Update from a Spring Lake friend...

SASHA

Those of you who were Spring Lake residents in 2006 may remember the rescue, rehab and release of one of our Great Horned Owls. He was named "D-Con" by his rehabilitator, Barbara Harvey of Horicon (after the rat poison that sickened him). Thanks to her compassion and skilled effort, D-Con came back to us healed and healthy, and we continue to hear his hoots and calls at dawn and dusk.
Yesterday, I received a letter from Barbara with an update about one of her favorite rescued raptors—Sasha, a Red-tailed Hawk who recently turned 25! Sasha was just four months old when she was found in a Milwaukee suburb with an arrow through one of her wings. Although the wound healed, she suffered permanent damage that affected her ability to fly and she became the property of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Barbara Harvey was called in as her rehabilitator and Sasha is now a star player in Barbara's educational presentations about birds of prey. Because most raptors don't live to see their first birthday, Sasha is indeed a rarity at age 25. But it's Sasha's demeanor, not her age, that impresses Barb. Even though she has "mellowed out," she greets each day with the same alertness and intelligence intended to keep her alive in the wild. "She's a great role model," says Barb. "I follow in her footsteps every day. She is semi-retired but shows no signs of aging except for a small cataract on her right eye. She lets me put cataract drops in daily and they work well."

In April of this year, Barb rescued a Red-tailed Hawk whose primary flight feathers had been hacked off by a wind turbine near the Horicon Marsh. Bats and migratory birds have been negatively impacted by the 86 industrial turbines near the marsh, one of the five major migratory wind routes in all of North America. This video, The Heartbreak of the Horicon, draws attention to the turbine situation near the marsh. To learn more about wind turbine siting in Wisconsin, visit Better Plan, Wisconsin.

If you're interested in hearing about Barbara Harvey's work in raptor rehabilitation and would like to meet some of her rescues (a Snowy Owl, Screech Owl and Kestrel, among others), Barb will be presenting programs at Marsh Haven Nature Center in Beaver Dam every Saturday in October (except October 27) at 1 pm and 2:30 pm.