Georgia Raptor Conservation & Education Programs, LLC

09/02/2026

On August 24th, I was honored to transport this beautiful Osprey affectionately named “Dolly” by her rescuers Nicole & Ashley who worked wonderfully as a team to safely get this juvenile female Osprey out of an extremely deep & muddy retention pond.

Thankful for wonderful people who care about our wildlife including the finders/rescuers, Georgia Wildlife Network, Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital and Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation.

The last update from CNC was 5 days ago so I’m unsure if she’s made it. She initial looked ok but was unfortunately started exhibiting neurological symptoms. That may be how she ended up in such a predicament.

Bless you Dolly. 🙏💕

She was so covered in mud, she barely looked like a bird 🪶

After medical workers Nicole and Ashley spotted an osprey trapped in deep mud behind their Georgia clinic, they used pieces of plexiglass to reach her and eventually got her to Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital for treatment. She's now recovering with Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation, where caregivers are helping her regain her strength before she can hopefully return to the wild.

08/21/2026

Mr. T, I know your itchy, but you're also EXTRA adorable when you're going through your “catastrophic molting” phase.

Eastern Screech Owls save the best for last: their heads, including those adorable eyelids, which can leave them looking a little... Scruffy.

You can see his new “pin” feathers growing in which are covered by a protective sheath as they fully develop. These can get quite itchy and will take some time before he’s fully feathered again. He’ll be spending some extra time bathing/preening & has been getting extra calories to support this awkward transition.

In the meantime, he demands extra head scritches with his walks & health check-ins. I'm always happy to oblige.

07/28/2026

This is our “Journey” who is now 7 years old.
On this day in 2019, she was brought into rehab at Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation after a suspected car strike. Since she was unreleasable due to her eye injury, she was placed as an education ambassador with Blue Ridge Raptors Educational Programs, which is where I trained. She and I learned a lot together from Beth & John over the first 5ish years, formed a special bond & then she was transferred to me in November 2024.

Of course, we wish her case had a different outcome and she could have “gone home” back to the wild, we are privelaged to be her guardians. Love, honor and respect. Always and forever. 🥰💕🙌🙏

From CNCWR:

Case 19-0395, arrived July 27:
This juvenile Broad-winged Hawk was found in Stockbridge after a suspected car collision. The bird has a concussion, dried blood in both nostrils, blood in the back of the right eye, and blood throughout the left eye, which it is holding closed due to a corneal laceration. We are treating with both oral and topical medications.

Case 19-0395, arrived July 27:
This juvenile Broad-winged Hawk was found in Stockbridge after a suspected car collision. The bird has a concussion, dried blood in both nostrils, blood in the back of the right eye, and blood throughout the left eye, which it is holding closed due to a corneal laceration. We are treating with both oral and topical medications.

07/23/2026

We adventured North to meet up with our friends at Blue Ridge Raptors Educational Programs for necessary beak copings yesterday. While they (and I) may not enjoy getting this done, it is absolutely essential to maintaining their health and well-being.

The raptors all enjoyed walks by a creek afterwards, which luckily helped me add back to our “trust banks” pretty quickly.

Thanks for your help John & Beth! 🙌🦉

05/22/2026

Y’all. We need to have a little group chat. 😅

Georgia Wildlife Network is here to connect the public with LICENSED rehabbers so injured and orphaned wildlife can get into care. Every person answering texts, coordinating placements, and transporting animals is a VOLUNTEER.

We cannot guarantee transport availability. Ever. But especially not right now.

We’ve got animals going here, there, and everywhere. It’s wildlife baby season, the last day of school, a holiday weekend, AND the beginning of summer vacation all rolled into one… which means more animals and fewer people available to help.

Some folks reaching out seem to think we’re parked at the end of the driveway waiting to pick up an animal found 15 minutes ago. 😅

Friend… respectfully… no.

If you find injured or orphaned wildlife, PLEASE plan to transport if at all possible. We need to reserve volunteer transport help for truly critical situations and for people who genuinely have no other options.

Get creative:
• Call a neighbor
• Text your cousin
• Rekindle things with your mother-in-law you haven’t spoken to since the Christmas incident
• Bribe your teenager with Taco Bell
• Call a pet-friendly Uber
• Ask literally anyone with a pulse and a vehicle

Please do everything you can to get the animal where it needs to go (quickly) before requesting transport help. At the same time, don't let it sit there three days without reaching out.

Please remember, you are not calling customer service for a product you overpaid for. We are exhausted wildlife volunteers running on stress, snacks, and enough caffeine to mildly concern our primary care physicians. 😅

Help us help you. The more teamwork we get from the public, the more animals we can save. 💚 THANK YOU!

05/09/2026

Thrilled that this sweet Barred Owl branching baby made it back to his family and I could help on his journey back home.

Thank you to the homeowner, his neighbor, Wild Nest Bird Rehab, Georgia Wildlife Network (and their transporter for case), and Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation for all working together. You all are THE BEST and we wish you all well during this incredibly busy baby season.

05/01/2026

🎂 Happy 2nd Hatch Day to our girl, Harmony!

Look at this baby face! 😍 Hard to believe this fluffy little nugget grew into the stunning Red-tailed Hawk she is today. **Drop in Wild Birds Unlimited tomorrow May 2nd, anytime 12-2pm to meet her.**

Harmony is an educational ambassador, which means she’ll never soar free in the wild. Not because of anything that happened to her in nature, but because a human made the decision to keep her illegally for the first three weeks of her life.

Vonda at Laurens Wildlife Rescue did everything she could to give Harmony a chance at a wild life, she is imprinted on humans and cannot survive on her own. THIS is exactly why I get so passionate when people illegally possess wildlife. It seems harmless. It never is.

These animals deserve wild lives. When we take that from them, even with the best intentions, it’s often gone forever.

So happy birthday, sweet Harmony. You didn’t get the life you were born for, but you are so deeply loved and every person you meet at our programs leaves a little more committed to protecting the “wild things”.

All photos by Vonda of Lauren’s Wildlife Rescue

05/01/2026

⚠️ RED-SHOULDERED HAWK NESTLINGS: A STORY THAT ALMOST HAD A VERY DIFFERENT ENDING ⚠️

I debated sharing this but I believe it’s an important lesson.

Last week, a tree was removed that contained an active Red-shouldered Hawk nest with 3 nestlings. A crane was used to lower the nest when it was discovered, so the babies were physically uninjured, and I met with someone at midnight to provide overnight care for 2 of the 3 nestlings. I’m grateful for that.

But here’s where my heart broke.
That third baby? I was never told about it. Whether communication broke down somewhere along the way, I still don’t know.

What I do know is that a helpless nestling was separated from its siblings, alone. Most likely not warmed up and rehydrated, not fed it's proper diet and all while I had no idea it even existed.

Due to the quick thinking of some truly incredible people, this story has a happy ending. Brandon of Sanders Wildlife, Inc. and a Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation volunteer worked together to renest the first two babies in a surrogate nest. That same volunteer was then told about the third baby that “wasn't doing well” and acted immediately, picking it up from another location around 4:30 PM and rushing it to CNC for an exam.

After a couple of days of monitoring, it was deemed healthy and reunited with its siblings.
All three babies are together now and back home. But it so easily could have gone the other way.

Here’s what everyone needs to understand:

-Red-shouldered Hawks (and all raptors) are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
-Disturbing, destroying, or taking their nests and young is a federal offense.
-Cutting down a tree with an active nest is illegal, regardless of whether it’s on private property.
-Nestlings cannot survive on their own. They are entirely dependent on their parents, or a licensed rehabilitator, for food, warmth, and protection. Their parents cannot “pick them up” to take them to a new nest and they will not reject them if you touch them to help. Every hour counts.

If you are a homeowner, a tree company, or a contractor, please, please, please check for active nests before any tree work begins. If you find one, stop work and contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and/or your state DNR immediately. There are people who will help, and you will not get in trouble for doing the right thing. Yes, it may cost you some extra time, BUT you’ll make a huge difference and learn something along the way. Some of the best partnerships between tree companies and wildlife rehabbers have been built exactly this way.

This story has a happy ending. The next one might not. 💔

Photo by CNC wildlife rehab

05/01/2026

Thankful for a homeowner in Ellijay that saw this Barred Owl nestling on the ground in their yard Tuesday. It was injured and we also noted its eyes were kind of hazy, which was worrying.

Thankful Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital was able to triage and my friend Hailey kindly transported for us.

It was transferred to Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitationon on Wednesday for continued care and even has a cage mate for its rehab journey. Happy healing buddy!
Link in comments. 🦉

Post from Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation:

“Case 26-0195, arrived April 29:

Ellijay residents found this young Barred Owl grounded on their property and took it to a Cherokee County vet clinic. An exam at the clinic revealed fly eggs and maggots on its back and neck. They treated the fly strike and transferred the owlet to CNC for continued care. The little one has good weight and is now a cagemate for Case 26-0179”

05/01/2026

Baby season is in full swing! PLEASE hold off on tree work unless it’s an emergency. We've had a few overnight guests in the last week or so. One case arrived because their nest tree was cut down. Always ask your tree company to check for nests first, too.

A huge thank you to Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation and Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital for taking these cases, to the homeowners and to everyone who helped coordinate transport. Luckily, all babies have been returned home/to parents with new surrogate nests.

Found a raptor on the ground? Not every grounded bird needs rescuing! Young raptors go through a natural fledgling phase where they leave the nest but are still being fed and cared for by their parents on the ground and some are often capable of climbing back up even before they can fly.

Do call for help if you see:
-Flies or fly eggs on the bird
-Visible injuries
-A bird still covered in down that clearly isn’t ready to have left the nest

When in doubt, reach out to professionals anyway as it’s always better to consult early so you’re already connected if help is needed.

For help finding a licensed Rehabber nearest you, please consult the following.

Animal Help Now
Georgia Wildlife Network

⚠️ A reminder: It is illegal to possess protected migratory birds without the proper state and federal permits. They may look cute and you might be tempted to take one home but trust us, that is the worst decision you can make for that bird. Harmony, our illegally imprinted Red-tailed Hawk is a perfect example. More on this later. 😖