TALKING TO THE OTHER SIDE....

Spirits All Around Me! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF MY SPIRIT ORBS AND SOULFUL THINGS!

Here we were in what was to be the happiest time of our life; the “Golden Years” is what our parents called it. We had accomplished so much in the trails of our life together, happily married, children out of the nest, bought our dream property, ready to build our dream home, hubby started his second career loving it, and I was near the university that I always dreamed of. Some Dream!!

Suddenly we had so much in life, it was truly amazing to be there at the top. I had just had a successful surgery to remove a parathyroid tumor that had pretty much robbed me out of years. Physical therapy was really paying off and I was feeling good. Yes “La dolce vita”.

After we first bought the property and were waiting for closing and moving to it we would go on the weekends bringing a picnic. We would sit in our pole barn and look out over the beautiful oak tree canopy and just be amazed that we bought a park! People pay good money to go out of town and park in the woods and enjoy nature and now we owned our own park. We are going to be spending the rest of our life on this property and I love it.

The evening before we signed the papers for the dream house to be built dear hubby and I sat outside looking at the site that had been chosen. We were sitting under the oaks envisioning building our first home together, this was going to be exciting. All of it we designed for the way we live including my handicapped needs and to easily change for when we get older. Tonight we will sleep and dream about our dreams being true and we watched the sun set.

Before I went to bed I let the dogs out it was around 11-11:30. While watching TV a strong gust of wind kicked up that actually shook the RV and I said to Dan “wow, that was unusual must be a storm coming”. At this same moment both of the dogs started barking furiously, in such a way that we thought someone was out there so going to check I saw the light was on in the pole barn shed. That wasn’t the direction the dogs were barking in, they were facing east, the same way the wind blew in from. This unnerved me a bit so I walked over there cautiously and seeing nothing there I switched off the light, closed the door and went back in to bed.
I awoke to my husband’s words, “there’s somebody here”, so shocked into waking up I looked up and out the window into the bright white light. OMG, what is going on…..I closed my eyes to the blinding light and heard a knock on the RV door. Going down to the door area I looked out the window and saw a man and asked what he wanted, he informed he was with the Sheriffs department. Looking at the clock it was 3:00 am so I went back and told him it was the Sheriffs department and looking out the window yes it was a sheriffs car. Of course my mind isn’t in gear and is seriously jolted into trying to make sense of what was happening.

As I stepped out of the RV I asked if there was a problem and he asked if I was “Timothy’s” mom and I said yes. He asked if Timothy’s father was here and I said yes and he told me to get him. Oh no, in my head was going off, “What did he get himself into” was the first thought in my head. Every parent worries about the phone call or knock on your door in the middle of the night. Tim was the 3rd and youngest of our children so we had all ready been through it with them.

I went inside and told him that the officer wanted to talk to us about Tim and we were both thinking the same thing, “What did he get into?” but that wasn’t the case. After stepping outside to face the Officer he again asked if we were Timothy’s parents and upon acknowledgment he said words that will never leave our mind: “I regret that I have to inform you but Timothy has passed away”.

WOW, what? He had to say it 2 more times before it sunk in, but surely there had been a mistake, no, his roommate found him and he has been identified. What happened we asked thinking that there had been some sort of accident, “We don’t know, they will do an autopsy” but we suspect drug overdose. Those words killed us inside!!! How could he do that to himself, how could he do that to his family and those who cared about him!!!??? How could this happen??? We were speechless, thoughtless, emotionless all I could do was fall back and I am so glad there were stairs there to catch me.

My mind was going hundreds of miles per hour wondering just what the heck happened. I knew he would do some things like drink, smoke but never “Hard” drugs! He was a corporate trainer for a major company and well loved by everyone, he had no problems, at least what we saw. Perhaps his roommates knew more so I was going to talk to them and see if they saw any thing at all. But worse of all we were mad at Tim for wasting his life and deeply hurt.

So our wonderful life had just got dropped kicked and things weren’t going to be right ever again for us. Tim is my husband’s only child so there is so much hurt there and a huge empty space since they were best friends. Getting through that time would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for hubbies Aunt coming down and helping us do what needed to be done.

The Sunday after the memorial service we put all the flowers out in the mediation garden so I could take pictures of them. When I came out with the camera he had most of them set out there and I just sat down looking still trying to grasp what all had just happened. Then I felt an urge to “take Pictures”. My mind said no wait till they all are here and they get arranged but then the inner voice said “No, Take them Now” so I did. I just sat and snapped pictures while hubby finished bringing them in placing them next to one another.

I didn’t see what was happening as I snapped the pictures, just directed Dan where to set them then arranging to create some order. This whole thing seemed so surreal to us, this wasn’t happening, it wasn’t real, we were going to wake up any moment and things would be back to normal. “Normal”, what an incredible word………

We spent the rest of the day with friends and family here, a bit hard since we were still living in the RV things were crowded, but we were all together as a family supporting each other in this time of horrible grief, disbelief and loss. We decided not to tell anyone those shocking last words the deputy said “We think it was a drug overdose”, we didn’t feel we should share that or darken his memory in any manner so we hid the pain silently as we went through the motion of the whole process of saying good bye to a child. That night I downloaded the pictures but couldn’t bring myself to look at them then, I had cried enough and just needed some sleep so I shut the lap top and forgot.

We were living in a state of shock and grief, reliving over and over in our mind the string of events that happened, what really happened? What could we of done differently? What was the signs we missed that he was doing drugs? What did we do wrong? There were so many questions and we were so full of hurt and anger of a senseless death that destroyed our family.

Right after the first of the year I saw a painting on the web done by a friend and thought it was beautiful and I wanted it for our new house. I made arrangements to purchase it but had to wait till it was finished in an art show so I kind of forgot about it in all of this tragedy. But it is important to note that here in this thought.

I don’t know how many days passed before I remembered to down load the pictures of Tim’s memorial service flowers. That isn’t something you rush in to do or look forward to but I had all ready posted pictures from the Memorial Service on his facebook page. For some odd reason I had created a facebook and myspace page for Tim in memory. He wasn’t a computer person, he was a very easy going Florida cracker boy.

The first couple of pictures were totally normal but the 3rd one I saw something unusual, then the next one was more and the next was more! I couldn’t believe my eyes, I thought there had to be a reason but the lens was clean and the other pictures following these were normal. Of course we were speechless as I showed my husband the “Orb’s” with the flowers. We just sat there and cried because we knew what this was. Also at that moment I thought about the night he died and how the sudden wind blew in from the east shaking the RV and the dogs were howling. OMG, he came by here when he passed to say good bye and left the light on in the shop.

The other revelation we had was that he wasn’t alone, there were 5,6,7 orb’s surrounding the flowers were my father, mother in law and other relatives all taking care of him. We felt a sense of peace of him not being all alone but still were very hurt over the loss and circumstances. Another thing to note here is that every time I touched something metal I would get shocked. It was just like everything was building static electricity in me and this made sense since daddy was an electrician, he was manipulating energy to let me know he is there and it’s all right.

From that point on I have been capturing “Orb’s” with the camera and as time passed I learned how to take the best pictures. I also recently noticed that they have shown up in the strangest places for me including over the internet a thousand miles away to let me know it is ok. My brother was in Sedona Arizona this spring and picked up a “communication crystal” for me and it is awesome! Sedona also has a special place in my heart and meaning for me since it was a Mecca journey there that I had my “Awakening” moment.

Almost 3 weeks after Tim’s sudden death a delivery truck came up the drive way with a package for me. I didn’t remember ordering anything but instantly knew what was there by the return address, my painting. I set the box aside because I wasn’t ready to open it, didn’t want to be alone when I see it and knew my brother in law was coming for dinner that evening.

I worked that day putting together the best of the “Orb’s” photos’ I took and used Tim’s song “Seminole Wind” as the tune. It turned out beautiful and later that night we opened the package and just sat staring at the painting. It was all ok, we had another sign that he was ok, he wasn’t suffering, he went quick and he was now a “Free Bird”.

Nearly 60 days after Tim’s death my husband called the coroner’s office to see if any conclusions had been made regarding the death. Now the last time he called on the day of his death the coroners “Assistant”, some “investigator” had told my husband they suspected drug overdose so that was painful and we had braced ourselves as to having to hear the worse.

This time it was different, they had a cause and it wasn’t drugs at all, it was a heart attack, he had a blockage and he just dropped dead without any warning. We had an answer, we had the reason we had the cause but we didn’t have an apology for the hell we went through thinking our son died of a drug over dose. We lived with that pain for nearly 2 months and in the end it was a really bad assumption made by the police, sheriff and coroner’s office. How could they do this to us, how could they do this to this family, how could they cause us so much grief, pain and not once did anyone say “sorry” we made a mistake except for the Detective at the police department. But in the end, Tim’s good name stayed good and there was such a great relief when I made the phone call to tell his roommates that it wasn’t drugs at all. They were beating themselves up to wondering how they didn’t see it so the relief in their voices was joyous and we all said that this was just one of those really sad happenings in life that no one could of prevented, it happens.

So the moral of this story is to make sure you tell the people you love in your life you love them every chance you get because you never know when that time is going to be the last time. The last words our son heard from me was “I love you” and he knew it, which gave me peace. For now I will continue to take pictures of the “orbs” and other strange phenomena’s as they happen. I also watch the sunset every day never knowing if it is my last one and I watch it with my father, mother, brother and son.

The moral of my story, live each day as if it is your last, all ways tell the ones you love because you never know if it is going to be the last opportunity you have to say it, and say it often because it is important for those you love to know you love them.

Peace and blessings!

THE URBAN OWLboy

Here it is almost August and to my amazement we are still watching the Barn Owl nest boxes. So far only 1 has reclutched, but the other nests the parents are showing interest. I have to admit this has me a bit perplexed because it isn’t “normal” for these birds to be reclutching so soon, the only time I know or have experience with is if they lost the first group of hatchlings or there are a LOT of rodents around and nature wants to get back in balance. I don’t know because I don’t have all the specifics, just my observations done via web cam and internet connection over a thousand miles away.

In doing some reflecting, (of which I have been doing a lot lately) I am reminded that I began to see a change in the wildlife in the mid 1990’s. There had all ways been a definitive line in the “season” of wildlife coming in. If I started keeping track of wildlife coming in with the year, in January it was the “Migratory” season, when we would get in a lot of migratory birds that were sick from feeding in dirty contaminated places on their way south. Sometimes it was young that were just plain tired and needed to be housed and feed to regain strength to continue.

A quick story here….one year when I got a lot of calls about a Red Tailed hawk that was sitting on the side of I-4 injured. Well that usually indicates a vehicle accident so going out there I found a juvenile Red Tail Hawk that was not injured in any way that I could find so after a couple days of observation they were released back into the wild. To make this story short and to the point because I do have a tendency to ramble, this young hawk had learned that I-4 was easy hunting for road kill and would eat so much they were to heavy to get off the ground. So for years this happened and whenever we got a call during migration from someone regarding a injured hawk sitting on the guard rails of a busy highway, we would assure the people from experience that this was “Highway Harry” and that he ate too much and just needed to digest the meal and would be fine. It took awhile to figure this out because he had been to 3 other rehabbers and no one knew the other had dealt with him until we were at a conference together talking. Talk about an “Aha Moment” between a group of people.

Following that was the spring “baby” season which started in March. The harsh tropical storms would blow nests out of trees and this was the Bird of Prey hatching time and tree squirrels. By May song birds and mammals would roll in and go full speed until August when we again would get a break. The only thing coming in then would be young that were the “second” clutch and in September the second group of squirrels, raccoons, opossums. It seemed that the larger mammals like deer didn’t reproduce so readily if a young was lost like the birds or smaller mammals. We only got to breath for about 2 months before the “Migration” casualties would start to arrive.

So that is the cycle of life from a wildlife rehabilitators reference for over 30 years, this is what I experienced until the mid 1990’s when I noticed that this changed quite a lot. There were babies arriving earlier than normal or expected and I don’t think anyone really paid to much attention to it or is even doing so now. If so I haven’t seen anything but I think it is important that there is something done to look and see if this is in fact an actual occurrence or something that I may of misinterpreted.

Ok, so back to my original thought and the “Aha” Moment I had the other night in “Buddy & Fluffy’s” nest box. While staring at it envisioning all that needed to be done to make it a more “perfect” nest box I was thinking that how unusual it was to see something like this in a back yard of a suburban neighborhood. How this was something that you don’t normally see when all of a sudden it dawned on me…… I was witnessing the “Urbanization” of the Barn Owl from agriculture to suburbia, this was the beginning of a transition of a species to adapt right into the back yards of homes, not just farms. WOW, what an “Aha Moment”!!!!!

Because of humans encroachment on the wild spaces of our planet many species of animals had to learn to adapt to the humans environment or they would die out into extinction. Mother Nature is a really wonderful complex working web of life, so many organisms so interdependent upon each other for survival. When a strand is broke in this web where ever possible Nature tries to balance. When there is a conflict there is a resolution, for every action there is a equal reaction, rules of the universe.

I first noticed the “acclimation” of wildlife in the 1970’s with the Ospreys making nests in the light poles of baseball fields, parks and power lines, now they are nesting in Cell Phone towers. Other acclimations are being made by other species where they can find the right place. Interesting enough though, our national symbol the Bald Eagle, who would NOT nest anywhere near humans is slowly becoming acclimated to humans and a bit more tolerant to nesting a little closer but still not as bold as the Osprey.

So with these Barn Owl nest boxes now going up in urban backyards, parks and other places not directly involved in agricultural business, there is a new partnership developing between them and humans in the Urban environment. Since this is a successful happening it is very obvious that these Owls are very necessary to our own survival. Without them the rodent population would grow in such large numbers that there would eventually be a plague of some sort that would spread much like the early times that killed millions of people. We as humans need to treasure the wildlife, without them we would die, without us they would survive and thrive, that says a lot about us being “expendable” from this planet.

© 2010

Another “AHA” Moment with the Barn Owls

At this point in time I have to ask myself what have I gotten myself into and is this the path I want to be on. For the first time that I can remember the general public at large was becoming involved and fascinated with wildlife, most popular was the Barn Owls. My first impression of this whole experience coming from my perspective as a Wildlife/Conservation/Research/Tree Hugger place was “What a Wonderful educational opportunity”.

I loved watching the owls in this intimate manner but also loved the people who were the hosts and the ones watching. I loved providing answers to the many questions asked, after all being an educator and answering such questions for years it was a part of me to just whip out the answer and when I didn’t have one I went out and found it. What a fascinating journey and along the way I met a whole lot of wonderful people.

Somewhere something went horribly wrong though, instead of it being a happy ever after adventure to be shared by all there were divisions, fights, jealousy, ego’s, all the elements that make us human was very evident in watching the chat rooms and Social Streams. At times I have to say it was like my own personal “Soap Operas” full of entertainment. Every day the drama unfolded, allies formed, lines drawn, circles closed, and almost downright cult behavior evolved. I watched as people began to get comfortable with each other and with the developing friendships they began sharing the intimate details of their lives. How interesting that people are willing to put so much out into public forum, I kept wondering are they doing this on purpose or is it just human nature to share and care.

I am the first to admit that I am really not a “people” person, most people who deal with wildlife and animals, especially the rescue end aren’t people persons, we tend to identify more with the animals and most of the times prefer the company of animals to people. I know it is weird but to understand animals in our position you have to have a different perspective. But here I was seeing people interact with one another one day then the next day be feuding enemies busy making allies to forge their fort of protection and alliances. How tragic that something so wonderful had been brought down by human nature. But at the same time something good was coming out of it also.

In my world I was not aware of a new trend called “Barn Owls for Rodent Control”. This was something that had been evolving in the late 1990’s by agricultural research in their search for safe rodent control in food crops without chemicals. I have to say that this is a wonderful idea and am greatly impressed by how many agricultural business’ have utilized and taken advantage of Mother Nature’s natural means of checks and balances. Most assuredly this benefited not only the farms but it also benefited the Barn Owls and there can be nothing but good coming out of this partnership. That is until I had an “Aha” moment one day while viewing the “Google Earth” surroundings of some owl nest boxes set in suburban neighborhoods.

I will be very honest and say that I was absolutely shocked, speechless and stunned by what I saw. These were subdivisions that had been cleared of trees and then developed with tract homes. I had just fled an area where I had lived for almost 30 years, a beautiful tropical area flush with green and wildlife. Over the last 2 decades I watched in horror as the wildlife and wild places that I held dear and protected were just trashed. Bull dozed down, flattened, filled, shaped, molded, paved and development replaced the wild green places, spaces and trees. I am grateful that this city had a mayor at the time who realized how important the tree canopy was and implemented a campaign to protect the ones the city had and to replace many that were lost.

I had an “Aha Moment” in the late 1990’s when driving out of the city towards home I noticed that there was a remarkable difference in temperature as I drove out of town towards the treed country. Noticing this notable change I did a study myself that showed once I left the areas of heavy roads, strip malls, business and entered the rural area there was at least a 10 degree difference in temperature. I did a half hearted campaign and attempted to talk to some developers about the methods they used in creating their subdivisions and tried to reason with them to save the old trees, most times my voice fell on deaf ears. Frustrated I gave up because it all ways came to the bottom line of “cost effectiveness” and profit, it was very disappointing and saddened me to realize that it was useless to continue.

Some thing I learned sadly over time is that when it comes to the all mighty dollar, humans can become a greedy nasty vicious conniving back stabbing animal unlike anything in the wild animal kingdom. I learned the hard way with my first nonprofit corporation when I took a apprentice of mine and made her a partner to help build the business. She was to do the rehabilitation; I was going to go forth and educate to make a difference in the world. I had learned that the only way to support the work we did rehabilitating and educating was to become a “business” so we could solicit and take donations.

During this period of developing and growing the corporation my husband, a PhD Research Scientist in Human Factors and a whole lot of other stuff I don’t understand had the opportunity to do some research at the Little Rock Air Base in Arkansas. Thinking what a wonderful opportunity this was for him to further his career and seeing that I could do a lot of good and expand our wildlife rehab and education business via “chapters” I set out on this adventure with a positive attitude and much vigor. What transpired in Arkansas is another story I will save but what happened when I returned 8 months later was that my partner in whom I trusted my corporation no longer saw me as a “Partner” but as a threat, especially when money was involved. To make a looong story short I had that corporation stolen from me in an illegal board meeting that ended up being a coup in her favor. That was fine with me, I didn’t fight it because I didn’t like the direction she had chosen or the rumors I was hearing regarding the way she was handling rehabilitation, volunteers, donations and knew it was for the best that I separate myself.

I created another corporation, set another board in place and filed my 501c3 paper work and began my new life filled with educational goals. Now anyone in the animal business knows it can be a cut throat thing when it comes to money. We have to rely on donations to feed, shelter, provide veterinary care, and all the other expenses that pertain to keeping permanently injured wildlife for education. I was soon presented with an opportunity to manage a wildlife theme park and thought how wonderful it would be to have a great home base to bring in schools, have a place to house my animals and not worry about the expenses so I took the job and my corporation and this park partnered in education.

All went well until the person I was working for who held the contract with this park to provide the shows decided he wanted to sell. Well I saw this as an opportunity to grow so I had been talking with a couple of men who I had met that were affiliated in some way with Universal Studios and the film industry. Now these 2 men had come to my aid during a very difficult time and struggle so I had no way to know they really could not be trusted and in fact were con artists. But being the trusting person I am we partnered up and bought out the show contract and from that moment on my life was hell. To make a long story real short I left, but not before having a “Aha Moment”. First, learning that when money became involved people become vicious control freak fear mongers and second was that the animals was really nothing more than a “commodity” and business.

What a lesson I learned from those experiences but perhaps the most valuable one I learned was that I didn’t need any one but myself to be successful. For so long I thought I needed others to be with me to achieve my goals and that is not the case. With all my knowledge and experience I am a whole person that has a lot to offer others and at times others don’t see it that way. Instead of seeing me as someone who cares passionately for my causes I am viewed as a threat as my former partner did. That is really sad and a huge loss not just to the people that I attempted to help but to the wildlife that would of benefited to the help I wanted to provide.

Another thing I have all ways known to be true is that when one door closes God will open another bigger one. I have closed the door behind me with the Barn owls knowing that there are people there that will take care of it and continue on to do what is best for them. At this time I am not sure which door to go through. I have not mentioned it before but I will now, I am also an Ordained Minister and my message has been “Environmental Spirituality”. This is something that I developed over the years regarding human’s responsibility to the world God created and to the beautiful creatures of creation. I felt so strong about the message of “Environmental Spirituality” that I decided how wonderful it would be to go to churches and bring the message of how we are all part of the web of life.

I am also a “Chaplain” a member of the National Chaplain Corp and specialize in natural and environmental disasters. Right now with what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico perhaps that is the direction that God wants me to go since I feel a great pull that way. I will just wait and listen for the inner spirit to guide me on what is to be I’m sure another wonderful learning life adventure.

Meanwhile, Peace and Blessings
© 2010

The Barn Owl Nest Boxes

The Owl Boxes

ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF NEST BOX FLEDGLINGS (or HOW TO BE RESPONSIBLE WITH A NEST BOX)

What a fascinating birding experience this year’s baby season was. It has been a long time since I have gotten that involved with bird watching but back when I began there was no internet so there was no ability to get as up close and intimate as I had just experienced. What was different this time from others is that I have had a “AHA Moment”, a serious revelation that I had never seen or even thought about before.

This new modern day adventure all started with a friend posting a Barn Owl link on her facebook page. After one click I was hooked, then as the time passed I found more cams of more birds, Eagles in NJ, Hawks in downtown Philadelphia, Storks in Spain, Hummingbirds in California, Wood Ducks in Wisconsin, Black capped chicka dees, Blue Birds, and even Loons on water! It was amazing and all from the comfort of my home!

My fascination with avian wildlife began with early memories of a morning dove pair nesting outside our dinning room window when I was 3. That was when birds were “imprinted” into my brain by my mother who also had a love of birds and I became “immersed” with them in my life. There is a whole other story in that so I am going to save it for another time.

I will admit to only over 40 years of bird watching but I will admit that I really learned a lot this time around. So much more that we don’t know goes on inside a nest box that I had never been privy to before was touching off so many memories of baby wildlife behavior I had noticed but didn’t know why. Oh my how I would be doing so much differently now if I was still rehabilitating, but I’m not, what I am still doing is educating and that is where I see a strong need at something I had known, but never really looked at or thought about until now. I also see a need to change the way we do things regarding our responsibility as humans if we put up bird nest boxes and this most assuredly needs to be enforced by laws to protect wildlife as back up because at times well meaning humans are short sighted.

During my beginning years of rehabbing wildlife there was no such thing as wildlife rehabilitators, guidelines, laws, regulations, permits, etc. We earned such titles or labels like “Bird Lady”, “Critter Woman”, “Opossum Lady”, so my beginning title was “Duck Lady”. From there it just grew and grew over the years until I was into everything and that all so Is a whole other story I’ll save for another time.

What I want to address here is that you can’t fool with “Mother Nature”. Everything on our planet has a reason and purpose to it. There are laws of nature that are the very basis and foundation to our survival be it human or animal. We learn in school biology that there are 4 basic needs to life, food, water, shelter and space in order to survive. These key things are necessary for us and each has a very important role in our life. I could go on and on about each one but at this point I am going to focus on what I see as the most important thing for me to address at this time. I can all ways add more latter.

BASIC NEEDS

“Housing”, a number one priority to survival, without it life would be hard and driven by the elements and in some cases difficult if not impossible to reproduce and raise a family. Out of this necessity some birds seek out structures and protective areas for raising their babies. These are birds that we refer to as “cavity nesters”. These birds seek out a natural shelter to lay eggs, incubate them and raise their young from the harsh elements or predators. Before humans provided artificial structures, this was always a nest cavity in a tree or rock structure, anything that was considered safe by the parents to rear the young family. They, like many in love, don’t think things through, just making babies, laying eggs, feeding the young and leaving the nest. Nothing beyond that is thought through, yet there is much thought and instinct needed in rearing young. So much to learn in such a short time in the wild world, a whole other article on “Learned behavior” for another time, so this brings me to the point I want to address.

I’m not going to go through all that is involved in rearing young birds but I want to jump ahead to the part about “Fledging”. This is the term used for baby birds when they leave the nest and enter the outside world. But there is also another term that has and I repeat HAS to be put up right next to that word and it is “Branching”. These 2 terms are synonymous together and need to be referenced together and considered together when baby birds are ready to leave the nest. In a previous posting I discussed the various stages of baby birds, “hatchling”, “nestling”, “fledgling” and “brancher” each describing a phase of the young birds life, but the “fledgling” and “brancher” are both at the same period of time.

I do want to make a comment and note here that there are birds that don’t need this, they are the “precocious” ones like Wood Ducks, etc., they leave the safety of the nest box and follow mom. These birds don’t need what I am worried about, they hatch with eyes open and hit the ground ready to go.

BABY BIRDS NEST TIME

Before the eyes are open while in the “hatchling” phase they learn that mothers voice was the clue as to what was happening in the nest. Before hatching they learn their mothers voice and it is her voice that guides their entrance into the world. From there gentle verbal sounds and tones gave a sense of security and well being, much like human mothers singing to their infants, it also signals feeding time with different verbalization, alarm calls for everyone to sit still and not move and then the calls between the 2 parents.

As the hatchlings eyes open becoming “nestlings”, the world is revealed to them they begin learning much more now through visual sense. They see mom, dad, siblings, the nest and in the case of the open tree nesters the sun, sky, tree, branches, leaves, day, night, rain, etc., it’s a complicated world out there and so much to learn.

Nesting parents are so focused on finding suitable and safe environment for raising their young they don’t all ways choose the best places. But over years and from failures and success they learn and adapt. But with interest by humans in “Bird Watching” as a hobby and the advent of “nest boxes” providing more nesting opportunities there is now a necessary element that has been over looked and not properly addressed. It is so important for the successful fledging and development of the baby birds that the fact it has not been addressed or acknowledged just sends frightening anxiety throughout my mind and body. Why it hasn’t been seen or realized up to know I don’t know but I do know that it really needs to be looked at AND resolved for the future. My “AHA” moment.

Before baby birds fledge, they spend a great deal of time in the nest flapping their wings building muscle, jumping around grabbing nest material learning to use their toes and feet and many more behaviors that are “Learned” before leaving the nest. During this time in open nests that are not in boxes, the young venture a bit from the nest to grab onto branches developing their skills. Here I want to also address the fact that these young have an advantage over the nest box young in the fact that they are ‘acclimated” to the outside world. They know sunrise/sunset, rain, wind, directional sound, moving objects, other wildlife i.e. squirrels, other birds, etc., so they are way ahead of the game coming out of the nest then the ones confined to nest boxes.

LEAVING THE NEST PREMATURELY

In a nest box they are limited to what they can see and learn, thus when they exit the nest box for the first time they pretty much have a “sensory overload” and if they are lucky they can quickly retreat back into the nest when startled or danger is near and absorb that adventure into the world. If they are not lucky and have a nest box stuck on a pole in an open field then they are doomed to failure just by the fact they can’t get back in and retreat to regroup their little bird brains. They are suddenly thrust into the world unprepared and on the ground only to be greeted by frantic parents that then need to 1. Protect them from predators and 2. Get them to safety which can be a good distance from the nest box.

Now the parents have a problem, young that are not ready to be on their own they need to protect and feed and a nest that also needs protecting and tending to. This adds stress to the parents and to the young who are now facing the world unprepared and unskilled in what it takes to survive.

In the case of small song birds that have little bird houses hanging in trees in back yards finding cover may not be that hard. Bushes, hedges and other back yard things allow them to hop up gradually getting higher while providing places to hide from predators affords them a much better opportunity to survive versus the larger birds such as Owls.

Now that Owls are being touted for rodent control in agriculture and now in developed subdivisions with owl nest boxes being sold by vendors on the side of the road and also streamed live on the internet, this has created a large interest by the general public and everyone wants a nest box in their back yard. What a wonderful idea and it is so great to see so many people find the hobby and art of “Bird Watching” so pleasurable, interesting and educational. But, I see a problem and can’t sit silently by while the lives of wild babies are put in jeopardy when there is an easy way to stop needless stress and deaths.

BACKYARD CORRIDORS & HABITAT

I participated in a study years ago for the City of Orlando on “Back Yard Habitats” in neighborhoods and what was all involved. This was fascinating going to the neighborhoods and mapping out the homes and surrounding area. If there had been a earth “google” at the time it would have been a wonderful tool to use but in the 1980’s and 90’s this wasn’t available so there was a lot of leg work to it but the reward of recognizing how important back yards are to the lives of urban wildlife was significant. Some thing I learned in the study was that many wild animals use the back yards of subdivisions to move about an area, I called it “Backyard Corridors”. Many have learned that this is a very safe area to move about because there are less hazards such as roads, drainage pits, etc. All though back yards have hazards to with dogs, cats, etc., it is generally much safer than the front yards of homes. Ok, this is a whole article here that I can write about another time, but thought that I would touch on it for a moment.

USE OF OWLS FOR RODENT CONTROL

Back to the nest boxes, it is wonderful to see that people are taking the initiative to promote the use of owls for rodent control, this has most assuredly saved hundreds if not thousands of wild lives (and domestic animals to) by stopping the use of “rodenticides” and killing non targeted species. When rehabilitating, I learned that poisoned wildlife is doomed one way or another. That is why I have such a hard time with what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the way they are handling the birds there, but, that is a whole other story of concern from my experiences.

Poison has a permanent effect on the neurological and biological workings of an organism and once poisoned they are going to be sick and have problems for the rest of their lives. Myself being poisoned by several exposures, my first as a child riding a bike behind the mosquito truck fogging (how many of us did that in the 60’s), the Exxon-Valdez spill washing oil soaked Otters and research work in Arkansas Little Rock Air Force Base where next door they manufactured the Agent Orange, Blue, Purple, White, DDT, Heptachlor, Lindane, Aldrine, Toulene, etc, the list goes on and I was exposed and it has taken a toll on my life so I do speak from personal knowledge and experience and that is another whole story.

I sincerely applaud the efforts of these people in trying to help the wildlife and the environment by removing an unnecessary evil from our world. This is a wonderful plan and one that I strongly support and know that it is of great benefit for all involved. What I do have a problem with is the lack of study or follow up on what happens to these birds when fledging takes place. It seems all the focus is on the nest box, owlets hatching, the hunting and the rodent count, it ends there in all the research that I am seeing.

WILDLIFE REHABILITATION & BABY BIRDS

Now, from my years of research and work as a wildlife rehabilitator, I know what it takes for babies to fledge successfully. I am proud to say that I spent several years researching for one of Audubon’s “Breeding Birds Atlas”. Baby birds are wonderful little creatures, so cute and with a brain that is so easily “imprinted” that there is a lot of care in rehabilitation. There is so much “learned behavior” that comes from the parents, just like humans, that being a foster parent to one is very hard and must be done as to not imprint them on humans yet teach them how to survive in the wild, hunt, kill and know their own kind for mating. This was my career for decades and I loved it, the favorite part was after so much hard work caring, feeding, teaching, finally releasing into the wild was such a joy and thrill. But it all ways had an underlying fear of “Will they make it?” in the back of my mind. I know I did everything I could to teach them to be free wild birds, but did I do enough to ensure survival? That thought all ways crept into my mind, what more can I do, what am I forgetting, what am I missing, did I do ok, etc.

I am seeing a HUGE problem and feel it is necessary to focus on this if there is going to be any real meaning to what humans are doing. The concept of nest boxes and owls for rodent control is wonderful but what is being done now in agriculture and suburban tracts is not complete and I know that this needs to be changed. Baby birds need “branching” and a means to get back into the nest for at least the first week of fledging. Fledging doesn’t “just happen”, it is a slow learning/teaching activity that takes place from the nest box to the safety of trees. Without this, IMO, survival rates of the owlets is dangerously low. No wonder wildlife centers are inundated with young owlets not ready to be on their own, many have been found by people, some times in the craziest places. I worry about the ones that haven’t been found and are left exposed in the open to the predators that stalk the fields looking for such an opportunity for an easy meal. This danger in itself is enough to warrant more thorough study of what is needed for successful fledging and flying of owlets.

Many people this spring had the opportunity to witness the process through the streaming of several owl boxes on the internet. I am so grateful to the wonderful people who took the time and made the effort to ensure the safety of the owlets and the successful fledging was their priority. I congratulate them all and think they did a wonderful job considering it was their first time dealing with these creatures of the night. I also want to thank them because had it not been for them this issue wouldn’t of been brought to my realization (AHA moment) that there was a problem with nest boxes being stuck on poles in the middle of a treeless habitat. There was also an opportunity to witness with the artificial nest boxes a natural nest in a tree cavity complete with ants, bees and every other creepy crawly thingy. This gave everyone a perspective of what a natural nest cavity and rearing young in a truly wild setting was like.

HOW CAN WE FIX THIS!

Solution???? It is so easy to correct and can be done many ways with different options considering the location, habitat and environmental situations surrounding the nest box. The easiest fix is designing a branching system from PVC pipe wrapped with nylon sissel rope at least 1 inch apart per wrap and then going back in a criss cross pattern to provide for a rough grabbing surface that can be attached to the nest box or pole itself. PVC being light weight and weather proof would be the best, simplest and most cost efficient and nylon sissel will be fine in the sun and other elements. Taking into account also the need for a strong grabbing, launching and landing needs of the owlets feet, this needs to be sturdy and at least several inches in diameter because after being in a nest the whole experience of grabbing onto a branch and curling your talons is brand new and a “Learned behavior”. It would also be easy to design a perch type structure out of PVC to stick in the ground (or a 5 gallon bucket of concrete to move later if needed) in front of the nest box with extensions starting at least 3 feet above ground to allow for fallen babies to find the way back up to the nest and safety.

We all saw how that worked at 3 of the 4 nest boxes we watched that provided this. The 4^th which did not provide any branching showed us just exactly what happens when there is nothing. Lucky for those babies help eventually arrived due to so many people being upset and eventually they had the branching they needed to continue to the fledging process, but I am worried about the ones we don’t see. Also, the branching provided was way to small in diameter as we watched the remaining owlet struggling to hold on to such a small branch and moving about on them was difficult being so twig like. It wasn’t sturdy enough either to hold up under wing exercising, landing and take offs as we saw that if fell apart.

THE PERFECT NEST BOX DESIGN, SIZE & NEEDS OF OWLS

I also want to say something about the size of these nest boxes. Ideally, as I have witnessed and observed the optimal size is approximately 22 x 22 x 24 with a nest hole cut approximately 6-8” high into the side. With a hole the proper size for a Barn Owl you can have a perch on the outside because a predator like a Great Horn Owl will not be able to get it’s bigger head in. Also a thought would be some kind of perch on the inside at the hole for more than one baby to sit on and watch the world as they mature. Along with those suggestions I feel it is wise to have a front porch across the front of the nest box for all the babies to congregate along with some type of rough strapping on the roof since this is a point of take off, landing and wing flapping so they need to be able to grip with their talons while they do this activity.

Watching these nests I noticed how much room the young owlets need once they are ready to start moving around more with their jumping, taloning nesting pellet material and wing flapping behavior. The small boxes don’t allow for much movement at all, just simple wing spread/stretch that most times is getting impinged from the sides, roof and siblings. Also noted is that in the heat of the day the owlets lay down, stretch out and pant to cool their selves. In the smaller nests it isn’t possible to do that and another big factor is no air circulation to help cool and the addition of the siblings body heat must make it miserable to endure the afternoons until the sun goes down to give them much needed relief which brings me to another point about ventilation.

Simply slapping a wooden box together does not make a safe or comfortable nest, there has to be some kind of significant air flow and drainage provided because if there isn’t then there is a great possibility for heat exhaustion, bacteria multiplying and other problems developing from stagnate air, decaying prey, pellets and poop (which BTW in avians is a combination of urine and feces).

In doing further research regarding the "perfect" nest box, I stubled upon some thing called a "Roosting Room" that makes a lot of sense, especially for the nests on poles in agricultural settings.

A roosting room for the parents to perch in during the day while the young occupy the nesting area. This room usually has the same size opening as the main cavity, and is crossed with perches with 14 inches or so of head space. No floor is recommended for this room so as to permit castings and fecal material to fall to the ground. I found this info in a site that talks about using Barn Owls for Rodent control and think this is an excellent option to add to the Barn Owl nest box. Besides being a place for the parents to roost during the day it would also be ideal for the young owlets to use before fledging to get a good picture and idea of what the real world has to offer like nothing under your feet. Just a thought but I think worth mentioning and worth doing in agricultural or other places where there isn't a lot of perching opportunities. This also provides a place for hiding when there are predators around to.

There are laws against leaving pets in closed vehicles, etc., but nothing to protect the wildlife and little lives that are depending on us using our brains. In open nests in trees the babies by instinct raise their little behinds up and all most over the side of the nest to excrete keeping the nest clean. That isn’t the case in these enclosed nest boxes and I have been so fortunate to know how bad they can smell.

MY CONCLUSIONS

I think I have pretty much covered what I wanted to get out into the public forum and am going to be hoping that the public sees the need and understands that the wildlife needs them. We need to push the entities that are in charge that there is much more to an owl or any avian nest box besides just sticking it up. There are little wild lives that are counting on us to make it safe for them and I can only just accept the fact that until now there was no help, but I can go on now knowing that again, I have tried to make a difference for the wildlife and our planet with my “AHA Moment”. I hope as many people as possible will take action and get involved in their own community and also afar via emails, letters, etc to help these precious little wild lives. All ways remember, it is up to us humans to make change, everything we do impacts the environment and we must remain vigilant in our effort to Save The Wildlife, after all it is the future.

Peace and blessings
© 2010