Bird rescue

One of the interesting events the past week, for me, occured (as is often the case) at the barn when I went out to ride on Thursday afternoon. Things were pretty quiet last week as the instructors and a number of horses and riders had gone to an out of province horse show, so there were only a few of us around most days.

One of the young Pony Club girls was tacking up in the alleyway, and I had Alpac just about ready to go when the other rider that was there gave us a heads up about the barn cats being in the riding ring. Generally speaking they aren't encouraged to be in the ring for safety concerns (their safety for obvious reasons of potential trampling underfoot by a horse, ours due to the spook factor when a cat suddenly shoots out from under a jump at mach speed and the horse reacts accordingly) but they seemed to be on a hunting mission of some sort from the description given. By the time Alpac and I hit the ring, the cats had both left, so I figured they had finished off some poor little rodent and that was it. I've had to retreat to the indoor ring of late, much against my wishes, since the outdoors is often very slippery and muddy due to the many downpours we have had, and (even more of a consideration) due to the appalling number of tormenting biting flies that plague the horses unless we are in a gale force wind. All in all, it's been easier just to stay in for the last week, although the flies are bad there as well.

I was just tightening the girth when I heard a strange whacking noise in the southwest corner. It seemed a little odd and unaccountable, but I carried on with what I was doing until I heard it again, quite distinctly. I thought I saw some movement in that corner as well, so left Alpac to his own devices while I went to investigate. There in the dirt of the riding ring was a bird, which as I watched rose up and flew blindly at the wall, whacking into it and bouncing back to the ground. This was what the cats had been after, but since there was a triangular jump piece stored in that corner, the bird had been able to evade the cats until they gave up and left. Now it was in a blind panic and was surely going to finish itself off if I didn't intervene. I got an ice cream pail and was able to capture it in the pail, meanwhile calling for help in the form of a sturdy box, which Oliver the barn man supplied. I got the bird into the box which I duct taped shut and stowed safely in my locker so that the cats couldn't finish the job while I rode.

Mark (grandson) was with me and I had him check for signs of life after my ride while I was putting Alpac away. He said he was pretty sure he could hear fluttering, so I took the box along and we headed back to the city. Luckily I have contacts in the local wildlife rescue world (see the post of a couple of weeks ago, July 14) so I left a message with Jan that I had an injured bird that would need some help. Her husband Stan appeared at my door a while later, and off the bird went.

After a couple of days, I phoned Jan to see how the bird was doing, and was amazed to hear from her that I had rescued a Northern Shrike, which is an endangered species. When she opened the box and realized what it was, she rushed it up to the vet collage where their bird person was equally amazed and thrilled. At last report (earlier today) the shrike is still with us, undergoing antibiotic treatment to head off potential infection which is common when birds have been assaulted by cats. When it is ready to be released, I'll pick it up and take it back to Ebon where I will set it free, in an area well away from the cats. I did see another shrike at the barn yesterday, and now realize that they are the birds I have seen fairly regularly all summer, I just didn't know what they were. Here's a link to some information on shrikes http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Shrike.html#sound

No shrike photos because I haven't seen them when I've had the camera at the barn, although now that I know what to look for maybe I'll get lucky later this summer.

I have been working on prairie heritage images this past week, since the gift shop at the local Western Development Museum is going to be carrying a selection of my photos. I did up a couple of new images for them, and have printed a number of others that are on theme.

First shot is of a grain elevator that I have set in front of a Saskatchewan sunset sky.

Second is a new war pony piece, and the third is another war pony one, featuring Homer, who belongs to the Ebon barn man, Oliver. Homer is a favourite subject of mine and appears fairly regularly in my work, especially in his war pony incarnation. I did a photo shoot this afternoon of Oliver riding Homer bareback, which I will work with to make some "historic" looking war pony and rider works, when I get the time (which is to say, don't hold your breath). Oliver is pretty good about humoring me and my odd requests for photo shoots of him and his horse, which is a real bonus for someone with my interests. And of course I have to add a crow or so on all possible occasions, so there they are with the war ponies.