The rate of arrivals at the intake window is still slow, but that is to be expected in January. Within a few weeks, people bringing in injured and orphaned birds and animals will be backing up on the sidewalk. It is difficult to comprehend the level of effort expended by the volunteer veterinarians and technicians who work tirelessly to provide the very best medical care for whatever comes to us for help. Sparrow or eagle, squirrel or coyote, nothing is turned away out of hand. Most people wouldn’t believe the dedication of our Medical Services team who use all of our state-of-the-art equipment in often extraordinary efforts to save the injured wildlife that finds its way to our door. Sadly some won’t survive, but even then, they depart from a warm, quiet place among people that care for their comfort until all possible measures to help them have been exhausted.

Vet Night last week had Dr. Orr and her helpers providing care for several recent intakes. An injured osprey was examined and then fed, along with a couple of great horned owls and a red tailed hawk with an injured wing.  Ospreys don’t eat well in captivity so one of the main problems with rehabbing them is keeping them fed. Kathy Edwards did a great job getting fish in this one’s mouth.

(Look for 3 photos)

We get a lot of kestrels over the period of a year. It’s one of the few birds we take in that we can accurately fill in the “sex” box on the intake form! No matter what the size of the patient, nearly every one that arrives gets fluids, and kestrels get treated for trichomoniasis pretty much as a rule.

(Look for 2 pictures)

A lot of folks don’t realize that we have so many species of owls in Arizona (13 to be close) and most of them are small. this little western screech owl came in unknown injuries and was treated with the same type of care an eagle or a condor would get – including receiving fluids on first arrival. At this posting, he is still in the ICU but seems to be doing well.

(look for two photos)

Continuing with the theme of “small owls in Arizona”, this little saw whet owl came in recently presenting some leg problems. These little birds are notoriously difficult to rehabilitate but this one seems to be doing well in our care. We’ll try to keep you posted on his progress.

(Look for 2 photos)

Last week I drove to Arizona City to rescue a golden eagle that had been in a man’s yard for a day. We got back to Liberty around 7PM and Alex weighed him (only 4 1/2 lbs), gave him fluids and drew blood for testing. He was extremely thin so food was left in his enclosure and he was allowed to rest overnight to relieve stress. The next morning, Dr. Lamb received his blood tests and decided that a blood transfusion was required. We had another golden in our care from whom we harvested the donor blood. The procedure was accomplish by mid morning but sadly the eagle peacefully died soon after. A necropsy was subsequently performed and it was determined he had a head injury of unknown origin that damaged his brain. This coupled with his anemia and emaciation meant any long term rehabilitation would not have been successful, despite the heroic efforts by our medical team.

Our thanks to Mr. Higgins for making the call to the hotline and standing watch until I arrived.

(Look for 11 photos)

In keeping with Liberty Wildlife’s mission to further sustainability, one of our volunteers – Aurora Beans –  has established an apiary at our facility. As she puts it, ” One of the main benefits of keeping bees (besides the yummy honey) is the pollination services they provide. Honey and wild bees pollinate 30% of the world’s crops and 90% of native plants. So by keeping them healthy and happy, Liberty is now able to contribute to the conservation of Arizona native plants, as well as food crops we humans like to eat and use!”

(Look for two pictures)

We are currently working with the Phoenix Parks Dept.  to create an Interpretive Trail between our property and the river.  Our own Laura Hacket writes: “Park Ranger Brian Miller is helping Liberty Wildlife create our interpretive trail down to the Rio Salado. Friday January 25th was our first of many work days to get it completed. The team who showed up for this volunteer effort had so much energy and were able to get an amazing start for us! They will be continuing Friday Feb 1 starting at 8am and welcome others to come join us!!! Volunteers get free passes to Liberty Wildlife’s Open Hours!!@”

(Look for two pictures)