Miscellaneous peregrines

[AlisonL]

Thank you for the info on the Lincoln Capitol cam, Alllison. Where did I get A*/Y from? Did I get her name wrong or is Alley a new female there? I love their cam but the website makes it hard to find any details about the birds there.

Caerann, you are quite right about A/*Y! That is Alley's band number (all black band). She is from the Radisson nest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, born in 2004, a daughter of Princess and Trey.

Her mate, 19/K, was born in 2001 at the American Republic nest in Des Moines, Iowa.

[kittenface]

Nebraska cam is back up

[patis]

thank you kittenface..and how do I get there??

[AlisonL]

thank you kittenface..and how do I get there??

Not kittenface, but here is the link:

http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/wildlife/webcam/peregrine/default.asp

[kittenface]

Thanks Allison

[AlisonL]

Genoa

Good news about Jesse from the Wildlife in Need Center: I am so glad the imping has been successful!

An  Update on Jesse and her Detour to Freedom

Today I found a post on a list called Falcon Cam mentioning "Jesse" the Peregrine Falcon and her progress since being rescued (from a probable gunshot wound) from a roadside in Watertown, Wisconsin. She has since, as they noted, and as you read in my previous post, been transferred to the Raptor Center of Minnesota. We received news this week that the imping was successful and that Jesse is again fully flighted! She will remain in the care of the Raptor Center for a few more days until they are certain the procedure is successful and could be coming home to be released very soon.

After her release we will definitely share news of the wonderful event - and hopefully we'll be watching Jesse for many years to come!

The post referred to above is my post on the Cleveland Forum about Jesse.

http://wisconsinwildlifeneighbors.blogspot.com/

[kittenface]

Oh that is such great news thanks for keeping up with her progress allison.

[AlisonL]

Florida

An update on a juvie peregrine who was found very badly injured over a year ago. He/she is going to become an education bird.

Where are they now?

Injured falcon to become education bird

In the news: In late January a young peregrine falcon -- not often seen here -- was recovering after nearly dying from major injuries. No one can say exactly how it got hurt, though wildlife experts said it might have crashed into a car or other object in a high-speed dive.

Peregrine falcons, endangered for years by the pesticide DDT, once had few nests east of the Mississippi but now migrate through the state on their way to South America.

Dr. Mark Gendzier, a veterinarian from St. Johns Veterinary Clinic, placed pins in the radius of the bird's left wing and repaired the tibiotarsus in its right leg.

The bird was released to wildlife rehabilitator Melanie Stage of H.A.W.K.E., a nonprofit that cares for injured local wildlife.

Stage did not expect the bird to recover enough to be released into the wild.

What the bird's doing now: Stage said it took six months for the bird, whose name is now Kenya, to totally heal from its injuries.

Stage can't tell yet whether the young bird is male or female.

The pins were removed from its wing and physical therapy helped get its leg working again.

"The leg had to be fused in a comfortable position because it was too bad to be fixed," she said.

Stage said the bird can't fly any more but is in training to be an education bird.

"It wouldn't survive in the wild but it's doing great in captivity," she said.

She said the bird, which gets regular meals of quail, can now sit on a glove or a perch and will soon be making the rounds.



http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-12-18/where-are-they-now

It is sad that this beautiful young peregrine is not releasable, but I am glad that he was found and cared for, and has managed to recover. I hope he will adjust well to being an education bird and be very successful.

In case anyone is interested, here is the link to the original story:

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2009-11-28/rare-bird-recuperating-life-saving-surgery

The original photo:

[Nora in IA]

Jessie is released!


Injured falcon released after one-month of rehab

It's back to the air for a wounded falcon after a month of rehab from a gunshot wound. A peregrine falcon takes flight again, and a special guests is there to greet her. A shopper initially found the injured falcon almost an hour away in Watertown, WI.

The medical staff at the Wildlife In-Need Center who took care of Jessie says without that gesture the bird would have starved. The bird would not have been able to capture food with its injured wing.

[AlisonL]

Great news about Jesse, Nora! Do you know whether she was released in Minnesota or returned to Wisconsin before release? I've only been able to find that one small story so far.

I'm so glad that a shopper found her and made sure she was cared for. I'm sure her mate, Polyo, will be very happy to see her.

I hope she will stay safe and have a very long and successful life.

[AlisonL]

Genoa

A new update on Jesse's release, from the Wildlife in Need Center:

A Real-Life Version of "It's a Wonderful Life"

On November 20th, WINC received an injured Peregrine Falcon that was found on the ground in Watertown. The bird had injuries caused by a probable gunshot wound. We had the bird x-rayed to check for fractured bones and gunshot pellets. Luckily, the gunshot did not break any bones, and there were no bullets or shotgun pellets remaining in her body. However, it did go completely through the wing and broke several critically-important primary flight feathers.

Peregrine Falcons are endangered in Wisconsin. Researchers band nearly all urban-nesting Peregrine Falcons. Since this bird was aleady banded, we were able to determine her identity. "Jesse," was hatched in 2008 in a nest box in Genoa, Wisconsin, near the Mississippi River. In 2010 she nested on the North Tower of Mayfair Mall and produced four chicks. The nest box is still on the roof top in hopes that the peregrines will return there to nest year after year.

We sutured Jesse's puncture and treated her with antibiotics and pain releivers. After the wounds healed, she needed one more procedure: she needed her broken feathers "imped." Imping is a falconry term that means splicing replacement feathers from a "donor" bird of the same species, into the broken feather shafts of the recipient. Without this procedure it would take Jesse an entire year to molt in replacements for her broken primary feathers, and without these feathers, she could barely fly and thus could not be released. Since we did not have any Peregrine Falcon feathers to use, we sent the bird to The Raptor Center in Minneapolis for the feather imping procedure. They implanted new feathers and returned the bird to us in a week.

On Thursday morning, December 22nd, I met WINC Wildlife Rehabilitator Chelsea Matson with "Jesse," Greg Septon, the Director of the Wisconsin Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project, and videographers from TV channels 6 and 12 at the North Tower of Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa.

When we arrived, we noticed Jesse's mate, "Polyo," on a ledge near the top of the building! Greg told us that Polyo continues to roost on the building and hunt nearby. When not nesting, female Peregrine Falcons tend to wander more than the males. With the assistance of Greg Septon, and permission from Mayfair Mall, we were able to take Jesse to the roof nest box for the release.

She flew beautifully and much to our delight, Polyo vocalized and joined Jesse in circling the building. They both landed on a ledge just below the roof. We'll keep our fingers crossed, and hope Jesse and Polyo return to nest on the roof of Mayfair's North Tower in the summer of 2011.



http://wisconsinwildlifeneighbors.blogspot.com/

I am so glad that the release went beautifully, and that Jesse is now home again with Polyo. I wish I could have seen her being released! What a wonderful outcome to this story. I hope Jesse and Polyo will go on to have very long, successful lives together.

Many, many thanks to everyone who made this possible, from the unknown shopper who found Jesse, to the Wildlife in Need Center for giving her such good care, and The Raptor Center for their expertise in continuing her care and returning her home to be released.

[AlisonL]

Genoa

From an article on Jesse's release:

. . . . The procedure went well and Jesse was flown back to Wisconsin for her release on Dec. 22 back to the wild. WINC staff said once she was released she took off initially in one direction and then her mate, who'd been sitting on a nearby building, called to her and she turned to fly back in his direction. It was clear Jesse knew she was back home.

What a moment it must have been for Jesse when she realized that she was free again, flying perfectly, and back home in her own territory. And what a moment for her mate, Polyo, who had been waiting patienrly at the nest area since Jesse was injured in November, when suddenly she appeared, flying above him.

I hope this beautiful young pair will have many, many years together.

Jesse's wing being examined:



http://www.livinglakecountry.com/kettlemoraineindex/news/112605954.html

[AlisonL]

Indiana

Bad news from Indiana; yet another peregrine was found shot, and she was not as lucky as Jesse. Phoenix, a full sister of Freedom at Fort Wayne, Indiana, was found wounded on December 22 in Floyd County near the I-64 bridge in New Albany. A state conservation officer took her to a veterinarian who determined that she had been shot; she died on December 31.

In addition to Freedom, her other siblings were sister Thunder and brother River Ace. Nothing had been heard of Phoenix since 1995.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is seeking information involving the shooting and subsequent death of a 16 year old Peregrine Falcon. The bird was bred in captivity, tagged and released to the wild along with 15 other falcons near Evansville in 1994. Why someone would target this bird remains unclear, but migratory bird biologist John Castrale says it could have easily been a mistake.

“There are a number of birds that can be confused with Peregrines, especially Cooper’s Hawks, so my guess is someone was just taking a pop shot at a bird of prey,” said Castrale.  “I don’t think they probably knew it was a Peregrine Falcon”.

In 1989 Indiana saw its first pair of nesting Peregrines in more than five decades. Two years later the Peregrine Falcon Reintroduction Program was started and since, their population in Indiana has risen to 130. The Peregrine Falcon is no longer a federally endangered species but remains on the state endangered species list and intentionally killing or disturbing ones nest could result in serious charges says DNR lieutenant Mark Farmer.

“If someone was apprehended or if enough proper cause was developed where we could file charges then those penalties could be pretty severe,” Farmer said.

Officials say the chances of finding the culprit are slim. Anyone with information on the shooting should call 800- TIP- IDNR or go to TIP.IN.gov

http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/endangered-peregrine-falcon-shot-killed-albany/

I hope the individual who did this is found and receives the maximum penalty, which is not nearly enough. After surviving for sixteen years, it is so very sad to find Phoenix again, only to lose her in this tragic way.

[kittenface]

Caerann  Nebraska is back online

[Caerann]

Suh-weet! Thanks for the info, Kittenface!