2014 rescues

13 March 2014 - dead Bald Eagle.   Margaret Anderson, museum technician, NPS Anchorage office, saw the dead bald eagle the morning of March 13, 2014 when she was bird watching near the Yakutania Pt. foot bridge. It was on the east side of the mouth of the Skagway River.  Margaret told Tegan Baldwin, KLGO HR person, who called the police dept. 

I called the police dept. the same morning concerning another matter and Sheryl Gladden said a dead eagle had been called in.  I said I'd pick it up, that NPS was the temporary repository for dead eagles and that Sam Richert would contact the eagle repository.  Ken Cox moved the eagle to the weather station because the tide was coming in.  Margaret, Tekla Helgason and I retrieved it and it's now frozen in the NPS freezer.  Sam will be sending it south in the near future.  - Deb Boettcher

19 April 2014 - injured NW Crow.    Charlotte Jewell called about a crow with an injured left wing in her front yard.  At 7pm Elaine and Charlotte observed the crow, which was perched in a shrub. The wing was drooping and seemed mis-shaped in the upper area, and the crow would only hop between branches even when approached closely. An upper wing break seemed likely.  The injured crow seemed energetic was being attended to and protected by two other crows.  An upper wing break would likely lead to it being euthanized if it were transported to Juneau. Given that the next day was Easter and that the other crows were helping the injured crow, Elaine decided to monitor it for 24 hours before deciding whether to try to capture it. 

UPDATE: 20 April 7pm, the crow was not in the shrub, and was not seen during a survey of the neighborhood.  Perhaps the injury was not a break and it recovered enough to fly, or if it was a break and/or had internal injuries, it could have hopped away and died or been taken by a predator.

UPDATE:  Gary Heger found a dead crow in his yard (nearby) a couple of days later, but that crow did not have a damaged wing. During the next week Joanne Beierly and Deb Boettcher, on separate days, saw a crow with a drooping left wing.  The crow seemed energetic.

4 June 2014 - baby Dark-eyed Junco.    Rick Bannerman was called about a baby DEJU found at the Broadway campground.  He and Joanne Beierly responded.  The DEJU was fully feathered, alert and could walk, but not fly.  The camp host showed where the bird had been found, and it was replaced there under a bush.  It started chirping for its parents.  The next day, they DEJU was gone, presumably either reunited with its parents or taken by a predator.

6 June 2014 - injured Northwestern Crow.    Joanne Beierly responded to a report of an injured NWCR at the Peniel Mission.  She found a fledgling crow on the ground.  It could walk and stretch its wings, but not fly.  Joanne monitored the crow from about 15 feet as the parents flew over, and provide crowd control (tourists and kids) until the area was quiet.  2 hours later when she checked on the crow, it was napping in the same spot.  That evening at 7:30pm when Joanne went to check on the young crow, the parents flew to a short tree and warned her off with loud squawks and puffed feathers.  Since the parents were protecting the young bird, they were left alone.

UPDATE: 9 June 2014,  Elaine Furbish responded a call from the PD dispatch at 11pm, about an injured bird at the Eagles building.  She found the young crow sitting on the boardwalk, about 10 feet from the entrance to the bar. It wasn't moving, and had some patches of wet, rumpled feathers on its body.  She was told a puppy had been "playing" with the bird.  About 20-30 crows were calling from nearby trees. A bar patron sat down next to the bird and gently stroked it.  Elaine explained that this behavior was stressing the bird, not soothing it, and asked the person to withdraw.  The bartender described how the adult crows had been tending the young bird, but also how it was getting alot of attention from the bar crowd.  Elaine collected the bird, which didn't react when it was put in a kennel. The next morning, the crow was more energetic.  Juneau Raptor Center agreed to take the bird, and it was flown out the morning of June 10th on a Wings of Alaska flight.

UPDATE: 19 June 2014,  Juneau Raptor Center reported that their examination found that the crow had neurological problems, so it had to be euthanized.

23 June 2014 - fledgling Northwestern Crow.    At 9:30am Deb Boettcher received a call from Theresa Thibault, NPS, that a person named Chris had called in to report that a baby raven was injured and being attacked by other birds in the Skagway Brew Co. alley.  Deb and Samantha Richert responded and found a wet fledgling crow spread out on the lawn beside the creek that runs beside the Kosters' house.  Cody Koster said the crow had fallen out of a bush above the creek into the water and dragged itself to shore. It appeared to be alright at that time.  When Cody returned from an errand about 5 minutes later, other crows were attacking the young crow.  Deb placed the injured crow in a box to initiate evaluation and possible transport to rehabilitators, but it died a few minutes later.  Two crows, presumably the parents, were cawing the entire time and another fledgling was perched in the bush above the creek.  The cawing stopped once the people left.

30 June 2014 - adult Northwestern Crow.    Elaine Furbish received a call from Police Dept. at 11:45am.  Tim Fairbanks had reported an injured crow on Main St near 9th.  Elaine arrived at the location about 5 minutes later, and found a dead adult NWCR in the middle of the road.  It was still soft and very warm, with blood and damage on one side of its head.  A vehicle collision seemed likely.  The crow was taken to Sam Richert for donation to the UAF Museum.

1 July 2014 - young Dark-eyed Junco.    At about 9pm, Albert at Port of Call asked the PD for help with a bird trapped in his store.  Elaine Furbish responded and found a young DEJU perched on pipes near the ceiling - it had been there most of the day.  Elaine worked with Albert and another person from the shop, using brooms to slowly move the bird toward the front door, after opening the door and turning out the shop lights.  The bird flew to within a foot of the door, but did not exit the shop.  Shortly after, Elaine captured the DEJU with a sheet scrap when it perched within arm's reach, then took it outside and let it go.  It flew a short distance and perched, and seemed to be tired, but unhurt.

21 July 2014 - young Steller's Jay.    Su Rappley found a young STJA caught in the plastic mesh webbing she had put up as a trellis in her pea garden.  Elaine Furbish and Joanne Beierly cut the webbing loose from the bird's neck and both feet - it struggled weakly but didn't seem to have any severe injuries.  The bird was gently placed under a shrub where Su had seen the parents often.  At first the young STJA flopped on it's belly, didn't move and seemed near death.  But after about an hour, it perked up and started moving.  A little while later, it started short fly-hops, and soon fully recovered.

16 August 2014 - stunned Sparrow sp.    At 3:51pm I received a call from Skagway Police Dispatch about a possibly injured sparrow brought in by a tourist. I got there a few minutes later. The bird had no obvious injuries, appeared stunned, and was coming around. I placed it on a towel in a box and took it home to recover, safe from other animals, in my greenhouse. As soon as the sparrow was told it could fly away whenever it wished, it did so, at about 4:10pm.   -- Rick Bannerman

19 August 2014 - Steller's Jay.    Nita Nettleton found a sick STJA in the grass while mowing the lawn at Su Rappley's in the afternoon.  Elaine Furbish came at about 5:30pm, the bird was unresponsive when approached, with the only movement some twitching in the wings.  When it was picked up, though, it struggled weakly.  There were no outward signs of injury.  It was placed on padding in a cardboard box in a quiet shed, but after an hour had not improved.  Juneau Raptor Center was contacted through their pager.  About an hour later, while waiting for the JRC call back, the bird improved somewhat and was transferred to a kennel, offered some water and it took a few swallows.  However, the STJA died sometime during the night, so no more attempts were made to contact JRC.

19 July 2014 - injured Herring Gull.   Midafternoon, Matt O'Boyle, Harbormaster, reported a gull with a broken wing near the boat launch.  Andrew Beierly, Elaine Furbish and Deb Boettcher found an adult Herring Gull with a severely broken wing, bloodly and hanging by soft tissue.  It was sitting at the water's edge, and was alert and energetic enough to walk into the water whenever a person approached.  By working together, the three responders were able to cut off the HEGU's access to the water, and captured it in an old sheet.  The wing was broken in several places, with many cuts and tears, and some pieces of bone exposed.  Chris, Assistant Harbormaster, related that he was pretty sure the bird was one of 3 gulls who were fighting over fish-cleaning scraps earlier that day, and had noticed river otters doing the same at near the same time. The injury may have been caused by a river otter fighting over food.       Consulting with the Juneau Raptor Center, all agreed that it would be best to euthanize the bird as soon as possible.  Elaine took the bird, and that evening made contact with the two people in town who euthanize small animals.  However, one person could not do it because it had been too long since their training, and the other person was only trained to do small mammals.  Elaine decided to look for more options in the morning; at that time the HEGU was conscious and calm, but not active.  The next morning, the bird was dead.   

13 September 2014 - injured Gull sp.    I received a call from PD about an injured gull at 20th & Alaska. I responded and found nothing. A bit later I had a second call that there was an injured gull at 18th & Alaska, and a Skagway PD officer was there. I responded with Sam Richert. In observing the gull for a while with Sam & Sgt Cox, we all eventually agreed that it was apparently just stunned, was ambulating and evading us well, and that attempts to capture it would cause more harm than good. A drive by a day later showed no gull in the vicinity.    -- Rick Bannerman

23 September 2014 - injured female Green-winged Teal.   Nola Lamken responded to a 7:15 am police department call about an injured Mallard near the ore dock.  She found the bird sitting quietly in a puddle.  The duck got up and walked away as approached, her wing hanging but not dragging, a spot of fresh blood on her bill.  She allowed closer approach after soft talk followed by Animal Rescue spray.  That allowed enough proximity to place a dip net in front of her, which made picking her up possible, quickly followed by a light towel wrap.  Nola was joined by Deb Boettcher and Elaine Furbish, who assisted with examining and processing the bird.  Deb identified it as a female Green-winged Teal.  Elaine brought a travel kennel equipped with keel support padding.  Juneau Raptor Center agreed to take the bird, and Nola sent it out on a Wings of Alaska flight that afternoon.  JRC's examination determined major damage and an exposed torn tendon, therefore the duck was euthanized.

17 October 2014 - injured Northwestern  Crow.  Sam Richert responded to a report of an injured crow on 4th near the grocery store. She found the bird in the middle of the road, splayed out on its side with significant blood present on its head. She called Rick Bannerman for assistance. While waiting for his arrival, the crow got itself upright and sat still but alert. Rick and Sam moved the crow to a sheltered location in their garden and provided water but did not attempt any further intervention.  They checked the bird mid-day on Saturday, and found that it was still alive and seemed responsive. They contacted Juneau Raptor Center, who agreed to take the bird, but no more flights were scheduled for the day.  The crow was conveyed to JRC by Alaska Seaplanes on Sunday.   JRC gave the crow initial care on Sunday afternoon, but it had died by Monday morning.  JRC identified both a head injury and an eye injury to the crow.

14 November 2014 - possible injured Bald Eagle  Betsy Albecker responded to a Skagway Police call about an injured Bald Eagle on the north side of town.  She and Tim Salter drove up to the RR shops, walked the dike several times, then went across to 7th pasture side and then back over to south side of Skagway bridge - no eagle was seen.  Betsy related that the bird was reported by Billie Clem's husband who said he not only saw it that day but again late in the afternoon.  Later, Joanne and Andrew Beierly searched around the Skagway bridge, but did not see an eagle.  They spoke with Wayne Selmer who was out cutting wood and said he saw an eagle fly low over the bridge, but it looked fine.  Betsy checked down by the Skagway footbridge (downstream from the other bridge) over the next several days, but did not see any sign of an injured or drowned eagle.

3 December 2014 - disoriented domesticated duck  Skagway PD dispatch called about 1:30pm about a duck walking in the street on 6th between State and Broadway.  At the same time, Jan Wrentmore happened to be nearby, and learned from a shop-owner that the duck was someone's pet.  They were able to get the bird and put it back in its pen.