Feathers, Beaks, Wings, and Things

This past week, I was in birds. 

Allow me to sum up for you my previous bird experience: I watched a cardinal lay eggs in front of my house when I was in 3rd grade. I once watched my friend's cockatiel while she was on vacation. I woke up to the sounds of kookaburras and cockatoos in Australia. I fed ducks when I was younger. And I've seen herons, owls, and hawks in the wildlife ward. And that's about it. Pretty extensive bird knowledge, I know.

The week was comprised mostly of me learning about general bird care. We would carry the birds out in the morning, feed and water them, clean their cages, shower the birds, talk with volunteers, carry the birds in, and do closing food and waters. That was pretty much the drill from day to day. I think one of my favorite things to do was carrying the birds in and out - especially the cockatoos. Throughout the week, I got to know some of the birds' personalities, especially King O (who loves to dance) and Little Feather (who loves to sing...and who can probably hold a note better than me). And the ladies who work at the Parrot Garden are absolutely fantastic and so much fun to be around! Each morning, I would go into the office, put my stuff down, and give Lilly and Flip a head scratch before starting the day.

[Above: Amazon Family. Amazon, Keno, & King O]

One of the afternoons, I had the opportunity to take part in an enrichment project for the cockatiel flight. We placed a fountain atop a table and surrounded the fountain with artificial turf covered in bird seed. This set up mimics a foraging habitat for the birds in this flight.

Carrying In The Amazons

Throughout the week, we had a course of seminars and meetings. Our first took place on Tuesday and focused on Puppy Mills. I really enjoy Dr. Frank's presentations because they have great flow and focus on topics of great interest to me. On Thursday, we met with the Emergency Response Team (ERT). This team is comprised of John Garcia and Ethan Gurney. You may recognize John's name as one of the trainers from Dogtown, and now he is the leader for the ERT. Ethan is an ex-marine who has some interesting stories about catching pigs barehanded. They shared some of their stories with us - from their intensive training they have undergone to get to where they are today to their rescue stories from Hurricane Katrina. Their presentation reminded me of a time a few years ago when I got to take part in an emergency evacuation center drill back in Augusta. Several volunteers from the Red Cross and shelters around the area gathered together to mock set-up what an evacuation center might look like - from registration to actually housing of the animals and people. This event reminded me that it's so important to be ready and prepared. John and Ethan highlighted this point in their presentation as well. They stated that they always ensure they and their volunteers are prepared for such a situation - basically they practice what they preach.

Side note - I also got to give my boy Pedro a couple of car rides throughout the week. I love him so much, and if I could find a way for him and MJ to meet, I would take him home in a heartbeat.

This past weekend was our last weekend in Kanab. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm going to miss having the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Zion, and Bryce at my fingertips. Anywho, we went to the Grand Canyon north rim on Saturday and hiked 4 miles in the canyon. Let me tell you - coming back up...that was probably one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, hike of my life. I did a lot of stopping on the way up / a lot of wishing I had a mule. We stopped by Jacob Lake on the way back for dinner and cookies, because if you go to Jacob Lake, you have to get the cookies. Apparently it's a law or something. (A law that I don't mind abiding by.) The cookies were as great as they were rumored to be! I took it easy on Sunday. I mostly slept and watched TV. But all the interns did get together Sunday night to bake and decorate cookies, so that was fun.

Coconino Overlook (and my motto)

View From The North Rim

This week at the sanctuary, I'm in cats - specifically Benton's House. They're keeping me busy, as it's a special needs cat house, so there's always something to be done there. But, per the norm, I'll write more about cats in my next post!


Until next week,

Megan