July 24th, 2022
So I've been gone a while! The main reason for that is that I've just been busy! The theme of the week has been birds: tons and tons of birds. When you have over 40 baby birds that need to be fed at max every hour, that really slows down your work in other areas. Additionally, when there are so many birds, you can get stuck in an endless loop of feeding them. By the time you finish feeding the birds that get fed every 15, 30, and 60 minutes, you've taken 15 minutes, and it's time to feed the 15 minute birds again! And thus the cycle continues. I like the baby birds, but it gets to be a bit much.
Our baby hummingbirds are learning how to fly, and our pileated woodpeckers are figuring out how fast they can destroy a log. Thank gosh the woodpeckers were released a few days ago. We were about to go insane in the clinic from the constant noise. This week was a week of transition. The raccoons in the outdoor enclosure were sent to a larger enclosure at one of the volunteer's houses so they can get used to being more outside. The raccoons in the clinic were moved up to the pre-release enclosure, meaning I get to see little 265 running and playing! The raccoons love their new space, and it's fun to see them learn to climb and make trouble, which they do a lot.
Something else really cool that happened this week was that one of the director's chickens hatched some turkey eggs! Someone found a nest of turkey eggs that had been abandoned and brought the eggs to Centre Wildlife Care. It turns out that domesticated chickens will raise the eggs of ducks and turkeys as if they were their own! The chicken is very protective of her little turkey poults. It's very sweet to see.
On another note, one of the new birds we got this week was a young merlin! Merlins are one of three species of falcons we have in PA. They hunt in flight and are known for their keen eyesight and fast flying. Merlins have been prized as falconry birds for this reason. Our little merlin was unfortunately raised by a human for over two weeks before being brought to us. This is a concern because they can imprint on people, but also because the poor bird was fed an improper diet. The little merlin came in with a disorder known as rickets, which is caused by a vitamin d deficiency that leads to weak bones, especially in the legs. We weren't sure that the merlin would make it, but he started to eat really well in the clinic and after around ten days he is perching and trying to fly!
Merlins have been my favorite falcons since I got the opportunity to work with one while I volunteered at a raptor sanctuary near my hometown in New York. The raptor sanctuary is called Wild Wings, and I'll make sure to put a link to their page at the bottom of the blog post! Anyways, when I volunteered there during the summer of 2020, I got to handle screech owls, saw-whet owls, kestrels, and a merlin! The merlin's name was Tena (short for Tenacious) and I loved her. We would take the raptors out of their enclosures so visitors can get a closer look at the animals while volunteers answer questions and give the birds some time in a different environment. Tena was my favorite because she loved to be outside and be on the glove. Many of the other birds would get fussy about going back in after 10-20 minutes, but Tena was a champ and was happy to stay outside for ages, except if it was too hot. Anyways, that's why I love merlins so much! If you ever get the chance to work with raptors, do it! It is extremely cool and rewarding to get to know the individual personalities of these amazing birds. With that tangent done, I'm going to finish this blog post! I'm going to publish another one in the next 1-2 days because I almost went two weeks without doing one. I promise the next one will be a bit more interesting.
Wild Wings raptor sanctuary: https://www.wildwingsinc.com/