Feathered Fellows

Greetings Upstate followers! 

It seems the sun is back, and hopefully will be out more often. This is one wet summer, but a little extra rain never hurt anyone. It looks like this Friday will be great for Sophie's release! You can check this weekend's forecast here: Weekend Weather! 

So how about some updates on some of our feathered companions? 

Rocky

First Rocky: We are still waiting to see if he can be used as an education bird, and if we will have the donations to build him a mew. On some occasions only time can tell, and this is one. He is doing well though, and we will keep you posted as we continue his care.

Next Roscoe: After three eye surgeries, and great deal of eye drops Roscoe is stretching his wings in the flight pen. He showing Sophie how the Big Great Horned Owls hunt and live! After he works with Sophie, we go back to UT to have Dr. Ward, a fantastic ophthalmologist, to recheck his eye. We need help purchasing the lumber to build a home for Roscoe, 

Roscoe

and training supplies so we can take him to Tellico Grill, The Market,

 public schools, boy scouts, etcetera, when he is determined to be an

 education bird.

Next: Sophie: She loves having Roscoe in the flight pen with her! After the release we will  post a YouTube video of Sophie and Roscoe interacting! You can check out our YouTube channel here Upstate Birds of Prey YouTube Channel. We have yet to post a video, but be sure to subscribe so you will be informed when we upload our first.

Next our "New" Red Shouldered Hawk:

Sophie

This fellow came in after falling from its nest. It was not yet ready to fledge when it arrived. Once Sophie is released on July 12th he will go into the flight pen. (Sorry, no pictures of him yet.)

And finally Wilson the Eastern Screech Owl: This owl has been a challenge! He also fell from its nest, and we believe the fall is causing some problems with its "bum or cloaca", but we are confident it will be released very soon!

Roscoe & Sophie

Well it seems busy season is winding down. We have only a handful of birds remaining here to release, or transition into education. We are hoping to visit some other rehab facilities, and learn some of their techniques. We are also hoping to perhaps go out west to watch some falconers as well! 

We have yet to build the "raptor condo". This would be where education birds will be housed along with additional rehab birds. Please consider logging onto our website Upstate Birds of Prey to make a tax deductible donation using PayPal. OR you can mail in a donation to:

Wilson

Upstate Birds of Prey

5737 Gold Pond Way

Tallassee, TN 37878

(If you mail in your donation we will send you a tax deductible receipt!)

We hope everyone has had a wonderful summer so far! We sure have! We thank everyone who has donated time, energy, and funds so far! Please spread the word about Upstate, and help us grow even more so we can continue this great adventure set before us. 

Faithful,

 Upstate

Just a reminder...Sophie's release is this Friday, July 12th

She is ready to  get out into the wild!

The evening starts at 6:00pm @ Tellico Grill

http://tellicogrill.com/
Please remember that Tracy - owner of Tellico Grill, is donating part of the night's proceeds to Upstate Birds of Prey. As you enter the restaurant there will be a sign in book for everyone who wants to be advised of future events.
If you save your dinner receipt and bring the original to "The Market" you will receive a free package or Mother Earth Meat's ground beef for FREE!
https://www.facebook.com/MotherEarthMeats
The event is free to everyone but please remember that it is only through your generous donations that we will be able to continue rescuing, rehabbing and releasing injured/orphaned birds of prey plus, your donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE just make sure you turn them into one of the Upstate Birds of Prey volunteers so we can get you a receipt at the time the donation is made.
We will have tables set up with items we are selling for donations and silent auction. Any amount over the suggested donation amount or value of the auction is tax deductible also!
While grownups are "shopping" the kids will be close by with things to occupy their time until the release.
We will also have a DVD of Sophie's life, from her first photographed peek out of her nest until last week. We will only have enough DVDs to offer 1 per family but more can be ordered Friday night!
At about 8:00pm we will have a brief class about owls and more specifically, Great Horned Owls with a question and answer time afterward.
Around 8:30 we will move to the back of the field close to the woods so we can open the carrier and let Sophie take flight. We have arranged the release so her first stop "should" be a nearby tree before she goes into the woods which will give everyone an opportunity to use your binoculars and/or cameras.
Her mind is going to be on FREEDOM so to expect a good-bye pose is out of the question lol.

We hope everyone can make it as this will be our last big public release of 2013!

Sophie needs to wait for drier weather!

Good evening for a duck!
 While summer rains are always welcome for our gardens, water sports, keeping the pollen down and cool things off, it is not very conducive for an owl release
.
I am so sorry to say that we are having to postpone Sophie's release until next Friday, July 12, 2013.
We will have dinner next week also and again things for the kids to do in the "dry" grass!

We are still having dinner this Friday, July 5th  and we will be having a class about owls, a DVD of Sophie's life starting in her nest nest until present will be playing and available. Please do not let the rain keep you in the house this Friday as we will still be at Tellico Grill enjoying an awesome dinner from wholesome Mother Earth Meats and answering any questions you may have.


When our orphans are first released into the wild they are looking for a place to call home. They need a place with good hunting and where no other owls of their species have claimed as their own. They are also learning to hunt in a much larger area. Owls hunt primarily by sitting on a branch and waiting for food to come within eye/ear range then they pounce where as hawks fly around hunting for food and catch their food "on the wing" or while still flying.
If we release Sophie while it is raining, she also has to deal with the added noise of the rain and all other predators in the woods are extra hungry because mice and other prey animals have also been staying out of the rain as much as possible.

My job as a rehabber is to take all of my knowledge and do my best to give each release the best possible chance of survival as I possibly can which is why I have made this call in time for each of you to prepare for next Friday as well.

Thank you for your patience and stay dry!