Good morning, DMV. It’s Nov. 9.
The Owl Moon Raptor Center — a state and federally licensed wildlife rehabilitation center specializing in birds of prey — holds its annual festival Saturday noon to 4 p.m. at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds, Maryland. The event, in its 12th year, has long been on my family’s to-do list, so to give myself and all of you a teaser, I met with volunteers at the center over the weekend to learn more.
I brought my husband and daughter along for fun. We drove out to rural Maryland, past a Zoroastrian temple and Buddhist meditation center, to the center. In the tight quarters of the treatment room, volunteers were chopping up food for their charges. In another building, others were preparing bags of owl pellets for attendees to dissect at the festival.
As we walked the grounds, our feet shuffled through the thick of freshly fallen leaves.
Founded in 2002, the center has taken in 701 patients so far this year (as of Saturday), up from 609 at the same time last year. This year’s patients comprise 46 species, including several birds that are not raptors such as pigeons, crows, a heron and dove, to name a few. I visited a few of their current patients.
A juvenile bald eagle with fractured ulna in left wing, the center said. “Presumably hit by vehicle in Fairfax County, VA. Hoping to be able to release when healed but questions remain.” (Alisa Tang)
A Mississippi kite with fractured carpometacarpus (wing tip). “She will not likely be releasable but is a good candidate for educational ambassador.” (Alisa Tang)
An Eastern screech-owl with eye injuries. “We hope she will be released, but questions remain. Will make a good educational ambassador if not releasable.” (Alisa Tang)
The volunteer staff told me that some of their patients had to be rescued after getting caught in manmade objects — fishing lines, fake Halloween webs, soccer nets and Christmas lights, for example. When daylight saving time ends, they said they often receive injured barred owls — which learn human patterns but don’t know to adjust when our clocks fall back — that get hit by cars when our evening commute times coincide with their active hours. About a half dozen have arrived at the center this past week.
Some birds, because of the extent of their injuries, cannot be released to the wild and become educational ambassadors at licensed facilities across the country. Others are rehabilitated and released to the wild.
The red-shouldered hawk in the photo below will be released Saturday at the festival.
A red-shouldered hawk. (Owl Moon Raptor Center)
The male hawk was admitted to the center on June 5. It had been found on the ground at a busy corporate campus close to I-495 in McLean, the center said. “He was unable to fly but alert and very defensive; it took a skilled rescue volunteer to safely capture him.”
An examination revealed many damaged feathers. The bones at the tip of its left wing were shattered in multiple places — an injury that takes months to heal, the center said.
“This bird was in for a long stay, and volunteers were soon telling stories of the spirited, vocal hawk who wanted to be done with rehabilitation long before it was done with him. After more than four months of treatment, rest and physical therapy, the hawk had regained almost all of the range of motion in his left wing, and was deemed releasable.”
The red-shouldered hawk on Saturday in one of the center’s mews — enclosed spaces where birds can start flying again. (Alisa Tang)
The festival will be an amazing opportunity to meet these birds up close, though it makes me sad that anytime I see birds at such close proximity, it’s because they’ve been injured.
Festival attendees will also get the opportunity to dissect owl pellets, which is fascinating if you’ve never done it. And they can learn how to “imp” feathers — implanting a toothpick or wooden splint into the shaft of a broken feather.
Owl Moon Raptor Center staff said they welcome donations and are always looking for volunteers to work as field rescuers and transporters — Ubers for birds, or “Ubirds,” my husband quipped. (Note that the center does not offer tours because it is a working bird hospital.)
A juvenile bald eagle. (Owl Moon Raptor Center)
The center also sent me this photo, which I couldn’t resist sharing.
An osprey. (Owl Moon Raptor Center)
📰 News around the DMV
Capital Weather says: A dry cold front brings gusts of 25 to 40 mph through the day, though skies stay partly to mostly sunny with highs near 60 to the mid-60s. Read the full forecast here.
🦆 Things to do
8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 — Join DC Bird Alliance for a guided bird walk at historic Langston Golf Course and the nearby Anacostia River corridor.
📷 Your joy
(Jackie Viselli)
Jackie Viselli, 36, of the Lanier Heights neighborhood of D.C., snapped this pic on the morning of the National Arboretum Fall 5k on Halloween.
“It was a spectacularly beautiful morning, made even better with the excitement of the people from all over the city for a fun run,” Jackie wrote in her submission.
What she’s reading and watching: “If you haven't already read ‘London Falling’ by Patrick Radden Keefe, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s fiction that reads like nonfiction, and you learn so much while being totally engaged in this wild story. Also forever recommending ‘Taskmaster’ on YouTube and now Hulu.”
🦅
