Icy's Playce: February 2010

Okay I have some great photos and funny stories to share with you, but don't have the time right now on my lunch to be able to cram it all in (if you are a blogger yourself you know how long it can take to upload pictures and well I also have to do some self-editing to figure out just which ones I want to put up). I know it is highly unlikely for me to get to a posting tonight, but I will definitely get one out over the weekend. Hold me to it!

From the sounds of it the hummingbirds are starting to come back up to the island, so that will mean me getting my feeder set back up and my camera poised once again. I also saw 2 bald eagles in a *blushing* compromising position today on my way to work. /sigh this is a good feeling, but also means we may start getting busier before our "normal" season. I also saw my first bumble bee today as I have the work door wide open to let in fresh warm air and gorgeous sunlight (it is helping the floor wax cure faster too)! Looks like spring is trying to sprung here.

Okay that is about all the time I have right now to fill you in. I will give you a picture or 2 though just to hold you over.

Eagle flying over Wolf Hollow.

Female Downy Woodpecker back by our Eagle flight cage.

Bald Eagle taking off from a tree across from a deer carcass.

Hope you enjoyed those!

Okay, I have become a bad blogger. Once a month... sorry? What can I say I have been quite busy and it has been great! It has been really nice. So I guess I need to rewind to give you some catch up time. A few weeks ago Shaun and I headed off island for what was to be a fun day; a scouting trip for his up-and-coming boys winter camp out (well, it is happening at this very moment). We caught the 8 am ferry off the island and headed up to Baker Lake. There we explored many different roads and found some snow to go play in and attempted to get the truck stuck.. not good when these are roads that help probably wouldn't be coming along for days. Soon we headed back down from the Mountain/Lake to hit up the big city of Burlington for some dinner, mainland shopping, and then back to the ferry to make it back home for the night. Well, the plan got diverted.

How you might ask? A flat tire, and a truck that the lug wrench was missing and a jack that wasn't tall enough to lift the truck to change the flat. What should have been a 15 minute exchange took us 2 1/2 hours. Once we knew we had to go on a mission to find a star lug wrench, all bets were off on getting it done before eating (we were both fading fast from not eating). After dinner at Red Robin, we went on a search for a lug wrench finally getting a collapsible wrench from Shuck's Auto. The work began... once the tire was off that is when we found the jack wasn't tall enough, put the flat back on, attempted to put a 4x4 under the jack.. now it was too tall! ugh.. looking around we both saw Office Depot.. both of us thought at the same time.. ream of paper? I walked over to buy one as they were locking their doors @ 7 pm WTF!!!! Well, good thing Target was right there so I walked over and bought one. Success. Too bad that the last boat was leaving Anacortes at that time. Very tired, we did the shopping we needed to do and then discussed what the game plan was going to be. Shaun's mom and step-dad were up at the Skagit casino for her birthday, so we decided to head up there and spend time with them. Dan did well at the penny slots (that is all they have for slots) but Shaun and I both played for fun (i.e. donated all the money we put in). It was pretty fun that is for sure. Well we all got some sleep and caught the afternoon ferry back to the island.

Shaun & I catch the 8 am ferry off the island.

He kept calling me Miss Macgyver b/c I kept coming up with ideas to help.

Using the collapsible wrench with my hair tie as the jack spinner since the lug wrench was mia.

Just last weekend was a fully packed weekend.. first came an all girl's party on Saturday night, Sorry no pictures to share as there was male entertainment and he didn't give his permission for any of his pictures to be used online. Which is fine b/c well, I wasn't that into the whole scene anyway (been there, done that, have the picture with me and 6 of them :P). I headed over to Shaun's sister's house where he was watching his niece to play some video games after she went to sleep for the night. His sister (at the same party as I was) came in shortly after I arrived, that can tell you just how good it was. She challenged me to some Guitar Hero... I actually did better than her, but I think that is b/c she was a bit on the inebriated side (it has been a very long time since she has had anything to drink). She has asked for a rematch so probably tomorrow she will take the title back.

Shaun snaps a picture of me "rocking out"

Erika looks on as I play a song.

Of course the next day was Superbowl Sunday so there was a whole lot of fun to be had. We went up to a friend of Shaun's house, John, to watch the game and have some fun. And that we definitely did. With a bit of clay shooting, beer, football, great food, and hanging out at the fire pit.

Bob shoots at clays while Tony pulls.

I Love this photo. Classic photo of the life I know from back in the day.

John's turn

Of course you always need wood for the fire pit. All pregame.

Now work stuff. We have a Canada Goose in that appears to have been shot, there was a break to the tibiotarsus and a pellet in the under part of the foot. We did surgery to remove the pellet and then used a metal spatula as a splint. We had to cut it down to actually fit the leg better.

We also have quite a few raptors in: 2 bald eagles, 2 red tail hawks, the wintered turkey vulture, and a sharp-shinned hawk. One of the eagles has a broken wing we will just have to see how it heals. The sharp-shinned had an injured wing and right now we are hoping that he just needs to regain strength in it. One red tail hawk has tendon/ligament damage to a wing (crossing our fingers it gets better). The other red tail just seems to have had a minor bump and is in the process of getting fit for release. The vulture is good to go, just waiting for more vultures to be around in the area. As for the last eagle, well that one is a tough one. Has been at the center for almost 3 weeks and just isn't processing foods well. Losing weight even with all the calories we are pumping into him. Plus he had blood lead toxicity upon arrival, we treated for the blood lead, but we don't know what kind of damage it has already done to the organs. Just looking for a change positive or negative to know what our next step is. Okay after that sadness here are some photos from work.

Michelle (DVM), uses some precision tools to cut down the spatula.

Cutting it down, sorry I don't have any pics of the procedure (Shona took them all as I was acting as the tech and monitoring breathing and the equipment)

The red tail prepping for release.. lunch (a quail) is in the talon.

Getting ready to fly off with the quail.

Just a parting shot.. This was the view when we went and picked up the sick eagle from Lonesome Cove Resort. I thought it was pretty cool. Wish I had my good camera with me instead of my point and shoot.