jewill/Judy, I read your update yesterday morning but didn't have time to reply, and my computer was out of commission from 3 pm yesterday afternoon. I also appreciate reading your updates and would very much like to visit O.W.L. again. I hope all the birds in your care will fully recover from their injuries and will eventually be released back into the wild You all do a marvellous job of caring for the birds at O.W.L.

{{{{{Jewill}}}}} I haven't deserted you my friend! I've been following along but I've not been signing in to the site trying to rest my arm and see if it won't heal up a little. So far not much difference but I'll keep at it.

I love your updates to bits as you know so please know I'm here even if you don't see me, waiting for each one

Oh what a spectacular and perfect Fall day it was today - brilliant blue sky, clean crisp air and just a hint of fog over the low lying land. And Ma is back - see my post, and others too - in the Delta OWL Eagle Nest discussion thread; can it get any better?
Meanwhile, back at OWL...nothing too out of the ordinary about the day except for one pick-up. Several people who came for a tour mentioned that there was a dead bird near the road at the top of the driveway leading into OWL; some said it was an owl and others said it was a pheasant. So Ellen and I walked up there, looked around for quite a while, and finally located it. It was indeed a pheasant - I didn't know they were such pretty birds - bright red on the head and a nice rusty red/brown with white on the body. Anyway, it was already dead; it was too far off the road to have been hit by a car, it hadn't been shot and on closer examination it looked like it may have been attacked by another bird (Ma?) because it had a deep puncture wound on its chest. Rather than let it go to waste, I threw it into the field next door - some other bird or animal will get it for dinner.
I promised an update on a couple of the eagles we took in last week. The adult female that was suspected of having been electrocuted is holding her own. The wounds are healing up nicely so, while she's not out of the woods yet, it is looking good for her. She will remain in intensive care until her wing heals completely.
The other eagle (from Pacific Spirit Park) unfortunately did not survive. Apparently it definitely was electrocuted with a wing broken in 3 places and a large exit wound out the back (luckily I did not see it; I'm getting this info from the case card). It was euthanized that evening to relieve it of its pain and suffering.
On a happier note...a while back I did an offsite with Karen Wheatley during which she mentioned that it would be cute to take a picture of Snoopy our little Saw-whet owl, with the stuffed animals we make available to anyone who donates $10 or more. Then yesterday, Ellen and I did an offsite that, for us, was rather slow. So to fill in some time we managed to get Snoopy to pose for us. This picture is titled "Guess which one is the real bird"!



So, to make things clear...the idea was from Karen Wheatly; Ellen took the picture; and I'm posting it!
Finally - "Hi" Lori . I was wondering where you were and am glad to see you are still hanging in there. Take care of your arm, give it lots of rest, and hopefully soon you will be back to your young self.

Jewill....That little owl is just adorable! Is it full-grown? I just got back from 2 months in Northern Michigan where I was lucky enough to attend the release of two gorgeous red tail hawks. The man in charge had brought some of his educational birds including two screech owls. I had absolutely no idea how small and...well...cute they were either. Thanks for all your updates....very interesting reading!!!

Thanks sooo much Jewill for another great update. It was though very, very sad to read about the eagle not making it. I'm glad he was put out of his misery! What a terrible way to go...geee

wooohoooo to you seeing Ma Delta, I better fire up that cam and see if they go to their new digs or not. Man I hope so

I loooove wee Snoopy what a great name for him and his pals. I'll have to send more rat money so I can get me one of those.

Thanks much for your resting advice I am trying my best to, which is hard when you're as wired as I always am. I'm glad though now you know if you don't see me it sure doesn't mean I'm not here cause I always will be and always look forward to seeing you.

No sighting of either of "our" Delta OWL eagles today, although I'm very happy to read over in the nest forum that both have indeed made an appearance but are still being camera shy. I will keep looking for them when I'm out there and I now keep my camera in the car, so all I need is a little cooperation from Ma and Pa.
It was a wicked weather day at OWL - the wind was just blasting through the property and for most of the day it was pouring rain too. However, there is some good news. The female eagle who was thought to have been electrocuted is doing just fine. Rob cannot figure out what happened to her, at one point he was entertaining the idea that she may have been shot, with the bullet simply grazing her wing. The fact is we may never know. Her wounds are healing up very well, with nice pink skin clearly visible under the damaged feathers. She was moved to a larger outdoor cage today (not Field Flights just yet) and when she was let go, she hopped along the ground for a bit and then very gracefully, and with only 1 flap of her wings, floated up to a perch. So it's looking very good for her with almost certain release in the near future (I don't know when though).
We've now got 7 Saw-whet owls in rehab, with another one scheduled to arrive either tonight or tomorrow. They are on their southern migration so are getting into all sorts of trouble, mainly being hit by cars or running into buildings. To answer your question MaryF - "yes" Snoopy is fully grown at only 6 inches tall. To my knowledge Saw-whets are the 3rd smallest North American owl; Pygmy owls come in 2nd at about 5 inches and the smallest is the Elf owl at only 4 inches (they live in the desert, so I've never seen one). Even though Saw-whets are small their attitude more than make up for it; they are surprisingly mean. If Golden Eagles had the disposition of Saw-whets we'd all be too afraid to go anywhere near them!

Hey Jewill, I missed you on Wed night so I was glad to see your post tonight! Gee I sure hope the Delta pair warm up to that lovely nest this season. Sorry about the wild weather wreaking havok there. Our's didn't start till Sunday night in a big way!

wooohoooo great news about the eagle! What a relief that it was electrocuted and will be free soon. That's so awesome.

wow to all those Saw-whets coming in. Gee I wonder if the wee Barred I found hit by a car was passing through too. He was such a cutie so sad. It must have happened not long before I got there as his little body was limp but there was no vitals so I moved him to a nice spot under a bush for nature to take it's course. Thanks for the info on the types and sizes that was helpful.

hehe to the Saw-whets personality! Yeah that wouldn't be good if the ealges had it!

Great report, thanks so much and I hope to see you Wed., if not next Sunday then. Take care till then my friend

Jewill, thanks for another great update I'm so glad to hear the female eagle is doing so well and healing nicely I hope the damaged feathers won't cause her any problems with flying:huh: I hope you will be able to get some pics to post when she's released It's a shame the other eagle didn't make it

Snoopy is so cute; I just want to pick him up and cuddle him, but I know that would not be a good idea I'll keep my fingers crossed that all the Saw-whets recover from their injuries and are eventually released