Every patient in our care has been through a traumatic experience, and had we our druthers, we’d wish that it had never happened and we never saw them in our clinic – their wild, free lives uninterrupted by human society.
Stil, providing care for young Swallows is a transcendental joy and a supreme privilege. This summer so far we’ve admitted scores of Swallows – Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), and Violet-green swallows (Tachycineta thalassina). Of the swallows admitted, 24 were nestlings (still in the nest, not fully feathered) or fledglings (fully feathered but still need a parent and may have just left the nest or may have fallen out too soon).
Of those 24, two are currently in care and 20 thrived and made it back to wild freedom!
Providing care for all of our patients is a joy and a privilege. Swallows can’t help it that their elegance and grace and delightful personalities are so terrific! For me, personally, stepping into the aviary to feed them is like a restorative vacation in the middle of the incredible caseload of Summer. Most of them are out there now, meeting their intended destiny. And the reason we had the aviary, had the food, and had the facility to provide their care is because of your support. Thank you for making our work possible!
We’ve started building our raccoon housing at our new site, but it’s Summer and our resources are thin! We need your help! Please donate to help us develop our new facility and keep our patients fed – we have nearly 75 orphans in care! Thank you for keeping our doors open and always striving to improve!!!!
Every summer at HWCC/bax is a hectic and frantic season of orphaned wild babies by the scores, long days, great sorrows and thrilling joys. We prepare for wild baby season each year as best we can, with regular trainings for experienced staff and new volunteers alike, marshalling resources, stocking up, and generally getting ready for five to six months of an intense workload.
This summer, 2023, of course is complicated by our recent relocation from Bayside to Manila. We took possession of our new location in early March and it was early April before we could begin the process of transforming our new building into a functional clinic. By early May we already had orphaned babies in care and by early June we were deep in the season.
We built some of our crucial new patient housing before the season really hit – we’ve got a songbird aviary, a fawn yard, housing for small mammals like opossums, and housing that we’d intended for chipmunks and squirrels but which has been dedicated to orphaned Mallards since the middle of May.
Since moving our operations to Manila we’ve admitted over 750 wild patients! I’ve said it more than once that we’re building the ship while we sail it, and it might seem impossible, but believe me, when Necessity is your only boss and a supportive community is your greatest ally, it’s astonishing what you can do.
Our new facility in April of 2023 – lots to do to get ready for baby season!The same space in May!In the middle of our relocation we were taking care of a few hundred orphaned wild babies, such as these six Striped Skunks whose den was demolished and their mother lost.In May we started building this patient housing for small mammals! Still more to do on it, but we can use it as it is. Dozens of Opossum babies have grown up in here already!We havent replaced or rebuilt our large seabird pools, but we do have our warm water therapy pool and one small saltwater pool available for seabirds. OVer 20 birds have been treated in it so far, including a Common Murre baby and two Rhinceros Auklets currently in care!Our fawn yard will expand soon, but already it’s the best we’ve ever had! Many songbirds have recovered in this aviary. We also raised 17 swallows, Barn, Cliff and Violet-green, in this aviary this Summer! Now a Steller’s Jay who will be released very soon is using it. Next patients may be more Barn Swallows!Intended for very small mammalslike Chipmunks and Squirrels, this housing has been a nursery to two dozen Mallard babies! We still have 5 in care.
There’s a lot more housing needed, such as a raptor aviary, more songbird aviaries, a pelican aviary, a proper aviary for ducks, geese and herons, more mammal housing – and for all of this we need time and materials – and that means your support!
Every year at this time we run low on resources – time is tight, patient needs are high, and spending a lot of time getting the word out and raising funds is difficult to accomplish! But the simple fact is we need you badly. In order to keep going through our busy Summer, feed our patients, pay our small staff, keep the electricity on, pay our mortgage, and so on, we need to raise several thousand dollars! We can’t print money, but with your help, that won’t be necessary! Please donate if you can! Our wild patients now and in the future need you!
Wild Baby Season of 2023 is nearly halfway through as we continue to build our vessel as we sail it. We need your help! Help us feed 10 Fawns, 15 Swallows, 3 Owls, 10 Mallards, 5 Skunks, 10 Raccoons, a Gray Fox and more! Please support our work if you can!
A small bird with a big belly, covered in short blue-gray feathers with hardly a tail to speak of, a pair of big eyes and an impressive pinkish mouth, with a really splendid gravelly voice – this young Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) was found alone on the ground in an alley in Eureka and picked up by a kind member of the public.
Upon examination at our clinic, the little Jay was found to be in good health with no injuries. The only thing we were concerned about was the welfare of the family. The rescuer had wondered if the parents had been killed. The best thing to do would be to return to the site and look for the baby’s family, and if possible, attempt to reunite them with their parents. If no parents were found, the baby would come back to HWCC to be raised as an orphan until they could take care of themselves in the wild.
Like most parents, Steller’s Jays don’t abandon their babies. But tragedy can occur in a world full of cars, cats, windows, and natural predators – we treat nearly 200 orphaned songbirds each year!
We followed the address deep into Eureka, armed with binoculars and carrying the baby in a box lined with a soft pillowcase. We arrived at the site and proceeded to watch for Jays.
An encouraging sign! An adult Steller’s Jay flew over the neighborhood!
We watched and listened following the clues to a Camellia tree. High inside its canopy which we detected a well built nest.
We placed the baby on a branch inside the Camellia, as high as we could reach. The baby quickly fluttered down and hopped around on the ground – a classic fledgling move. So, the baby won’t be contained by the nest ever again, but is still dependent on their parents. It’s a vulnerable time in a young bird’s life. These first steps of independence wreak havoc on us all!
If we can determine that the baby and parents are aware of each other and in communication, the family will be considered reunited. We stand back to observe, keeping a close eye on the baby.
A parent suddenly appears, perching a distance above. They glare at us. We move further back.
The parent approached the baby and we could hear them calling to each other.
Several times the parent came to the baby, then flew away to forage and return with food. Keeping watch over babies, hunting for them, guiding them on how to live as a member of one’s own species and eventually fly free on their own – thanks Mom. (or Dad. or Parent. Steller’s Jays pairs look the same and do the same work. Of course one does lay the eggs. After that though it’s equal cooperation. So here’s to you, avian parents!)
It’s awesome that this Jay’s mother and father were still present and that the youngster could return to their family. Of course, many young birds are actually orphaned and do need our care. While you can read on the internet that intervention may be the wrong thing, and that if you don’t know, you shouldn’t act, we can easily turn this reasoning around. In many cases we might not know enough to not act. To decide to do nothing might have consigned this wild animal to a needless death. The kind-hearted people who brought us the baby Jay were not able to tell that the baby wasn’t alone. They observed for a considerable time but didn’t see anything to allay their fears. This is perfectly fine! They aren’t professionals. They did the right thing. They called our clinic and told us what they’d seen. WIth no parents observed and the bird in the middle of an alley, with possible injuries, we suggested that they bring the baby to us. In this way we all played our part in helping protect this bird and gave them a second chance.
Want to help us provide the kind of care and attention that all wild neighbors in need deserve? Please consider donating! Your generosity is what makes our work possible. Without you there would be no one to call, no one to intervene, and no one to make sure that fledglings who’ve wandered far from home will get the attention and care they deserve. Thank you!!!
A video of a recent day at our new facility in Manila!
You can help us stay afloat!! Please donate to help us rebuild, and most importantly, care for the hundreds of wild orphans that are coming our way no matter what! WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
We still have a long way to go to rebuild our patient housing, such as our aviaries and pools that we couldnt move, but we are now admitting wild animals in need at our new facility, thanks to you!
Check out our video to see the progress your support has secured!
Obviously we have a lot more to do and we need your help very much! Spring baby season is almost upon us and we still need songbird aviaries, an appropriate aviary for hawks, for Mallard ducklings, a better laundry facility – also a roof repair! I know that many of you have been very generous already – our appreciation can’t be overstated! Thank you!!! But we still “have miles to go before we sleep”. Please donate if you can!!
With your generous support, we’ve achieved our first goal of raising the money for our downpayment and closing costs! Now we move on to permitting and then making the move! Your help is still needed of course, but we are deeply grateful and kind of blown away by the support you’ve given! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for helping us help wildlife! and if you’d like to support our work and our move to be secure and sustainable please donate here!
