Rounds and Treatments

Volunteers help in a variety of ways at RMRP, from taking care of the birds, to office tasks. All volunteers attend rounds and at least one treatment per week. What are rounds and treatments?

Rounds-

Once a week the staff and all the volunteers get together for “rounds.” This one-hour meeting is important because it keeps everyone on the same page. We work on the schedules for all the volunteers, hear case updates on all the birds in rehab. Gail, the RMRP medical director gives us a summary on how all the birds are progressing, new cases, releases, etc. This is a time to share announcements, changes, or sometimes presentations.

Treatments-

A treatment is a block of time scheduled to take care of either the educational birds, or the birds in rehabilitation. For example, the birds in rehabilitation are taken care of in two treatments. The AM treatment covers the diurnal birds (active in the day time- hawks, falcons, kestrals, etc.). The PM treatments involve the nocturnal birds (active at night- owls). There are other treatments that involve the educational birds and the eagles.

Last night at rounds was a time to recognize all the amazing volunteers for all their hard work in the past year. Volunteers were recognized for going above and beyond, whether it was the number of hours they contributed, number of treatments, volunteer trainers, treatment coordinators, etc. The dedication, leadership, time and energy that these volunteers devote to the RMRP is amazing!

Gail, the RMRP medical director is working on the 2009 annual report. She gave us a brief summary. 332 birds came through the RMRP in 2009. That is a lot of raptors!!!! In 2008, the RMRP saw 265 birds. The three species that RMRP saw the most were kestrels, great-horned owls and red-tailed hawks. What a year!!

Keeping Warm in the Winter

We have had some very chilly temperatures lately. Single digits, and negative wind chill temperatures. Regardless of the weather outside, staff and volunteers still work hard to care for the raptors.

The staff and volunteers bundle up before going outside, but how do raptors keep warm?

Raptors need to conserve their energy as much as possible when it is really cold out. To do this, they “hunker down” as a few like to call it. They are going to stay in one place as much as possible. Flying, hunting and other activities would use more energy. By staying in one place, they can conserve their energy for warmth. This is true for birds in the wild and birds at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program. That makes sense. When I get cold, I want to bundle up and stay home!!
After this discussion at rounds, I wondered about the migratory birds? There are some raptor species that migrate to warmer places for the winter such as turkey vultures and Swainson’s hawks. How do those species in the RMRP keep warm?
I asked a fellow volunteer about this. The educational ambassadors that live here all year around do very well. They keep warm just like everyone else. When it is really cold outside, volunteers pay special attention to all the birds to make sure they are healthy and happy. The turkey vultures and the Swainson’s hawk that live out at the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) have heated perches. This just gives them that extra boost of warmth just in case.

Welcome

My name is Lisa, and I am volunteer at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program (RMRP). The purpose for this blog is talk about what happens behind the scenes at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program. My goal is to give readers a better understanding about raptor rehabilitation, and just how the RMRP releases more than 70% of treatable raptors that come through the program.

First, I would like to give readers a little bit of background on the RMRP.


What Do We Do?

The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program is a raptor hospital and medical care facility, admitting injured and sick raptors, i.e. eagles, owls, hawks, and falcons, with the goal of releasing them for A Second Chance At Freedom.

Raptors that are permanently injured and therefore nonreleasable may become an Educational Ambassador. These raptors are the cornerstone of our Environmental Education program, which makes more than 200 presentations each year throughout the region, teaching children and adults about the importance of protecting wildlife and wild places.

This blog will helps us continue to achieve our mission!
The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program helps people understand their critical role in preserving wildlife and wild places for future generations, and is fervently dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing injured birds of prey, including eagles, owls, hawks and falcons.

With all that in mind, I welcome you to reading about the life and times of the volunteers at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.

About Me

Let me introduce myself. As I said before, my name is Lisa, and I am a volunteer at the RMRP. I am a recent graduate from Colorado State University. I graduated with a degree if forestry and theatre. Odd combination? Not really. What I discovered with my double major is that my passion is helping people better understand their environment and the nature surrounding them. Using both science and art is the perfect way to do that. I work for the Colorado State Forest Service as forester doing outreach and education. This job is a perfect way for me to combine my love for science and art.
Why did I start volunteering for the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program? I have a special place in my heart for wildlife. I want to help the raptors, and teach people about these wonderful birds, and the places that they live. By volunteering, I am accomplishing this, and I also am constantly learning about raptors and their environment. It is a win-win situation.

And that is why I am starting this blog. I want to share some of the knowledge that I am learning by volunteering. I am fairly new to the program, so as I learn and advance in the program, I plan on writing about it.
I encourage you to post comments and questions. If I cannot answer them, I will sure find someone who will.