I’m So Blue…
“But I’m getting better!” we can just imagine one of our fledgling blue jays saying. On May 31, a young blue jay was found on the ground in Essex Junction, VT, struggling to move. Believed to have fallen from the nest, the bird had broken his leg, with the bone poking clean through the skin.…
Maternal Instinct
Another one of our raptors from the exhibits here at VINS has found her calling in fostering a young baby of her kind. Our female red-tailed hawk, who has been known to go through various stages of nesting with her male partner on exhibit, now has the chance to flex her maternal muscle with the…
Got Waxwings?
UPDATE: VINS Wildlife Services was able to release this waxwing on Sunday in a Hartland neighborhood home to at least one known flock of cedar waxwings. Thank you to those who offered suggestions of locations to release the bird. We do appreciate your help! The VINS Wildlife Services department needs your help! We have had…
Oh, They Grow So Fast
Many people have been asking about our young great horned owl, featured a few posts ago in Welcome to Vermont, Baby Owl! Well, the owlet is now out in our flight cage where he can begin to practice flying. While it’s hard to believe just a month ago this owl was a downy ball of…
Invasion of the Baby Raptors!
It all started with our baby great horned owl, featured in the blog post, Welcome to Vermont, Baby Owl! Now we’ve got another baby owl, but this time, a barred owl. To top it off, VINS Wildlife Services also recently received a baby red tailed hawk! While baby birds of any sort are par for…
Catch & Release
There are few bird songs as haunting and distinctive as the melancholy call of the common loon. Their song evokes an ethereal wildness unrivaled by any other waterfowl. On May 10, VINS Wildlife Services received a call from a Brandon, VT resident who found a common loon in his front lawn. Loons’ legs are built…
Love Trap
Oh, what one will do when in love. We’ll make fools of ourselves trying to win over our sweetie. We’ll lose sleep and our appetites when we’re in love. We’ll follow our love to the ends of the earth. As the song goes, when it comes to love: there “ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t…
Welcome to Vermont, Baby Owl!
VINS Wildlife Services welcomed its first baby bird of the season last week – a baby great horned owl. The owl, believed to be about 4 weeks old now, is a wobbly mass of downy fluff, topped off with a knobby black beak and bright eyes that expertly dart about and focus in on each…
Into the Wild
April 11 was a big day for the red-tailed hawk that VINS Wildlife Services had in rehabilitation since November 2008. This hawk made a triumphant recovery over the span of nearly 5 months at VINS, and he was released back into the woods of Vermont this past Saturday. The hawk, which was featured in an…
A ‘Small’ Procedure
Every bird that comes into VINS Wildlife Services for treatment receives a patient number. It’s great for keeping track of multiple birds of the same species, not to mention it’s the best way to maintain clear records of each bird’s examination and treatment papers. The first two numbers represent the current year, and the last…
