Archive for October 2008

As I loosened my grip, he turned a looked at me, wings outspread. I wished him good luck. He turned away and flew towards some nearby houses, landing in a dense grouping of trees. He disappeared from sight. From the south she came flying towards the tree. She landed inside the dense foliage also disappearing…

Below are photos from the first of two Red-tailed Hawks that we released today. This Red-tailed Hawk was brought to Flint Creek Wildlife’s Barrington location by Palatine Animal Control. It was found down in a suburban yard. Based on eye color and small size, we believe that this Red-tailed Hawk is a male – approximately…

Several months after we rescued a large, female Great Horned Owl with a broken wing from a horse pasture, we returned her home – her wing now healed. Instead of flying off to the nearby trees, she headed across the open space towards the resident’s house. I feared for a moment that I was about…

I am overjoyed that we were able to return three Northern Saw-whet Owls back to the wild. All three originally became injured by colliding with windows. Two have been in our care since spring migration while the third became injured just a couple of weeks ago during fall migration. Northern Saw-whet Owls weigh half as…

Yesterday was the first time in Flint Creek Wildlife’s history that we’ve released two endangered species in one day….both birds were American Bitterns, a medium-sized heron that is known for being secretive. American Bitterns are deceiving. When not extending their necks, they seem fairly small. But watch out and wear safety glasses! An experienced Bittern…

Back in May, I reported on a Hooded Warbler that our rescue and recovery teams picked up after it hit a building in downtown Chicago. The Hooded Warbler was at that time the first of that species that we’d ever treated at Flint Creek Wildlife. Fortunately, like 90% of the head trauma cases triaged at…

Although I realize that the subject of trapping might be a polarizing issue, I feel compelled to share with you some information on trapping. We’re not talking about trapping of nuisance wildlife – perhaps I’ll save that topic for another time. We’re talking about trapping of furbearing animals. Traps may be set illegally or legally.…