A Summer Like No Other!

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!

DONATE HERE

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