Swainson’s on the Mend

An open neck wound on the grebe is healing nicely. Before flight, the hawk chatted with Evelyn.

During an overnight rainstorm a large cottonwood tree fell across a swiftly flowing ditch in Fallon. The next morning a passing bicyclist noticed a injured hawk on the downed tree and notified Department of Wildlife. The responding biologist while cautiously balancing across the tree over the still flowing ditch, retrieved a Swainson’s Hawk.  At first…

So named it is said because one of the calls it makes sounds like a saw being sharpened on a wet stone.  The Northern Saw-whet is looking good!

This Sandhill Crane is receiving care at DVWR

This orphaned 8-day-old baby sparrow is one of many birds that are receiving care especially during this time of year. At this stage the chicks are extremely fragile, must have an external heat source and are fed very frequently. They are kept in incubators with make shift nests sometimes created by just using the toe of a sock. 

American Kestrels are fledging now and sometimes they need some extra help like this young one.  They eat spiders, moths, cicadas and grasshoppers to name just a small portion of their diet, which is a good reason not to spray pesticides. Mike and the kestrel exchange information at intake.