GHO entangled in soccer netting at Harrison High School was cut out of the netting by DOW officer Steve Cooley.
We’re off to a busy beginning in the New Year! Magpie came to rehab after suffering what looked like head trauma. A sharp-shinned hawk came to rehab after hitting a window hard enough to knock himself silly. A pigeon with what looks like paramyxovirus came to rehab and is currently on syringe feedings. Pigeon with a broken wing from Douglas County Animal Services is flying, and two other pigeons in rehab are doing well. Within the next couple of weeks the phone will start ringing with orphaned baby squirrels. Spring is just around the corner!
A ringtail cat came to rehab yesterday via DOW officer Aaron. The “cat” seems healthy enough but was getting into trouble and is awaiting a suitable relocation. The ringtail cat is actually a member of the raccoon family.
Fortunately the Snowy Owl sat still long enough to get a few pix!
It seems the arctic weather we’ve had around here lately has brought more than broken pipes and frozen drains! Joy and Gary Curtis called me Friday, very excited about a bird in their Peyton neighborhood they’ve never seen before. Joy stated the big white owl was one they were convinced was a snowy owl. Seriously doubting it could be a snowy owl, I told her that probably it was a lighter phase Great Horned Owl, as the GHOs in our area tend to be very light in color. She said no, this owl had a very round head. I told her probably the GHO’s feather tufts weren’t up. Well, she and Gary went out again and found their bird, and came back in and called again. After having looked thru’ their bird books and on the Internet, they were convinced their lovely white owl is indeed a Snowy Owl! So Phil and I went out to have a look, but the bird was gone and all that remained was a huge crowd of very excited bird watchers and photographers. As near as I can find, this would be the third confirmed Snowy Owl sighting in Colorado, ever. Truly a once in a lifetime!
Update Jan. 11th 3:30 p.m.-Today I went and saw with my own eyes-it is indeed a beautiful male Snowy Owl! A man was kind enough to share his spotting equipment so we got to see very close up and I have to say, never seen anything so beautiful in my life! Makes me wish I had a fancy camera……!
If you’re going to go see the owl, PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL! This is private property and people live here.
Kaz called from the Big Cats of Serenity Springs in Calhan the other day. Nick and folks from the BCSS have brought injured raptors here to rehab over the years, including a young Swainson’s hawk in late summer that was released in time for migration. Kaz informed me that during routine rounds of the big cat pens, they were quite surprised to find a small hawk in one of the tiger pens, eye to eye with what Kaz informed me was one of their more rambunctious felines-tiger Denise! The bemused feline tolerated the hawk in her pen, for how long nobody knows, before staff very carefully removed the hawk from her pen. Unfortunately the first-year Northern Harrier had suffered major head and body trauma, including massive bruising and broken air sacs; we’re guessing not from Denise the tiger but perhaps an encounter with a car or impact while hunting.