Running the gauntlet

The past few years, I have wised up and only asked for one or two things for Christmas. Sure I could tell people that I want socks, and clothes, a gadget that helps me find my keys, and an automatic bra warmer*. But I have learned that to make it easier for people who care about me, I just say I want ONE THING.
Last year, I wanted a Garmin. And Geoff delivered. Easy.

This year, it was simple. I wanted a triple-layer, 17-inch eagle glove from Mike's Falconry. A glove that has three layers of cowhide from the elbow all the way down to the tips of the fingers.
IMPENETRABLE.

If you are new to this blog, I handle some rather persnickety birds of prey and my arm resembles the arm of a person who indulges in heroin. I was tired of putting my limbs in mortal peril every time I took out one of our red-tailed hawks (big females with attitudes that defy any words to describe them).
So that's all I talked about....the glove. The eagle gauntlet. My arm and how much I like it to remain sealed in its protective covering.


My Mom delivered this year. It makes the decision easy for your mother when all you want is something that will protect the skin that she used to rub baby lotion into.

I lovingly rubbed melted Jess Grease into the new, beautiful masterpiece of leather-making.
The first bird I tried it on was my Lucy:

(Photo taken by balancing my camera on Lucy's rock perch, among the feathers, guts and feet of the previous day's meal of quail)
I tried it on Scarlet, one of our Red-tailed Hawks. She jumped around too much for a photo (I got lots of hawk-shaped blurs).

Priscilla the Barred Owl was next...


And let me just say that this glove, in all of its triple-layer glory, is overkill for our smaller birds.
A simple, single layer is all that is needed. Their feet, while armed with pointy ends, are not really strong enough to puncture more than one layer of leather.
But I will be using the new glove anyhoo.
:)


I couldn't even feel Storm's feet through all of that leather. For all of his bravado, his feet are small and dainty.


I enjoyed watching those dainty feet scrape and gouge the new leather:

The more I use the glove, the softer and more pliable it will become.

It was time to try it on Isis, our leucistic Red-tailed Hawk.
Isis is a very large RTHA. A rather strong RTHA. A rather jumpy RTHA. A RTHA who squeaks like a dog toy.
I went in to get her today, and after a minute of fake-out jumping and squeaking, I got hold of one of her jesses and lifted her. She was NOT coming quietly, and struck out with her free foot.
And she found the only vulnerable area on the entire glove...the tips of the fingers. All of that leather needs to be sewn together somewhere, and just one of her eight talons sliced through the seam on the end of my third finger.
I got her off my hand and went to the barn. I took off my glove and there was a nice ribbon of blood unfurling from the end of my finger.
Deep and messy. Not serious, but..... I got to thinking that I hadn't had a tetanus booster in a while. Like 20 years or so.
When I first started at RAPTOR, someone suggested that I get a booster, because I WOULD get hurt at some point. That was nearly four years ago. Did I listen? Nooooooo.
So I spent the afternoon today waiting in an Urgent Care office to get a booster shot.


Sylvester:
"I disapprove of you bleeding."

* Come to think of it, that's not a bad gift idea.

A great weekend to be Outdoors

What a great day.

A day spent teaching the public about birds of prey and their importance...meeting new faces, grilling out, baked beans and chips.

The first part of the day was a four-hour informal program with some of our birds perched out in front of the CNC. Storm, Sylvester, Isis and Lucy.

A word (or many) about Isis:
A few months ago, I found it more and more difficult to use Isis for programs. Her original injury (a gunshot to her right wing...what kind of idiot would shoot a hawk like her????) had become so calloused, every time she hit it against something in her mew, it would bleed. And she was breaking blood feathers constantly.
Being a nearly pure-white bird, it was rather obvious that she was a mess. I went to our board and our bird care director and asked them to do something. She went to one of our vets, who agreed that more of the wing needed to be removed.
A small portion of the remaining bone was removed, leaving a flap of skin. The flap was sewn over the wound and needed only four stitches. She healed up very nicely (and is even growing feathers back where there were none) and today was her grand re-opening to the public. She does very well perched out for programs, but today she was even better than I thought.

(that's the GHOW way in the back, doing his "I am a totem pole" thing)

I do love that owl...

Such a polite bird (except at sunset when he's more active, and in the months of December and January, when hormones get the best of him)

A very, very cool find:
In front of the red barn, we were all chatting and had no idea a small amount of possible death was crawling around our feet. Craig, a young volunteer, shouted, "There's a black widow!"
Nunh-uh.

Yep, it was:


Someone handed me a stick so I could turn her over to get a shot of that red hourglass...then I realized that I was hold an effing black widow spider and someone needed to rescue me.
I tried very hard not to cuss.

She was gently and respectfully carried to the woods' edge and deposited.

Let's meet Ethan:

This darling 6 year old...here's the history of RAPTOR and him:
Last year at the Great Outdoor Weekend, I met Ethan and his mom, Liz. This kid had a very healthy interest in birds of prey, and birds in general. I had a great time talking with him and marveling at his knowledge.
A few months later, I got a call from his mom for an educational program at Ethan's birthday party.
Thanks to that program, I got in the Cincinnati Enquirer, the article saying that this was the "new" way to throw a kid's birthday. I got quite a few programs out of that.
And today, he and his mom were at the member's picnic. Turns out that Ethan is a member of RAPTOR now. The youngest member, to be exact.

I had to photograph him with some of our birds.


During a nature walk earlier in the day, he found some feathers...he showed me where he had thrown them back into the woods (because he remembered what I had said about them being protected and that possessing them was a crime). My God. Someone is actually listening to my programs?
He said there were many, many "downy" feathers, so something had tackled something.

The one on the left is a great horned owl feather, and at first, I thought the other one was a red-shouldered hawk. I did some research and found that this was a turkey feather. Looks like a GHOW tackled a turkey. Awesome.



"I disapprove of your use of fire. And what the Hell is a S'more?"


I was putting Isis back in her carrier as the picnic ended, and realized I didn't have a picture of Isis and me.
Cindy, our Bird Care Director, was good enough to oblige:

Good bird. Glad you are feeling better.

The whole day was so fun. I got to meet old RAPTOR members, revel in some new ones, and Isis, our Flagship Bird, is feeling great. Life is good.

Goodbye August, you skanky wench from Hell

September is a breath of fresh air here in scenic southwestern Ohio. 85 degrees. I never thought I would be happy about that.
Here are some pics from my program today at Shawnee Lookout:

This big beautiful female red-tailed hawk usually lives in Sharon Woods, but her mew is being rebuilt, so she is vacationing at Farbach-Warner. Matt, the park naturalist who co-presented with me thought it would be nice for her to get out and stretch her legs.
(Hit by car)

Oh, it's so sad. This is actually not our red screech owl. He belongs to the park district, and in the tradition of education screech owls everywhere, the *molt *is *ugly.
(Hit by car)
Does anyone think that this is worthy of Cute Overload?



Maybe this one, then:


"Please take me home, love me, and knit me some cozies."
(Barred owl belonging to the parks.)
(Hit by car. Now totally blind)



"Let the disapproval rain down...."



This spider has a death wish. I found it crawling up the GHO's belly. I had to take a picture before brushing it off.


And look who I had the nerve to bring today!


Isis!



I am proud of her, too. She was really good. She gets slightly skitzy with transitions (i.e. starting and stopping, doorways, etc), and it took 10 minutes of slow approaches and soft talking to get her on my hand and out of the mew, but she perched out just fine and I had tears in my eyes more than once today.
She stole the show. Some people are drawn to falcons, some people are drawn to the little cuties, but EVERYONE is drawn to Isis. This is a type of bird you are NOT going to see very often in your life.
I perched her next to the "typical" RT to show the difference. It's an understatement to say that the difference is remarkable.

I am also proud of myself. I have avoided Isis for too long. She's nowhere near as difficult as I built up in my mind. I just gave myself a mental kick in the ass, and it worked. I think the public will be seeing much more of Isis from now on.

Oh, and I got a life bird today.


A red-breasted nuthatch was noodling up and down the tree I was standing next to.

Today gets an A +.

Pass the crackers, Whitey

It's not often that I get something new in the yard, bird-wise. Today was a day spent mostly indoors, trying not to sweat my last drop of moisture into my shirt. I did have to venture out to fill the bird feeders and turn on a nice mist for everyone. As I was doing that, a white bird flew over my head and into the neighbor's tree. Holy Moley, an albino-something!

I ran back into the house and grabbed the camera and waited at the window.

And here it is:

(Figures it would be a house sparrow.)
When I got a better look, I saw that it wasn't an albino, but leucistic....like Isis:



Lots of white, but she still has some pigment (eyes, beak and a spot on the back of her head).

This may be the first time in the history of the world (certainly the first time on THIS blog) that this has been said: "Isn't that a cute house sparrow?"
It must be the heat.
This is a young one...you can see the last vestiges of a bright yellow gape. And even the legs are cute...pink!

It's so cool to see those faint typical "house sparrow" patterns on a mostly white bird. The only house sparrow I can say that I like. Partly because it's pretty, and partly because its chances of survival are slim. (I have a heart, honest. A teeny little part of me wishes it the best)

So that was exciting....

And this was too...the chrysalis is suddenly black and the sweet delicate wings are visible. Not a great picture...but I was nervous, trying to get it back into the habitat and not drop it on the floor. I assume tomorrow's post will be full of emerging and wing-pumping and releasing.