A journal was established in the 1980’s by Carol Groves, the first interpreter and raptor handler at Patoka Lake. It was started to monitor the health and lives of captive birds of prey. Below is a copy of the health records and monthly recordings of the raptor program for 2019 brought to you by Patoka Lake Full Time Interpretive Naturalist, Dana Reckelhoff.
2019
January
1-5: The bald eagle, eastern screech owl, and red-tailed hawk have been eating well. Saturday was the annual 
Eagle Watch program. Each bird was out for approximately 20 minutes. The birds did not bate while on the gauntlet. Eagle however vocalized a little through the program which is unusual for her. She is typically quiet during programs.
6-12: On Wednesday, Tom and Dana spent time working with eagle. She has been extra talkative lately. She spent about 45 minutes on their gauntlets, performing five transitions between her and Tom. The hoses were frozen solid on Thursday so the shelters were not sprayed out. Eagle and hawk have been eating almost all food provided. Owl has had a reduced appetite this week and is leaving more food behind.
13-19: It was warm enough on Thursday that we noted both hawk and eagle taking baths in the afternoon. We caught eagle in the tub. She was dripping wet when we got to her mews. Owl has had no leftovers the entire week. Vitamins are still being given every other day.
20-31: On Wednesday 23, Tom, Dana and Whitney trimmed beaks and talons. Dana trimmed talons on all three birds. Eagle and hawk stood on Tom’s glove during the procedure. Owl was held in hand by Whitney while having his talons trimmed. Weights were taken today also. Hawk came in at 2 lbs. 11 ounces. Eagle came in at 11 lbs. 10 ounces. Owl weighed in at 4.6 ounces. Beaks were trimmed while the birds were held. Whitney maintained her hold on owl while Tom coped his beak. Dana cradled the hawk in a hug with Whitney restraining his feet while Tom coped his beak. Dana cradled the eagle in the same position as hawk however while sitting with Whitney restraining the ankles. Tom coped her beak also. While holding the birds feet, Whitney performed a wellness check of each birds’ feet.
There were two days in a row this week that shelters could not be sprayed out. Temperatures were around 120F both days and never came close to 320F.
On Saturday 26, Dana and Tom traveled to Turkey Run State Park for the Eagles in Flight Weekend. Eagle was seen by 120 people during an hour program. Just as she had done in our Eagle Watch program, she vocalized during portions of the program. She did well with the long drive there and back. She was fasted that evening since we got back well after dark.
The birds have been eating well leaving only pellets, bones and scales behind.
February
1-9: The cold temperatures continue on into this week. The birds are eating almost all that is provided. The birds are being fasted one day a week at this point. Fasting is done when temperatures are appropriate. This is not something we typically do when temperatures are below freezing. We have had numerous days like that recently. The birds have been seen shivering in the early morning hours which is typical for this time of year.
10-16: The blood feathers on eagle’s right wing continue to redevelop, fall out and regrow again. This may be an issue that we address again with the vet. Normally these feathers grow in and she has feathers by October or November. They seem to be aggravated and eagle is not touching them to peel the casings off. As we notice issues, we are administering pain medication. She broke open a blood feather on Sunday as Brian Finch, Wildlife Specialist, was feeding and caring for the birds. That night it was noted that she did not eat the rats that she was given. Owl and hawk have been eating everything provided for the past week. We have continued to limit hawk’s diet to bring him to a healthy weight. We are interested to see if the vet feels he is still overweight when we take him back this spring.
On the 13th, the birds met Zach our new Assistant Property Manager. They responded well to his presence. Soon he will be trained on shelter cleaning and feeding of these educational ambassadors.
On the 14th, Tom and Dana handled eagle for about 30 minutes.
17-23: On the 20th, eagle was administered pain medication in a mouse, which she swallowed whole. Dana provided the mouse to her after handling. Whitney, Tom and Dana all transitioned her on the glove today. The next day, she lost a blood feather during handling when she bated Tom’s glove. It was not a good handling day. She was put back in the shelter and given another mouse with pain medication. We are unsure if we will have her out for viewing while she is dealing with these blood feathers. They have become a persistent problem this month.
24-28: Eagle was much better on the glove for Dana on the 26th. There are less blood feathers. This month she had a total of six blood feathers that have been causing her discomfort. On the 27th, Dana, Tom and Zac trimmed beaks, talons and took weights. Owl was 4.9 ounces. Hawk came in at 2 lbs. 13 ounces. Eagle weighed in at 10 lbs. 8 ounces. Tom coped the beaks and Dana trimmed the talons. Zac was taught what to look for on the feet as he held them during trimming. Eagle ate well on Sunday and Monday before leaving all food behind on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday her appetite picked up some. She had another blood feather fall out on Thursday and another lost on Friday. She was given a medicated mouse both days after the break occurred. Tom and Dana have met to discuss options for this wing. It continues to bring challenges for handling and discomfort to the eagle. Once we see if the feathers grow back in again, we will assess when to take her to the vet for her annual checkup. It may come early this year, so that we can get her in for the blood feathers and final determination on where to go from here with them. Our options are cutting them off mid-way, but she still gets them caught on things when they are short. Option two is to cauterize them so that the follicles no longer grow feathers. Option three which would be a last resort, would be to amputate a section of that wing where the problem feathers grow from. If you are new to our journal, this bird was injured in the wild. The injuries she sustained to her right wing cause the feathers to grow incorrectly and cause her discomfort sometimes. In the past we have had occasional problems with these feathers however the condition always improved. This time, we are seeing the opposite where the problem is only continuing. She does not want us to touch those feathers for us to peel them for her at this point. Daily we monitor her and make notes when necessary to give her the best life in captivity possible. While all of this is going on, owl and hawk are doing exceptionally well. They are handling well on the gauntlet and eating well.
March
1-9: On Friday 1st, eagle broke another blood feather open. This caused her to be irritable. We administered pain medicine in a mouse for her. The following day, I put her out for viewing. She was in a much better mood for both myself and Whitney. She played in her bath on Saturday 9th. Hawk has been eating everything in sight this week. He has been vocalizing with small chittering sounds when we go to feed him and has been jumping onto the mice, rats and chicks as soon as they are placed on his perches. We have been placing one on each perch so that he has to jump around to get to all of them each day. Owl took a bath on Saturday and had wet jesses when we went to feed him. The heat lamps and heated water dishes are still turned on this month. We will plan to uninstall once the weather gets above freezing for the spring season. This week we were also able to identify the reason for eagle’s recent mood shift. She has only wanted to remain on Tom’s glove for the past few weeks. While on my glove of Whitney’s, she continuously bates until we pass her back to Tom. After speaking with Leslie Grow from Hardy Lake about this odd behavior, we have learned that eagle being 5 years old has chosen Tom as her “mate”. She wants little to do with myself, Whitney and the rest of our staff that comes to feed her. She is cuddling up to Tom as she used to do with me. We hope that this doesn’t last the entire nesting season however this is her first year exhibiting this instinctual behavior. In the past two years, she has gotten more moody with Tom and myself during this time but we could keep her on the glove. We will continue to monitor this and track it during her life here with us.
10-16: On Tuesday, the birds all traveled to the Paoli Library for a program. 52 library patrons saw the birds up close in an hour-long program that featured the bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, and eastern screech owl. None of them bated during the program. I was surprised that eagle did so well however, Tom was not present. I was her only choice to perch upon. Owl did get a little nervous at first and was panting but once the children in the front calmed down, he was able to relax as well. The birds were fasted on Thursday 14th. Tom came in that day to check on them twice. The next day the birds ate everything they were provided. The hawk and owl were out for viewing on Saturday. They were viewed by 98 people who braved a light rain to see them in the backyard viewing shelters.
17-23: On Tuesday, the birds traveled to Little Spruce Nature School where they entertained 13 students and staff with their calls, wing flaps, and sliced on the glove. They all handled well including eagle. Eagle seems to be getting better without Tom’s presence. Eagle was ok on the glove on Thursday as well. There is some improvement in her handling. She is still bating about three times in a row but then she rights herself and stands properly without hackles showing. The hawk and owl were out for viewing again this weekend. The hawk spent the entire day in the viewing window. We need to apply more mesh screen to that window the keep his feet from hitting the window sill.
24-31: On Monday, the birds did not leave a single sign of food left behind. They each had cast a pellet or two from their meals. On Friday, we coped beaks and talons. We also took weights which are as follows. Eagle weighed in at 11 lbs 11oz. Hawk was 2lbs 12oz. Owl came in at exactly 5oz. We are pleased to see owl’s weight rising again. For some time his weight was dropping 0.1 to 0.3 oz. On Saturday 30, eagle and hawk were out for viewing and a program. Both birds did great during the program despite the light rain that came in the middle of it. All three birds have been eating well this week and hardly leaving scraps behind.
April
1-6: We started treating hawk’s feet again for bumblefoot, being extra cautious that it does not return. We have been treating both feet daily this week. We also changed out his perching material. The top perch is now turf where prior it had been rope. On Wednesday, the weather was nice so all birds got mist baths with the hose. We also started putting treatment on owl’s feet since he has been perching on a 4x4 post in the mews rather than his ladder and natural tree perches.
7-13: Whitney provided hollee roller enrichment for the hawk and eagle on Sunday. Eagle got two rats in her ball. Hawk was given three mice in his ball. On Monday, the birds had no leftover food from the prior day. On Monday, the birds fasted. We fast the birds once a week as long as weather and conditions are favorable. It is not always a consistent day of the week. Sometimes, they are fasted due to travel the next day and carsickness of the eagle. Other times, it just fits best on a particular day that week due to staffing or the appetites of the birds. This week however, they ate really well the day before so it was merely due to the Nature Center being closed. Hawk and eagle left nothing behind, while owl only left a mouse butt.
14-20: On Friday, the hawk was given three mice and owl was provided two mice that afternoon. Eagle received her favorite food, a squirrel. All food was dosed with Vitahawk and calcium as we provide every other day. This week the appetites of our eagle, hawk and owl have picked up immensely. They have been finishing everything we provide and leaving only skin and large bones behind. We typically see this happen in the spring as temperatures rise.
21-27: The left eye of the eastern screech owl was swollen on Wednesday. He has had swelling with this eye in the past because it was injured in an accident that took him from the wild. We administered eyedrops to reduce the swelling and those drops were successful. It is a bit concerning that this is happening when the temperature is so mild. We have only had issues in the past when the weather was extremely hot such as a heat index near 1000F. We will have the eye looked at thoroughly when we check in with the vet next month for the birds’ annual exams. On Friday, the birds were brought indoors for an evening program at the annual Women’s Wilderness Weekend. The birds were seen by over 60 women who were participating in the event. This particular program was titled Animal Encounters, where guests first learned about animals commonly found in our area, along with their sounds. Then they got to see the birds up close for the last hour of the program. The birds were fasted on Saturday due to staff being busy with the event and they hadn’t been fasted in over a week.
28–30: The birds have been eating well. Eagle left half a fish on Monday. They were fasted again on Monday for this week.
May
1-11: On Friday the 3rd, the birds were seen by West Crawford Elementary School kindergarteners. The school was split into two groups that each got to see the birds up close during a program in the backyard of the Nature Center. We have not noticed any additional swelling in the owl’s left eye since the last report in April. We are continuing to monitor his eye daily for any minute changes. The color of the iris seems to be darkening. His right eye is yellow, as the left should be, however, the left has always had a orange tinge to it due to his collision with a semi-truck when he was four months old. The coloration has gotten darker over the winter and we are anxious to take him to the vet. The appointment is set for May 23, after we see the last school groups of the season. The birds have been eating everything in sight again over the past week and a half. On Wednesday the 8th, we trimmed beaks and talons. We also took weights that day. Red-tailed hawk came in at 2lb 10oz. The eastern screech owl was 4.3 oz. Bald Eagle weighed in at 10lb 8oz. The dremmel tool was not fully charged and died while starting to trim eagle’s beak. We rescheduled her beak trim for Friday instead and accomplished that without issue. We administered a medicated mouse to eagle on Friday the 10th due to blood feather issues on the broken wing. We have scheduled the eagle to have these feathers cauterized during the May annual check-up.
12-18: On Sunday, eagle was given six bluegill. Hawk got four mice and owl received two mice. The birds were cared for by Tom Riley this week due to Nature Center staff being at the annual Interpretive Training Conference. Tom reported that the eagle was on the ground most of the day on Friday.
19-25: The eagle, hawk and owl traveled to Highland Hills Middle School on Tuesday and Wednesday for programs with the 5th grade students. The groups were broken into equal sizes and we had four groups each day. On the first day, eagle bated for each program. Day two she was perfect on the glove. Day one, owl fell asleep on the glove but day two he was wide awake for all groups. The birds fasted on Wednesday. Thursday they were seen by the vet on the north side of Indy for annual exams. Bloodwork and fecal samples came back great for each of the birds. We had one vet examine owl’s damaged eye closely, as we have started to notice more subtle changes in the eye over the last few months. She is concerned that he could have glaucoma in the eye so we will be seeing a specialist for that. Eagle was also seen for the blood feathers that have caused her discomfort for the past year. We made the decision to cauterize six feather follicles in the wrist region of her right wing. This is the area that we have continually monitored for issues since she arrived in our care. These feathers have caused her issues each year and we felt this was the first step to aiding her comfort. The first option of cutting the feathers did not work since the blood never stopped running through these feathers. It never retracted back into the skin. The third option we face is surgery to amputate the finger and wrist region of her wing. It would be a clean amputation with no cutting of bone but that will only occur if it is in her best interest that we do so. At this time, we plan to see if the cauterization worked effectively. The rest of the week we lowered the level of water in the eagle water dish so she would keep her bandages dry during baths.
26-31: On Tuesday, Tom and I went back to the vet in Indy with eagle. She inspected the area of eagle’s surgery and said it was healing nicely. She confirmed that she did not feel amputation was necessary at this point and we will continue to monitor the healing process. She was not out for public viewing over the weekend as she is to have restricted movements right now. Eagle has been receiving pain medicine in a mouse each day since surgery. She has only been accepting the mouse this week. Last week we had to force feed the mouse. I had her on the glove and Whitney would grab her open mouth and stick the mouse in. Eagle would then swallow the mouse. This week eagle has been accepting the mouse out of our hands, which is our preferred method of offering medicine to her.
June
1-8: Sunday was the perfect day to catch eagle in her bath. I took a 6 minute long video of her bathing after I had cleaned her shelter and provided her with fresh water for enrichment. On Wednesday, Whitney and I took eagle to the vet for a bandage change. The vet taught us how to properly cleanse the surgery area, remove scabs, apply new bandages and wrap the wing for her safety and healing process. The area was much smaller than when we changed the bandage at the vet last week. All bandage changes will be done by our staff from this point forward. Friday the birds were set to visit the Orange County REMC annual meeting. We determined it was too early in the eagle’s healing process to take her. We still took the eastern screech owl and red-tailed hawk. Instead of transitioning birds on the gauntlets we simply kept the hawk and owl out the entire two-hour program. It was a booth setting inside of Paoli High School. The birds both did well during the event. In year’s past the birds have exhibited fear of helium balloons at this event. This year we did not have any issues with those. We have worked with the birds since that year to desensitize them to balloons and other items commonly handed out at county fairs since we travel to those often in the summer months. Whitney then took the hawk and owl to the Harrison County Discovery Center on Saturday 8th. The hawk and owl were seen during an hour presentation at that offsite location.
9-15: On Tuesday, we changed eagle’s bandage by ourselves for the first time. It was Tom, Whitney and I who each played a unique role in the process. Whitney held the bird in an upright position to her chest. Tom held her feet with one hand and her injured wing with the other. I performed the bandage change, examining the hole and scabbing closely. The area is healing much more rapidly than any of us would have guessed. It is looking really good. I believe by the end of the month we may be able to remove all bandages and let it get some air. Our maintenance crew also did improvements to the walls of the night mews due to humidity and lack of sunlight on these shelters. The walls stay damp and have caused the 30+ year old structure to start decomposing near the ground. All boards touching the ground on the south facing wall were replaced inside and out on the hawk and eagle shelters. A wall between eagle and owl was also supported again with new lumber. One Wednesday, the owl went to the ophthalmologist for a glaucoma test on his left eye. The vet did an ultrasound on that eye also to determine if he had retinal detachment. She has determined that there may be partial detachment and the best idea might be to remove that eye. We are awaiting further information from other vets who have specialized in owls to determine if the eye will be removed or if he can keep it. We checked weights and trimmed beaks and talons on Friday. During the process we also sprayed the birds for parasites. Owl weighed in at 4.5oz. Hawk was 2lbs 10oz and eagle was 10lbs 14oz.
16-22: Owl has been getting eyedrops twice a day since going to the vet. He gets them for inflammation to his injured eye. This can be accomplished with just one staff member who puts him on the glove, turns him so his head is facing the sky and depositing a drop before his nictitating membrane closes down on the eye. Eagle has been jumping to the ground this week and picking up leftovers as we are cleaning out her shelter. She has also been attacking the hose as if it were a snake while the shelter is being sprayed down. We are still checking hawk’s feet once a week. They have been bright yellow and looking great for several weeks. After closing off all ability for him to jump into the window sills of his shelter, this has prevented his feet from further injury.
23-30: We changed eagle’s bandage on Tuesday this week. Her wing is looking completely healed. We are 
waiting on feathers to grow back in and cover the skin at this point. We added one last bandage to keep the buffalo gnats from biting her exposed skin in this area. On Wednesday, the birds were brought into the program room for a program with the ACF Foresters group. This was eagle’s first program since surgery and she did very well on the glove. The birds were then taken back out into the mews following the program. The eagle and hawk were out on Saturday for viewing and an hour-long program. Eagle did well on the glove again in front of a large crowd. I placed hawk on his new swing that Dave put up last week. He spent the entire day on the swing looking into the woods. The swing was installed so that he would no longer jump into the window and hurt his feet.
July
1-6: On Tuesday, hawk and owl traveled with Whitney to the Crawford County Library for a program on predators. They were seen by 76 people in a close-up encounter. After the program the hawk was fed two mice and two chicks in a holee roller. Owl got two chicks and eagle was given five bluegill in the holee roller. The birds were on display Friday and Saturday with a special program on Friday. The eagle was a little moody during the program and it was exceptionally hot out.
7 –13: The birds had a monthly weigh in on Thursday. Owl weighed 4lbs 2 oz. Eagle weighed 10lbs 9oz. and hawk came in at 2lbs 8oz. Beaks and talons were also trimmed on Thursday. We administered pest repellent spray that will last them a month. Eagle was given a squirrel today and she was very excited about it. She jumped down quickly from her high perch to the stump in a matter of seconds. Squirrel is her favorite food after all! Hawk was given a varied diet of two mice and two chicks. Owl got two mice.
14 – 20: Monday the birds headed to the Dubois County Fair with myself and Whitney. It started out as a rainy adventure but we were not worried because we were under a roof. Eagle broke a blood feather in her finger region of the right wing below the surgery area during the program. After it broke she was very irritable and it was dripping blood on my glove. Bleeding did stop before I got her back in the transport box. She was not out much longer after the feather broke. The birds were provided a late dinner after we got back from the program. One Wednesday, eagle spent most of the day on the ground. She was searching for leftover scraps of the squirrel she ate the day prior, but there were no scraps to find. She never leaves anything but the skin of a squirrel and scattered fur. Saturday we took the birds down to the beach for a program during the volunteer’s Cruise-In with a View Car Show. The event is done in sponsorship of the raptors where all proceeds benefit their lives here at the lake. They all did very well during the program. I was able to get fairly close to the crowd with eagle to show off some of her newly growing tail feathers.
21 – 31: On Wednesday July 24, the birds each took a bath. It had been a hot day and it was probably a welcoming invitation to have a nice cool pool of water. The birds were fasted on this day. They have been eating well on moderate days. On days of excessive heat, they have been eating less. This is something that we record each year, but we as humans seem to eat less also when working outside in extreme heat. The birds were given mist baths on Thursday July 25 and the owl took an actual bath afterwards. Eagle was very hungry, devouring her entire medium carp as we fed the other two birds. On Tuesday July 30, Whitney and Tom performed re-training with eagle. Eagle was on the glove for about 45 minutes and handled fairly well. Whitney has been facing some difficulty with eagle but it has greatly improved.
August
1-10: Owl has been receiving eyedrops just once a day now as per the prescription. We have not seen any issues in the eye since beginning these drops. The eagle and hawk were on display in the backyard during Smokey Bear’s 75th Birthday party on Aug. 3. Then the eastern screech owl and bald eagle were out on display Sunday. On Tuesday, we did monthly health checks. The birds were weighed, administered with pest control spray, and had beaks and talons trimmed. The hawk weighed in at 2 lbs 9 oz. The owl was 2.4 oz. and the eagle was 11lbs 6oz. On day of weigh in, they were all fasted due to traveling tomorrow. On Aug. 7, the birds traveled with me and Whitney to the Indiana State Fair where nearly 200 people got a close encounter with the birds. Eagle was distracted during her portion of the program. We recently fed her live fish in her water dish. At the fair, the amphitheater is very close to the fishing pond. Eagle had her keen eyes on the water and the fish within. Normally she watches the crowd but after eating her first two live fish that she caught herself from her water dish, she was very mindful of the area beyond the stage we were standing. Despite her being distracted, it was a great program! Multiple times this week we have found only fur, feathers, scales and bones left from meals served the night prior. The birds are eating well.
11 – 17: Eagle has been handling well on the glove. We have been doing almost daily walks through the yard and around the Nature Center grounds since June. They seem to have helped with her overall temperament. Owl finished off his eyedrops this week. We are still awaiting word from the vet and colleagues to see where we go from here with the owl’s eye. I believe it might be best to remove it but want to get confirmation from the vet first. On Friday, Tom brought the birds front and center on stage for the Full Moon 5K. All money made for the 5K goes to support the lives of these three birds. We enjoy bringing them out at the event to show the runners where their funding is going. The athletes really appreciate the opportunity to see the birds up close before the start of the race. Tom got eagle on the glove on the far end of the stage. Whitney was with the hawk in the middle and I was near the microphone and podium giving the presentation with the owl. Eagle jumped immediately upon exiting the box but got right onto Tom’s gauntlet to start the program. The program lasted about 15 minutes and ended just 5 minutes before the start of the race.
18 – 24: We have taken note that the owl really enjoys to eat chicks when we give them to him. He does not leave a single thing behind. Eagle was given a rabbit on Wednesday. When I came in on Thursday there were merely bones and tons of fur around her tree stump. Tom and I got her out and walked the yard that day. She handled well on the glove for the entire 45 minutes we walked around with her. While out, we decided to change her jesses. She was a little more mobile during that experience than usual but it didn’t make us change our practices any. We could swaddle her and hold her to our chest while the other person changes jesses but we prefer to do it while she stands on the gauntlet. We try to be as minimally invasive as possible with all procedures that we do. Once the new jesses were on and the old removed, she went right back to standing properly without wiggling around. The birds were fasted on Friday and ate everything in sight the following day.
25 – 31: As it cools down the birds are leaving a little more behind but most days they are cleaning everything up from their meals. Eagle got a squirrel on Wednesday and the only thing remaining was an inside out skin and fur. She handled well on the glove that day for me and Tom. On Thursday, we walked eagle around the yard and found some visitors along the way near the parking lot. I did a short program for them before they headed into the building. They took pictures of her but she was distracted by something in the woods. I hope they were able to capture a good shot since she was spending quite a bit of time looking off into the trees behind her. Owl has not had any eye issues since we ended treatment with eyedrops. We heard back from the vet that surgery is probably best since they are not sure the eye is even connected internally for full use of vision. The vet asked us to continue to monitor the eye and if it doesn’t appear to cause discomfort then to hold off on surgery but it problems persist to call for an appointment. We are actively monitoring his condition and will make a decision soon. The eagle and hawk were on display for the holiday weekend. 71 people joined a program in the backyard to get a closer look at the birds and hear their stories of survival.
September
1- 7: The birds have been eating everything in sight over the course of these seven days. Wednesday was a fasting day for them. Eagle was excited for the rabbit we provided and left nothing behind but bones and fur spread everywhere around her tree stump. Hawk has had a varied diet of mice, chicks and rats. He prefers the chicks the most. Owl has had a diet of chicks and mice. He has also been enjoying the chicks. On Thursday, the owl’s eye was causing him trouble again. It was very deflated and leaking fluids again. I called the vet and made an appointment for the first available surgery to remove the eye.
8- 14: Eagle has been growing a blood feather in the injured wing again. This caused her to be moody on Sunday during her program. On Monday, hawk took a bath as soon as I filled the tub with new cold water. When I went back to feed him later in the day, he grabbed a chick right out of my hand as I was setting it down and started eating it. I then scattered the rest of the chicks around the mew so that he would have to hunt for them. This week eyedrops were administered to the owl. We are still a few days out from his surgery and the eyedrops seem to be helping. Also on Monday, eagle was back to her usual self on the glove. She did not bate one time and allowed me and Tom to transition her several times. On Thursday, I put the hawk and eagle food into their holee rollers. Hawk had four mice to pry out of his ball. Eagle had three small rats in hers. Owl was given two mice. On Friday, Whitney and I took the birds to the square in Paoli for Paoli fest. Eagle was not a fan of being surrounded by traffic. We were a good distance from the road but this was the first program she has ever had cars traveling on three sides of her. Despite the distance, she was not content on the glove with all the semis and other loud vehicles passing by. She was only out for a short time before I put her back in her transport to calm down.
15- 21: Monday owl went in for eye removal surgery. It was successful and the healing process was very quick. By the end of the week, we could see new feathers starting to grow on the sealed eye lids. Monday was also a day of fasting for the birds since hawk and eagle headed to Indianapolis for a program with school children on Tuesday. Tom aided Whitney with this 1-hour program. Wednesday the hawk and eagle were out in the backyard mews for a small homeschool group. I got the birds out for the youth to see up close before we went to the eagle nest and talked more about habits and biology of raptors. Friday Whitney and I headed to French Lick Block Bash to provide two one-hour programs for Springs Valley Elementary students. This was the first year we attended the festival. While a great experience for the school children, the eagle did not enjoy her view of the highway. Again, we were a great distance from the roadway but as we have learned over the past two weeks, eagle is not a fan of seeing fast moving vehicles. We will have to better assess a location to setup if we provide educational programming at the event in the future. We train with eagle in the yard of the Nature Center each week while cars are driving from the road up to the parking lot. The speed limit is 15 miles per hour in this location and she has never had an issue with it. We have done programs at other locations on property where the nearby road is 30 mph. We will continue to monitor her and train for these types of program situations in order to desensitize her to them. On Friday, I moved owl back into his mew from his transport box. He was under monitoring while on pain medication and recovery from surgery. He took well to the shelter during the day and was left there for his first night.
22- 30: Owl remained out in his shelter and behaved as though the eye was never there. He has recovered and feathers are fully growing back across the entire surface of his eyelids. On Sunday, the hawk and eagle were out for a program and viewing in their backyard mews. Both handled well on the glove. On Monday, the birds fasted due to travel to Indianapolis Tuesday for a program. At 5:00a.m. on Tuesday, Whitney and I entered the mews to take the birds to a large 4 hour long event with school groups. The JA JobSpark is an event for youth to learn about different careers. We took the eagle and hawk and discussed the highlights of being an Interpretive Naturalist. We got back from the program after 4:00p.m. and the birds were ready to eat. On Friday, the birds had a weigh in. We also trimmed beaks and talons. he hawk weighed 2 lbs 10 oz. Owl weighed 2.3 oz. Eagle came in at 10 lbs 6 oz. The hawk and eagle were also out for a program after the trimming took place. Henryville Middle School 7th Graders were onsite for a raptor program and hike. They saw the eagle, hawk and owl up close during their visit. The birds are starting to leave food behind as the weather is feeling more like fall.
October
1- 12: On Thursday, Oct. 3, the birds were seen by students from the AIM Academy at the Nature Center. They were all fasted on Tuesday Oct. 8 . On Thursday Oct. 10, the hawk was taken to the Patoka Water Treatment Plant for a program with Whitney. I attempted to give hawk a small fish this week but he knocked it off the perch and left it on the ground.
13- 9: I put the eagle and hawk out for viewing on Sunday. At 1 p.m. I put the eagle away and Whitney put the owl out for viewing. Eagle has a new blood feather on the right wing and has been difficult for Whitney so I felt it was best to put eagle away before I left for the day. The birds fasted on Monday Oct. 14. On Wednesday, Tom and I had eagle out in the side yard for some training near the roadway. She was doing well and when a vehicle was not passing, decided to bate the glove. When she did that, her right wing hit my shoulder and caught the blood feather. The feather started to drip. I got her upright and finished our conversation with a large crowd of guests before putting her back in the shelter. Later in the afternoon, the feather was dangling more loosely than before to where it appeared she had been picking at it. On Friday, I provided eagle with two bite-sized fish and a carp mid-section. She was not out for handling today due to the blood feather.
20 - 26: The hawk and owl were out for viewing on Sunday. The eagle’s blood feather that was damaged is still hanging in there but we did not want to disrupt it any further by moving her out from her night mews. She was given a squirrel that afternoon. On Monday, I came back to find ½ the squirrel left over. This is rare for her since she usually leaves only fur behind. Typically when she has a blood feather bothering her she does not eat as much and is more moody. Mike performed the October deep clean of the night mews on Wednesday. When he finished out there we installed the ceramic heat lamps and heat for water dishes. Then we returned the birds to their mews. Whitney and I took the birds to O’Bannon Woods Fall Camping Weekend. It was pouring down rain and we were positioned under a large tent. The program area was near the campground roadway. This caused eagle to bate the glove multiple times during her portion of the program. I will have to work with her more this winter in regards to traffic locations.
27 – 31: On Sunday the eagle and hawk were out for viewing and a program. The eagle, hawk and owl are back to eating everything provided. We have been applying A&D ointment to the birds feet. They typically get dry this time of year so we apply ointment to keep their feet softened.
November
1-9: The birds are preparing for colder months and eating everything in sight this week. They all fasted on Tuesday but otherwise have been fed their normal portions. Eagle was out for a program on Saturday Nov. 2. She responded well on the glove until it was time to be put back into the night shelter. On Wednesday health checks were performed, feet treatment was applied to all birds for dryness and beaks and talons were trimmed. The red-tailed hawk came in at 2 lbs 10oz. The owl weighed a mere 4.5 oz. The eagle came in at 10 lbs 8oz.
10-16: On Monday, there was a miscommunication and the raptors were double fed. I came in at 11:30 a.m. to feed because the weather was supposed to turn cold and severe that afternoon. I gave hawk three chicks. Owl got two mice and eagle was given a carp head. I sprayed the shelters clean top to bottom as I do daily and left two hours after arrival. The temperature was 53º F upon arrival and 43ºF at 1:30p.m. as I departed. At 4 p.m. Brian Finch, Wildlife Specialist, came to feed the birds and provided hawk with five mice, owl with two mice and eagle with a carp tail. When I came in on Tuesday, the three had only fur and scales left behind. They ate everything. They too must have felt the urgency to stay warm that evening. The high only reached around 22ºF on Tuesday. Due to the cold the birds were fed again on Tuesday. On Thursday, Dana, Tom and the raptors traveled to Muncie for a program with two groups, the Wildlife Warriors Club and the Wildlife Society at Ball State University. The classroom was filled with people from elementary students to adults. The birds were warm inside the building and panted some. It was quite the temperature difference going from outdoors to inside. That evening the birds fasted again since the programs concluded around 9 p.m. and we did not arrive back to the night mews until around 12:15 a.m.
17-23: On Monday, Tom and I installed the new night perches in the hawk shelter. He looked intrigued as I placed him back on top of his new high perch. He was given two other rungs to reach the high perch. One ground perch was left unchanged from the previous design of the shelter layout. Daily training has been ongoing with eagle. We checked her feet today and they seem to have softened up a bit on the bottoms. We have been using cream to keep them softened. We also moved her heat lamp today to accommodate her new perches that were also installed. The birds fasted on Thursday with a high of 54ºF. On Friday, the owl was seen by a group of preschoolers at the Crawford County Library. This special group of kids saw the owl up close and enjoyed looking at his talons and beak. They all wanted to touch him and said he looked soft. Owl wanted to sleep through most of the program. He kept closing his eye and when I would go to wake him, he would bite the gauntlet. On Saturday, the hawk and eagle were on display in the backyard viewing shelters at the Nature Center.
24-30: This week, eagle has been showing signs that she is bonding with Tom again. She is becoming closer to Tom than myself which is an issue since I am her main handler. Since becoming a mature bird, she has chosen Tom as her mate and has been less manageable for other members of our staff. Eagle used to nestle into my arm, rest her beak on my forehead and sit really close on my gauntlet. As of late, she has stopped doing this with me and is now doing it with Tom. She also bates more and is stomping and biting at the gauntlet. I decided on Tuesday during training that if she was in the mating mood that maybe as enrichment I would provide her with sticks. So Tom and I transitioned her on the gauntlet from mine to his and I set off to find sticks to place in her shelter. I found some small diameter branches that had fallen from trees and placed them near her water dish in the shelter. I got her back on the gauntlet from Tom and walked her into the shelter. She was interested and immediately jumped down to look at them. Later in the day, she was moving them around inside her shelter. She continued to move them around each day after. On Wednesday, she had rearranged her sticks further. Tom and I got her out for another daily training session and she was much more manageable for me. I have been looking into more enrichment ideas for her and will be implementing new ideas each week. On Saturday, we found an inside out rat skin in the screech owl shelter. We have not fed anyone a rat in a few days and screech never gets rats. This was an oddity that we determined to be the work of wild mice that like to drag the feeder mouse bodies around inside the shelters after the birds are finished with a meal. Somehow they moved and stored a rat skin and drug it back out into another shelter this time.
December
1-7: I have made adaptations to an old training plan to make it better suited for eagle. She is now on a more restricted food intake schedule and will be provided food during training sessions. Her nightly portion of food will decrease on days before a training session. Days that are not before a training session she will receive a larger portion of food. The new training officially kicked off this Monday. The birds all fasted on Tuesday. Wednesday provided an exceptional day of training with eagle. When getting the desired behavior, the eagle is receiving rewards of bluegill chunks. I attempted chopped up mouse bits but she wanted nothing to do with those. She however responded well to the fish. We will continue on with small fish portions during training. The eagle and hawk were out for viewing on Saturday. I observed eagle scrapping her beak on wood in the shelter again. This was an instinct that has not been observed in her since she was around 1.5 years old. She has started doing it again regularly and we are noticing the scratches to the keratin on her beak from the action.
8-14: The birds all fasted on Sunday. Eagle responded well again to training with bluegill on Wednesday. She is very food motivated as we have discovered. Eagle was fasted again on Friday since we traveled to McCormick’s Creek State Park for a program on Saturday. During Friday’s training session with eagle, she was grippy on the gauntlet when I first got her on but after that she responded well to training for me. During training, she was more aggressive towards Tom. During the program on Saturday, she performed well and even ate fish in front of our program guests. I explained our new training program to them. She handled well on the glove and was perfect when put back into her night mews. Hawk was distracted during the program by some fluffy, feathery artwork that was hanging on the wall in the McCormick’s Creek Nature Center program room. The HVAC unit turned on and caused air to blow the fluffy artwork in a way that you and I might overlook but not hawk. The entire time he was on the glove he stared at the artwork. He would look away briefly but then quickly snap his head back around to look at the artwork. It was quite comical for myself and the guests. He positioned as if he were going to go investigate or attempt to catch it but decided better of it and went back to his usual perched stance with a beady-eyed stare. Owl was of his usual temperament during the event. He wanted to sleep and as I attempted to wake him, he would bite at the glove. So for part of the program, I allowed him to rest until we started talking about owl vision.
15-21: Stanley, with Patoka security, fed the birds unassisted for the first time on Sunday. He reported to me that the birds were doing well, were safe and fed for the day. Upon my return on Monday, eagle’s jesses needed changing. During training, Tom and I noticed an issue that would cause further problems if we did not remove the jess from her right leg. We cut both lose while applying new leather straps to her ankles. We do this procedure while she is perched on the gauntlet. Tom handled her while I made the changes to the jesses. She bated once during the process but the old jesses were still attached so she had no where to go but back to Tom’s gauntlet. The birds have all been eating well. The weather has been quite mild so the birds have continued to eat everything in sight this week. On Wednesday, eagle’s performance during training went from OK to excellent. She has continued to show great improvement in her behaviors thanks to this new training method. We have removed many of the sticks placed in her shelter earlier but a few have remained. Those that remain she continues to drag around and rearrange inside her mews. Friday was health check day. The birds all weighed in and had their beaks and talons trimmed. Hawk was 2 lbs 9 oz. Owl jumped up to 5.6 oz. Eagle came in at exactly 11 lbs. Eagle responded well during training following her trim.
22-31: Stanley fed the birds again this Sunday with no issues to report. The birds are doing well with his weekly care routine. I have started adding different training sessions into the eagle’s schedule. Today we performed training in the mews during shelter cleaning. We practiced getting her to the desired perch so that the shelter can be thoroughly cleaned. I had her move from one perch to the next as I cleaned and she did well with this new behavior. Typically she stands on one perch during the cleaning process. Sometimes she even jumps down to pick up food scraps with me, looking to find the delectable pieces before I swipe them from her. Other times she attempts to knock my bucket over and steal leftovers from the bucket itself. The birds fasted on Saturday. On Monday 30, eagle was not gripping or biting the glove during training. There was a breeze and she did bate on me and Tom on several occasions.