Site News

May 10, 2006 - Another year, a new batch of babies. II have made one major addition to the site, that being the big red warning box at the tops of each pages, which links to a page dealing with diseases which can be transmitted to humans. Given the recent fears concerning "Bird Flu", I hope my visitors will carefully weigh their options about rescuing wild birds. The "West Nile Virus" continues to be a concern in North America as well, and have added a small update on the robins portion of the Species Info. page.

Since changing my email address from a clickable link to a picture, I have received very few emails. This is unfortunate, but necessary to avoid spammers.

April 7, 2005 - I finally feel well enough to put my ssite back on the web. In the last 2 years, I have not been able to continue my efforts with this site, and so basically, the information has not been updated. I will slowly resume my research and make any changes necessary. I apologize for my absence, and hope that this site will once again help those who need it.

June 9, 2003 - A back injury suffered over the coursee of the winter and spring have left me unable to sit at the computer. I can neither update my pages, nor respond to emails. While at the moment I am being treated and am making progress, I am still very limited in what I can presently do. I ask my site visitors for their understanding and patience. I regret any inconvenience this may cause, and hope to be able to return soon.

September 25, 2002- Boy! Am I ever glad I moved the site! Last year (2001), my average weekly visitor count was 35 a week. This year, I averaged 100 a day! While I'm glad that people are using the site, I still see areas where the site could use improvement.

Of particular importance, many people seem to have trouble understanding what a fledgling is, and what their real needs are. I'm going to have to try to clarify that.

More than 1/2 the people who have written to me are unsure what kind of bird they have rescued, even when it is fully feathered! I wish I had more pictures to offer on the site to help them, but I just don't. Any picture donations from site visitors would be ever so appreciated!

People also seem to have some trouble finding information they need sometimes. I don't particularly blame them. I realize this site is kind of big. I'm going to see if I can add a search engine to the site.

Some interesting changes have shown themselves since last year as well. I'm receiving far fewer emails than last year, and this is a welcome relief. Not that I mind answering emails, but last year I averaged 20 emails a day during the peak of the season, and it actually tired me by the end of the summer. Now I'm getting one every day or so, which is far easier to deal with.

I've noticed an interesting trend this year as far as caring for the birds. Until about June, more people seemed willing to bring the birds they've found to a professional rehabilitator. After June, people seemed less willing. By reviewing my emails, I have to guess that more people are overwhelmed at the idea of raising a nestling than a fledgling. If only they realized that both are as difficult!

For those that had to raise a bird themselves, overall release stats seemed to have increased, with more people successfully raising the bird to release age, and then actually releasing the bird. Unfortunately, I have had no post-release follow-ups, so I cannot determine the success rate after release. It would be nice to hear how a bird is doing a month or 2 after release, to have some confirmation that in fact, it has adapted well to the wild.

So to sum up, I feel that generally speaking, my new web page has been a significant improvement over the last, but I still have some work to do to make it more understandable and navigable.

PROJECTS FOR THIS WINTER

• Add a search engine

• Consider whether asking for a 25 cent donation from site visitors. Due to heavy traffic, Geocities was forced to discontinue my page several times over the season. By paying for the cheapest site package, such 'outages' should be eliminated. A further bonus for my visitors is that the advertisements that pop up in the corner would be gone as well.

• I'm considering whether it might be a good idea to post statistics on the site.

June 25, 2002- Had to insert a redirect script on most of my pages. While this may cause problems for both me and my site visitors, I find that it was necessary. Too many people are entering my website elsewhere than the home page, and not following the logical navigation I have laid out. On another site, this might not be important. However here, it is vital to review all the applicable pages in their proper order, so that the best care can be delivered to the birds. My hopes are that by forcing my visitors to enter at the home page, they will follow the appropriate path for their situation, and learn everything that they should.

April 25, 2002- Due to excessive page traffic and the need to add extensive information to my site, I have been forced to move my web page to the Geocities public server. This should prove to be an overall benefit since not only will I have more space for the site, but many other useful "perks" will also be available, such as web hit counters, forms, etc. It should be interesting to see how my web presence does now that I've improved the site.

I won't detail all the changes that have been made to my site since moving it. They will be clear to anyone that has visited the old site. (I will say that at least now I have more than one page!:-) I have given a page to each important issue in the hopes that this will simplify information retrieval for my visitors. I added 2 new recipes to the "Recipes" page. Some pages with completely new information have been added, such as the "Fledglings", "Precocial Chicks", and "Species Info." pages. 2 new essays were added to the "Essays" page, which will hopefully help people understand wild birds and themselves better. The "FAQ" was also added to address certain questions that aren't easily answered by reading the rest of the site.

I hope that my site will not only prove useful to those who need it, but will also be visually simple, and logically laid out. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of web sites where I have to hunt for information! :-) Only time will tell if I have been successful.

-------------------------------------

This website is not intended to replace the expert care that is only available by professional rehabilitators. The use of this website is only intended for those where the option of bringing an orphaned bird to a rehabilitator is not possible. By raising a wild bird yourself, you greatly diminish it's chances for survival. Please check this link for a rehabilitation center in your community: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm. If none are listed near you, call a local animal shelter, veterinarian, or wildlife office/agent for information on local rescue centers. Thank you.

-------------------------------

Last updated:05/10/2006