Miles Story Number Two

Miles has been a staple for our Birds And Art Workshops with teaching partner Bev Glueckert at the Missoula Art Museum for 15 years. For a week the young students learn about anatomy with our birds, have sketching sessions, then make paper mache raptors to take home, decorated in the finest fashion.  I always tell the kids that I will be over to their house in five or ten years to make sure they still have their sculptures in their bedrooms. Now the story - I was just at a convenience store in Missoula and a tall young man leaned over the counter from the cash register and asked, "You're Kate, right? I have to tell you that my mother threw my owl away when I went to college, sorry." It was a Miles paper mache sculpture, I remembered him and all is forgiven, promise.

Miles Story Number One

In 2002 Miles had a punctured cornea, his eye fluid drained and looking deathly. He may have had a dispute with his roommate Bobo the Great Horned Owl, these two males irritated with each other during breeding season, all I can think. I called our veterinarian Scott Bovard to see if he could take a look and he said to bring Miles in that evening. In the meantime, he was at Community Hospital looking for tiny suture needles for the surgery and ran into human eye doctor, Dr. James Randall. "I'll operate!" Jim volunteered. So that evening in Dr. Bovard's clinic, they sewed up the perforations, eyelid stapled shut to heal, and the Grizzly Football team winning their national championship on radio. Months later we were invited to speak in Big Sky, Montana:

Raptor Round-Up Number 13, April 2003:

Dr. Bart Martyak asked us to present a program for the Montana Academy of Ophthalmology, and Mom and I made a real trek of it. Deja the Harris's Hawk did a flight display for the doctors and guests. Buster the Saw-whet Owl made every say “awww”, but the highlight of the evening was Miles the Great Horned Owl. His eye surgeon Dr. Jim Randall was in the audience and we discussed avian vision and Miles’ full recovery from a puncture wound. They received a resounding standing ovation!

Doctors Jim and Scott are heroes, Miles the owl lived another 14 years, and my Mom had eye surgery performed by Dr. Randall years later and can see better than ever before! There's a story.

Please Remember Miles

A very sorrowful report that our Miles the Great Horned Owl has died, program favorite in hundreds and hundreds of appearances, his last one on Montana Public Radio two months ago. He spent 18 years with us after hitting a power line and was missing feathers as a result. Who knows his real age as he was an adult when he joined us, and his time as an educator will be cherished. Miles (Davis) lived with Jillian the female Great Horned and he'd been hooting up a storm and eating his mice, but was often laying down and I suspected that old age was taking its toll. Miles has great stories and I will recount a few coming up, this photo taken with film in 1999 at the old Raptor Ranch in Clinton. So sad, and love you Miles.

Raptor Round-Up Number 50!

On line now, check it out! In living color, thanks Webmaster Steve Palmer, for posting and creating our web site starting in 1990-something!
http://www.raptorsoftherockies.org/main.asp?id=newsletter

More from Last Night

I think I figured out a method of shooting these battles, and we'll see if it works. It has to do with deleting a bunch of photos…it's so fast! Check out the Osprey's feet - toes WIDE open and deadly.

Might Be a Hard One To See

Osprey attacking the male Bald Eagle tonight. That's the Osprey in the background, screaming eagle in the front: More attacks on the way, guarantee!

Hours of Nothing

I got sick of filling out numbers on the non-profit 990 tax form so headed to the beach early yesterday at 4:30. Nothing until right at dark with a change of guard and the female headed back to the nest. Oh well, very relaxing standing there with a couple of Steely Dan songs stuck in my head.

Observation Partner

My mother (in her early 80's) has become quite the Peregrine observer this season, and yesterday spotted one before I did. We witnessed a pigeon delivery to the female and I think have nailed the nest location for one pair up the Blackfoot. It's on old site from 12 or so years ago, I swear. Try another spot tomorrow and then I'll be sticking mailing labels and stamps on 200 Raptor Round-Up Newsletters. Filling out my 990 income tax forms today…yawn. You have to mix the merriment with the mundane!

BAEA

Friday Fun

That's Joan Richarde at the MTPR studios yesterday, drumming up support for public radio, Pea Green Boat host Annie Garde across the glass in the control room. Please pledge your support! Tomorrow at midnight is the finale and a long way to go. We can do it!
Then Annie and I attended the dedication of the new Byron Weber Classroom at the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, supercool. She's telling the story about how he had radio listeners hang sheets by their porch lights at night to collect moths. Many, many such stories from family and friends. Hard to believe but it was six years ago exactly that hundreds attended Byron's memorial service after his tragic death. He was a staple on Pea Green Boat, live (and pinned) insects and spiders on the air the last Friday of the month. More of Byron on the way.

Squirrel Feast

Last night, the male eagle brought in two fresh Colombian Ground Squirrels in less than ten minutes. How does he do it? We used to feed them to our eagles, trapped at a colony near Missoula. After a few years, our webmaster finally had the courage to ask how we ground the squirrels up, in a blender? True story. Guess he never took Mammalogy class.

Peregrine City

Lucking out on the Peregrines lately, photos from the Blackfoot - just after copulation, and the male (the one that was on top!) flew downstream and came back from a cache somewhere with this prey item. Close scrutiny and it's a duck, maybe a teal. Then Mac Donofrio and I were treated to a parade of accipiters up One Horse Creek - two Cooper's Hawks flying all over the canyon in tandem, then two Sharp-shinned Hawks, perhaps migrating north. Finally a pair of Peregrines below us on the cliff face, whew. We were getting a little worried in typical falcon-watcher fashion.

Even Better!

Tonight with the female over the nest:

April 18th

Peregrine on the Blackfoot. Bald Eagle on the Bitterroot.