The Story of Lizzy. An Amazing Success Story!
July 25, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
There is a great big story to tell that has been long awaited to catch you up on the news at the Etobicoke Sun Life nest site. I apologize for the delay but it could not be helped with all of the activity going on, the blast furnace heat waves and then the following storm that has devastated so many. This is a grand story worth telling though so let’s get to it!
Back in late June, we left off on the 21st with Lizzy striking the center tower and being rescued by Rob and Bruce. She was taken that night to Mark and Marion Nash for a hold over for an appointment that was made with our avian vet and raptor specialist Dr. Markus Luckwaldt of the Greenwood Park Animal Hospital on Gerrard. The next morning on the 22nd, Mark and Marion met Dr. Luckwaldt at the clinic where he examined Lizzy and took several x-rays. They went over the images and could clearly see that she had fractured her keel in three distinct places. All other major and important bones were intact and she was surely sore as all get out. A fractured keel can heal completely in as little as 14 days and so this was incredibly good news. Of concern was that when she arrived for her exam, both of her feet were balled up and one she refused to or couldn’t open at all. It was believed that either she injured her leg during the impact or when she came down onto the mezzanine level. On the damaged leg, two toes were working perfectly normal, one toe was at half measure and the fourth toe was unresponsive to stimuli. Mark and Marion were then given medication to help her heal and Lizzy was to be reassessed in three days as to whether the injury to her foot was permanent or temporary due to swelling. The great news is that after a few days of lying down and resting most of the time, Lizzy stood up in her cage and refused to lie down again. Her attitude had improved dramatically and she was now hissing at Mark each time he fed her. Both feet were working as they should and she had a huge appetite! All of this was great news as three days earlier she was unwilling to open her one foot at all. At her reassessment, it was discussed whether this injury required further long term confinement and if not, how soon she could be returned to her parents care. As the keel was already knitting together and the foot was now working, it was determined that she could go back to her family in another 5 to 6 days. What made this such a wonderful success story was the collaborative discussion between Dr. Luckwaldt and Mark Nash regarding her home environment, her parents and the progress of her injuries towards healing. The roof of Etobicoke Sun Life has a retaining wall that extends 4 feet high and therefore once released Lizzy would be completely confined to the rooftop until she was physically capable of flying up to the retaining wall herself. No step ups or cheater hops on this roof. Dr. Luckwaldt and Mark agreed that this would be a good containment area for her and given that she was to be released when she was almost completely healed, it would give her another few days of rest and exercise. A great collaborative decision was then made on behalf of Lizzy. Good to go on Day 9 of healing.
Now through all of this we stepped down the watch to spot checks and holding the fort was Rob, Angie, Kathy and Baylie. Thank goodness for these awesome watchers that continued to keep an eye on Layton, Shania and Little Big Frank! We rallied the troops including the watchers, Bruce, Mark, Marion and myself on July 1st and we released Lizzy to the rooftop and her parents care at 5pm. The watch was officially dawn to dusk again until Lizzy could show that she could fly with control and land with precision. It wasn’t long on the night of her release before her family located her on the rooftop. Jack was the first to find her. He at first made a few shallow half hearted stoops and alarm calls before realizing who she was, breaking off and circling the rooftop doing recon flights. After 4 revolutions, he flew back to the nest ledge and took a nap. Layton was next, landing on the retaining wall right above her sister. She sat there for a while looking at Lizzy and wondering where she’d been these past 9 days. No matter. Sis was home. Shania joined Layton and the family was now celebrating.
For the balance of the week, I took the dawn shift and Mark relieved me at noon to close. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday there was no sign of Lizzy leaving the rooftop and the other juveniles continued to visit. Lizzy was checked on by Mark a few times through the week with a stealthy peek through the hatch on the roof without alerting her to his presence. His Thursday check of the rooftop was more extensive as he could not see her from the hatch. This incurred the wrath of O’Connor and cost Mark a few head hairs but yielded no sign of Lizzy. It would appear that on Thursday she had flown. On Friday everything changed with the behaviour of the siblings. They were no longer on the nest building retaining wall looking down. The morning was very quiet and then as the rains moved in, Shania and Layton both flew onto the ledge to the right of the nest ledge and they were on the far left. They were looking with interest down to the far right. I pulled out my camera and waited. On the far right of the ledge, a juvenile stepped forward and was enjoying the rain. I took several pictures and to my surprise it was Lizzy showing off her yellow tape. She had flown from the rooftop and at some point on Thursday made it to this ledge without losing altitude!! Great job Lizzy!! A few moments later, a second juvenile stepped forward and joined her and it was indeed Little Big Frank. All four were now back together on the same ledge. This was excellent news and with that, we scaled back the watch to site checks again with folks popping in each day to monitor Lizzy’s continued progress.
This exceptional story could not have been possible without the care and efforts of many in the community and with the CPF. First off let me thank the security at Etobicoke Sun Life for their call to action to make sure Lizzy got the help she needed. There are many thanks to go out to Rob and Bruce for dropping everything and running to her aid. We also must thank Mark and Marion for their tremendous efforts in helping Lizzy to get to care, support her healing and monitor her progress once released. Of course we cannot forget the watchers at Etobicoke Sun Life including Kathy, Angie, Rob and Baylie for their continued monitoring of the family. Last but never least, the support and efforts put in by the Greenwood Park Animal Hospital and specifically Dr Markus Luckwaldt and his team. It was their caring, compassion and expertise that helped Lizzy to get back to the wild as a fully functional flying machine!! Congratulations one and all for the awesome teamwork and resounding success!!
Watch for more updates on Lizzy and her family’s progress and pictures to follow soon!!