgling robins has... I looked at its medical record, I didn't understand most of the words, so I don't know what exactly is wrong with it, but the vets and rehabbers are pretty positive that it'll recover and be fine, but... its head is lolling down on its left side, as though its neck was broken. in order to feed it I had to catch it, support its head with the side of my hand while holding it, & shove food in it when it bit me.(5/?)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
once I figured out how to feed it properly it ate really well, though, and seemed bright and alert, along with the enthusiastic finger-biting. I think it's some kind of muscle trauma; the rehabber showed the intern how to gently stretch its neck and do little massages. I hope it's still around next week.
we have a red-tailed hawk with an overgrown beak, and (this is kinda gruesome) they're hoping it doesn't have "long-billed hawk syndrome". (6/?)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
apparently it's a genetic defect where the hawk's bill keeps growing over time, and it will eventually grow up under its bottom jaw and pierce its own skull. there's no treatment for it. and I'm like WHAT THE FUCK, NATURE, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??? O_____O
there was a "small and mild" oil spill along the coast, and we had some geese that required washing; they were in one of the basement rooms near the bird nursery waiting for washing. (7/?)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
unfortunately one of the geese is DETERMINED TO GET OUT OF THERE, and the entire morning there were intermittent "THUMP THUMP WHAM" noises coming from that area as it bounced off the walls. I really hope it gets washed and released before it injures itself. >___<
and that's about it! now to post this to Dreamwidth... (8/8)
baby bird feeding report (tw: mild animal injury)
later on, while trying to clean their enclosure, I played an round of "junco juggling." caught one, put it on the temporary box so I could clean their cage; caught the second, put it in the box; caught the third--but when I tried to put it in the box one of the others escaped. I got the net and caught it, and when I went to put it in the box--a different one escaped. I caught *that* one, went to put it in the box--AND THE OTHER TWO ESCAPED. (3/?)