Each Autumn, the common sadness of Summer’s end is brightened by the return to our region of many species of aquatic and semi-aquatic birds who find our temperate winters a good place to live away from breeding grounds further North or inland. Many ducks, loons, grebes, and shorebirds arrive here with the rains that turn meadows and mosses green again in a kind of second Spring.
One of the most visible of our winter neighbors is the Aleutian Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii). From when they depart in late April and early May bound for the Aleutian Islands to raise their young of the year, until they return in late September and early October, the meadows and pastures of the bottom lands of Humboldt and Del Norte counties can feel very empty. All winter we enjoy the splendor of their melodic high pitched voices as they rise and fall in flocks sometimes numbering in the thousands throughout our winter days.
The higher numbers in their populations is a relief. Aleutians were initially listed as endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act, but since their decline was reversed, they were taken of the list in 2001. In fact, their numbers have recovered to the point that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has given waterfowl hunters a special 16 day season late February through early March strictly for the purpose of hunting the geese who use private land in an effort to drive them off, just as tens of thousands of individuals are arriving from around the state in a pre-migration staging here on the North Coast. Pasture land in our region is dedicated to ranching and the geese are seen as direct competitors with beef cattle for grass.
The dates of this year’s waterfowl seasons are posted on our dry erase board at HWCC so that staff is aware of conditions that might threaten wild neighbors. We usually admit one or two geese per year who were shot but not killed or recovered, found near a road, or on the beach. Depending on the nature of the wounds, we’ve been able to treat and release several gunshot victims.
Since 2012, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/bird ally x has treated 66 Cackling Geese as of November 1, this year. In 2018 alone, so far we’ve treated 19 individuals, 10 in the last two weeks!
While it’s typical that we admit a few cackling Geese at this time of year, the numbers we’re treating this year are clearly spiking up! It’s ordinary for some of the young of the year to meet difficulty when completing their first migration from breeding grounds on the Yukon Delta, say, two thousand miles south to Northern California. All geese use a significant amount of their own muscle-mass to fuel their journey, which is conducted non-stop.
Upon arrival, nourishment is the first order of business. Only those birds who are in excellent condition can make the trip, and only those birds who, through luck, guidance, intelligence, instinct and timing, arrive and find immediate food will survive. Most cackling geese who we admit at this time of year are juveniles, often found on the regions beaches, rolled by the surf. It’s possible that they just couldn’t fly the last leg and resorted to paddling ashore. In any case, a young Cackling goose being rolled in the surf is not going to recover from this dilemma alone.
And that’s where our community comes in. People on the beaches, or in the parks, or even driving along the roads of our region will find geese in trouble, often doing what they can to capture and bring the goose to our clinic in Bayside. Other times people call us and we go out to find the goose. We don’t always find the wild goose on these chases, but usually we do.
Upon admission each goose is given a physical exam and treated for many of the basic problems that all face. They are treated for both internal and external parasites, such as tapeworm and feather lice. While all while animals carry some parasites without a negative impact, a young bird starving death needs all of the calories s/he can get. We make sure to reduce the competition.
Usually each new goose patient we admit comes in cold and dehydrated. Stabilizing the patient is mostly a job for fluids and warmth. We take a small sample of blood of which a rudimentary analysis can let us know basic parameters such as total protein solids in the blood and percentage of red blood cells. This knowledge helps us plan the patient’s recovery, from housing to diet to any additional medications required.
HWCC/bax intern Brooke Brown (left) is learning from wildlife rehabilitator Lucinda Adamson on how to procure a blood sample from a newly admitted Cackling Goose patient.
After a day in a climate controlled environment, provided with a regular schedule of warmed fluids delivered orally, or intravenously or subcutaneously depending on the needs of the patient, often the debilitated geese will be ready to be housed outdoors with access to water. Eating, maintaining a consistently good body temperature and restored hydration are the main criteria for moving forward in treatment at this time. Until then though, it’s strictly indoors where caloric expenditure is kept as small as possible.
Rehabilitator Stephanie Owens gives a brand new Cackling Goose patient the first of series of hydration tube feedings. This method getting fluids into a patient is very reliable as long as the patient is awake and alert and can hold up their own head. Otherwise other routes of delivering fluid therapy are needed.
Warmed water is a critical part of our patient’s early treatment, just as a cup of hot tea would aid a lost hiker.
Our treatment board… if you can’t decipher it, it says that we have 5 Cackling Geese (CACK) in care, 3 housed outdoors in an aviary and 2 indoors in “room 3”.
Once stable and ready, the geese are moved to an outdoor aviary, housed together and left alone for longer periods of time between checks. It takes between two and three weeks for a cold, emaciated, dehydrated goose to recover well enough to be released. During that time we keep them well fed, in as stress-free of an environment as we can create, that still allows us to provide care. Slowly, yet really pretty quickly when you think about it, our patients go from cold, wet sandy and dangerously close to death to flying, strong and anxious to return to their wild lives! Healing and recovery are as common as life and just as wondrous.
Being housed with others of their kind is a comfort to animals in care who prefer flocks. Each on of these geese is helping the others recover.
It’s a wonderful feeling to step into the aviary with breakfast and see that someone is now string enough to fly. It’s just a matter of time now. Only the stress of captivity could cause anything to go wrong at this point.
With heat support, fluid therapy, medicines, food, and an environment built to encourage recovery, a time comes when we evaluate for release. Each goose is given an examination similar to the one they each received upon admission. The differences are astounding – a typical emaciated goose gains 300-400 grams in care – going from 900 at admission to 1200 or 1300 at release. Another look at their blood work is important. The presence of red blood cells in sufficient quantity indicates that the patient has a much improved oxygen carrying capacity, critical for strong, high altitude endurance flyers like Cackling Geese. As long as all of the parameters are met, the only thing left to do is take the patient out to the bottomlands and find a flock of geese… open the box and let nature take her course!
Proper housing for all our patients of myriad species is the foundation of the care we provide. Our aviaries are critical for the care that we provide.
A small amount of blood is drawn one last time.
An open box!
And take to the sky…
And then the young goose, on his second chance (thanks to your support!) joins in the flock and is our patient no more.
We don’t know exactly why we’re admitting so many more Cackling Geese this year compared to other years. It’s a mystery that may take a while ti understand, a few years before a more clear pattern emerges. What we do know is that we have commitment to be here each and every door for them and for all of our region’s wildlife in trouble. It’s been a hard year. And we need your help more than ever. Please donate and help us give innocent injured animals a second chance. Thank You!!!
all photos: Laura Corsiglia and bird ally x
BAX staff carefully places the carrier down so that our skunk patient can exit with ease once the lid is open.
The first American Wigeon was released several days before the other two. She made short work out of getting hid in the vegetation of the pond.
Thick with duckweed and other food, the Arcata Marsh proved her a soft landing at release.
About thirty feet away scores of wintering Wigeons make use of the Marsh as well.
Providing a hiding place for our patients lowers their captivity-caused stress and helps them focus on recovering. This female Wigeon lurks behind her blind, hoping to avoid capture.
Of course, when that capture is intended for healing and release, we take liberties that ordinarily would be unethical, handling and housing without consent.
Rudimentary blood analysis will provide data that confirms our impression that she is ready for release. Here a small sample is collected to be given a ride in the centrifuge so that we can measure percentage of red blood cells – as the carriers of oxygen through the body, they are critical for all aspects of life. We can also get indications of possible unseen infections and other maladies which can affect total protein solids in the plasma that is separated from the red blood cells, which we also measure.
Here we examine a previously swollen foot to see if the problem has resolved well enough that she will be fine in her natural environment. The answer was yes!
About a week after being transferred from Tulelake, the two last Wigeons were released in to the same pond as the first Wigeon. Each bird is her own person and does what she wants. The first Wigeon we released dove for cover in the vegetation, this one flew as quickly away as she could.
The third Wigeon swam away, accompanied by a Mallard who we’d also treated at HWCC and released that day.
The Arcata Marsh is one of the gems of our neck of the woods. Knowing that these birds are making there way with quality food available and in the freely-chosen company of their kind after their long ordeal is very relieving. The habitat of our home is not just for show. It’s the actual living place of our wild neighbors. It’s our home too. Our wild neighbors aren’t just like some new family who recently moved here from Atlanta but who will soon be moving to Seattle. They are our kin. We have the same needs. Our shared home is worth loving and respecting.
HWCC volunteer Katharine (l) and 2018 Intern Desiree Vang (r) are displaying the typical expressions worn by members of their species who are experiencing fulfilling joy. Warm smiles. Successful releases of our wild patients are like that.
HWCC/bax staff rehabilitator, Stephanie Owens at the scene of the rescue.
Our latest wildlife rescuing recruit, Damian, ferries the gull back to the mainland.
Part of what was removed – a ‘cute’ little device with it’s ghost fishing days now behind it.
Released at the Arcata Marsh, the young bird wastes no time getting out of the box.
Just a short stroll…
…to his favorite watering hole
And then goodbye…
Another gull, wild and free, with a second chance…
Inside our large outdoor aviary, the young Pileated Woodpecker perches as high as she can get, out of reach of her human caregivers.
At her capture to be evaluated for release, after 7 days in care, her flight was strong and direct – exactly as a Pileated Woodpecker’s should be!
We took her back to where she was first seen. The kind man who found her met us there so he could see her release. HWCC intern Desiree Vang opens the box. Our former patient wastes no time putting distance between herself and her “captors”!
She immediately flew to the stump where she was found. It was obvious, that she recognized her old stomping grounds, – now that she’s two months old and all grown up!
After re-orienting herself to freedom she flew off into the woods – in a direction that her rescuer had seen her parents go just a few hours before. We’re confident that she was able to reunite with them for more time spent learning how to be an adult Pileated Woodpecker.
A last glimpse of this remarkable bird of the Northwest forests.
One fawn per crate, each is brought to the release site. We are lucky that a good release site, protected against hunting and full of choice deer habitat is remote but not that far from our clinic. A nearby pond, forest and meadow, and the presence of a deer herd make this a great spot for our youngsters to begin their second chance at wild freedom!
It’s a great moment when the crate’s door is opened and your patient immediately puts distance between you and her!
Once safely away, a newly released fawn stops to consider the change of scenery.
Another fawn bolts for the cover of the trees.
Another fawn turns to assess the danger her caregivers pose…
Six fawns were released!
After this fawn reached the pond he stopped to cautiously consider us.
Zoomed in, it’s easy to see that this guy just doesn’t trust us, even though we delivered him over 200 bottles of milk and scores of wheelbarrow loads of leaves. His mistrust is a terrific sign of our success!
Nothing brings smiles to HWCC/bax volunteers faces like giving our wild neighbors in need a second chance at freedom!
A healthy, independent wild youngster rushing to meet her own destiny on nature’s terms… this is always the best view to be had.
Weight checks on raccoons who are nearing release can be challenging! Here HWCC rehabilitator Lucinda Adamson holds a young raccoon gently but firmly while intern Tabytha Sheeley (facing away) assists with identification.
Once weaned, all of our orphaned raccoons are moved to a 14 day weight check. The reduction in handling does them a world of good!
Raccoons who are ready to go wait for their ride to the release site.
At the release site: tentative faces peer out. Caution in the face of novelty is the hallmark of being wild!
And curiosity eventually overpowers! There’s a whole wide world to explore and raccoons, intelligent, investigative and irrepressible, soon leave the familiar crates for the limitless cosmos.
One by one, the five raccoons emerge from their transport carriers, the last box that will ever contain them!
Some elements of the natural world – rock, river, insect, leaf – are familiar to the youngsters. Our raccoon housing is built to introduce wild orphans to many of the the resources they’ll use once they’re independent and free.
In this group of raccoons, two are siblings, but all five have been housed together since they were first weaned. Raccoons form bonds – bonds of family, bonds of friendship – just like many of us.
Soon, they all start to look across the river to the ever widening world.
They cross the river together.
HWCC/bax volunteer Skylr Lopez (right) and intern Tabytha Sheeley watch the young raccoons move farther and farther away. Like sending our kids off to college, releasing our patients after four months of providing their care is a joy that is tinged with sadness.
Five raccoons facing their future, not looking back.
A Black-necked Stilt in care, one of the many species affected by avian botulism.
Bird Ally X is working with the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges to provide care for these birds. We’ve mobilized to bring supplies and experienced wildlife rehabilitators to the response, to send some of our interns, and train community volunteers.
In the affected zone of the vast wetlands, rescuers search for sick birds. They cannot swim or dive normally but may be found struggling on the water’s surface or hiding in vegetation. Deceased birds are also collected to remove them from the environment and help break the cycle that fuels the outbreak. Rescued live birds are placed in a transport crate aboard the boat.
An airboat is used for rescue and recovery – a flat bottom makes it safe for use in shallow waters and around diving birds.
Huddled closely together, the rescued birds arrive at the hospital.
BAX co-director January Bill lifts a listless and weak Green-winged Teal from the transport crate. Despite appearances, this bird is alive and has a good prognosis for recovery with proper treatment.
The Teal’s eyelids are sealed shut as a result of botulism. January administers a saline solution wash.
Examining a Northern Shoveler.
BAX co-director Marie Travers examines a patient’s wing.
During the intake exam, rehabilitators assess each patient’s condition and decide on an individual treatment plan. Patients are given a temporary band and a case record is begun to track their progress.
Botulism in later stages prevents birds from maintaining normal body posture – these are ducks are critical care patients. They are housed in a heated enclosure and are propped up with supports. When unable to accept oral fluids, they are provided intravenous or subcutaneous hydration.
Two Ring-necked Ducks and a Northern Pintail showing the debilitating symptoms of botulism.
Fluid therapy is an essential part of treating botulism. Patients who can hold their head up, such as this Northern Shoveler, are given oral fluids.
Preparing hydration and nutrition tubings.
A Ring-billed Gull is assist-fed fish.
Patients are re-examined during the course of their treatment. The Refuge outreach and education coordinator observes an exam.
Small easily warmed enclosures house patients until they are strong enough to move to pool housing. To reduce stress for the patients, the enclosures are covered to form a visual barrier.
January Bill assesses the waterproofing of a Green-winged Teal who’s been swimming in a therapy pool.
His condition much improved, a Ring-necked duck swims in a larger pool enclosure enriched with natural vegetation.
Lead Refuge biologist John Vradenburg fits each patient with a permanent band before release. John selected a release site free of botulism, within the vast Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
These birds have come such a long way from the terribly debilitated state in which they were rescued – it’s a thrill to watch them fly, strong and healthy, back to their free and wild lives!
At the release site: healthy water, rich with aquatic invertebrates and duckweed, quality foods for ducks and other birds!
Wildlife rehabilitation is not just hard work, getting dirty, looking tragedy in the face and getting pooped on – it’s a source of joy and a privilege to be close to wild animals in their hour of need and offer real help.
Setting up housing in a hurry: BAX co-director Laura Corsiglia and intern Courtney Watson assemble the Refuge’s modular enclosures to create pool housing for ducks.
HWCC/BAX interns Bekah Kline and Courtney Watson traveled from Humboldt Wildlife Care Center to help at the site, putting in many days of long hours alongside BAX staff.
