Saturday with the Birds

It felt great to be back at IBRRC, today, after being out of town last weekend.

This Snowy Egret practically lives at IBRRC waiting for someone to turn his or her back on a bucket of fish. He is pretty good at removing towels from buckets, and just generally waiting for a chance to raid the food cart.

These two Ne Ne's are geese native only to Hawaii. They have been at IBRRC for several months, but can't be placed until the proper permits are obtained. They are doing fine. They are small, somewhat tame, and loveable.

This big Canada Goose is isolated and on a strict diet. His weight ballooned to over 8 kilos, and his feet have open sores from standing out of the water constantly. Today, we put up this barricade to keep him in the water to help his feet heal. We are all rooting for him to become "the biggest loser".

He's back!

This is a Black-bellied Plover. He was taken for release shortly after this picture.

Laura and Gail are putting booties on a fulmar. He had to come in from a pelagic pool, get blow-dried, and will spend the night in a pelagic box which has a soft, mesh bottom. The booties will help keep him from getting foot lesions, since fulmars spend most of their time on or over water.

Booties being expertly fitted. To feed this guy, I needed to use a needle to inject fish with air under their skin so they would float. They are odd birds that look somewhat like gulls, but behave much differently. Well, that's all for today.

Pelicans and Friends

Here I am, a few weeks ago, checking for signs of dehydration on this pelican. This picture was on a card given to me by the staff of IBRRC. They are such good people. Anyhoo, I like it because it gives the impression that I know what I'm doing.

Last Saturday, after I did the outside feeding with Deborah, I worked with Monte doing exams, etc, on the outside pelicans, loon, and cormorants. Working with Monte is such a learning experience.

Early in the morning inside the pelican aviary, I'm getting ready to hose things down, remove old fish, and put in clean fish tubs with mackeral and day smelt.

The cormorants and pelicans are keeping their eyes on me. If I was holding a net, they would be moving away quickly.

We keep track of which birds are perching on the high perch - one of the requirements for release.

What beauty this is!

Two black-crowned night herons, a juvenile in back, and an adult in front. This is in one of the heron/egret aviaries.

I'm getting ready to give this pelican medicine. This pen is called a peli box, and is inside for birds who can't stay warm, are too sick, or can't get wet. I lovingly cleaned it out and made the bed an hour or so before this picture.

Getting the medicine down there! One has to make sure it is well past the trachea. Notice my typically wet feet - we are so cavalier at IBRRC! These pictures are taken on the fly as it is tough to take pictures while you are working because the birds come first. This is just a taste of one 10 hour day.

Ducks and Geese Day

It was good to be back with my human and feathered friends at IBRRC. I was paired up with the amazing and talented Laura (married to Monte) to work with the ducks and geese that needed check-ups, tests, and treatments. These are just a few of our patients for the day.

Here I am with "Grand Daddy", a Graylag goose that must have been someone's pet at one time.

He holds his head close to you so you will scratch it. Grand Daddy is quite ill, however, and has difficulty standing and eating. He also is being treated for feather lice, and a possible fluke and tapeworm infection.

Laura enjoying Grand Daddy's wonderful personality.

This is a domestic duck - not a goose! He is the biggest duck you will ever see. He seems to be recovering nicely and should be placed soon. Domestic waterfowl cannot be released into the wild.
Later in the afternoon, we took a young mallard duck for a short trip to be released into the nearby marsh. Most ducks seem to be leary of leaving the kennel, and after a few minutes, have to be gently dumped out. This duck was diagnosed to have been sick from an unknown toxic substance, but after a few days at IBRRC, is good to go.

He lingered for a couple minutes to nibble on some weeds...

and then rapidly took flight, zig-zagging down the stream. We were pleased with his healthy duck performance!

The release was also observed by this praying mantis. Releasing healthy, rehabbed birds is what we live for at IBRRC.

Backpacking the John Muir Wilderness

I was fortunate to be invited by my cousin Sue and her boyfriend Paul, to join them and their friend Becky on a backpacking trip in the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierras this past week.

Sue couldn't wait to have Jack in the Box tacos, which she cannot get in her part of the country. She and I walked a mile to get them in 95 degree heat while Paul took a nap.

Going over the plans at Becky's home in Bishop. Becky is a mountain lion specialist for the Department of Fish and Game. She is a biologist who tracks and collars lions to study their predation on the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep. She can spot lion tracks while driving down a dirt road, and currently has 16 lions that she has radio collars on that she is studying. She got her biology degree at Cal Poly just like yours truly. She and her dog Max are also members of Search and Rescue. Paul and Becky spent a month in Pakistan a couple years ago as part of a support team for a friend of theirs who summited K2, the second highest mountain in the world. They hiked to the base camp at about the 16,000 foot level. It was a real privilege to be in their company for the week.

After leaving two vehicles at the exit trailhead at McGee Creek, we stuffed ourselves into Paul's and Sue's rented PT Cruiser to drive to our entry trailhead at Lake Mary above Mammoth.

Trying to acclimate to the altitude took a couple days for me. I was getting a little goofy by the time we got to Duck Pass. Here we are on our first breather.

The five of us at Barney Lake. Max had to carry his own food. He is a rescued border collie who is extremely obedient. Becky is definitely his "pack leader".

On the other side of Duck Pass is, of course, Duck Lake.

We celebrated our hike over Duck Pass, elevation 10,797 feet, with a beer at our first campsite at Pika Lake. "What, backpacking with beer?" you might ask. Becky has friends in the US Forest Service who packed in a six pack on their mules and stashed it for her at one of their remote camps where we spent our first night. It was special.

Sue fishing at Pika Lake, but the fish weren't biting on salmon eggs.

Sue and I at Duck Lake.

Leaving Duck Lake. We camped at Pika Lake which is that little bit of blue on the far right beneath the peaks.

Setting up camp at Lake Virginia on Tuesday.

A full moon rising over a pond next to our campsite.

On our way down to Tully Hole.

Walking through Tully Hole.

Sue and Paul enjoying a little bit of Eden.

Columbine

Red Slate Mountain was prominent from our Wednesday campsite.

That distant dip on the ridge at the left is 12,000 foot McGee Pass which we climbed over the next day. Our campsite here is at about the 10,500 foot level.

Sue doing laundry in a bear cannister.

Our three tents.

Pretty trout for dinner - can't wait! Becky, Sue, and Paul had good luck using a lure.

The Silver Divide.

Paul holding one of the colorful trout before frying it in a little olive oil and salami. They were D lishus!

Wednesday evening became very cold and windy. At night I was still a little chilly sleeping in my down bag, wearing my down jacket, inside my tent.

Huffing up the pass on Thursday. The furthest green patch towards the left is where we made camp the day before.

Summer in California is not supposed to look like an expedition to the South Pole.

Max looking like he's wondering what the heck are we doing up here.

Paul and Sue approaching the top of the pass.

Heading down the eastern side of the pass. You can barely make out the trail descending down the ravine. We passed a small, frozen waterfall above those icy looking lakes.

Sue and I in front of a very gnarly tree - a real survivor.

Descending down into the life zone, I spotted a California Toad with bright orange spots. At higher elevations, they hunt during the day instead of the cold nights.

The exit trailhead is about a mile around the bend ahead.

Dropping down into beaver country, we saw this lodge.

The whorled appearance of this mountainside must be the result of a whole lot of pressure and contortion that went on long ago.

We finished the trip with dinner in Mammoth. Paul and Sue sharing a decadent desert.