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 this year brought to you by Patoka Lake Full Time Interpretive Naturalist, Dana Reckelhoff.
January
5: The birds have been eating well lately. We took weights on all the birds to see where they were compared to their last weigh in. Our red-tailed hawk is 2 lbs 9 oz. The eastern screech owl is 5.8oz as usual. The bald eagle is at her average winter temperature of 11 lbs 2 oz. We took the opportunity to trim beaks and talons today since all three birds were starting to get elongated beaks and sharper talons on their feet. We worked with Rocky, Assistant Property Manager, to get the birds manicured. I trimmed eagle’s talons while she stood on Tom’s glove. Then Rocky held eagle upright under his chin while I held her feet. Tom then took the dremmel to get her back to a normal appearance. We performed the same method with the hawk. Owl is always different since he is significantly smaller. The owl was held in Rocky’s hand as I trimmed the talons and Tom reshaped the beak. This afternoon owl received Vitahawk and eagle and hawk were given calcium supplements. Owl was given one mouse. Eagle received a medium carp and hawk took advantage of the 5 mice that he was provided.
13: We have still been providing eagle with medicine to deal with pain of the blood feathers that are growing out right now. Today I tucked it into the throat of the small carp to conceal it from the eagle. She does not prefer the taste of it. The small pill usually dissolves quickly in that area and she eats it without any sign of detection. She ate half of a carp last night and was provided with another small carp today. Hawk had 2 full mice leftover last night from the five he was given. I only gave him 3 today. Owl had a mouse left and I left that one inside his shelter to be eaten tonight.
18: The eagle was given a juvenile groundhog yesterday. I was curious this morning to see if she actually ate it. She does eat small groundhogs but has not had one for a few months. She did also take a bath yesterday with the warmer weather. When I went out to check on the birds first thing this morning all I found in the eagle shelter was the skin and fur of the groundhog. Eagle was very playful today as did a little enrichment with a newspaper and a telephone book. Our bald eagle rips and tears these old forms of print into tiny shreds. After we shredded a few pages of each we played with her tennis ball before I went back indoors. The birds all ate well yesterday so I gave them all sufficient amounts of food today. Owl was given 2 mice this afternoon. Hawk was given 5 chicks in the hollee roller. This was one of the first times he has seen it and was not sure about it. I will be interested to see what is left over when I come in tomorrow. I have introduced the ball to him but food has not been provided in there for him yet since he arrived. Eagle was also given her hollee roller ball with 2 rats stuck inside. The birds did not receive any vitamins today.
31: Tom alerted me that the birds have not been eating well due to my absence while on vacation all la: week. Today is my fir: day back so I went in to check on their well-being right away. park. I got each bird on the glove and walked them around the backyard and garden areas. I walked over to the Moery Cabin and down the bike trail with each of the birds. They all appeared to be in good health. They ate well last night with the exception of the eagle who had ¾ of her carp left over. Hawk and owl had no leftovers from yesterday. I cleaned the mews out in the afternoon after it warmed up a bit and then provided them with food. I gave hawk 5 mice. Owl was given 2 mice. Eagle was given 6 chicks to add a little variety to her diet. She has never been given chicks before and I wanted to try something new. Eagle took a bath in the morning after I had changed her water. The hawk and eagle were given calcium and Vitahawk. Owl was given Vitahawk.
February
7: The temperature got over 500 yesterday. I decided that the birds would fast since they each ate very little. The temperatures have been fluctuating daily going from higher than normal to typical cold days that we expect this time of year. I cleaned out the mews with ease this morning, however when I went to feed the birds, eagle was overly anxious. I started to open the door to her mews and she jumped down to the ground immediately. I closed the door and took time feeding the hawk first instead. During this time, eagle jumped back up onto her top perch and waited there until I got inside her shelter with the 2 small fish. I placed them onto the stump and she jumped over to the bouncy perch and then down to the stump. I backed out and fed the owl his two mice. Hawk was given 4 mice for his meal. Calcium was provided for the birds on their food sources.
14: Hawk is very jumpy today. I went to check on the birds this morning and decided to check on the owl first. As I went around the mews to his area, the hawk jumped up into the netting and back down at least twice. Then as I came back past to open the main door to the hawk and eagle mews, hawk stopped and became very still as he would normally stand in one place as I arrived to check on him. I got close and touched his toes. He did not move or seem affected by my presence. Then I went into the eagle shelter and hawk began to once again jump up towards to ceiling and latch onto the netting. When I came back into the vestibule area hawk stopped jumping and stood as usual. While checking on owl, I noted that he was very sleepy. We had a meeting this morning at 8a.m. and I finally got to checking on the birds around 11a.m. Hawk had three of his 5 mice left over. Owl had 1 mouse left and I left it for him to eat tonight. Eagle had ½ her carp left and was given a drum fish instead for the meal today.
21: Eagle was in rare form today. She spent time attacking the hose that for a while went unnoticed by myself as I cleaned shelters. I started with her shelter and cleaned it out without any issue. She remained on top her perch the entire time. I drug the hose out with me along with the rake and bucket of leftover food scraps. I went to the hawk shelter next and began cleaning. I finished quickly due to little food parts being left behind by him. I closed his door and started to walk out of their area and around to the owl. I realized at this time that the hose was caught on something. I looked under the hawk’s shelter to ensure it wasn’t caught on anything but it was not inside there. I turned and looked at the space under the eagle shelter door and realized the hose was in her shelter. I pulled on the hose but it wouldn’t budge so I pulled again and saw an eagle foot appear on my side of the door holding the hose. She released so I pulled it again. The hose once again was pulled out with the eagle’s foot attached. I gently pulled little by little until the hose was all the way out into the vestibule area. Then continued to care for the owl.
March
1: The birds have all been leaving numerous leftovers. Hawk had three mice left. Owl had one mouse and eagle had two rat halves left behind. I will plan a day of fasting soon for them. At 1p.m. today we had an offsite program with the three birds with a local organization. The 1.5 hour long program went really well. The birds all maintained their stay on the gauntlet the entire time they were out. When we got back to the Nature Center, I cleaned shelters and provided them with food while Tom cleaned out their transport boxes. Hawk was given three chicks. Owl received one mouse and eagle was given half a carp.
10: The birds’ appetites have increased and they are eating most of what is provided if not all of their portions. Tom and I changed jesses on the hawk and eagle today. The jesses on owl were still in good enough condition to remain a while longer. During this time we also took weights which remained the exact same as the last weigh in. We trimmed beaks and talons to finish their monthly regimen. At the end of the day, eagle was given a small drum fish. Owl was provided one mouse and hawk received one chick and three mice.
14: Tom and I drove up to Indianapolis tonight with the birds. We had a program in the REI store that included a portion presented by Jody Kress with the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation. We went to inform folks about raptors found throughout the state and their habitat needs. We were able to visit with around 32 people during this 1.5 hour program that started at 6:30p.m. Due to our late night after the drive home, the birds will be fasting tonight. They should be good and hungry around feeding time tomorrow afternoon. All three handled wonderfully inside the store with its tall ceiling and spacious program area. We look forward to more opportunities where we can increase our outreach with these educational ambassadors.
29: Eagle took a bath immediately after I filled her bath today. She was eager to get in and clean. I started the daily mews cleaning in her area and then went to the hawk before finishing the cleaning in owl’s area. While entering hawk’s enclosure, I heard eagle jump down to the gravel floor and run over to the water dish. She jumped on the edge and quickly started splashing around. Tomorrow afternoon we will be traveling to the library in Dale, IN for a special Spring Break program with the birds. They will fast today in order to keep eagle from becoming carsick. The birds have been eating really well over the last few weeks now that the temperatures have been less drastic in change. This was an interesting winter with temperatures constantly changing from extremely warm for this time of year to the typical colder degrees in a matter of a day.
April
8: The appetites of all three birds have been exceptional lately. They are eating everything in sight and only leaving the skins of fish and rats behind. Around 10:30a.m. I loaded the eagle, hawk and owl into their transport boxes and drove the short distance to our baseball field above the beach. We were invited by the Blackhawk Manor Renaissance Festival to present on birds of prey again this year. The program lasted from 11:30 – 12:40p.m. and was much less windy than last year. The year before, I could hardly keep eagle on the glove because it was intensely windy and she kept opening those wings and jumping to the breezes. The environment was much more conducive to the program this time around. Lindsey cleaned out the mews while I was gone to get a majority of the scales removed from the eagle shelter. When I returned, she assisted me in putting the owl away. I will soon train her with the hawk also. We came back out around 3:00p.m. to feed the birds. One-third of a large carp was set on the eagle stump for her to chow down on. She went to it immediately. The owl had one mouse. The hawk instantly jumped on one of his four chicks.
11: The birds all fasted yesterday. We allow them to fast to simulate the inability to capture prey each day as they would have happen if still in the wild. They were out for a school visit today. Springs Valley 9th Graders came for their annual fieldtrip. During this time, eagle and hawk were in the shelters and owl was in his transport box. Once the program was over we took the birds back out to their night mews. The hawk and eagle received calcium on their food and owl was provided with Vitahawk. Eagle was given a medium carp. Owl had two mice and hawk was provided with 5 mice. The hawk and eagle were both eager to eat. I presume that the owl will eat a little earlier into the evening tonight as well but not until long after I have closed down the Nature Center.
25: The appetites of the birds have been varied again with most contents being gone the next day and a few days with more food left behind than eaten. Hawk had nothing left so he was given 5 mice that were dosed in calcium and Vitahawk. Owl had a headless and a whole mouse left. He was given only one mouse with Vitahawk. The eagle had ½ a medium carp left and was given a smaller carp tonight. The birds were out today for a special program with the Jasper Middle School Accelerated Reading group. The hawk and owl programs were done inside and eagle was presented on outdoors.
May
6: This has been a busy week for the birds. We had two school visit us at the Nature Center and today we were offsite at the Jasper Petsense promoting knowledge about birds of prey and why wild animals don’t make good pets during their Adopt-A-Thon. On Thursday the birds were seen by the AIM Academy out of Vincennes University Jasper Campus. Then on Friday, we had them out for West Crawford County Kindergarden. Today we spent the afternoon indoors as Tom and I transferred between having all three birds on the glove at intermittent times throughout the 2.5 hour program. This program was more like a booth style event where we did one large presentation at the beginning and afterwards folks coming and going could stop by our booth and hear their calls, learn their needs in the wild, and how we can help their populations on into the future. It was a successful week of programming. Eagle’s temperament has been very pleasing to Tom and myself the past few weeks.
10: Our newest Seasonal Naturalist, Karen, started today and I began training her with the birds this morning. First I showed her how to inspect the birds for health concerns, jesses and leftover food. Then I instructed her on the daily cleaning of the shelters and providing of water as enrichment. She then took over as I watched. I have encouraged her to spend time in the shelters with the birds to better accommodate their needs by feeling comfortable around her when I am not present. The birds have all been eating well. This afternoon I brought Karen out to feed them. Today was not a vitamin day so the birds only received the already prepared, dead critters. Owl was given two mice. Eagle was given ¼ of a large carp. Hawk was given 2 chicks and 4 mice. The mice were a little on the small side.
19: Tom took care of the raptors this week due to the Nature Center staff being at Interpretive Training this week. He reported that the birds were eating well but eagle was in one of her moods again. He got her on the glove and she proceeded to grip tightly and even snapped at his face catching him on the edge of his glasses between his eye and ear. She left him with a minor scratch that will heal and be unnoticeable. I will spend time with her when I return to the office to work through this with her. The birds all received Vitahawk on their meals tonight.
25: Eagle has been fine this week. She has been remaining on her perch while we clean the shelters and is not currently showing signs of food aggression towards the seasonals as she does annually this time of year. We may have worked through that issue earlier this year since I was able to get all seasonal staff to comply with the rule that when eagle jumps down to the ground, we exit the shelter with all of our supplies (rake, 5 gallon bucket and hose) and ignore the undesired behavior. We will only re-enter when she is up on the top perches. This strategy works well when all staff perform the expected duties as trained. Whitney and I traveled offsite with all three birds to the Orange County Fairgrounds tonight. We presented a birds of prey program for the Hoosier Hillsides Master Gardeners Club. They wanted to learn more about raptors, their habitats and also the eagle re-introduction program. We spent nearly two hours with this highly interested group of individuals sharing as much knowledge as we could before the start of their regular monthly meeting. The hawk bated the glove only once. Owl was ready to go and wide awake since the program was finally on his time frame starting at 6:30p.m. instead of the late morning to mid-day hours. Eagle performed well on the glove despite getting bored inside the building and trying to pull my name badge and pull on the tassels attached to the glove towards the end of the program. Typically she gets distracted by kids kicking their feet and moving around. This group of adults barely moved a muscle as they were enthralled by her presence. We fed the birds around 9:15p.m. with the shelter lights turned on for the eagle and hawk to see.
26: Eagle was out for the first of our Memorial Day Weekend celebration. I put her out in the viewing mew without interruption. She performed nicely on the gauntlet and dismounted perfectly without attempting to jump off as she usually looks to do. I do not allow that to happen but she always looks over her back and makes motion to do so. Today she simply allowed me to back her up to the perch and stepped off as she should. At 1p.m. it was program time. I informed the crowd that she would make noise, jump around and attempt to draw their attention over to her mew while I had the hawk out. She did just that as I walked around the viewing area with hawk on the glove. Then it was time to get her out and she jumped across the perch to the side near the door as she was trained to do. I got her on the glove but not without her attacking it with her left foot as she sometimes does. I got her jesses leashed with little difficulty and then walked her out to the crowd. For the first 2 minutes of the program she squeezed my hand and wrist with both feet, releasing and squeezing over and over. She leaned over and bit the gauntlet and then loosened her feet. She lifted her head and quickly took her beak down again barely striking my left cheek. It was enough for her to leave a small scratch on my face about three inches directly left from the bottom of my nose. After that she straightened her stance and was fine for the duration of the program. When I went to put her away at 3:00p.m. she mounted the gauntlet perfectly and we walked back without incident or undesired behaviors. She dismounted the gauntlet again with ease and allowed me to unleash her jesses without getting snapping or trying to talon the glove. I went out to feed them immediately after this and she was again, her usual self. I can only speculate that she truly is undergoing some seasonal mood disorders due to being a female in captivity with hormones and instincts like raising young that she cannot control. I will continue to closely monitor her and be sure to work more closely with her in the days to come to prevent another day like today from occurring. Hawk performed well after attempting to bate only twice in this particular program. While the birds were out for viewing, Karen performed the deep clean of the night mews. Once the birds were put away, she cleaned the viewing mews to wrap up this monthly task.
June
4: The bald eagle, red-tailed hawk and eastern screech owl have been eating very well lately. Eagle chose to take a bath today in her tub. The water was down about 6 inches in her bowl and covered in waterproofing powder and feathers. It also had fish scales in the bottom from the fish she ate. The birds received Vitahawk and calcium powder supplements on their food today. Eagle was given a medium carp and a very small carp. Owl was fed one mouse and hawk had 5 mice. Hawk was eager to jump in his mice and did so before Whitney ever left his enclosure.
11: The birds were all featured today at Fort Harrison State Park during the annual Ford Hoosier Outdoor Experience. All three birds were on display from 9:30a.m. until 6p.m. Tom and I rotated between eagle and owl and Whitney handled the hawk. The birds were on the glove during the entire event. They all fasted last night in order to keep anyone from becoming ill on our drive to Indianapolis. Eagle is the only one who gets car sick but it was time for a fasting day in their schedule. Tonight when we arrived back to the Nature Center at 9p.m. the birds were fed. Owl received two mice, hawk was given three mice and three chicks and eagle received 9 small fish in her hollee roller ball.
21: I got the birds out today for viewing and the deep clean of their shelters. While doing so, we trimmed the beaks and talons of all three birds. Eagle and hawk went out on display and owl stayed in his transport. A small crowd drew into the backyard where we were trimming to watch. Karen and I lead a talk about what was taking place while I trimmed talons and Tom trimmed the beaks. Whitney held eagle and hawk tight and I took control of their feet. Owl was held by Whitney the entire time since he can fit into the palm of a hand leaving the other hand free to maintain control of his feet. Once trimming was over, Karen spent the entire morning cleaning the night mews. Well after lunch, we moved the birds back into these shelters so that Karen could also deep clean the viewing mews. Owl did not eat at all last night but was still given one mouse at the end of our day today. Eagle at well and was given a medium sized fish. Hawk also had no remains from his previous meal and was provided with five mice. The birds were sprayed with an insect repellent spray for their monthly treatment.
27: It was rather warm last night so it was no surprise that we found evidence of both eagle and hawk having taken baths after we left for the evening yesterday. Their water levels were both down several inches and covered in waterproofing powder and fluffy little feathers. Eagle was given a drum fish today. Hawk got 5 mice and owl was given two mice. The birds have been eating most of what we have provided them for the past several days.
July
3: The birds were out for viewing all weekend. They each handled well on the glove for both Whitney and myself. The appetites of the birds have been varied in the past week. On Saturday, I attempted to give eagle an adult ground hog but she would not go near it. She enjoys eating the young that are closer in size to a rabbit but seems timid of the larger adults. She made no attempt to approach her stump where it was placed and it was still lying in the same position where I left it the night before. Today hawk and eagle were in the viewing mews. Eagle spent a portion of time picking pieces of bark from her stump. Hawk spent the entire day in the upper window ledge looking back into the woods. Owl received 2 mice. Hawk was given a variety of two mice and two chicks. Eagle was given a small carp since she only finished half of the carp from the previous day.
13: The birds visited the Crawford County Fair last night. They all handled very well during the hour-long indoor program. We got back to the Nature Center around 8:30p.m. and fed them right away. Eagle immediately jumped onto her two rats. Hawk looked curiously at the chipmunk we gave her along with three chicks. Owl as usual didn’t touch his mice until we were long gone. Today we came in to find owl had eaten both mice. Hawk ate every bite of the chipmunk and we only found wings of the chicks on the ground. Eagle had only skin and a butt left. The hawk and eagle both took baths last night after putting them back into their shelters as well. Today hawk got 5 mice. Owl was given 2 mice and eagle received a medium carp.
18: Yesterday all three birds visited the Perry County Fair with me and Whitney from Noon until 3p.m. I held eagle for most of the time with only a short resting period where I handled owl. Whitney took hawk and owl evenly so that all passersby could see each bird as they walked around the fairgrounds on the final day of their fair. The eagle, hawk and owl ate well last night. Eagle had three bluegill. Hawk had 5 mice and owl was given two mice. There was nothing left in any shelter this morning. I cleaned the mews first thing this morning as usual to clean out debris that would draw in predators to the shelter area. This afternoon Whitney and I loaded the birds up and headed to the Dubois County Fair. We held another hour-long program with them inside a building. When we returned around 8:45p.m., the birds were fed. Eagle was given a small/medium sized catfish. Hawk was given two mice and owl was given two mice as well. We noted that hawk and owl took baths mid-day after I had refilled their water dishes this morning. The birds received calcium and Vitahawk supplements today.
28: Today we needed to perform the deep clean of the shelters and trim the birds beaks and talons. We trimmed eagle first with a small crowd forming in our back yard as usual. We did a program on spot for the folks explaining why we do the trimmings vs birds doing this naturally in the wild. After trimming eagle we got her weight and put her in the viewing mew. She weighed in at 10lbs 6 oz. This has been an average weight for her lately. Hawk was trimmed up and weighed next. He came in at 2 lbs 8oz. which is more than he was at previously and the heaviest we have ever recorded him. Owl’s weight is low at 4.5 oz. He did not eat all of his food the past couple days and we are taking that into account for this low measurement. Once all this was done the birds were individually sprayed for pests and put on display in the viewing area while Whitney cleaned the night mews. Once done for the day, the birds went back into the night shelters and the viewing mews were cleaned. Today eagle was given a medium carp. Owl was given two mice. Hawk was given 5 mice in his hollee roller ball.
August
3: The birds have been bathing daily for the last three days. They are all losing a significant amount of feathers during this portion of their annual molt. The bowls have a decreased amount of water with heavy powder and feathers floating on the surface. They have been eating fairly well during this time. Owl is the only one that we are noticing a dietary change too but he is leaving behind one headless mouse when provided two. Eagle was given a large carp tail section today. Owl was given only one mouse. Hawk was given 5 mice in the hollee roller.
9: We drove the birds up to Indianapolis for a State Fair program at 4:30p.m. tonight. Last night the birds fasted in preparation of the long drive to prevent car sickness. To date, eagle is the only one that has gotten sick during travel. The birds did well along the drive up and also handled well on the glove during their program. Along the drive back, about 2 hours into the drive eagle started getting restless or was falling asleep in the perch inside her transport. Either way, we could hear her every so often bump into the walls of her box. Nothing prompted this, like a hill or turn in the road. It would just occur at random. We got the birds back into their shelters at 10:20p.m. and fed them. We gave owl two mice, hawk was given 5 mice and eagle was given a few small bluegill. The hawk and eagle finished eating before we got all the transport boxes cleaned out and put away. Owl didn’t touch his food until after we left as usual. He is not big on eating in front of anyone. On the rare occasion that I have found him eating, he just freezes; not even blinking much until I retreat from his area.
19: Owl has been molting around his head and eye region all week. This is always a rapid progression that I refer to politely as his time of “male pattern baldness”. He will not be out for public viewing until he looks normal again. For the time being, eagle and hawk will take positions in the viewing mews until his feather transformation is complete. Despite his strange appearance, owl has had a ferocious appetite. He has been eating everything provided to him. Hawk had just the skin of a rat left from last night. He was given 4 chicks today. Eagle had a small portion of carp left and was given two rats for tonight’s feast.
24: Temperatures have greatly cooled off for it being August. All three birds have been leaving behind zero scraps from their meals for the past 5 days until last night. Owl had one butt left and eagle had 2 rat butts left over. Hawk at everything as he does 99% of the time. The birds are going to be fasting today. We schedule regular days of fasting into each month so that it mirrors life of a wild raptor. Birds in the wild may not have a successful hunt daily. They may go hungry for a day if weather keeps prey from exposing themselves to inclement weather or other conditions. Therefore, we try to replicate real life for them as if they were living in the wild.
September
3: It is Labor Day Weekend and the birds have been seen by 100’s of people so far. They are handling well on the glove and don’t mind extended periods on the glove for larger crowds. We started early this morning with trimming of beaks and talons. We got weights and also treated them for pests with the usual spray form of Frontline for pets. All three birds were noted to have taken baths last night. Owl’s head feathers are growing in nicely and he is covered in blood feathers on his feet and ankles. During our trimming session today we were extra careful not to bust any of those feathers open. Owl weighed in at 4.3oz. which is a 0.2 oz drop from last month. Hawk was down to 2lbs 5 oz. which is a 3 oz drop. Eagle was up to 10 lbs 11oz. making her weight an increase of 5oz. She has been eating better than usual lately. Eagle was given a new pair of jesses today also since hers were wearing a little thin in a few spots where she stands on them.
10: I was away from the park today so Brian Finch, Wildlife Specialist cared for the birds. When he went in to check on the owl he noted that owl didn’t want him to come in to his mew today. He noted that owl was all “poofed up”. We often joke that our eastern screech owl has the fiercest personality out of our three birds. For being of such short stature he tends to have a big attitude. Owl had no leftovers and was given 2 mice. Hawk also had nothing left so he was given two chicks and three mice. Eagle barely ate any of the fish she was provided from the day before and was given 1/3 of a large fish in its place.
14: New stumps were added to the eagle shelters today. Eagle was not sure what to think of the new stump and refused to eat the chicks that I provided her to eat. Hawk had just gotten out of the bath when I checked on them in the morning. His feathers were still dripping and the water bowl was filthy with molted feathers and powder.
21: Hawk and eagle took baths last night. Both birds received a mist bath today. Despite the oddly cool temperatures that we experienced in August it is back to summertime heat in the upper 80’s this week and last. The birds have been bathing regularly lately and have been receiving more mist baths as well. They are all eating well and rarely leaving anything behind. Today eagle left only ½ of a carp head behind. She was given 8 small bluegill in her hollee roller ball. Owl got two mice and hawk was given 5 chicks.
26: Today was an amusing day with the eagle. She has been shredding the bark from her new stump since day two of its placement in her night mew. The larger chucks she has been placing in her water tub and playing with. I have not been able to witness it myself but today was different. While I was cleaning her shelter, I found a couple large pieces of bark and placed them on top her stump. I figured they may be something she could continue to use as enrichment items. I cleaned out her water tub and started filling it back up. Almost immediately, eagle jumped to the stump, grabbed the larger piece of bark and jumped to the pea gravel floor of her shelter. She walked over to the dish and jumped on the edge once it was half full. I continued standing at the edge of the bowl with her just inches away from me and the hose. She stood with the bark in her foot and watched the swirling water. Once I was done filling it up, I stepped back and watched her go to work. She picked the bark out of her foot with her beak and placed it on top the water. She moved it around several times with her beak before I excused myself from the shelter area. I caught the entire encounter on video once she jumped to my side at the water dish. They were posted to our Facebook page. You should head there to check them out!
October
7: Tom, Whitney and I traveled with the birds to Evansville today for a two-hour long offsite program. This program featured all three birds; bald eagle, red-tailed hawk and eastern screech owl on the glove in a booth style setting. Guests to the special event were able to come to our booth between Noon and 2:00p.m. to ask questions and hear about them. Eagle bated the glove for Tom twice but never made an attempt while on my glove for the first hour. After passing the eagle off to Tom, I handled the owl for the final hour. Whitney had the hawk on the glove for the entire two hours. Hawk bated a few times as this is typical for him. Owl stayed on the glove the entire two hours for both Tom and myself. The eagle was given a lighter meal of only one very small carp last yesterday in order to keep her from getting carsick. That seemed to work out well for her since we did not have a mess in the transport box to clean up when we go onsite to the program location. The birds were fed when we got back. Hawk was given 4 mice. Two mice were given to the owl. Eagle was given a small carp. Both hawk and eagle took baths the previous night.
13: The birds have not left any food behind in the past week. Today, I decided to change things up a bit for the hawk and instead of placing all of her food on one perch, I spread them throughout her shelter. One mouse was laid on the top, three mice took up their own ladder rungs and the fifth mouse went on the ground perch. Owl was given two mice, both in different locations also. Eagle was given a large carp tail section.
18: Today eagle was intrigued by the water swirling around in her bath while I filled it. She jumped down to the ground, walked over to the tub right beside my leg and jumped onto the rim of her dish. She watched the water turning her head upside-down to get a better view. I decided to make this enrichment activity a little more stimulating. I grabbed a piece of bark that she removed from her new tree stump. I tossed the bark into the water. She watched it go around and then started to grab it and sink it underwater. There are two videos posted to the Patoka Lake Facebook page. The birds have been eating fairly well. I gave owl two mice. Hawk was given four mice and eagle a large carp tail section. The birds received their every-other-day dose of calcium and vitahawk on their food also.
26: The temperatures are fairly mild right now and the birds have been leaving more food behind. I allowed them to fast for the day. They will receive food tomorrow afternoon before the start of our annual Autumn Getaway Weekend.
November
3: North Harrison Elementary 3rd Graders were onsite for a fieldtrip today. I got the birds out around 9:15a.m. and into the viewing shelters. Owl was placed in his transport box until the program started. The birds did well in both of their programs for the group. Since this group was large it was split in half so that all the students had a closer encounter with them. The shelters were cleaned out before the birds were put back. I noted that owl took a bath at some point last night. He was given the usual two mice. Hawk had four chicks and eagle was given a large carp section.
9: The birds, Tom and I traveled to Camp Carnes to the Little Spruce Nature School for a raptor program. The birds did excellent in their portions of the program. Eagle did get a little carsick from the short drive since she was fed yesterday afternoon. Today the birds were given vitamins on their meals. Eagle got a medium carp. Owl had two mice and hawk got five. The birds have all been leaving more behind lately as the weather gets colder.
17: Hawk has been an active bird lately. On Tuesday, I found his tennis ball in the bath tub. Wednesday we installed electric water dishes and ceramic heat bulbs in the shelters for winter. Hawk stood right under his lamp as soon as it warmed up. Then today when I came in to check on the birds at 8:30a.m., I found hawk’s tennis ball in the double entry foyer. I put it back in his mew and later when I came back to feed him, it was moved again to a different location. The enrichment tools that we provide each bird are meant to stimulate their brain when we are not around. Hawk is clearly making full use of his enrichment tools lately!
22: The birds were due for their regular beak and talon trims. Eagle, hawk and owl were all trimmed today. Jesses were checked but none needed to be changed. Weights were not taken today. The birds ate well last night and were given regular portions of food today.
29: The birds have been eating decently for the last few weeks. Some days they leave parts behind and others they clean their stumps and perches completely. Hawk had nothing left after yesterday’s 5 mice. He immediately jumped on the first mouse today as soon as I placed it next to him. I barely had time to move my fingers to the next mouse. He finished eating it before I was done getting all the mice in place. He quickly moved to the second mouse as I shut the door. I found owl under the heat lamp all day despite the fact that it is 480F out. He was given one mouse after leaving one behind yesterday. Eagle was given one rat today. She decided to play in the tub while I placed her rat on the tree stump. I heard her eating by the time I left the compound.
December
8: Eagle did not touch her food last night. I gave her a small carp today. Owl and hawk ate everything. Hawk was given 5 mice and owl received two. The birds’ appetites have all decreased in the last week.
12: The birds finished off all their food yesterday but today we found two mice in the hawk shelter, and ¾ of a carp in the eagle mew. Owl had nothing left of his mouse from the day before. Owl traveled with Whitney to Bedford for the WBIW radio station’s Talk of the Town. Whitney promoted Eagle Watch and while there talked about adaptations found in birds of prey. The owl sat on Whitney’s microphone handle throughout the entire interview. She also performed a small program for staff at the station before heading back to Patoka. Owl got two mice today. Eagle got a large carp tail section and hawk received 5 mice.
23: Eagle was actively playing in her water dish for most of the morning while Whitney cleaned out her shelter. The birds received vitahawk and calcium today on their food. Hawk was given 5 chicks. Owl had two mice and eagle got a medium carp section.
30: The birds have been eating well lately, only leaving behind small portions of food. They did not receive vitamins today. The red-tailed hawk was given three chicks and two mice. The eastern screech owl got two mice and bald eagle was given two small catfish.