Friday, June 20, 2014

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.


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Thursday, June 5, 2014

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

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Saturday, April 19, 2014

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
 
 
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Saturday, March 15, 2014

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/



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