Transporting in late August into September

On December 14, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

It was a busy summer transporting injured birds around to the different rehabbers in the Tampa bay area. In late August this barred owl made the trip from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay to Moccasin Lake Park Raptor Sanctuary along with a screech owl. Both had injured eyes and were going to see a vet nearby that specializes in injured eyes.

While I was at Moccasin Lake Park I stopped in to see some of the resident and rehabbing birds in the hospital. There were several kestrels there and a few had missing eyes.

This peregrine falcon also had an injured eye and was waiting to see a vet. I don’t see these guys often out in the wild.

A few days later the same barred owl along with another one made the trip back to the Raptor Center. Both will eventually be released. The injured eye should heal.

Also in my car that day was a great horned owl that had his injured wing reset by the vet. Once his wing heals he will be released.

In early September I had 3 red shoulder hawks in my car on their way from the Raptor Center to Penny, the rehabber in south St. Pete. They had all been injured and rehabbed and Penny was going to release them. I only got a shot of one since they were boxed up and I wasn’t about to open those boxes with healed hawks in them.

A box of baby squirrels also made the trip.

The next day I got a call asking to transport an injured crested caracara. I’ve only seen these guys a few times out in the wild and I was happy I could do this transport but sad that it was injured. He was found in central Florida. They rarely venture near the Tampa bay area and can be found along cow pastures in central Florida. They are a type of falcon although they act like vultures eating mostly roadkill but will also eat live small animals.

Leaving the Raptor Center with the caracara I had to stop and roll down my window and take a few shots with my phone of a sandhill crane family that was down the street.

The lost baby squirrels never end. This still hairless guy made the trip to Penny and he had a baby dove with him.

A young possum and an older baby squirrel also made the trip.

By mid-September I had another carload heading to a rehabber. A barred owl and a huge red tail hawk are pictured. I also had 2 red shoulder hawks.

And a tshirt full of baby squirrels that had just been dropped off at the Raptor Center while I was picking up the birds.

A few days later 3 boxes of baby squirrels made the trip to Penny, the squirrel expert, in south St, Pete. It was close to the end of baby squirrel season and hopefully these were the last lost ones.

My first eagle passenger

On April 13, 2024April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

An early morning transport had me driving an injured red shoulder hawk and a black vulture from the Raptor Center in Brandon to Penny, the rehabber, in south St. Pete. I didn’t get a picture of the vulture. He was in a box and was jumping around a lot so didn’t want to open the box. I think he was being released soon.

A few days later I got an emergency call to see if I could pick up an injured eagle that was being rescued. It was only 15 minutes from my house so I jumped in the car and met George from Birds In Helping Hands who had just grabbed the eagle. The eagle had been on the ground in someone’s backyard and they called it in.

George put the eagle in a crate and put it in the back of my car. My first eagle passenger put up a little fight at first so I thought he might be okay. The entire drive to the Raptor Center I was hoping it wasn’t rat poison which would have been bad. When I got to the Center and Nancy went to take him out of my car we realized he did not survive the trip. I was crushed, fighting back tears. His crop was torn wide open so he hadn’t eaten in a long time. Nancy thinks he must have eaten a fish with a big fishing hook in it and it tore through.

The rescues and transports continue. A huge white pelican was rescued in someone’s yard by Carol (on the right) and brought to the nearby Raptor Center. I met her there and then transported it to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary. Two hawks (in the boxes) made the trip as well and went to Penny on the way home.

There’s a constant stream of screech owls getting rescued. This was found on the ground not too far from my home and I got it from Barbara, the rescuer, and drove it out to the center.

February 1st brought another trip to a rehabber with a red shoulder hawk and a crow. Most of the birds are quiet in the car but that crow was cawwing all the way there.

Baby squirrel season had already started here. There were 3 in the box. The one mostly covered under the towel had no fur yet. There were 2 tiny bats that were found on the ground as well. Bats can carry rabies but it’s very rare for a person to get a rabies from a bat. I didn’t open the box. Penny opened it when I got to her home. She’s been vaccinated for rabies and rehabilitates bats.

A few days later I transported a great horned owl with a bang on his head and an injured beak and a turkey vulture that was sick.

Two days later another box of baby squirrels went to Penny. This box also had a tiny baby bunny in it (on the orange).

A wood stork with a broken wing also made the trip. He was heading to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park to live once he healed.

In the middle of February a sick sanderling was found in central Florida. Someone brought him into the Raptor Center and I drove him from there to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary out on the beach. They are experts with rehabbing shorebirds so he was in good hands.

The sick/injured wildlife never ends here so I have more to share but I’ll save that for another post.

Critter transports in mid-September

On December 23, 2023December 19, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

More rescue transports for the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay. These are from the middle of September into October. I got a text in the middle of September that a baby squirrel needed a ride from an emergency vet to a rehabber. Emergency vets will take in wildlife but they usually don’t treat them. They call rehabbers to come and get them. This teeny tiny baby needed to get warmed up and fed so I made the trip and brought it to the Raptor Center. It’s better if the parent raises the babies but someone had found it in their yard and the Mom never came back.

A few days later I headed over to the Raptor Center to take a box full of squirrels and an injured crow to Penny, the rehabber in St. Pete.

On the way from Brandon to St. Pete I stopped at an emergency vet in South Tampa. Someone had found a Cooper’s hawk laying down in their driveway. I was crushed when I picked up this beautiful hawk and saw how sick he was. He had either been hit by a car or had eaten a poisoned rat. Either way he had a tough road ahead. If it was a poisoned rat he will probably not make it.

A week later I made another trip from the Raptor Center to Penny, the rehabber. This time it was a young squirrel and the cutest baby bunny.

A few days later I made another trip with the same type passengers. This baby bunny was even tinier.

Early October brought my first gopher tortoise passenger and there were 3 of them. Two had been hit by a car and one had been found lost on a construction site. They made the trip from Raptor Center to Swamp Girl Adventures in Kissimmee, near Disney World. Kim at Swamp Girl specializes in rehabbing all types of turtles/torts and other reptiles. Gopher tortoises have Florida state-designated threatened protection due mostly to loss of habitat from over population and building. They are listed as a rare species in this area and there are several programs trying to re-introduce them into the wild. These guys were very special passengers.

The next week was a quick trip. A great horned owl with an injured eye had been picked up by a rescuer near my home and I picked it up from her and drove it out to Raptor Center in Brandon.

In mid-October I had a car full of critters that I had picked up at the Raptor Center and drove down to Penny in St. Pete to finish rehabbing and eventually release. An osprey with an injured wing, the same owl with the injured eye I had picked up days before, an injured screech owl and a tortoise. The tortoise was not a gopher but someone’s pet that had an injured shell. A dog had bitten through the young shell and the tortoise was surrendered to a vet. I’m not sure what Penny will do with it once she fixes the shell. Maybe it will get sent to a zoo or sanctuary.

So many boxes of baby squirrels.

On November 11, 2023November 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We didn’t get much rain in mid-August but it poured the afternoon I needed to get some injured wildlife to a rehabber. This trip I stopped at the emergency vet office and picked up some lost baby squirrels to add to the box of baby squirrels I was taking to Penny (the crazy busy rehabber in south St. Pete). After the vet office I stopped at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and picked up more baby squirrels, a tiny baby opossum, a juvenile opossum and a juvenile red bellied woodpecker. They all made the trip to Penny’s so they could finish growing up before being released. And yes, that box of squirrels also had the tiny opossum. We put him in the squirrel box to keep warm since it had a warming gel pad under the towels.

A few days later I made a quick trip to the vet office to pick a lost baby squirrel and a pigeon with an injured wing and take them both to the Raptor Center.

The next day I made another trip to take the above from the Raptor Center to Penny in south St. Pete. That little baby opossum was just too cute when Nancy picked him up to put him in the box to make the trip. More baby squirrels and an injured black vulture (my first vulture passenger). A laughing gull also made this trip.

The next week I brought more lost baby squirrels and an opossum to Penny. The tiny bird was an Island canary that was found sick and exhausted. It was banded and Penny was going to try and find the owner. It was either an escapee or was released.

The day after Hurricane Idalia skirted by the Tampa bay area was a busy rescue day. People had brought Nancy baby squirrels that had fallen out of trees the day of the hurricane and a juvenile osprey had fallen off the nest. I picked them up in the morning and took them down to Penny. She took the osprey out of the crate while I was there and checked her out. She didn’t look injured so she should be released as soon as she’s eating and flying.

Later that afternoon I got a request to pick up some more lost critters that had come in from the emergency vet office. I picked up more baby squirrels and the cutest baby duck. I drove them right down to Penny’s.

In early September I got my first turtle passenger. A soft shell turtle had swallowed a fishing hook. I drove it over to Swamp Girl Adventures in Kissimmee, just outside of Orlando. Kim took the turtle and said they shouldn’t have a problem getting that hook out. I have to say that turtle was the stinkiest passenger I have had. It does live in a swamp after all. I hosed out the blue tub and left my windows rolled down for a day and the smell was gone.

Rescue trips in the first half of August

On October 23, 2023April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The Raptor Center of Tampa Bay put out a request for a volunteer to pick up an injured turtle that someone had brought in to a vet. Thinking it may have been hit by a car. This is my first sad trip. I got to the vet office and they told me it had just passed away. It was probably in bad shape when it was brought it. As I was fighting back the tears they said “We do have an injured duck. Can you take that to a rehabber?” My response was “Of course”

So this cutie made the trip to the Raptor Center all alone. It looked a little scratched up but otherwise in good shape.

This little wide eyed cutie made the trip from the Raptor Center to a rehabber near St. Pete. Paula at Crikey Wildlife Rescue specializes in rehabbing and releasing raccoons and squirrels. She has had the rabies vaccine and can work with older raccoons, although rabies is fairly rare in our area (only 1 case this year and zero last year in Pinellas county).

I had a carload of red shoulder hawks in the back of my SUV on this trip. Two had been brought in on the same day and both had been shot. The third one had an injured wing.

Nancy from the Raptor Center was able to get them x-ray’d to confirm that the 2 had been shot. Above is one of the x-rays. You can see the tiny bullet near the end of his wing. Who does that? Maybe the hawks were stealing chickens from a farmer or backyard? I would hate to think they were just randomly shot but it could happen.

All three were headed to a vet in Nokomis (south of Sarasota), about an hour away from the Raptor Center. The vet works with wildlife and was going to take the bullets out of the 2 and look at the other one with an injured wing. Since they would stay overnight I just dropped them off and someone nearby was bringing them back later.

The vet was 10 minutes from Nokomis beach so I stopped and got out for a few minutes to stretch my legs before heading home (it would be close to 2 hours to get back to my house). It would have been a perfect morning if it wasn’t so hot. I should have brought my swimsuit and gone for a dip.

Heading over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to get back home. Not much traffic this morning (which is rare).

This tiny young squirrel was brought into a vet one morning. I picked him up and headed straight to the rehabber Penny in south St. Pete.

In mid-August we had a bad storm move through the area and the next day there were quite a few baby squirrels that were brought in. Nests or babies falling from trees in the storm. I drove out to the Raptor Center in Brandon and picked up a large box of squirrels. All different ages and they were huddled together for warmth. They were all going to Penny in south St. Pete to grow up and eventually get released.

A crow with an injured wing also made the trip. He yelled the entire trip.

I had heard there was a rare Egyptian goose that had showed up in the area near where Penny lives. Since I was going to be down there I threw my camera in the car and after dropping off the squirrels and crow I headed to the nearby lake. He was very easy to find. I pulled over and snapped a couple of shots before heading home. This was the first time I have heard of them being in Pinellas county. They are populated all over south Florida, especially in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. I couldn’t find any definite information on whether they were released on purpose or escapees from a zoo. They have been sighted in Florida since the 80’s. They are invasive like the muscovy ducks and I’m sure the neighbors hope it doesn’t have a mate.

Road trip across the state

On September 25, 2023April 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In late July I headed out to the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon to transport some critters to a rehabber in St. Pete. Penny lives down in south St. Pete and helps with the over flow of critters. She rehabs and has a team that releases them. In the back of my car I had 4 baby mockingbirds, a baby woodpecker, a box of baby opossums and juvenile osprey.

A week later the call went out for a transport that would be double stops from Brandon to areas near Orlando. One of the critters was a swallow tail kite. He had an injured wing and the best place for him to get better was at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, not quite 2 hours east of Brandon. They have huge flight barns that he could fly around in to build back up his muscles. I never thought I would have a swallow tail kite in my car!

A baby kestrel was also going to the Avian Center.

But first I had to stop in Mt Dora, almost 2 hours northeast of Brandon ( and then 20 minutes to Apopka from there). A baby racoon and a box of 10 squirrels (all different ages) were going to the Wright Rescue Ranch. There were so many baby squirrels getting separated from their Mom’s that the rescue ranch is taking them in to help them grow up before they are released. We had a heating gel pad in the box to keep them warm on the trip. Many of the babies didn’t have fur yet and get cold quickly. I love the way they all cuddle together.

Since the trip would be a little long, Nancy fed the littlest one before I left. He was so cute holding it with his little feet.

I stopped halfway to swap out the heated gel pad for a hot one and they all woke up. The bigger ones started climbing around so I had to be quick and swap out the pad.

I got to the Avian Reconditioning Center much earlier than my last trip so I took a few minutes and got out and walked around. You can see some of the big flight barns in the back.

The center houses a handful of permanently injured birds and the volunteers were out sitting with them. One of the volunteers was holding a red tailed hawk. It looked like they were having a serious conversation.

There were 2 owls sitting out. The barred owl in front was missing an eye. The great horned owl in back had a wing injury and they both are great surrogate parents to lost babies that come to the center.

I walked around the back of the tree and saw the eagle sitting farther away.

He couldn’t see out of one eye and tilted his head to look at me. I stayed pretty far back and these are all cropped up shots with my phone. It was finally time to make the 2 and half hour trip back home but it was nice to spend some time with these guys.

Cuteness overload

On April 27, 2021April 20, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals2 Comments

A few days earlier I noticed two little squirrels hanging out of a hole in a tree near the owl’s nest. When I came back to check on the owls, I saw 4 squirrel babies hanging out of the nest. They were in a highly visible spot and everyone was going crazy over the cute babies hanging out of the tree.

Two of them kept slipping back into the hole. One of them climbed up to the top of the hole but then he quickly scrambled back down. Trying to be brave but realizing that it’s a big scary world out there.

Mom came in and brought some food. I couldn’t quite tell what he was eating.

He was so cute covering his mouth while he chewed. Probably didn’t want his siblings to try and steal it.

After Mom left, these two were busy preening each other.

The squirrels eventually went back into hiding, probably to nap so it was back to paying attention to the owls. Those baby squirrels had better hide from this guy who was only one tree over. He has babies to feed as well.