CODE RED – We Need Your Support!

Posted on August 19, 2016August 19, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Dear Supporters of Bird Ally X and Humboldt Wildlife Care Center,

Because I write most of the material that BAX and HWCC publishes on our website, social media, and mailings, it’s likely that if you have responded to one of our appeals for support in the last five years, I wrote that appeal. However, it isn’t often that I write in first person singular. In a departure from the usual, I’d like to talk to you directly, as the person largely responsible for the day to day operation of HWCC and a co-founder of BAX. And what I want to talk to you about is money.

[URGENT APPEAL – OUR FUNDS ARE DWINDLING BUT OUR WORK IS NOT!]

Raising money isn’t my background. I am a wildlife rehabilitator and poet (don’t worry – none of this will be in rhymed couplets), not a salesperson, not a lobbyist, not a fundraiser. That however doesn’t absolve me from the responsibility to ensure that our clinic has the resources we need to meet our mission. I worked with the rest of BAX’s co-founders on our mission statement, and it’s a mission that we take very seriously:

Bird Ally X is a collective of wildlife care-providers committed to raising the standard of care available for sick or injured aquatic birds and all wildlife. Bird Ally X works to help wild birds and all wildlife in their efforts to survive the hazards of civilization through:

the direct action of caring for wild animals in distress

supporting other rehabilitation groups through workshops and consultation

generation and proliferation of educational and informational materials and literature, for our colleagues and our neighbors

Bird Ally X will build, strengthen and further develop the resources available to ensure that excellent care is provided by working with colleagues in wildlife rehabilitation to maintain an environment of mutual aid and benefit.

In all efforts, Bird Ally X is committed to continually elevating the quality of available care, and providing uncompromising advocacy on behalf of wild birds and all wildlife.

Promoting co-existence with our wild neighbors, which means preventing conflicts, senseless deaths and injuries, and keeping wild families together, is integral to our work. It’s when we ask for support that we have our clearest opportunity to accomplish this aspect of our mission. This blog, our mailing list and our social media outlets, as well as our wild ambassador program are the everyday methods we have to accomplish this task. To persuade you that your money is contributed to something worthwhile, we have to describe our work. In order to describe our work, we must describe how our patients become jeopardized, what threats and challenges our society places in the free and wild lives of our wild neighbors as well as how these threats can be eliminated or at least minimized.

Awareness is raised. And hopefully your support is won. And BAX/HWCC can continue our work.

So I struggle with the task of constantly pleading for money, striving to ensure that our fundraising efforts also be educational and mission-oriented.

As a supporter of other non-profits, as a citizen, I have always preferred to support those organizations whose work and fundraising were linked. Working on a fundraising campaign that does not include an educational message seems to me a waste of time and materials, a waste of your consideration. So we are scrupulous that our appeals to our community for support also carry practical messages regarding co-existence, regarding information on injured wildlife, and regarding the ways that we can make our collective voices heard to impact policy or procedure (or the status quo) when these things are killing wild neighbors or causing any to suffer.

In strictly practical terms, our clinic staff is very occupied with our clinic work – we can’t work on unrelated tasks – car washes, yard sales, booze cruises, it doesn’t matter – any of these fine things are fine, but they aren’t mission-oriented. We are a very small organization with an enormous challenge – our focus needs to be on our work and not our fancy ball!

Money is such a difficult subject. We all exist in a world that values currency over nature; – absurd to pretend otherwise. If it weren’t the case, the forests of the world would still be intact. Yet, currency provides the fish our patients eat. Currency provides the water our facility needs to provide pools for waterbirds. Currency keeps our lights on and our pumps running.

Of course, the primary reason we never stop asking for money is obvious. Patients never stop coming through our door. Today is Friday. Since Monday we have admitted over 20 patients. From a nest of Barn swallows to a Long-tailed Weasel. Each in need. Each the result of some conflict with our society – hit by cars, caught by pets, nest illegally destroyed – and more.

Each day we open our doors to receive the injured wild animals our human neighbors find by the side of our metaphorical and actual highways. Not the roadkill, just the road-maimed who would have suffered and died a cruel and senseless death. Even though we have outreach efforts into every corner of our community, still each day we are told “I didn’t know you existed! I’m so glad you are here!”

We are here. We are here because of your support. Right now we are in dire need. This year is on track to be our busiest in the history of HWCC. Yet we are not in the midst of some emergency, as has happened in past years, during which we send out a special appeal, and take extraordinary measures. We are just struggling along… with this Red-shouldered Hawk, this Cedar Waxwing, this Gray Fox.

So far in 2016 we have provided direct care for 800 wild animals. We’ve handled thousands of phone calls that often result in an injury prevented, or a wild family kept intact. We’ve admitted patients from as far away as Mount Lassen and Sacramento. We’ll likely admit 500 more patients before the year ends.

So we’re in jeopardy ourselves. Without your support, we won’t be able to meet this intense challenge. We won’t be able to keep our doors open. We won’t be able to pay for the water, the food, the medicine, the gas, the electric, the trash pickup, the propane, the rent, the salaries of our two paid staff members who are critical to ensuring quality of the care we provide.

I’m pleading with you to help us with any amount you can… if half the population of our local community each gave us one dollar, our expenses would be paid through the end of the year! Imagine if only 1% signed up to be a sustaining member at $10 per month! In any case, your support goes directly to our work helping the injured and orphaned wildlife of our region. We need $7000 by the end of August. We’re on our way but still far from that goal. Please, every little bit helps…

Thank you for your consideration, your support, and, mostly, thank you for your love for our wild neighbors.

Take care,
Monte Merrick
co-director/co-founder Bird Ally X

A Young Raven’s Recovery

Posted on August 14, 2016August 14, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Some species can’t help but become special to people. Especially if that species is the one who brought people into the world in the first place, as is the case with Raven:

“According to Haida legend, the Raven found himself alone one day on Rose Spit beach, on Haida Gwaii {ed. briefly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands}. Suddenly, he saw an extraordinary clamshell at his feet, and protruding from it were a number of small creatures. The Raven coaxed them to leave the shell to join him in his wonderful world. Some were hesitant at first, but eventually, overcome by curiosity, they emerged from the partly open clamshell to become the first Haida.” (more here)

Because of this existential debt, whenever it happens that we admit a Raven for care at our wildlife clinic in Humboldt County, our mission to serve all native wildlife in need or jeopardy is brought into even higher relief.

This young Raven (Corvus corax) was just learning to fly when her rescuers found her struggling on the ground with what appeared to them to be a broken wing. They put her into their chicken coop for safekeeping where they said the young bird’s parents saw her and stayed near. They brought the fledgling in to our clinic the next day.

[We need to meet our goal for August of $7000 – we have $5000 to go! You can help! Every donation, from $5 to $500 helps! Please contribute today!]

Fortunately, the Raven had suffered no broken bones. We did find a couple of puncture wounds, including one on her right wing that had damaged a few feathers, that we cleaned and treated with antibiotics, but nothing was found that wouldn’t heal in time.

On examination no broken bones or other traumatic injuries were noted.

In fact, her wounds healed relatively quickly. Less than two weeks after the Raven was admitted we contacted the rescuers to arrange an attempt to re-unite the fledgling with her family.

When she was admitted, the Raven was not old enough to be on her own, still requiring parental care. After her wounds had healed, we still felt that more time with her family would be necessary. Re-uniting corvids (Corvidae is the family of birds that include Ravens, Crows, Magpies, Jays and Nutcrackers) is a fairly easy thing to do. All corvids have strong family bonds as well as strong bonds of affinity (friendships). If the parents’ location is known, returning one of their kids is a very straightforward proposition. Find the parents; let the young one out of the box where they can see her or him; stand back and watch. As with most families, they are excited to be together again.

Unfortunately, for this Raven, the parents were not in the vicinity. We spent a few hours looking, but night was falling and without knowing with certainty that her parents were present, even though the rescuers had said that they’d seen them earlier in the day, we couldn’t leave the youngster to fend for herself overnight. Reluctantly we took her back to our clinic.

We had planned to try another re-unite attempt, but after a few more days, a troubling development was seen. A scab had formed on the upper bill (maxilla) of the Raven that had some similarities to avian pox lesions. Avian pox, while not threatening to people, is a very common, highly communicable disease among the corvids of Humboldt County. Making the situation worse, the Raven was housed with four Steller’s Jays. Avian pox is treatable, but it is definitely not something that we’d want to spread to our other patients. We put the Raven and the Jays under strict quarantine until we could determine if they had contracted the virus.

Raven and one of four Steller’s Jays in an aviary under quarantine. Eventually, the quarantine was lifted and all birds were given a clean bill of health.

Our new aviary is good place to learn to fly, but a bad place to live forever!

We kept these birds of a feather together in quarantine for 2 weeks. Not only did did they not show any signs of the virus, the scab on the Raven revealed an infected pocket of encapsulated puss (ick!) that stemmed from her original injuries. The Jays were released and the Raven spent another 10 days being treated.

Through the ten days of treatment, this Raven was no doubt frustrated. A juvenile with boundless energy and enthusiasm, what her body needed, recuperation, and what her mind needed, stimulation, movement, learning in the wild, were at odds. We gave her plenty to eat and monitored her condition closely. Finally, the swollen pocket was significantly reduced in size – she’d been off antibiotics for several days and was improving. We decided that we should consider her for release.
What this Raven doesn’t know is that this will be the last time she will ever suffer the indignities of the net!
A thorough examination on release is the bookend of the thorough examination we give on admission. Here her feet are inspected to be sure that no captivity-related problems are going to interfere with her ability to thrive in the wild. Captivity is very hard on wild animals. We resort to it only when their lives depend on treatment.
Is there anything more beautiful than a healthy young Raven?

The Raven passed her release evaluation with flying colors! We took her back to the neighborhood of her family, even though they may have moved on. Her siblings, her parents still might frequent this area however and there remains a good chance she will re-join them. But for now, she is ready to take on the world with her own skills.
All Ravens think “outside the box.”

Freed from us and far enough way to stop and consider what next she might do with her hard won freedom!

Over the course of time immemorial, no doubt Ravens have had the opportunity to question the wisdom of bringing people into the world. Even with all that our society, and some individuals have done to Ravens, and the wild – the injuries, the killing, the destruction and so on, we hope that we can somehow redeem ourselves in their eyes – that we can find ways to mitigate our crimes against Mother Earth, and restore some balance to our relationship. It isn’t easy. And without you we couldn’t even try. Thank you for helping us make things right with this young Raven, and all Ravens, and all of our patients.

If you’d like to help, please check out our volunteer opportunities, and also, please contribute to our August fundraising goal of $7000. We are halfway through the month and still have $5000 to go! You can make a difference. All contributions go directly to our mission of providing direct care for injured and orphaned wild animals and helping reduce human/wild conflicts as well as helping other rehabilitators across the state and nation provide quality care. Your support means everything to us! Thank you!!!

All photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX

After the Fall, a Winged Climb Back to the Heights – a Screech-owl’s Second Chance

Posted on August 11, 2016August 11, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Most everywhere that you find people, you find wild animals that are born into a world that isn’t the one evolution prepared them for … skyscrapers, cars and trucks, industrial agriculture, deer netting, cats, wind farms, deforestation, ocean pollution, radiation, – the breakneck expansion of the built world over the last 200 years has re-made huge swaths of Mother Earth, and her children, all of us, pay the price. We all know.

[We are gaining on our August fundraising goal of $7000! So far we’ve raised over nearly $1500! Thank you! If you want to help us make our goal please click on our Donate button and follow the prompts – you can donate today online, or send a check in the mail! Thank you for making our work possible!]

Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center admits for care those wild animals who are found injured in the conflict. A Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) who’d been swatted by a roaming house cat in Rio Dell, a young River Otter (Lontra canadensis) from Crescent City whose mother had been hit by a car, or an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) with tail and flight feathers singed bare when he landed on powerlines and a fire broke out – each of these are recent cases. This is wildlife rehabilitation. The nestling Western Screech-owl (Megascops kennicottii) pictured above had fallen from his nest in Rohner Park, Fortuna.

Thin and dehydrated upon admission, the Western screech-owl quickly accepted the offered bits of mouse we fed, gaining weight daily.

This isn’t the first time we’ve raised a young Screech-owl found in that park. Up and away from the heavily used open area of Rohner Park is a forested low ridge of old Redwoods that makes an attractive fragment of habitat. Screech-owls are among our many wild neighbors who call it their home. Walking trails weave through the trees.

Ways in which we change the forest with our more urbane usage can wreak havoc on a nest of owls. Understory is cleared for trails, for safety, from repeated off trail excursions, leaving nothing to catch the first explorations of nestling owl, branching out, you might say. A fall to the ground leaves the youngster stranded in a strange world with only one outcome: death. Predator, machine, starvation, or even well-intended wrong actions from people – one of these will claim the owl. The only chance this owl had was to be found by someone who knew what to do.

The forested ridge of Rohner Park, Fortuna, home for Western Screech-owls and many more wild neighbors.

A regular walker at Rohner Park, a gentleman who knows the park well, found the owl at the base of a tall Redwood. He scooped the downy little one up into a box and delivered the box to park staff. They called us. Fortunately, we have a dedicated volunteer in Fortuna who was able to drive the owl to our clinic.

Growing up!

Soon more useful feathers for the future began to grow in. We have to wonder how things were back at the nest. Year-round, we admit adult Screech-owls who have been hit by cars. Of course some of these adults had active nests with young ones who may not survive the loss of this parent. We work in the trenches, where the machinery tears into the earth. We treat the injured, we grieve the losses, we struggle to do right by their orphans and raise them to be competent, free and able to thrive. And if possible, we retrun babies to their families.

As soon as the owl was eating on his own, nearly full grown, full feathered and sure footed (and still on the smaller side of average, so presumably a male), he was not yet flying well, he was what some call a “brancher.” A brancher doesn’t need the nest anymore, which mean that we could more easily re-unite him with his parents. All we need to find is his family.

BAX Wildlife Rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson briefly holds the owlet so that he can call, hopefully bringing his parents to ivestigate. This method can be a very effective way to locate families. Imagine our own children calling, who we’ve missed.

Unfortunately, the annual rodeo was at the park, and the noise and disruption was too great – no Screech-owls were seen or heard. We had to bring the young owl back to the clinic. Given the activities planned for the park through the busy summer, we decided to continue his care until he was able to fend for himself. A few more weeks of privacy and mice and the chance to learn to hear, to see, to swoop, to clutch, to kill, to eat, to live and he would be ready to return – and by then the rodeo, the car show, and other events, would be over.

Now, we housed the owl with natural forest items, evergreen branches and a leaf litter floor where we could hide food, and where he might learn to detect prey. Eventually we moved the owl to a large outside aviary, where thrived on his own, learning to hunt and learning to fly, with little interference from us except for weight checks, housekeeping and feeding.

Eventually after more than 6 weeks in care, we had done for him what we could. The only improvement we could offer him was freedom.
An excellent flier now, his ability to evade the net was impressive. Soon his skills will open up the dense branches of the forest for his silent passage.

The aviary of his youth will soon be only a memory.

At the end of the workday, BAX staff took the young owl back to Rohner Park. The sun was setting and the park was a normal park – families played in the playground – gunfire from a nearby shooting range sounded – but no large events – just the regular daily life that will always be a part of this owl’s experience.

We release our patients into the real world. It is unquestionable that many of the challenges that this owl face are not just, they are not right. But they are real. Nature always takes her own course, even when she is thwarted, when she is injured, when she is smashed into pieces. And this owl is a part of her and will thrive, we hope, and raise owls of his own some day, here in Rohner Park, and the struggle for life, and for co-existence, and for more will continue, here in our small corner of the wild blue world.

A cautious young owl hopefully grows to be an old wise one.

The young owl did not want to leave the box after first opening. It’s good when a juvenile shows reluctance to venture into a new territory or new situation. Caution is not a bad course of action, especially when you are completely ignorant of what awaits. The owl was offered a stick to perch on in the box and he waited for over 30 minutes before flying. As the light faded, he flew higher andhigher into the canopy. Until at last it was too dark for him to be seen.

The young owl’s first flight, free in the wild.

Perching relatively near after his first wild flight, the youngster gets his bearings.

At dusk he was perched much farther above – alive to the night.

His family of owls, if they are intact, will likely find this young male – and if they don’t we have given him the best education we could for him to thrive on his own. And nature herself has equipped him for life as an owl far better than anyone else ever could.

Your support made his care possible. Your support provides the care for all of our wild patients. Thank you for making it happen. Every gift helps. $5 fed this owl for a day. $500 paid for his entire care – food, electric, gas, medicine. While our patients’ gratitude may be uncertain, ours is deep and heartfelt.

All photos: Laura Corsiglia / Bird Ally X

Orphaned Common Murre Chicks and Our Busiest Season Yet!

Posted on August 8, 2016August 11, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Help us reach our August goal. We need to raise $7000 this month to keep up with our busiest year so far! Please help!

2016 has been a busy year. Since Bird Ally X took over the management of Humboldt Wildlife Care Center five years ago, nearly every year has been busier than the one before, the exception being 2012, when we we spent the summer months caring for over 250 fish waste contaminated Brown pelicans in addition to the normal injured and orphaned wild animals that we treat.

2016 is set to topple even that record. As of the first of August, our annual caseload is the heaviest it has ever been. Yet, there is no particular crisis this year, such as 2012’s Brown Pelican disaster, no seabird wrecks, such as we had in October 2014 when we took in nearly 100 storm-tossed and hungry juvenile Western Grebes. No, 2016 has been as normal as normal gets. Each day is another ordinary day in the life of our clinic, just 15% busier than any other day… 15% more expenses, 15% more work, 15% more care provided, 15% more heartache, 15% more joy – 15% more need.

Summer is always a struggle for us financially. Right now we are going through 25 dollars of fish each day, 15 dollars of goat milk, 10 dollars of medicine, 12 dollars of electricity, 14 dollars of rent, 100 dollars of salary, 3 dollars of phone, 10 dollars of baby formula, and 10 dollars of facility maintenance. That’s 200 dollars each day to operate the only native wildlife hospital from Laytonville to the Oregon border, from the Pacific Ocean to Weaverville – an area the size of New Jersey!

Raccoons learn to forage in captivity to prepare them for a life of freedom.

It might not look like much, but this tiny concrete river is where the orphaned raccoons in our care learn to fish! Check out this video from last year of one of our released raccoons immediately catching a fish within her first minutes of freedom!

A very young Opossum about to be fed replacement formula. Soon she’ll be weaned. Opossums grow up fast! In just a few more weeks she’ll be released to her wild and free life!

Osprey uses new feathers to fly in our aviary. It won’t be long before we make the trek back to Lewiston Lake, where this intense, plunge diving raptor was found after losing his feather to a power line fire.

Common Murre (Uria aalge) with a head wound recuperates in our newest seabird pool. Soon “he” will be joined by our three orphaned Murres. Common Murres are often generous with their concern for murre chicks not their own.

Three orphaned Common Murres soon to be introduced to the adult Murre.

A raccoon heads for a quiet place to eat her fish… This youngster still has a t least a month inc are before she will be ready for release.

Your support is the only thing that keeps us going. Your support is the difference between our region being able to provide care for our wild neighbors who are either orphaned or injured by their contact with the human-built world. Please help us keep going. We need you, our wild neighbors need you, our human neighbors need you. If we raise $7000 in August, we’ll be able to cover our expenses plus pay for food and medicine expenses that we’ve already incurred since our busy wild baby season began. Please help us reach this goal. Thank you for your generous support, and mostly thank you for your love of the wild.

Photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX

Feathers Badly Singed in Fire, Osprey Fitted For Second Chance.

Posted on July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 by Monte Merrick

Earlier this summer, we admitted a weakened and burned Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) who’d been the victim of a nest fire northeast of Weaverville, well over 100 miles away from our clinic.

[July is nearly over and we still need your help reaching our goal of $5000 raised by the end of the month! Please donate! And thank you to everyone who has already! ]

The burns that the bird suffered had a good prognosis, and generally speaking, the “fish hawk” was in good shape, except for one critical component: all of the Osprey’s primaries, or flight feathers, were singed beyond usefulness, as were all of his tail feathers.

Without these feathers, our patient couldn’t fly, let alone plunge feet first from the sky into Trinity Lake, and then muscle his way back from the water into the air, carrying off a large fish for a meal for himself or his young.

In this condition, the Osprey was far from releasable. We gave him a safe aviary and plenty of fish and looked for signs that he was entering his molt cycle, the time of year when birds renew their feathers… Osprey do replace them at this time of year, so we hoped for a natural cure.

After a few weeks though it became clear that waiting for a molt was going to take too long for this bird. So we turned to another option.

Imping is a process by which old feathers can can be replaced. Of course, donor feathers of the same species are required. In February 2012 we’d released a Thayer’s gull whose primary feathers on one wing had been crushed. Using similar gull flight feathers we successfully imped them to the cut shaft of the damaged feathers. This isn’t surgery. This is more like furniture repair, or life-saving hair extensions.

The success of that patient’s treatment led us to start a feather bank, just as there are blood banks and organ donors. Back in April of 2014, we’d admitted an Osprey for care who’d suffered a severe humerus fracture. Humane euthanasia was the only appropriate treatment. Once the bird’s suffering was over, we removed a complete set of primary feathers and tail feathers. Stored against damage from elements or insects, these feathers were in the same condition, over two years later, as when we’d first collected them.

Now this Osprey of 2016 will get a second chance.

Complete set of the primary flight feathers for the right wing of an adult Osprey. Flight feathers are called remiges, a latin word combining the word for oar and the verb to drive – it is accurate to think of these feathers as the oars birds use to paddle through the air.

First new flight feather, alongside the damaged one.

A heated scalpel blade easily slices through the keratin shaft of the feather.

A small dowel is glued into the hollow shaft.

The same is repeated on the other side.

We stopped after replacing five feathers on the right side. Being handled for any length of time is very stressful for wild animals. We gave the Osprey a 20 minute break. Also it was time for our baby opossums to be fed and we needed the room!

We came back and repeated the process, but on the left side.

After finishing the five feathers on the left, the Osprey got another break. Each wing had taken approximately 30 minutes. The feather imping team could use the break too. The task isn’t technically difficult, but the stress level is high for everyone. After the break, that sad tail gets attention.

Because one of the Osprey’s center tail feathers has grown in, we decided to replace only the outside four on each side.

As the primary flight feathers are known scientifically as remiges, the tail feathers are known as rectrices. Rectrice, from the Latin, rector, or helmsman, rudder. So the flight feathers are the oars and the tail feathers are the rudder. And the bird who uses them is a sky kayaker.

After some time, we’ll evaluate for replacing the center damaged feathers as well. If we don’t need to, that would be terrific. Reducing the stress of our patients is a critical component of our care and we strive for the least invasive treatment possible.

This bird’s care isn’t over. He’s not even out of the woods. To be released we need to be confident that this bird will be able to survive on his own. After the full set of feathers has been imped, the strength and durability of the glue bond will be tested in our aviary. Once reasonably assured that the bond will hold the rigors of freedom, it won’t be long before this Osprey is growing in his own replacement feathers on his own time, in his own home – the wild.

Feathers are worth an entire life of study! An amazing evolutionary development that not only allows flight, but also allows a life at sea, a life in the arctic, a life in equatorial regions… closely related to hair, nails, claws and scales, feathers are a natural wonder the importance of which can’t be overstated. Want to learn more about feathers – start here.

Your support makes our work possible. Without you, this Osprey, as well as the baby Opossums who were in this room in an incubator just a few feet away during the entire procedure, would have no hope, no second chance. Want to help keep our work going? You can donate here.

All photos: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X.

Storm-tossed Gull Finds Freedom on Christmas Day

Posted on December 25, 2015December 25, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Every day, whether weekday, weekend, or important national or cultural holiday, is still a day in the modern world for our wild neighbors – and that’s why Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is open every day of the year.

This morning, besides for the regular care our patients receive – bedding changes, food, medicine, regular exams – we admitted a new patient, a Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) who had been caught by the family cat, and we cleared this Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) for release!

Over the past two weeks of wild weather, our wildlife clinic’s list of patients has leaned heavily toward marine birds – Gulls, Grebes, Loons, Scoters – several of each have passed through our care over the last 14 days.

Found in an Arcata backyard after a night of heavy rain and high winds, this disoriented gull was brought in two days ago. After an exam we found no injuries, or any other physical problems – so we held the beautiful bird for observation and flight testing. At this morning’s check, the gull had eaten all of the fish we’d offered and was flying laps around the large aviary. We decided that captivity was doing this guy no good at all. During an enjoyable break in the winter weather, the gull was released this afternoon.

GWGU release 12:25:15 - 01 HWCC Rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson releases Glaucous-winged Gull at Arcata Marsh, Christmas day.

GWGU release 12:25:15 - 04

GWGU release 12:25:15 - 09

GWGU release 12:25:15 - 15 One of our happiest sights, a released patient moving quickly away from us back into the Wild.

When a neighbor calls us on Christmas day because she or he has found an injured animal, often we are thanked repeatedly for being here, for being open. On days like today, when our work’s value is so easy to see, it’s really we who are thankful – thankful for our wild neighbors who make our world so companionable, thankful to be able to help them when they are in need, and thankful to you and your generous support which makes our work possible.

All Photos: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X

Freedom’s Greetings!

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Monte Merrick

2015-card-fox-FLAT copy

Season’s Greetings Friend of Wildlife!

Each year, as our days dip toward night and we turn toward interior pleasures with our families and friends, we have an opportunity to celebrate our past year, revel in our victories, and honor our losses.

In 2015, our wildlife ambassadors have gone to over a hundred schools and groups to promote co-existence with our natural world. We’ve helped more than 5000 callers with a wildlife concern. At Humboldt Wildlife Care Center we have treated nearly 1100 injured and orphaned wild neighbors.

Not every case ends as we wish, of course. Many patients are too severely injured to be successfully rehabilitated. We honor their memory. We redouble our efforts to help eliminate causes of injury.

And thankfully many of our patients do get a second chance!

Like the Gray Fox on this card: Brought to us on a Sunday morning in late Summer, this beautiful and fierce adult had her head caught in a hard plastic cup. Whether some kind of trap or a terrible accident, her predicament had been caused by people. Unable to hunt, she’d nearly starved.

We cut away the cup, treated her wounds, and provided her safe-haven so that her health could recover. When she’d nearly doubled in weight and was raring to go, she was released back to her wild and free life. And one small injustice among the daunting environmental challenges of our time was righted.

That’s how we work, case by case, life by life.

This season of gratitude and appreciation, we thank you for your support and for your love for all that is wild. Thank you for helping us give this fox and all our patients a second chance!

We wish you a happy season, a joyful solstice and prosperous new year. We look forward to another year of meeting our mission with your continued support

In alliance with the wild,
the Staff and Volunteers of Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center

BAX Staff Activated by Oiled Wildlife Care Network

Posted on December 20, 2015December 20, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Last Saturday a truck hauling diesel fuel wrecked on US 101, near Big Lagoon in Northern Humboldt County. It was reported that approximately 1000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the overturned trailer and some of that made into the waterway. Diesel fuel is unlike crude oil or less refined fuels – it evaporates quickly but it also kills more quickly – causing severe respiratory injuries and skin burns.

At first, it was believed that all of the spilled fuel had been contained and that none of our wild neighbors had been impacted. However, early Monday morning, local Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) personnel spotted two Ruddy Ducks that appeared to be contaminated by diesel.

By Monday afternoon BAX staff along with other responders from CDFW and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) were in the field searching for any wild animals impacted by the spill.

Big Lagoon Spill 2015 - 1

Lucinda Adamson, BAX/HWCC wildlife rehabilitator at the Big Lagoon spill last week. (photo: Bird Ally X)

Big Lagoon Spill 2015 - 2

BAX responder, Elissa Blair surveys Big Lagoon early in the morning searching for oiled wildlife. (photo: Bird Ally X)

By late Wednesday, no live oiled animals had been found. One dead Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) was found that was later confirmed to be oiled.

One death is too many. And no doubt there were other wild animals not found who were killed by the diesel. Still, this could have been much worse. Big Lagoon is a naturally attractive waterfowl area, with thousands of birds of many species using it as a winter home. Perhaps fortunately, the Lagoon breached over the weekend as well and the water level fell considerably, possibly helping dissipate the petro-toxin. As the saying goes, the solution to pollution is dilution.

Instead of a major disaster we experienced a trial under live fire – which we can use to improve our capabilities and insure preparedness for any future accidents or spills. Preparedeness is the first and most important step toward meeting the mission of the OWCN.

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is a little known agency in California – jointly administered by UC Davis’ Wildlife Health Center and an oilspill-specific department within CDFW, the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR)* – that is unique in our country and maybe even the world – a network of universities, agencies and wildlife care providers dedicated to providing the “best achievable capture and care of oil-affected wildlife.” The OWCN has nearly 40 member organizations and several primary care facilities purpose-built for large scale spill responses all along the California coast.

BAX was founded by wildlife rehabilitators and spill responders who each have a long history with the OWCN. We’ve worked hard to bring HWCC up to the standards required to be a member organization. When oil spills here in our backyard or anywhere in California (as we saw last Spring in Santa Barbara), BAX staff can be mobilized to provide whatever help is needed.

If you’re interested in becoming a qualified oiled wildlife responder, volunteering with us at our Bayside clinic is an excellent first step!

And as always, it is your support that makes our work possible. Thank you for your generosity and for your love for the Wild!

* the alphabet soup gets thick fast! Basically UCD-WHC with CDFW-OSPR runs the OWCN of which HSU-MWCC and HWCC/BAX are members, or just read the story above and let the acronyms dissolve into eternity….

Rent Party! Saturday December 12, 7pm

Posted on December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Our annual volunteer appreciation party and fundraiser to help defray the costs of Humboldt Wildlife Care Center’s annual rent.

Music! Dance! Poetry!

featuring

Synapsis aerial dancers!

Musical perfomances by

Rob DiPerna!
Morgan Corviday!
and
Medicine Baul!

Refreshments for young and old!

$20 admission. Help us meet our mission and help us acknowledge and thank our dedicated volunteers!

Wood Duck Flies!

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Monte Merrick

A recent patient, this female Wood Duck was reported to have hit a barn trying ot out fly a Falcon. She was found stunned on the ground. She made a complete and quick recovery and was released back to the area she was found!

Help support our efforts to raise healthy, wild orphans and provide quality care for all wildlife caught in civilization’s many snares. Please contribute to our Fall campaign today. $ = food, medicine, water. Every donation helps!

video: Bonnie MacRaith/Bird Ally X