Today was my first day on bird handling training. I got to work with Mariah, our American kestrel, by getting her on my hand and bringing her into her indoor enclosure, which is where we keep her at night since she is small and could be pestered by wild animals that come into the center at night. I also worked with a burrowing owl named Blue. With her I brought her around to the public, talked to people about her story, species facts, and conservation information. I walked around the entire center and had her on my arm for about 30 minutes which is a good amount of time to have them out that isn't too long, therefore preventing them from getting stressed.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Wearing Many Hats and Going In With The Eagles
Today I got to experience my first chaotic day of a small animal sanctuary. We had a great snowy egret require medical care, therefore the main bird keeper had to leave with him to the vet. This resulted in me being completely independent finishing the days tasks. This means I cleaned all of the exhibits, checked on all the birds, prepared all of the diets, and then fed out all of them alone.
On Sunday I got to go into the eagle exhibits for the first time! They are the last sign off of all of the raptors since they are the largest of the birds and are pretty strong. First I went out into the marsh that is located next to the center. I cut down various branches and then brought them back to the center. I then went into the bald eagle and golden eagle exhibits and situated the branches around to look like trees, therefore giving them a more natural looking habitat.
On Sunday I got to go into the eagle exhibits for the first time! They are the last sign off of all of the raptors since they are the largest of the birds and are pretty strong. First I went out into the marsh that is located next to the center. I cut down various branches and then brought them back to the center. I then went into the bald eagle and golden eagle exhibits and situated the branches around to look like trees, therefore giving them a more natural looking habitat.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
When A Raptor Get's Live Prey
This week was much the same as usual, but I did have an exciting moment. Mariah, our American Kestrel, caught a live prey today right in front of me! We don't feed our animals live prey at the Discovery Center, however, we cannot control what they do with the animals/bugs that wander within their walls. Today, a moth about two inches big (it was quite large) found its way into Mariah's enclosure at the exact same time I was in there cleaning on my morning routine (talk about luck!). I had just opened the door when she swooped down from her perch right at me (or so I thought). I backed up quickly, only to have her pass me onto the ground and then fly back to her original spot. At first I was confused, but on closer inspection I saw that she had a moth in one of her talons, which she began to eat.
While I was taken aback by what happened, I'm glad for my luck as it is a truly amazing experience to get to see a wild animal in action, using their instincts to do something that they are not required nor in need of doing when in captivity with everything provided for them. Though to be honest I'm glad it was our little Mariah who soared toward me rather than one of the large falcons! :)
While I was taken aback by what happened, I'm glad for my luck as it is a truly amazing experience to get to see a wild animal in action, using their instincts to do something that they are not required nor in need of doing when in captivity with everything provided for them. Though to be honest I'm glad it was our little Mariah who soared toward me rather than one of the large falcons! :)
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Signed Off
This week was my first real week at Living Coast where I was able to do things on my own. Last week I was busy getting signed off on the various aspects, so now I was able to prove that I had learned everything.
So my day started by cleaning all of the raptor enclosures. This means I shut myself inside and sprayed down any urites (bird feces) that I found. I then pour out their water dishes, scrub it down to make sure there is no algae, urites, or bugs within them, and then refill them with fresh water. As an added measure, whenever I was in an enclosure I also gave the birds a spray down. This is when we put the hose on a very low spray and wet the birds down. We did this because there was a heat advisory all week, having temperatures almost reaching 100 each day, so giving them spray downs helped keep them cool. Birds cannot sweat, like most animals, and therefore they pant. Spraying them down helped minimize that as it cooled their bodies down and they would drink some of the water that hit their beaks.
Once this was done I prepared diets for the raptures and the shorebirds, weighing out in grams the amount of rats, quail, chicks, mice, or fish (capelin, herring, smelt, and silversides) for each individual bird. Once we finished that I had extra time and got to socialize Poe, she is a crow we recently acquired from someone who thought they could keep her as a pet, but quickly realized that a wild animal is not suited to be a pet. However, since she was kept as a pet for a while she had been imprinted on, therefore making her unafraid of people and unreleasable to to the wild. Due to this, we are trying to socialize her so we can use her as an ambassador to educate people on how it is unwise, safe, or fair to keep wild animals as pets. To socialize her at this point, we simply sit within her enclosure with her for an extended amount of time, handing her feathers and various little toys she finds interesting. By finding things that interest her, we gave her a reason to come closer to us, therefore getting use to our close proximity.
The afternoon was pretty standard, cleaning various enclosures and feeding out diets. This week was a lot of learning, and I have learned a lot. I am excited to start handling the raptors in the next few weeks!
So my day started by cleaning all of the raptor enclosures. This means I shut myself inside and sprayed down any urites (bird feces) that I found. I then pour out their water dishes, scrub it down to make sure there is no algae, urites, or bugs within them, and then refill them with fresh water. As an added measure, whenever I was in an enclosure I also gave the birds a spray down. This is when we put the hose on a very low spray and wet the birds down. We did this because there was a heat advisory all week, having temperatures almost reaching 100 each day, so giving them spray downs helped keep them cool. Birds cannot sweat, like most animals, and therefore they pant. Spraying them down helped minimize that as it cooled their bodies down and they would drink some of the water that hit their beaks.
Once this was done I prepared diets for the raptures and the shorebirds, weighing out in grams the amount of rats, quail, chicks, mice, or fish (capelin, herring, smelt, and silversides) for each individual bird. Once we finished that I had extra time and got to socialize Poe, she is a crow we recently acquired from someone who thought they could keep her as a pet, but quickly realized that a wild animal is not suited to be a pet. However, since she was kept as a pet for a while she had been imprinted on, therefore making her unafraid of people and unreleasable to to the wild. Due to this, we are trying to socialize her so we can use her as an ambassador to educate people on how it is unwise, safe, or fair to keep wild animals as pets. To socialize her at this point, we simply sit within her enclosure with her for an extended amount of time, handing her feathers and various little toys she finds interesting. By finding things that interest her, we gave her a reason to come closer to us, therefore getting use to our close proximity.
The afternoon was pretty standard, cleaning various enclosures and feeding out diets. This week was a lot of learning, and I have learned a lot. I am excited to start handling the raptors in the next few weeks!
Monday, September 8, 2014
Living Coast Discovery Center & Wild Wonders
This week I began volunteering/ interning at two new wildlife sanctuaries in San Diego.
The first of the two is Living Coast Discovery Center. This is where I will be interning two full days per week. While the center houses native Californian aquatic and bird species, I will mostly be focusing my time in the bird area, working with various birds of prey. My daily routine isn't quite down yet, but it seems that I will begin the day by feeding out AM diets (rats, mice, chicks, or fish depending on the bird). During this time I will do a head count, making sure all of them look healthy and happy. I will also be cleaning each individual enclosure at this time, spraying down and scrubbing the perches and refilling water bowls. After this I will prepare the diets for the next day. First you prepare the birds of prey diets, weighing out in grams how much rats, mice, or chicks they should receive and then placing each one in it's individual labelled container. This means its super important to learn all of their names quick! After I'm done with them I will do the same for the shorebird diet, however it's different in that a lot of the shorebirds are in one large enclosure and therefore I make one large bowl for them rather than separating out for each individual bird.
Once I'm done with diets I will finish doing small task cleaning until about 1:30/2 PM when I begin feeding out the afternoon diets. During this time I will do another visual check of the birds, making sure nothing has changed since I was there earlier in the day. At 2:30 there is an eagle feed/talk, where one of the staff and I will talk with the public about the two eagles we have within our care. Once we are done with the talk we go into their enclosures and feed them their PM diet so the public can watch them. After all this, we clean up for the day. If there is extra time after cleaning we can socialize the birds, which is sitting near or in their enclosure so they get used to your presence and will eventually trust you enough to handle them.
This week had extra excitement because one of our burrowing owls had droopy wings, which is not normal. Therefore we had to bring him within the main building to observe throughout the day. At the end the keepers decided that he had new feathers growing it, since he had just molted, and they must be uncomfortable. However, he will be closely observed in the upcoming days to ensure that is the reason.
I will also be spending one morning a week about an hour north at Wild Wonders. The animals housed here are mostly wildlife that have been hurt or surrendered by owners who thought they could keep them as pets, but then realized that it is not possible to keep wild animals the same way you would a domesticated. This week was my first week so I mostly just shadowed, which consisted of standing outside each enclosure and watching what the more experienced volunteers did. I will have more to report on this place as I get to do more things! I am excited about the opportunities it will present though!
The first of the two is Living Coast Discovery Center. This is where I will be interning two full days per week. While the center houses native Californian aquatic and bird species, I will mostly be focusing my time in the bird area, working with various birds of prey. My daily routine isn't quite down yet, but it seems that I will begin the day by feeding out AM diets (rats, mice, chicks, or fish depending on the bird). During this time I will do a head count, making sure all of them look healthy and happy. I will also be cleaning each individual enclosure at this time, spraying down and scrubbing the perches and refilling water bowls. After this I will prepare the diets for the next day. First you prepare the birds of prey diets, weighing out in grams how much rats, mice, or chicks they should receive and then placing each one in it's individual labelled container. This means its super important to learn all of their names quick! After I'm done with them I will do the same for the shorebird diet, however it's different in that a lot of the shorebirds are in one large enclosure and therefore I make one large bowl for them rather than separating out for each individual bird.
Once I'm done with diets I will finish doing small task cleaning until about 1:30/2 PM when I begin feeding out the afternoon diets. During this time I will do another visual check of the birds, making sure nothing has changed since I was there earlier in the day. At 2:30 there is an eagle feed/talk, where one of the staff and I will talk with the public about the two eagles we have within our care. Once we are done with the talk we go into their enclosures and feed them their PM diet so the public can watch them. After all this, we clean up for the day. If there is extra time after cleaning we can socialize the birds, which is sitting near or in their enclosure so they get used to your presence and will eventually trust you enough to handle them.
This week had extra excitement because one of our burrowing owls had droopy wings, which is not normal. Therefore we had to bring him within the main building to observe throughout the day. At the end the keepers decided that he had new feathers growing it, since he had just molted, and they must be uncomfortable. However, he will be closely observed in the upcoming days to ensure that is the reason.
I will also be spending one morning a week about an hour north at Wild Wonders. The animals housed here are mostly wildlife that have been hurt or surrendered by owners who thought they could keep them as pets, but then realized that it is not possible to keep wild animals the same way you would a domesticated. This week was my first week so I mostly just shadowed, which consisted of standing outside each enclosure and watching what the more experienced volunteers did. I will have more to report on this place as I get to do more things! I am excited about the opportunities it will present though!
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