Megan Mosby
Executive Director
New year, new calendar, new important dates to add…grab your calendar so you don’t miss out on any of the new fun-draising events for the year. Use this blog as a “save the date” opportunity.
On February 24th , we are featuring our next event in the Sippin’ the Spirit of the Southwest series. Detailed information is included at the end of this blog.
Our Wild Ones Orphan Shower takes place on March 9th from 10:00 to 1:00.
On May 4th , we will be presenting a Wine with Wildlife event from 4:00 to 7:00.
More information will follow on these other events as well as a couple of not yet scheduled events including a Wildlife in Art event and an evening run.
We have a monthly speaker series that highlights our educational topic for the month and a free monthly movie night that also explores the featured topic of the month. If you check our website, you can get more timely details.
We appreciate your support of these events. It allows us to fulfill our mission.
This Week @ Liberty – Jan 15, 2019
Well, we’re starting a new year and we are almost at 100 animals two weeks into 2019. Each year we learn a little more how better to do things at the new place so we’re now in the major “planning mode” along with our usual tasks. The animals are coming in slowly still, but the days of 1-2 a day are over for another year. Orphan Care is spooling up as is my Window Team and construction is a never-ending process. When I was still flying I always remarked at the message on the terminal information that we got when approaching the next airport “Caution for construction men and equipment” – like there was ever a time when there wasn’t construction taking place, much like Liberty Wildlife! But, time marches on…
As noted in the last update, hummingbirds are among the earliest species to arrive each year. This year is no exception as these two little patients came in recently. Most of what we get in are of the Anna’s type with a few Costa’s thrown in. During the first cold snap. many of the ones that show up here are merely in torpor and after some time in a warm brooder and a little high octane nectar, they are good to go!
(Look for 2 photos)
You might remember at our old facility we had a gimpy roadrunner that set up housekeeping near the feeding station out front. He would hang out while the education birds were being fed each day, waiting for some scraps to fall to the ground. The hand feeders took to tossing him a spare mouse every so often and he learned that he could rely on Liberty for a free meal. Now, we have another greater roadrunner with an obviously broken leg that has shown up at our intake window. He is also being periodically fed since his ability to keep his crop full on his own is somewhat compromised. His leg has healed on its own so if we caught him, there’s nothing much we could do for him. As long as he has adapted to his present situation, we decided it was best to just leave him alone to survive on his own terms. “Hop Along”? “Stumpy”? Call him what you will, he’s a fixture at the window.
(Look for 2 photos)
The two mallard ducks that nested behind our facility last year have apparently decided that it was a good place to live. They have returned but since the foliage they used for cover last year has been largely removed, they have not yet found a new nest spot. They occasionally invite some friends over but the parties are fairly subdued so we don’t mind…
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Our coatimundi, Groot, is still in training for doing education displays. Laura Hackett has been taking him for morning walks around the compound for both exercise and getting him better socialized for the future. A few select volunteers have been joining in the training and will make up the “Groot” team when he is ready for the public.
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This northern flicker arrived not long ago, presenting an injured wing. These are particularly beautiful birds whose feathers are highly sought after by native Americans through the Non-Eagle Feather Repository program. It’s fairly easy to see why this would be from these two photos.
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We are constantly woking to upgrade and enhance our facility to make it more attractive for possible event rentals. Recently Dr. Orr’s daughter Wendy was married here and her father, Dr. Irv Ingram worked on several projects to make the event the success it was. This arbor was constructed and then donated to us for future use as was a complete set of outside lights and several outdoor propane heat towers (yes, there are times when it gets cool enough in Arizona to require some supplemental thermal augmentation!)
Thanks to every one who worked on the event and who donated substantially to our facility!
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A pretty great horned owl was brought in by the public this week. It was reported that he flew into the side of a building and this would be consistent with his presentation. Lane and Lilly performed the initial assessment including getting his weight and cleaning obvious wound damage. This is the first of what will undoubtedly be many more GHOs this year.
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We have some fairly recognizable birds that we use for education, including a couple of famous eagles. We have one bald eagle that rides on the Verde Canyon Railroad once a month making Sonora the only train riding bald eagle in the country. And then there is Aurora, seen here riding with Joe Miller in the Fiesta Bowl Parade! This was great exposure for both Aurora and Liberty as the event was televised to a national audience.
(Look for 1 picture)
Posted by Terry Stevens
Operations Director