Dear Readers,

Betsy Pratt has been busy this winter.

As the county animal control officer, she spends a lot of time on dog bite cases, but not this time. The winter of 2013-2014 has been the season of birds, large beautiful birds.

On December 30, a pair of cross country skiers sliding around the Boothbay Land Trust's Oven's Mouth Preserve noticed a large bird sitting on a branch near the trail. They called Pratt.

“We walked in prepared with gloves and equipment, but it was so lethargic we wrapped it in a blanket and carried it out,” Pratt said.

In cases like this, Pratt takes the animals to Avian Haven, a bird rehab facility located in Freedom.

Diane Winn, the facility's executive director, said the bird was most likely a tourist from Canada, a juvenile golden eagle. Tests showed it had lead poisoning, and was most likely infected by eating an animal that had been killed by a hunter using lead bullets or shot.

After a few days of careful care, the eagle started to come around and is now eating bits and pieces of solid food. While the golden seems to be on the road to recovery, it may never fly again, Winn said.

Not so for one of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen, a snowy owl, who was wintering at Ocean Point. Fans of the Harry Potter movies know the snowy owl as Harry's pet, Hedwig.

Dr. Jeff Wells, a bird expert who writes a weekly column for the Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper, says the snowy owls probably came down from the north looking for food.

OP regulars saw the bright white bird sitting on trees and housetops during the day. It became quite a favorite among birders and non-birders alike, frequently posing for photos.

Last week, as one of Boothbay's road crews was filling potholes on Shore Road, they saw the snowy owl sitting on a three-foot-tall granite post, not far from the corner known as “three trees.”

As the crew has seen the owl lots of times, they didn't think much of it. A little bit later, when they came past again, it was laying on a retaining wall with one of its wings tangled in a bush.

It was was barely moving. Road crewman Sam Barter called Pratt. Carrie Koskela, the office manager at the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, and Ben Rand, another animal control officer, answered the call and picked up the beautiful owl and carefully put it in a pet cage. Alas, it was too late. The snowy owl didn't make it, said Winn. It most likely starved.

She had better news about another snowy owl captured inside an abandoned building in Portland. It was brought to Avian Haven, checked out and released, said Winn.

Meanwhile, Pratt reports she recently picked up another bird, one she had never seen before, a common murre or guillemot, a penguin like seabird that usually winters in the northern ocean.

Who says there is nothing to do in Boothbay during the winter, other than shovel snow.

You can view photos of the golden eagle on Avian Haven's Facebook page.