Birds, birds, birds

Wednesday, Feb. 6, I showed up for my first day of volunteering at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center. The organization treats sick, injured or orphaned wild birds, ranging from chickadees to bald eagles with the intent to allow the sick or injured to recover and be returned to the wild. The group also educates thousands of people with live education bird programs.

One of the eagles at Bird TLC (photo by Jaz).  This one (I think it's the female Petra), is used for presentations.

In order to volunteer, I had to have a valid tetanus shot (November 2011) and read a well-put-together volunteer manual, which I'm still reading. All I probably really needed to know for the first day was about cleaning up bird poo and cleaning cages, mats and perches.

As it turned out, that wasn't what I did. Most birds come into the Bird TLC in the morning, so there wasn't any of that to do, and apparently all the cleaning and feeding had been finished. But I was able to do some data entry, including names of people who brought in birds, what type of bird, problem, where found, and the history of the bird and whether it was released or died. Some of the stories I read about the birds were plenty interesting.

Giving some cash to the cash crow, Kodi.  (Photo by Jaz, taken at a Bird TLC open house.

But the best part of my four hours there was that Kodi, the cash crow from Kodiak, was there, just outside the door where I was working. Every time I walked by he'd squawk, which startled me. By the third time I was getting irritated that he'd “get” me every time. Then Guy, the Volunteer Coordinator, let me practice with Kodi on his cash gathering. I'd met Kodi a few weeks prior. He has a trick … he'll take cash from your hand and deposit it in a jar. I played take the cash with him and was allowed to reward him with a mealy worm. I wanted to know if they are alive. Yes. Ick!! Then I was showed where the worms live in the back and how to get more of them. Apparently Kodi won't eat dead ones. I put the first couple on my hand, but then let him pick them out of the little bowl. It was fun, and hopefully he'll get used to me and not try to spook me each time I pass by him.

My second day, Feb. 13, was totally different. No data entry today. I was all geared up in my smock. I chose yellow to remind me of my new motorcycle (yellow and black) and sunshine. It made me feel like part of a team. In through the main door, over the towels and disinfectants and on to the kitchen. There are a couple of things you step in to remove things from your shoes as you go into the clinic area, and you go out the same way to remove possible organisms from your shoes prior to leaving the building.

Coming into the clinic and getting stuff off my shoes.

Today I was helping Denise do food preparation for the birds. We first toured all the bird cages and mews, both inside and outside. We reviewed the charts for each so we knew what each bird had been eating or not eating, how much they were eating, which birds weren't eating well, which ones were. There are some that eat everything they're given, at least one that doesn't really care for salmon, others that prefer their food in small pieces rather than large ones. Even birds have a variety of different appetites, just like people.

This was the first of several packages of salmon.  The cutting board was still clean.

Back to the kitchen we went to start preparing the food. Cut up salmon, cut up hooligan, cut up chicken, cut up caribou. Wow. It was a regular smorgasboard. There are other things you can feed, such as birdy corn bread (a mixture containing corn bread), berries if you have them, and even some fruits and vegetables. We were mostly working with meats for proteins. Most of the birds currently at the clinic are eagles, with a couple of owls, a duck, the crow and a redpoll.

I cut up more stuff than I've cut up in the past two months … more salmon, please. I also ended up cutting some and bagging most of a big bag of caribou that was thawing. I'm surprised I wasn't queasy, but I just did the work. And I felt I was contributing.

I was up to my elbows, literally, in sorting, bagging and tagging caribou meat.

The eagles on Eagle Row, inside the building, are moved, or herded from one cage to the next so their areas can be cleaned. Blankets and people herding are how it's done. I watched as one eagle walked fairly calmly from one cage, through the door, along a short walkway and on through the door and into the cage next door. It's interesting what goes into keeping all of these birds clean, healthy and well-fed. And I'm pleased to be a part of it.

At the bottom of the blanket you can just see the eagle walking from one cage around to the other one, being herded.

There's also an owl who arrived recently and is probably not going to be there when I get back the next time. It's in very poor condition and so to try to keep it comfortable, the crew gave it some fluids. Denise did the honors while others held the bird (with a blanket over its head to help keep it calm). It's a beautiful bird but has had injuries to a foot and talon so it's twisted. It appears to be an old injury and it's possibly been able to feed, but something happened to get it to Bird TLC.

The owl really didn't struggle much.

Denise administers the fluids, while Guy and Sharon hold the owl still.

I wouldn't want this talon grabbing hold of me.

It was a great day. I met some wonderful folks and it felt good to contribute to such a great organization.

Bird TLC is a 501(3)(c) non-profit, always in need of volunteers and donations, either of cash or items such as paper towels, waterproof tarps and garbage bags to name a few. Check out the website at www.birdtlc.net or call (907) 562-4852.