Delectable Diets

I was chef for all the birds this week and thought I'd share some pictures of these culinary delights. Here I am thawing some salmon: (We love fish donations!)

Here's some sad little rats for our Snowy Owl..it looks like one is saying "Nooooo..save me!"

Now this is the grossest part of the job-meal worms. I don't know why but these things freak me out more than anything. I hate the way the sawdust moves with them all in it.

We feed mealworms to our smaller birds, such as the robins, Lapland Longspur, Grosbeaks etc..

The corvids (Ravens, Jays, Crows) are really easy to feed..they pretty much eat anything so they often get leftovers and whatever is in the fridge:

Here's some salmon plates weighed every day for each bird. The Bald eagles get around 400 grams a day. We sprinkle some bonemeal and vitamins on it for extra enrichment.

Two ickle mice came out to play for the Merlins...

Here's the plate of the day for the Pine Grosbeak:

And the best part-Feeding the birds. Some of them just stare at it for a while like 'Pox' boy here:

While others act like they have been starved all week and devour it:

Ok..one thing to note. Why do we feed the birds on plates? Well, mainly because its easier to clean up. The mews have these astroturf mats which are a complete pain to clean, especially when you have mooshed up fish bits spread all over them.

I hope you have enjoyed some bird diet education.

Jeter and Saebo

Jeter survived another day in Seward with no owl attacks or leash time. He's heading back to Anchorage tomorrow so I think his rehab is a bit too short lived but atleast I got him to stop growling at Saebo. He realised that growling = no couch=no fun.

Jeter's Seward Vacation

'Jeter' is one Ina's poodles (Ina is my Mother in Law to be). He is definitely Ina's favourite and he knows it.

Jeter has some alpha issues so Craig and I somehow convinced Ina to let me take him on a mini-rehab break down to Seward. He's marking in the house which just won't do, especialy seeming I don't want my mother-in laws house to smell like dog pee.

My dog Saebo is a big hearted bruiser. He has never showed any kind of aggression so I wasn't worried about introducing him to a lil poodle. Saebo doesn't seem to know what to do with this small creature, he wants to play but I think Jeter is abit scared of his grand size but they are doing pretty well.




Rules of Amy's Rehab: No growling. No aggression. No lap loving unless given permission.
I think lil Jeter just needs to know he is a dog and I am the pack leader.

We've taken a couple of walks around the hood, Jeter seems very excited to be all free with nature.

No marking in my house so far!

Why not to Trap

This beautiful bird is a Great Gray Owl, he was brought into Bird TLC after he got caught in a trap in Wasilla.




I wasn't quite ready to see the carnage that this poor bird went through, it was so upsetting.
His right leg was caught in the trap and he basically ripped off all the flesh around his leg trying to free himself. The bones are completely exposed and you can see right through them. The picture below doesn't even show how bad it really is.

We are hoping by some miracle that he might be able to use the leg again, but it probably needs to be amputated. However, most birds cannot survive without a leg; especially owls as they are prone to bumblefoot on the remaining leg.

I don't believe in trapping. There are too many non-targeted species that succumb to these death traps and here is the perfect example of one less beautiful bird.

I won't leave on that depressing note though, here's a funny picture of a Bohemian Waxwing that wouldn't hold still for a picture.

Simon Seaforts

Craig and I had a lovely evening at Simon Seaforts, a very fancy seafood restaurant in downtown Anchorage. They actually know how to make mixed drinks.

My fav was King crab and artichoke dip and a cranberry margarita...

Craig's was the poor lil chicken wings which biology is far too familar for me to consume;(...

Thanks to my friends Julie and Karl who gave us a gift certificate for christmas, we actually lucked out and stumbled upon a 30 year anniversary special where appetisers and drinks were half price!

Poor Craig flew up to the slope on Friday morning for another 2 weeks of mundain work. I miss him already.

Ski Sunday

We headed to the Alyeska Ski Resort on Sunday as they were doing 2 for 1 to try and lure people away from their TV sets. The choice was simple, watch the superbowl and consume 100's of empty calories or go burn some serious cals on the slope.

For all you non-yanks this Sunday was the Superbowl for American football, which is like the final of the UEFA cup but not as exciting. I'm very blessed that Craig likes Football as much as I like olives. (Which isn't very much).

It was a super gorgeous day, perhaps a tad chilly but totally empty on the slopes. My good mate Sarah came with us in the hot pink.

Craig hadn't been on a board since 2003 but he kept up with me pretty well :)

Heading out of Girdwood another local was avoiding the crowds at the bar and causing congestion on the road...

Sparky on TV

Sparky, or Electro bird as I called him is going to be on the channel 2 news tonight in Alaska 6pm..

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9764827


He is a very famous young Bald Eagle as he got seriously electrocuted and had some holes the size of my wrist on his body. Normally electrocuted birds die within a few days as their internal organs are fried, but by some miracle he made it through. He has the sweetest personality and I've missed him since he moved to the Flight Center.
He was flight tested and didn't do so well so he is going to be placed in an educational program with a firefighter to educate about the dangers! Way to be an ambassador Sparky.