Science teacher Diana Biggs is subpermitteed to handle the birds, including Handsome the American Kestrel, and reviews the falcon’s physical characteristics.
Red-Tailed hawk Nate was on his very best behavior during the programs.
Yesterday was a big day for Hootie, Handsome, and Nate. We visited with over 100 students during several sessions at the middle school to talk about what physical characteristics make raptors successful in the wild, as well as how these birds benefit the environment. The students were very sharp and already knew quite a bit about birds of prey. Several of the students had already dissected owl pellets and were familiar with natural diet, hunting “tools” of the birds, etc.
Meagan and several neighbors observed this Canada goose sitting at the roadside in Peyton for several days. The bird didn’t appear to be injured; just didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere. Finally one day Meagan couldn’t stand it anymore, concerned for the goose’s safety because of coyotes during the nighttime and free-roaming dogs during the daytime, not to mention traffic. She was able to easily coax the goose into a large kennel. The goose appears to be pretty healthy and not at all tame, so we’re not exactly sure what to make of his situation. Currently he’s enjoying quality time outside in a large enclosure, eating goose food and taking baths. We’ll release him with other geese when he’s ready to go.
This is Carlos’ Great Horned Owl. Carlos and a co-worker were working outside at Falcon High School when they saw this unfortunate bird out during daylight hours (to be expected-it’s GHO breeding season!) and the owl was being mobbed by smaller birds (also to be expected.) The owl appeared to have grabbed at a bird, tried to fly to the light pole, missed, and collided with the side of the school on his way down, damaging his cere and abrading his wings. Hooter can’t maintain a standing position for more than a few minutes but can finally feed himself. Keep your fingers crossed for a successful rehab and release back to the high school! Thank you to Carlos for taking the time to help.
Mike K. is a very dedicated and long-standing volunteer of the DOW. Yesterday morning he was out walking his dogs in Monument and found this feisty long-eared owl sitting calmly on the path. Mike went home to put the dogs away, find a container for the bird, and he and Kelly picked the bird up and drove to Colorado Springs to volunteer Diana, who cared for the bird until volunteer Cheryl picked him up to bring to Ellicott. You see, it really does take a community and a lot of dedicated people to help each and every one of these critters. This owl seems to have suffered some soft tissue damage to his wing, so wish him luck and speedy healing!
We’re on day 2 of the New Year and it’s been pretty busy around here. Bad weather creates problems for any variety of critters and hopefully the (semi) warm weather we’re expecting the next few days will give everyone some relief!