Burrowing Owls

June, it's June already and the 4th of July is creeping up fast on us!  I'm going to take a backseat to my good friend Marty for this blog post and let him try his hand at writing the blog (I know, I know no one is as good as I am), but he has a really cool program to tell you all about.

Hi everyone, Marty here.    Make sure you read all the way to the bottom, I have something REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT to tell you about!  I've been with Wild At Heart since June of 2011.  I was rescued from Cesar Chavez park in Phoenix after suffering an injury to my head.  I'm sometimes called the pirate owl because I only have one good eye (but hey I'm cool with that).  I'm really a pretty easygoing kind of guy.  I've been doing Educational Programs (maybe you've seen me) for the last couple of years.  I like going out on programs because I get to tell so many people about me and about Wild At Heart's Burrowing Owl Program. What's a Burrowing Owl you ask?  I'm glad you did.  Western Burrowing Owls (like me) are native to Arizona and we can be found all around the west from Canada down to South America!  We are really rather fun, cool little owls.  We only get to be about 10 inches tall and weigh about 6 ounces.  Our small size comes in handy for finding our homes.  Unlike most owls we choose to live in burrows underground.  Yup that's right, underground.  We are however too cool to dig our own homes and so will just appropriate empty burrows left by other animals, cracks in the sidewalks, drain pipes, anything we can fit into.

     We love our little underground burrows, so nice and cool on hot summer days.  Unfortunately though our burrows are frequently in the way of construction projects.  It's kind of hard to say no to a bulldozer...  That's where Wild At Heart steps in to save the day.  Bob Fox (co founder of Wild At Heart) works in partnership with the construction companies to get us moved out of the danger zone and into a safe new home.  How does this happen?  Well Bob just flys in (super hero cape and all) and whisks us out of danger.  No, you're right it doesn't really work that way.  The reality is that Bob spends hours and hours patiently surveying the area and locating all of our burrows.  He then sets out traps (the good kind, where we don't get hurt and there's always good mice in there to eat) and waits patiently for us to enter the trap.  Sometimes this can take hours and hours as we are too smart to just walk into something.  Some of my friends here at Wild At Heart have sat for three or four hours right in front of the trap before flying away.  Bob never loses his patience though and just like a bounty hunter he always gets his bird.   Bob then brings us back to Wild At Heart where we will remain for at least the next 90 days (60 days at Wild At Heart to break our bond to our old homes and 30 days supervised by Wild At Heart in our new homes).

"You don't think I'm going in there do you?"

Hangin' out and makin' new friends at Wild At Heart.

     While we are busy hanging out and enjoying the easy life at Wild At Heart (who's gonna say no to sleeping in and having room service every night, huh?)  Bob's right hand Burrowing Owl man Greg Clark (with his right hand man Kevin Kreigel) steps in and makes sure that our new home will be ready for us.  This requires a lot of work and effort on the part of Greg, Kevin and all the volunteers who come out to help build our homes.  As of 2014 (21 years into this program) Wild At Heart has built over 6500 new artificial burrows (in land that has been set aside for us all around the state) and released more than 2500 Burrowing Owls into these new homes.  

Digging our burrows

Putting up the release tent so we are safe for our first 30 days in our new home.

    Greg Clark is an instrumental part of the Wild At Heart Burrowing Owl Program.  Without him, well I don't know where our new homes would be, but it sure wouldn't be as nice.  He has been nominated for the prestigious Cox Conserves Heroes Award.  This is a big honor for Greg, and we Burrowing Owls couldn't be happier.  The award recognizes local environmental volunteers (yup Greg volunteers for this duty) who are making a difference in their communities.  The winner receives $10,000 dollars for their non-profit (that's a lot of mice!)  Greg is one of only three finalists and he will be featured on the Cox website and in local media.  That's where you can help.  The winner will be determined by public voting to take place in July.  Please help us out then and vote for Greg.

     If you would like any further information about our Burrowing Owl program or want to volunteer to help out send us an email at Sam@wildatheartowls.org.

Foster Parents

Bedtime Poem

     I was listening in on a conversation (how else is a Kestrel going to keep up with current events) between two volunteers the other day all about the bedtime poem her granddaughter's stepfather says with her every night.  It reminded me that you don't have to have a blood tie to make a family.
     In fact, right here at Wild At Heart we have many families that share no blood tie.  I'm talking about our raptor Foster Parents and all of their fabulous foster children.  The raptor foster parent program was started way, way back in 1990 (that's over 20 years ago)!

Harris Hawk DeGoo with his first foster child Cochise - Spring 2014

     The first foster parent raptor at Wild At Heart was a Barn Owl named Chia.  Chia was brought in as a nestling to the Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center where Sam and Bob were both volunteers.  Chia was severely ill with permanent wing and leg injuries that would render him unreleasable.  Sam had just been reading a wonderful book "A Place for Owls" by Kay McKeever (I don't know why she wasn't writing about Kestrels...).  This book was all about rehabilitating owls, and her experiment using a spotted owl as a foster parent.  Sam took this information to the higher ups at Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center and was given permission to try Chia as a foster parent - if he survived his injuries.  Sam and Bob showered him with care and survive he did.  Chia went on to raise hundreds of orphaned Barn Owls with his mate Tyta.

Barn Owl Foster Parents - Aspen, Nicole and foster children - spring 2014

     What started as an experiment has been very successful, and today Wild At Heart is home to a number of foster parent owls, hawks and falcons.  Each of our foster parent raptors raise a new family, sometimes two or more families every year. Our foster raptors always have at least two and sometimes ten or more foster children at a time (I don't know how they do it; I can barely keep myself looking good!) 

Great Horned Owls Foster Parents - Chitter and Moogley with their foster children - spring 2014

     Why do we have foster parents?  The foster parent raptors play a vital role in our rehabilitation program (Not more important than me of course).  They are responsible for teaching our young orphaned nestlings and fledglings how to be owls, hawks or falcons.  They teach them the mechanics of flying and how to hunt.  The foster parent program allows us to release the orphans back into the wild as fully functioning adults.

Super Screech Owl mom - Mama Webster with a few of her ten foster children

Our foster parents need all the help and support they can get.  To be a part of our foster family - click on the link below to donate (please and thank you).

Wild At Heart

It's Baby Season

Wow, it's been a busy time here at Wild At Heart!  Baby season is upon us in a big way!  It's baby baby baby around here right now, and let me tell you them Great Horned babies sure know how to keep a Kestrel up at night!  Just yesterday, 8 new babies came in and we received 48 calls!  We aren't even counting the number of eggs in the incubator right now!

Intake cards on the front of the incubator

Great Horns, Red Tails and Kestrels Oh My! (Plus many others too)

The Great Horned Owls were the first to come in (and they are still coming!)  Our first baby arrived at Wild At Heart on March 16th.  This poor little guy fell from his tree in Chandler but thanks to wonderful people like his finder, he made his way safely to us here.

Snowball getting ready to join his foster parents Chitter and Moogley.

In the last month 46 babies have found their way to Wild At Heart and that number doesn't include the eggs in the incubator!  We now have Great Horned babies, Barn Owl babies (maybe you saw our post about Wynken, Blynken and Nod), Western Screech Owl babies and some baby hawks as well.

Wynken, Blynken and Nod

  That's a lot of mouths for our foster parent birds to feed.  These babies eat a lot!  My big humans Sam and Bob could really use your help providing food for all these little ones.  Please consider donating, all donations go straight to the care of these precious (they made me say that!) little ones.  I think they are noisy, but hey that's a Kestrel's life.    Donations can be made through: http://www.razoo.com/story/Wild-At-Heart      

Rattlesnakes, AZ Gives Day and Sakroots

Red-Tailed Hawk vs. Rattlesnake 

Rattlesnakes, I didn't sign up for rattlesnakes.  This is why I am strictly an educational bird, so I don't have to worry about those pesky snakes..  Unfortunately one of my new friends visiting Wild At Heart was not so lucky and ended up getting bitten by a rattlesnake (don't worry her story has a happy ending).  Here is her story as told to me by her person Jack Service.

One sunny day in February Jack and his Red Tailed Hawk Artemis,  (she is a falconry bird - more about that sport in another blog) were hunting out along an old road near Cornville, Arizona. All of a sudden they stumbled across a Diamondback Rattlesnake sunning itself on the road.  Artemis was safely up in a tree so the decision was made to walk around the snake and call Artemis to the glove once safely past the snake.  Unfortunately no one told Artemis the plan and once Jack was beyond the rattlesnake down she swooped to have a quick bite of lunch (I've heard it said that rattlesnake tastes like chicken).  It was a win-lose situation.  While trying to eat her lunch, she got bit on the foot.  Jack is a smart person though and knew to call his friends who know more than he does about the birds.  Those friends got him on the road and on his way to Wild At Heart.  Jack and Artemis arrived at Wild At Heart about three hours after the bite occurred.  The Wild At Heart team (Sam and Bob) flew into action and set about the work of saving Artemis.  When she got to Wild At Heart she didn't look very good (I was kind of worried).  She was very lethargic and just wanted to lay down.  Sam and Bob got her started on medication and fluids and placed her into a warm incubator.  Jack and his mom stayed close by so they could check on her throughout the day (he really cares a lot about Artemis). The next morning Artemis was seen by Dr. Nancy Murbach, a long time supporter of Wild At Heart, who came and used a medical laser on Artemis' foot.  (It was really cool, I got to watch).  The laser helped speed the healing process and reduce the swelling in her foot.  Jack was here and watched it all, and I'm sure was a great comfort to Artemis.  By the next day the swelling had gone way down and Artemis was well on her way to recovery.  Artemis stayed with us here at Wild At Heart for three days.  Jack took her home at the end of the third day and reports that she is doing great!

Artemis Back Home

AZ Gives Day

Its coming Its coming!  AZ Gives Day is coming!  This special day only comes around once a year.  It is a state-wide online giving campaign.  From 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM on April 9th, Arizonians will come together to support their favorite causes!  Please mark your calendars and plan to take part in this one day, once a year event.  You can schedule a donation now for AZ Gives Day at http://azgives.razoo.com/giving_events/az14/home or wait and join the excitement on April 9th.

Sakroots

Ok, who wants to break me out of Wild At Heart for some online shopping?  I need some new swag. Wild At Heart has partnered with Sakroots to bring you the Desert Spirit Print.  This is part of the Sakroots Choose Your Karma program.  This print was created especially for Wild At Heart.  When purchasing a Desert Spirit Print item online at Sakroots, you will have the option at checkout of making a donation to us.  Purchases can also be made in store, and will have a tag attached to the item.  This tag will give you all the directions to make your donation online.  All donations for this program must be made online.  Sakroots will match all donations made.  Check out the Spirit Desert Print and all of the wonderful items it comes in at http://www.sakroots.com/prints-spirit-desert/

2013 What A Year!!

   Hello from Wild At Heart.  I'm Juniper also known as America's Next Top Bird Model, cause I'm so cute. I am an American Kestrel Falcon and have been Wild At Hearts top Kestrel since 2010.  I arrived at Wild At Heart with a fracture to my wing, The wing healed but not well enough for me to fly (I hop really well though!)  I make my home in the hospital room at Wild At Heart, it's kind of cool because all the volunteers make sure to come in and say hi to me everyday.  Which is as it should be.  I also get to see all the birds come in and out of the hospital throughout the year, and what a year 2013 has been.  We have had over 468 birds of prey come in this year, some orphans, some injured and some that ran afoul of environmental issues.  Let me introduce you to a few of my friends from 2013.
In June of this year I met a very brave little owl.  We named him Survivor.  Survivor and his mom came to us from Goodyear.  They were picked up by volunteer Michael Artemis.  Survivor and his mom were found in the street, where they had their burrow.  Survivor just narrowly missed being hit by a car, unfortunately his mom wasn't as lucky.  His mom had passed on by the time Michael was able to rush them to us but Survivor stayed strong and wouldn't give up.  He was later moved out to an aviary where he has made new friends and will be released with them in the spring into a new habitat.
Park and Ride (what a name I know, the big people around here aren't very good at this whole naming thing), is a Red Tailed Hawk that came to us from the Park and Ride facility on Happy Valley Road.  He was found hopping around on the cars, too young to fly yet, and brought into Wild At Heart.  He was released back into the wild earlier this year.
You met my friend Mags in the last blog.  He has officially been requested from U.S. Fish and Wildlife as an educational bird for Wild At Heart.  He's a little strange, but a good soul and will do a great job of showing people it's ok to be special. I met a lot of unusual friends this year that we don't often see at Wild At Heart.  I met Zona the Zone Tailed Hawk who came to us with an eye injury and a broken leg.  Poor Zona he was in the hospital forever with pins in his leg and three surgeries on his eye.  He is now living outside in an aviary and has been requested from U.S. Fish and Wildlife as an educational bird.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Mandela a Ferruginous Hawk who came in with two gunshot wounds one to his leg and one to his wing.  He has been seen by our fabulous vet Dr. Soltero at Saguaro Veterinary Clinic and is healing well in the hospital.  Tundra came in just a few days after Mandela.  He is a gorgeous Tundra Peregrine (of course he's not as good looking as me!)  He came in with a fracture to his wing which is healing nicely.  Tundra Peregrines are very rare in Arizona and we are excited to have him here while he heals.
I'm lucky (so they tell me) to have another Kestrel Falcon in the hospital with me right now.  His curtain on his hospital kennel is opened everyday so he can see outside the window.  His name is Weebles.  Weebles has a little bit of a wobble (he tends to fall over backward easily) so he is in the hospital while we get this figured out.
One of the best friends I made this year was a little Elf Owl, many of you know him as the former author of this blog.  Widget unfortunately passed away in November of this year due to an unknown genetic problem.  He was a little owl that made a big impact on everyone he met (even me).  We all still miss him everyday, but unfortunately we can't save everyone even though we try our very best.
What a year!  2013 has been an exciting year with many successes and some losses, although we try our best for the raptors that come in here everyday and will continue to do so in the future.  Caring for all of my friends is no laughing matter, it takes time, love, commitment and of course money (you wouldn't believe what a bag of mice is going for these days!)  This job is too big for one little Kestrel and our volunteer big people, we can't do this without your help.  To help all of us here at Wild At Heart, donations can be made through http://www.razoo.com/story/Wild-At-Heart.  

 

Mags' Story (and Some Note-Worthy Tidbits!)

Hey everyone! Widget here! But it's only me for a minute. Today I'm turning the blog over to a good friend of mine. I'm letting her take the keyboard over for a bit to tell you her story. And, if she does a good enough job and the giant humans like her work, maybe she'll be back to post again someday! Enjoy a few words from my awesome friend Mags!  

Hey guys! My name is Mags and I'm a Great Horned Owl in residence here at Wild At Heart. I've called this place home since March 29th of this year. I was only three weeks old when I got here.

This is going to sound a bit weird, but there's not much I can do about it. My friend, Widget, refers to me as a "she" up there. But the giant humans at Wild At Heart actually don't know, yet, if I'm male or female. Why not? Well, that's a really good question. I've got some identity issues starting to arise so I hope they figure it out soon!

Anyways, like I said before, I was three weeks old when I came to Wild At Heart. I was brought in with severe head wounds from falling out of my nest. And I didn't just fall once. I fell multiple times. How did I keep falling? Different big people kept putting me back in my nest every time. They kept putting me back in the nest until my face was almost unrecognizable...

That's when someone decided it was time to bring me in to Wild At Heart. When I came in, both my eyes were swollen and filled with maggots. There was also a massive, gaping hole in my head. Of course this couldn't go untreated and I was absolutely silent while Sam (one of the giant humans in charge) removed hundreds of maggots from my eye sockets.

Once the yucky maggots were removed, I visited two wonderful veterinarians in the area. Dr. Ingram of All Creatures Animal Clinic in Phoenix was able to close up the top of my head so it wasn't open for the world to see. It's all healed up now! Dr. Urbanz of Eye Care for Animals in Scottsdale took care of my eyes. Even with continuous care for my eyes, I am still blind in my right eye and only partially sighted in my left eye.

I currently live in the Hospital room at Wild At Heart with my stepsister, Juniper (she's an American Kestrel). We love spending our time interacting with the volunteers and visitors that float in and out throughout the day.

Remember how I said earlier that I was totally silent while Sam pulled the maggots out? Well, the reality is I'm still not quite sure how to "hoot" like the other owls. But I still love to carry on long conversations with the volunteers that come to visit me. An owl's got to do something to pass the time!

Wild At Heart will be my forever home. I'm proud to call it my forever home, though, because it provides me with amazing opportunities. I get to be one of their educational birds and help the staff and volunteers teach children and adults everywhere that just because you're a little different doesn't mean you aren't special! The giant humans hope that one day I'll be able to leave the Hospital room and join the rest of their Great Horned Owls in the aviaries!

Now that I've told you my story, I want to give you a few quick tidbits on the place I call home. Remember, I have to do a good job on this so I get to write to all of you again!

First off, Wild At Heart recently closed their Owls and Hawks Story Contest! They had 51 entries and the winner will be announced later this week. That's a lot of stories the judges have to read and we have to give them time to get through them all!

"Holidays are for the Birds" is the theme for the end of year fundraising campaign beginning November 1st. Let's make this a jolly good holiday season for those of us here at Wild At Heart so we can take flight into the New Year!

Those who wish to donate sooner may do so through PayPal, Razoo, or by sponsoring a block on the Wild At Heart Wall. This is a seriously cool option, guys. Check it out. It's a Virtual Supporter Wall online (available through the Wild At Heart Facebook Page). You select a block (hover over them to see the price), upload a picture (of yourself, kids, pets, etc...), type in your name and fill in the rest of the information. When you're done click the "Get This Square" button and complete your purchase information. Then that's it! Your picture is on the Wild At Heart Wall and you've helped to support the giant humans who care for the amazing birds in our facility! These blocks are fantastic gifts for birthdays and the upcoming holidays. If you all chip in to fill the entire Wall you would have raised over $40,000 for Wild At Heart. That's a huge goal, but we have every confidence that you can help us out!

You can also make donations by completing all of your internet searches through a search engine called Goodsearch. This search engine donates money for every search made using their site. They also have other ways to earn money for Wild At Heart through video games and watching videos. Make sure you check out the Goodshop, too, which partners with online retailers to provide funds to organizations!

And there you have it, everyone. My story, the news about Wild At Heart and some awesome ways to help these giant humans continue their very important work with the Arizona native birds!

Give a Hoot and a Holler! We're Calling You!

Season of Giving

Wild At Heart is getting busy, busy, busy! With the holidays right around the corner, we know you are busy, too, but we are hoping that you still remember the reason for the season.

Our facility depends on volunteers and a lot of donations. And now is the time to set up your workplace giving, Combined Federal Campaign, or one time (or more) donations. The giant humans at Wild At Heart would be thrilled if you remembered us and selected us as a recipient for your donation. Honestly, it would mean the world to all of us here and would really go a long ways towards helping the big people continue their work caring for me and my friends.

Story Contest

Wild At Heart is sponsoring their first story contest! Students in grades 4-8 in the Cave Creek, Desert Hills, Anthem area have been invited to participate in a story writing contest. The submission can be fiction, non-fiction or poetry and must feature an Arizona bird of prey. Submissions should be no longer than 500 words and will be judged by Wild At Heart staff members for creativity, use of language and relevance to the theme. Stories should be submitted through the Wild At Heart Facebook Page.

The winner (yay!) of this contest will win a 30-45 minute presentation from Wild At Heart for his/her class. This presentation will include live raptors. The winner will also earn a certificate or recognition and a Wild At Heart T-Shirt.

The contest begins on October 1st and ends on October 19th.

Wild At Heart & the World Wide Web

We're getting fancy over here guys! Wild At Heart is diving into the craziness that is the World Wide Web. That's right, we're learning all about Social Media around here and working hard to understand so we can get the word out about all of the amazing work that goes on at our facility! Wanna help us out? You can start by following this blog, right here! Add us to your favorites and remember to check back with us for updates.

Our Facebook page is still up and running and a great way to keep track of the comings and goings and happenings at Wild At Heart. You can follow us on Facebook by clicking HERE. Bob (giant human in charge) recently decided to challenge us to reach 1,000 "likes" on Facebook by the end of the year, so be sure to spread the word to all of your friends!

Wild At Heart recently joined Twitter. We're still new to the whole idea, so be patient with us- we ARE figuring it out, I promise! You can follow us on Twitter by clicking HERE.

And, of course, you can still find us at our original website. That's where you'll find all the information you could ever hope to know about our facility. Seriously, names, addresses, phone numbers and the whole nine yards is up there. Haven't these people heard of personal security on the internet!? Guess not.... Boy have they got a lot to learn... You can check out our website by clicking HERE.