Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 10, 2008 19:41:08 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Well, our new baby finally got flown in from Arkansas. Doesn't have a name yet but darn he is a cutie, a 2 1/2 year old American Bald eagle. Don't get the white head till about year six. He is flight impaired and vision impaired so I have to sit with him and call him to his food. He goes in for a vision surgery consult on the fifteenth so we can see if we can get his vision improved. So for now, my new birdie buddy and I are bonding. I spend an hour or so a day feeding him and discussing world problems etc. *L* He has very hawkish views! Need to get him used to my voice, the way I move, my size etc. before the actual training process begins. Usually takes a year or so to get a bird ready for the educational program and he has a great temperament so we all have high hopes he'll be a soon be a star. Thanks for looking.....Mel Just saying howdy: Yum yum, quail for lunch and don't you be eyeballing my food you stupid human! Oh yeah, it's as yummy as it looks!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 10, 2008 19:43:24 GMT -5
That's too cool!
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Post by sbreed on Feb 10, 2008 21:09:34 GMT -5
Wow! I am in awe of you!
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MidNight~Rocksi3
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2008
Posts: 1,716
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Post by MidNight~Rocksi3 on Feb 10, 2008 21:33:48 GMT -5
Awww.. That's sad about his vision.. .. You know I couldn't believe he's a baby... He looks so.. .. Grown? lol.. reminds me of an Old General.. hard to think of him as cute little baby bird.. lol.. He sure makes a statement with his presence tho.. I love his pose.. man that's the Life right there.. You really are lucky!
*smiles*
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Post by stonesthatrock on Feb 10, 2008 21:51:35 GMT -5
he looks so proud in that pose. what a wonderful job you have
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Slydog
has rocks in the head
Member since February 2006
Posts: 555
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Post by Slydog on Feb 11, 2008 0:42:55 GMT -5
Mel, ypu always make me curious--'what' happened to this guy? Maybe I get it from work--we always have to ask 'now how did this happen to you?' to get the mechanism of injury. Is he average sized for his age?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 11, 2008 1:05:37 GMT -5
Slydog: Non Alaskan Baldies are smaller than the Alaskan ones and he's also a male and males run smaller than females. He runs about 9 pounds or so or three times the size of Rosie the Red-Tail. Maybe a bit over two feet tall. I'd say that's on the small side. We used to have a female that was a huge Alaskan bird and looked 1 1/2 times his size.The eye problem seems to be cataract related, maybe congenital and can possibly be corrected but will leave him far sighted. He also seems to have a fused wing joint which considering his vision, was probably crash related. Think if he can see better though, he should get around the cage pretty well. Even birds with partial wing use can really get around. Called Rosie to my fist the other day and she landed on my shoulder like a giant parakeet. She's supposed to just hop onto the gauntlet. *L* She has almost the same wing problem and she's definitely getting a little lift from the wings these days *S*....Mel
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Post by Cher on Feb 11, 2008 2:11:10 GMT -5
Mel he is so cool. I've only seen the younger bald eagles once in the wild up here, sitting on a branch next to a parent, it was so neat. And of course, my camera was at home.
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Post by Titania on Feb 11, 2008 8:11:00 GMT -5
I love it when you post birdie pics, Mel! I hope you'll keep us updated on his progress.
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Feb 11, 2008 10:58:56 GMT -5
Wow Mel , You have the kewllest job .. I have always wanted to work with the critters , but I only get to work/play with the common house/farm/ranch type of critters. My hats off to you Mel and kudos to you many times over please keep us posted on his progress , we love the pictures Thank you so much. Wolf
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Feb 11, 2008 13:30:50 GMT -5
baldys are my fav! thanks!!
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Post by Tonyterner on Feb 11, 2008 15:17:47 GMT -5
He gets quail for lunch! Dang bird eats better than me. LOL I see lots of bald eagles down on the Chesapeake, even young ones, but never this close. Thanks for the pics.
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Post by krazydiamond on Feb 11, 2008 18:30:15 GMT -5
when will he get a name? and who gets to name him? a very proud looking bird, even if he is young and debilitated. thanks for posting, Mel, you know we all love your birdie pics.
KD
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Post by docone31 on Feb 11, 2008 21:02:06 GMT -5
Wow, It really must be something. I read once, where someone in a small chartered aircraft was just flying and shooting these birds for "sport". Now, I was a pilot, and that was really unlikely, wind pressure and so forth. I have seen them fairly close up, not real close, but fairly. They are a majestic bird. Birds themselves are difficult to care for, let alone one with impairments. I bet you got the touch though. What else can one say with such a bird present? I do not care if they were as common as mosquitos, they would still stand out. I like the wild cats. They seem to know it. Birds, I do not know at all. You do us all a service. I have a feeling, many people will see what they could never, and learn something real doing it. Keep us posted. This will never get boring. Good luck, and much health for our young Eagle.
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Post by MrP on Feb 11, 2008 21:41:19 GMT -5
Love Bald Eagles......MrP
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Slydog
has rocks in the head
Member since February 2006
Posts: 555
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Post by Slydog on Feb 11, 2008 22:16:41 GMT -5
Mel, who supports your raptor center, like where does the money for it come from? Just curious---
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 11, 2008 22:19:59 GMT -5
Wow! Thanks to all of you for the good wishes. Remember, all these birds belong to all of us. They are held by the center only under permit and live pampered lives where otherwise they all would have died from their various problems. In return, they enrich all our lives by serving as birdie ambassadors in our educational programs. We hope every child or adult they meet face to face will learn to appreciate nature in all it's forms and understand all creatures have their place in natures delicate web of life. I consider it a victory any time a person meets Rosie or one of the other birds and says to me, they'll never harm such a beautiful and majestic animal. Lots of folks sign up to be volunteers or improve their properties to make better wildlife habitat. And the young'uns, well the look on their faces when they see one of our Ed birds face to face is priceless! I feel sure lots of those young children will be serious wildlife advocates in the future. It's more than being about saving birds one at a time. It's about teaching folks why raptors and all forms of wildlife are important to all of us and why all should be given a fair shot at survival. And I've gotta tell all of you, we're unpaid volunteers but never has any work made any of us feel richer or happier!!!...Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 11, 2008 22:37:22 GMT -5
Slydog: We're mainly supported by donations. We also do presentations for bird clubs, schools, science groups, scout troops, senior centers etc for a small fee. We had a meeting the other day and we're already booked till October so we do lots of presentations. It helps that I'm real gabby fellow! *L*. We also man booths at festivals like Earth Days where we take our birds to meet the public and sell our calendars, t-shits, hats etc and have at least one fundraiser per year. This year Jackson Browne gave a benefit concert for us which made enough to enable us to start building the new rehab facility. We even have a website to sell Raptor gear etc. Fundraising is a never ending process as just the food bills are huge, but folks are very kind too. It tickles me when a little kid donates a dollar of his or her allowance to buy Rosie a rat for the day *S* or a school class has a drive to make enough money to sponsor one of our Ed birds for a year. ( They get a photo and a certificate for the classroom wall). Even corporations pitch in. The local power company gave us money a couple of years ago to pay for the rehab of an beautiful Red-Tail Hawk electrocuted on one of their power poles. Every feather was burnt off and she looked like a porkypine. Had to be kept 18 months till she got new feathers and learned to hunt again. There are a lot of wonderful, generous folks out there that keep us going and allow us to take in more than a 1000 animals per year ( about half birds of prey)....Mel
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on Feb 15, 2008 1:32:22 GMT -5
That's an awsome bird Mel and thank you for your work.
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