I was at OWL all day today, but was teaching so I was not involved in any bird care. I did take a look at the "bird board" when I arrived and it's remaining fairly consistent with about 50 birds in rehab now, including a young Turkey Vulture that just came in over the weekend. I didn't get a chance to pull the case card on him so I don't know why he's here, but since they are now on their migration back to the desert I am assuming that he somehow got left behind.
I will be delivering 2 Barn owls tomorrow to a horse barn in Vancouver. I don't know if I'll be able to get any pictures, but I'll try. With Barn owls you don't toss them up in the air the same way you do for an eagle; basically you try to get as close as possible to the nesting box and open the kennel door so the birds will go directly into the box, get used to it and then hopefully decide to stay there. So there's not much opportunity to see the birds go free.
Then on Sunday another eagle is going to be released. I don't know any of the details, like who/when/where, but I'm going to try to go along if for nothing else to witness an eagle returning to the wild. If I manage to go, then I'll get at least a few pics.
Lori, too bad about the little Barred owl you found on the road. I too have moved a "road kill" animal out of the way and try to get them as far off the road as possible. I know that David Hancock does this too.
I didn't see either of the Delta OWL eagles today and I was hoping for an appearance since it was a fairly nice day. Oh well, I guess they will show their faces when they are good and ready.

Hey Jewill great to see you again and woohoooo to the Barn Owl delivery today (man they have a weird call) and another release on Sunday. Ohhh I hope you can get pics today and Sunday!

Yeah I was very sad about the wee Barred it broke my heart as he was so perfect. I don't know if I told you what I do here but I collect shots of species and I'm at 101 birds. Not one owl in the whole lot!! He's the only one I've seen and all I did with him was cry. There are 11 species of owl that are possible to be here and I can't find a one!! grrrrrrr

See you Sunday my friend

So I took the 2 Barn owls to their brand new horse barn in Vancouver (it was in an area called Southlands which is on the way to UBC in a very upscale area with multi-million dollar homes and many horse farms). Unfortunately I could not take any pictures because the whole time I was in one of those contraptions that has a bucket attached to a hydraulic arm that hoists you about 30 feet up. Needless to say, I was hanging on for dear life!
To back track a bit though, the 2 owls are the last ones we have that are releasable so that's great. A couple of volunteers went out to our barn to catch them; one was fairly docile but the other was screaming the entire time. Both weighed in a bit over-weight, but that's OK because they will probably take a few days before they realize that the free ride is over and they have to go out and catch their own food now. And Lori, you haven't heard anything until you spend 45 minutes in a Toyota with a screaming Barn owl in the back seat! It's a good thing I had the windows rolled up, otherwise I'm sure I would have been reported to the police as having abducted someone.
So back at the horse barn...the entrance hole to the nesting box was too small to simply hold the kennel up to it and let the birds out, so I had to grab each of them and place them in the box. First I threw some wood shavings in (supplied by the owner) and then about 6 dead mice, followed by the birds. Both stayed put while I was returned to solid ground, but then 1 (I'm sure it was the screamer) took off out of the box, followed closely by a group of crows. I can only hope that he is OK and he managed to find his way back to his new digs; it's in nature's hands now.
No surprise, but the Delta OWL eagles were again a no-show when I was out there .

ETA: I almost forgot...the 2 owls were from that group of 8 orphaned Barn owls that I posted a picture of way back on May 10th (they are also featured on the front page of OWL's latest newsletter).

jewill, what an experience you had with the barn owls. I'm so glad to hear you didn't fall out of the bucket trying to get them into the box I hope the one that flew off finds its way back to the box and you don't find it back at OWL There never seems to be a dull moment at OWL

I wonder if the Delta OWL eagles might be building a nest somewhere else

Happy Halloween!

It was a very busy day at OWL today. First we had about 30 people that belonged to a photography club arrive for a tour. Then it was time for the eagle release. It was an adult female that was found at the dump a few months ago. She was very weak and was not flying well at all. But that's ancient history because she is just fine now and more than ready to reclaim her rightful place back in the wild. The area where she was found is no longer accessible by the public, so it was decided to release her from the OWL property. It's only about 1 mile (as the eagle flies) from OWL to the dump so she wouldn't have any problem finding her way back there. Plus the photography club was onsite so they got to take some pictures that they were not expecting. I will finish this off, then post 6 pictures that I took of the event, so stay tuned.
After the excitement of the release we had about 20 birds that needed to be banded, so the round-up started. I personally got to catch 2 Barred owls and a Merlin. Of course during all of this the routine bird care still had to be done. I looked after my usual Sunday birds - a bunch of Barred owls and a couple of Red Tails, one of whom is Ladyhawke, a permanent resident. Now Ladyhawke is a very large bird (she could easily be confused with a juvenile bald eagle) and is known to be aggressive sometimes - it all depends on her mood. I looked after her last week as well and apparently she was feeling particularly nasty, because she came at me and got me on the right thigh. Then today she tried it again, but this time I was ready for her and managed to duck out of the way in time. I'm OK but still have the bruises to prove it from last week. It's all part of dealing with wild animals and it's a risk that I'm prepared to take.
The owner of the horse barn where I took the 2 Barn owls last Thursday called to say that 1 is still in the nest box and is calling to the 1 that escaped. He has seen the escapee and is hoping that it returns to the box soon.
Finally here are a couple of pics of a Pygmy owl we have in rehab now. He must of hit the side of a building or something because his eye is slightly injured and he is still a little out of it. But just look how tiny he is, weighing only 65 grams (a little over 2 ounces) and is about 3 inches tall.
This pic shows his injured left eye.


And this one (sorry, it's a little out of focus) shows the 2 eye spots he has on the back of his head; it's to confuse predators who don't know if he's looking at them or not, and since they prefer to attack from behind, they will often leave him alone.


Will post the eagle pics next...

OK, so there's nothing too out of the ordinary about these pictures but I thought I'd post them anyway since it's always exciting to return a bird to the wild. Ellen took lots of pics as well and has said that she will either post them herself, or send them to me for posting.

A volunteer brings her into the medical room for her last check-up.


She put on weight since her arrival.


Examining her wings to ensure everything is OK.

Up, up and away!


Thar she goes...


Rather than fly straight out towards Boundary Bay, she made a left turn and headed for the dump (it figures).


So there's another success story. Hope you enjoyed.

Wonderful pictures, Judy - and great to see an eagle returned to the wild - and to hear about the barn owls. I do hope the explorer finds his or her way back soon - it probably is a nicer home than they might find otherwise.

I don't post here that often - but always enjoy reading about what's happening at O.W.L. Thank you so much for your posts!