Raptors

[mjs1973]

I took all these pics at a Birds of Prey show today put on by the Raptor Education Group. The pics are really grainy because I had to shoot at ISO 1600 as the auditorium was very dark. All of these birds, except the bald eagle, have suffered injuries that have prevented them from being able to be released back into the wild. The Turkey Vulture, Morrie, was trapped in a building that was on fire and sufferd from smoke inhalation and badly burned feet. The smoke inhalation cause some bad scaring on Morrie's lungs. The Western Red Tailed Hawk, Juliet, was shot. Her scpula(sp) has been wired together so she can't sustain flight for very long.

[mjs1973]

The first pic is Thea, a Barn Owl. Thea sufferd a head injury, but I don't remeber how. The 2nd & 3rd are a Bared Owl, Malcolm. Malcolm was hit by a car and has a broken wing. The wing had already started to heal back together by the time he was found. The last pic is Oscar, a Long Eared Owl. I don't remeber what happened to Oscar.

[mjs1973]

Bumpit is a Great Horned Owl who was "bumped" out of the nest when he hatched. He had cataracts, that were removed with surgery, but his vision isn't good enuf to be returned to the wild.

The Perigrine Falcon, Ishmael, was hatched in captivity by a falconer. He has something wrong with his foot, and was donated to R.E.G.I.

[mjs1973]

This is Little Bit. He is a Saw-whet owl. He was injured as a tiny chick when a logger felled the tree it was nesting in. He suffered severe black fly bites around his eyes and mouth. He is not able to close one of his eyelids as a result of the scaring. The rest of his siblings were rehabbed and released back into the wild.

[mjs1973]

These are Screech Owls. I don't remember their names, or what's wrong with them.

[mjs1973]

This is a 1 year old, 14 pound, female Bald Eagle, about to be released back into the wild. A fisherman found her floating in Lake Michigan last summer. She was suffering from West Nile Virus. I filled the buffer on my camera, right before she let the bird go, so I don't have any pics of it taking off. They are releasing another eagle tomorrow, so I will try to get some as it takes off.

[paulnj]

These images ROCK!!!

I love the sawhet owl especially. I just love the way they sit in a honeysuckle covered conifer staring at you 5 feet away from them

[mjs1973]

Thanks Paul. This was a really cool experiance for me. Getting to see all these birds up close was amazing. This was also the first time I have ever had to deal with RED EYE while shooting wildlife! This presentation was part of a local comunities "Eagle Viewing Days" that lasted all weekend. I went back on Sunday to catch some of the things I missed on Sat. and got a sequence of the release of another eagle. I will post those when I get some time tonight.

The area where this was held has a hydro-electic dam on the Wisconsin river, and is one of the few places that doesn't freeze all winter long. Add to that high bluffs creating great thermals and lots of trees protected from the wind, and you get hundreds or eagles roosting in the area in the winter. About a month ago, things started to warm up and now the river is pretty much open all the way to the Missippi so the eagles have dispersed quite a bit. We still saw a few tho.

[mjs1973]

This is a series of shots from the release of a 1 year old, male Bald Eagle. This eagle was found when it was about 12 weeks old, with some fishooks in its legs, along with a punch of fishline. It was drowning when it was pulled from the water. It was rehabilitated and is now back where he belongs, home in the wild.

Just watching the way this woman handled these birds, was so amazing. The respect she showed for these creatures was incredible.

[paulnj]

Great sequence here !

one thing I found in your post that's wrong is..

The second Sawhet owl image is actually a red phase screech owl

[mjs1973]

one thing I found in your post that's wrong is..

The second Sawhet owl image is actually a red phase screech owl

Right you are! Um... I put that in there just to test you. ;) You PASSED!

[srobb]

Great images, Mike. Really makes me want to attend one of these things if I could ever find one here in Ky. They are having some bird counts at some of the lakes here in the state. There are still 2 or 3 left so I may just see how close the others are.

[paulnj]

I passed huh ;)

Well being as last month on the CBC I heard 27 and seen 1 grey and 4 red phase, I know screech owls ;)

I have found 7 - 10 sawhets in past years, so I know them too.

BTW, a raptor rehab is 20 miles away in the town where I grew up, so I have spent a lot of time there. I have never seen them release birds, but have taken a few screech and great horned owls to them.