Rfalconcam Forum

OMG, 3  babies fell 600 feet. They don't know why but something must have been wrong.  I started watching the videos but just can't. This is tragic!!  :crying:  May have been insects bothering them.

Not sure if any survived but someone had mentioned maybe 1

here's the link if you want to watch. 3 separate videos.

Maybe someone can make sense of this horrible tragedy.

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons (http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons)  scroll til you see the video links. I feel sick!  :heart:  

They have been searching for them but now it's too dark and they hope the parents will help locate them. They were a week from fledging.

From FB: Just found this

The team is done searching for tonight. To the best of my knowledge there is no search planned for tomorrow, as sometimes, it's better to try to let the parents find them, and care for them. The chances of finding the remaining three falcons were much greater when the search first began, than as time went on and they fell deeper into the underbrush below. We remain hopeful that Michelle and Travis may settle down now that the search has stopped, and possibly find the other three falcons if they survived the fall, and continue to feed them, but the odds are not very good for that to happen, per Bob. The falcons were about 10 days away from fledge.

One male eyas, Jonathon, was found and is considered to be ok. Bob does not want to risk putting the falcon back in the nest box, so Jonathon is being taken to the Red Wing Grain nest box, to be augmented/fostered into a nest box there where there are two other falcons almost the same age. This process has been successful in the past, and this is what Bob feels is best. While we continue to hope that Travis and Michelle can find them, we understand that may not happen. The nest box at Great Spirit Bluff was sprayed for insects tonight with a spray that is harmless to raptors, and has been used many times in situations where the insects were causing an issue. Bob still feels strongly that the falcon reactions today, is a result of the insects, possible causing additional agitation or restlessness for them. As Bob stated before, he has never seen this happen in all of his years dealing with Peregrines.

Thanks, everyone, for all your words of support at this difficult time.

~ RR Mod ~

If you watched the video, the eyasses were constantly shaking their heads and scratching themselves like they were being bitten continuously.  It was so sad to see them fall.  :(

I watched the first seconds of the 1st video, started crying and stopped it. Can't do it!  :crying:

Very disheartening and sad to see.   :(

Me too!!! I have watched them since many days. I liked this site with forest's noise and other birds. Terrible!

http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/06/great-spirit-bluff-falcons-intervention.html (http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/06/great-spirit-bluff-falcons-intervention.html)  Newest blog of what happened.  :(

terrible tragedy so glad Johnathon is ok & will be fostered

This morning at least 2 eyas were heard calling. Possibly all 3. And the parents were flying in with food to feed them. It is still possible all of them are okay. Only time will tell.

Now that's a miracle!!  :pray:

                 :ditto:

               

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons (http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons)  Oh I can hear them right now on cam!! Screaming!!  There is hope!

By now most of you are aware that all four young falcons jumped from the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff on June 17th. They were approximately 10 days away from fledging. Searchers were only able to find one of four falcons. Bob evaluated Jonathon, a male, and decided to augment/foster Jonathon into another nest box rather than risk having him jump out again. He chose Red Wing Grain as the new site, since the two young falcons there are about the same age as Jonathon. We fostered Jonathon on the morning of June 19th and he seems to have adapted quite well to his new surroundings.

We chose not to continue the search after the first night. Like many young animals, the falcons either hide or try to scurry under cover when they hear threats approaching. We didn't want to drive them so deep in into the undergrowth that Michelle and Travis couldn't reach them. Since then, we have heard the young falcons calling from the area below the nest box, and we have witnessed Michelle and Travis carrying what appears to be prey down below. We hope to see the young falcons at the nest box or on the ledge again, but only time will tell.

We have received numerous questions regarding the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff. Is it a safe box? It is. In the Midwest alone, over 1,000 falcons have been produced at nest boxes that use this design, which provides shelter from the weather and perches for sitting. Netting under the boxes is out of the question, since the falcons would snag their talons, and holes or venting in the side of the boxes to let in wind would also let in rain and snow.

Absent external stimuli, Bob has never seen young falcons jump from a nest box or cliff as they did at Great Spirit Bluff. He believes that insects caused the young falcons to stampede from the box. Just a few weeks ago, 17 of 20 adult whooping cranes in central Wisconsin deserted their eggs due to black flies, as reported in the Wausau Daily Herald. http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130525/WDH01/305250345/Black-flies-endanger-whooping-crane-nests (http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130525/WDH01/305250345/Black-flies-endanger-whooping-crane-nests)

Please refer to this blog post for more information about insects, intervention, and fosterage: http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/06/great-spirit-bluff-falcons-intervention.html (http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/06/great-spirit-bluff-falcons-intervention.html)

Although we knew the gnats and black flies were bad, we were unable to intervene earlier, since that would most likely have caused the young falcons to jump before they had developed their flight feathers. In short, the risk of injury or death was higher if we went to the box than if we did not. This was an unusual and unfortunate situation. We haven't seen it before and we hope never to see it again.

To view the Red Wing Falcons, click on this link, and then choose Red Wing Grain Falcons from the left side and click on that link: http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html. (http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html.) This cam may not always be available, since it has limited bandwidth.

A big thank you to the Howe family for responding so quickly, climber Dan for last minute assistance, and the staff of Red Wing Grain for letting us foster a falcon into their box on very short notice. Bob made a difficult decision in a stressful situation, but he made it in the best interests of Jonathan, who is thriving in his new home.

I'm so glad to hear it's working out for Jonathan! Now he has a chance. Those poor babies getting eaten like that and mom didn't know what to do for them when she went into the nestbox and all the babies were screaming for her to help.

UPDATE:  :yahoo:  Great news from Great Spirit Bluff site-2 of the Spirit Bluff jumpers have fledged and have been seen flying around the nest!!!  Update brought to you via Donna who is away from her computer for the day and asked me to post this wonderful news.  :thanx:

http://m.ustream.tv/recorded/34938053/highlight/375429?rmalang=en_US … (http://m.ustream.tv/recorded/34938053/highlight/375429?rmalang=en_US …)

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!! Thanks to Donna and MAK for sharing.   :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup:

Jonathon, the only eyas that was found and rescued, was fostered in the nest box at Red Wing Grain and successfully fledged June 25th!  Good news about these young ones after all!   :2thumbsup:

Thanks MAK!!  :thumbsup:

Jonathon fledged on June 25th! It was noticeable yesterday that only two falcons remained in the nest box at Red Wing Grain, where Jonathon was fostered, so Mr. Howe (GSBDweller) drove to Red Wing and got photos showing Jonathon after his successful fledge. His two female nest mates are still in the nest box. This photo is Jonathon at Red Wing Grain.

To view the other photos that Mr. Howe took, you can click on this link:
http://s1249.photobucket.com/user/GSBDweller/library/2013%20Fledging?sort=3&page=1 (http://s1249.photobucket.com/user/GSBDweller/library/2013%20Fledging?sort=3&page=1)

In other good news, we also have video of one, possibly two, of the falcons that had fallen from the nest box on June 17th at Great Spirit Bluff, that have now fledged and can be seen flying in the area below the nest box. Here is a video highlight of one or two of them flying:
Our First Flyer on the Bluff! Stolt?? 6/25/13 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34938053/highlight/375429)

We'll do our best to keep everyone updated. Congratulations to the Great Spirit Bluff fledglings! And thanks to Mr. Howe for the photos.

To view the cam for Great Spirit Bluff, click on this link:
http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons (http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons)

Jonathon

No problem Donna!  :handshake:

Jonathon - Named after our son who put in the GSB web cam as his Boy Scout Eagle project.
Stolt (male falcon) - Named after a student in the LaCrosse area who recently passed away unexpectedly.
Mandy (female falcon) - Named after a young woman who has been missing in our city (Eden Prairie) since 5/1/13.
Toni (female falcon) - Named after a friend/husband/father who passed away just days ago from a battle with cancer (Tony).

Correction, Jonathon is not the male at RW, it is Stolt. They confirmed the band yesterday. All along they thought it was Jonathon.  ;)

Only 1 male has fledged in the bluff, it is Jonathon, the 2 females have not fledged yet. Any day now.

June 24th

5.11 am another large barge 12 units - this one heads DOWNriver. wonder how they pass each other?
5.30 am  more screaming, increasingly higher pitched, definitely AT LEAST  2 chicks
5.34 am parent kakking -  Parent flew toward river kakking
5.39 am I hear a Falchorus - a whole chorus of falcons!
5.47 am  Renewed screaming by chick - is it closer?  Man that lil bird is insistent!
It looked like Mom flew up from trees below box, circled, went in below zoomcam, then chick screemed, she may have left one and went to another
6.10 am  More screaming - those chicks sound like they havent eaten in a week!
7.00 am  THe screaming just continues - the kids cant STILL be hungry!?

Travis, the dad watching the kids from the ledge above nest.

The parents are obviously making the best of a tough situation. Birds should get more credit for using their brains, which the experts say they don't have much of. Just my opinion...
Good news none the less that at least 2 have survived their ordeal!  :thumbsup:

(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/djweeds/6-28Jonathon_zps38ff01a1.jpg) (http://s140.photobucket.com/user/djweeds/media/6-28Jonathon_zps38ff01a1.jpg.html) Jonathon visits the nest. BOY is he LOUD!!!

just about all animals are smarter than they are given credit for being...except man he is given more credit than he deserves sometimes. (at least for some of them)

TONI  
LEFT - June 29  -  RIGHT - June 17th
The loudest falcon returned to conquor the perch she fell from on June 17!    

Mom with food and kid on nestbox perch, Michele feeding - who? - Toni?  screeming like a banshee
FINALLY!  June 29 almost 8:00 pm  a juvie perches on the nestbox perch.
Michele comes and feeds her.  It can ONLY be Toni!

My analysis
I think we have both Jonaton and Mandy flying up top of bluff
Mandy sat so still, so sweetly thru pouring rain.  
This has no confirmation but Mandy was quietest, and the first to go down on June 17th.
One fledgling sits so quietly and so sweetly I just dont believe its lively Jon.
Toni was the noisiest and the last to fall. I think she's screeching below.  She really scared herself on the 17th.


VIDEO
Mandy sitting atop the bluff preening after rain.  She is the sweetest young falcon.
Next video pans to Michele with food on ledge
We need 7:30-8:30pm video June 29 of Toni on nestbox perch!
Great Spirit Bluff Falcons, Great Spirit Bluff Falcons raptorresource on USTREAM. Birds (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35133247)


Seems all 3 survived the fall and are all flying around the Bluff!! PHEW!!!


The accidental fludge
June 24, 2013 I have put the fall of the 4 falcon chicks on this separate link
The accidental fludge, all 4 chicks gone same day.  Special photos and notes in sequence show why each fell.
So desparate to get away from hoardes of biting gnats (bugs) they went out to perch before they were really ready.
I believe Michele WANTED them out and downstairs - away from bugs.
http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about4326.html (http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about4326.html)


People love Darkness instead of Light because their deeds are Evil.
John 3:19

Too bad some love Evil and hate Light - even any imagined hint of Light.

GSB has shut down the SS overnite SONday, June 30th.  Wicked people came on and began throwing insults.   
I left SS for an hour or so - TWICE - on SONday because of them.

Those of the Darkness will be delighted to de-Light GSB - sadly. its easy to tell who is of the Darkness and they are driven to destroy the Light.
Dec.rules allow Darkness no hint of Light.

Children of Light, lets wait til Monday see what happens.  I emailed GSB.  Pray he doesnt let Darkness, Evil win.  Its been the single refuge for us.

Environmentalism is a religion, its a cult, and its NOT of the Light.

Great news that they all survived-nothing short of miraculous!  ;D

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39979612/highlight/426183 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39979612/highlight/426183)  Falcon comes to visit

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39958231/highlight/426111 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39958231/highlight/426111) Bob Anderson and John clean the nest and cams.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39361099/highlight/418769 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39361099/highlight/418769) Pellett, young falcon
 

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons?utm_source=crowd-live-backend&utm_medium=visit-channel&utm_campaign=notifications (http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons?utm_source=crowd-live-backend&utm_medium=visit-channel&utm_campaign=notifications)  They are Live again! Remember the kids all jumped last year because of bug infestation? Hope they fixed the problem!

What's going on at Great Spirit Bluff? We've been getting a lot of questions about it since Saturday morning, when Michelle was spotted lifting and nibbling at one egg in the morning and eating another in the afternoon. Why was Michelle eating her eggs? Why aren't more eggs hatching?

Michelle laid five eggs beginning on April 4th. Falcons, especially smaller males, often struggle to incubate that many. One egg broke up on May 9th, Michelle ate a 'hatching' egg on May 18 (we think the embryo suffered cold-related developmental injuries and died during hatch), and Michelle removed an empty egg from the nest this morning, May 21. The egg must have frozen and cracked, emptying its contents but leaving the shell relatively intact.

At present, we have one eyass and one unhatched egg in the box. We don't know whether or not the remaining egg will hatch. It hasn't burst yet, but Michelle has also left it un-incubated for relatively long periods of time. Michelle and Travis won't curtail hunting or feeding activities, so the young falcon (or falcons, if the second egg hatches) will reap the benefit of abundant food.

Bob commented that he'd seen more egg-eating this year than ever before. The extreme temperatures may have contributed to more freezing and breakage than usual, especially since falcons don't start full incubation until after the third egg is laid in a four-egg clutch, or the fourth or fifth egg is laid in a clutch with more than four eggs. Cracked, dead eggs won't hatch, and they provide falcons with an important source of protein, calcium, and calories.



http://youtu.be/sDfE0F2Y14A (http://youtu.be/sDfE0F2Y14A)
Eating egg!   So sad for them  :(

*Raptor Resource Project3 days ago
 
I'm thinking prey remains might have been stuck to the egg, since she never appears to have penetrated it with her beak and she tucked it back under her instead of eating the whole thing. We've seen eggs eaten at Sherco, Allen S.  King, and the TV loft this year. Egg eating tends to happen quickly and the entire egg is consumed. Sharing the video to see what Bob thinks - I'll get back to you. Thanks!

from fb

Thanks for the update, Donna.  Sometimes nature can be very cruel.  I hope the eyas does well and that the other egg hatches.  And that they can keep the bug population down this year!   :(

 :wow:

Read on BCAW that the chick fell out of the nest tonight trying to get away from the bugs!  :(

Raptor Resource Project FB page

Eyas falcon MacIntosh fell from the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff. He appears to have been bothered by blackflies or gnats prior to attempting to jump to the outer perch. Unfortunately, he slipped through the gap and fell. Mom or Dad followed immediately, so if MacIntosh survived the fall, they will care for him until he fledges. He was just one day younger than the youngest falcon that fell last year and he is a smaller and lighter male, so he may survive the fall.

We checked the young falcon for hippoboscids and treated the box when we banded him on June 7th. At the time, he was healthy and parasite free. We are trying to determine whether Michelle and Travis are caring for MacIntosh via the camera and microphone, and reviewing footage to determine a course of action.

The last three years in the upper Midwest have seen a monsoon-like rain pattern, with very wet and very dry periods. Black flies lay eggs in running water, so the very wet spring has resulted in an explosive hatch. Black flies haven't previously been a problem at any of our boxes, but we may have to consider them when re-designing this one.

Not again!! Poor little guy! I sure hope he survived! Thanks

Hope the little one is ok.   :(

Not again!  Poor little guy.  I hope he is okay like his sibs were last year.   :surprise:

Was just over there, we can hear him!!!!  :heart:

That's good news Donna!   :happy:

Oh, precious little one!  Let's hope he's not injured and his parents can find him and feed him.   :heart:

They both know where he is! They have been flying in and out of where he is!! He's screaming now!

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons (http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons)

Great news!   :2thumbsup:

 :clap:

Mom and dad have been alarm calling for over an hour now! Something down there bothering them. Hope nothing after Mac! Horrible sounds worse then at banding!!

 :phew:

The Howe's were going to leave everything alone but with the parents sounding stressed, it was posted they're going to investigate what's going on.

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on what's going on here Donna and Kris.  Sure hope the little one is ok.

Raptor Resource Project:  This also happened last year. We treated the box when banding this year in hope of preventing a recurrence. Unfortunately, it happened anyway. Like last year, we are hoping MacIntosh survived the fall. We have never had this kind of problem with blackflies previously, but may have to incorporate it into our box redesign here.

Raptor Resource Project: We can't use a net. Nets are historically used to capture all kinds of birds because they easily become entangled - very undesirable in a wild nest. We will consider if changes can be done to box design to help avoid a new and so far (thankfully) very unusual problem.

Raptor Resource Project:  We installed the box after they tried and failed to nest on the ledge below. We don't really have many places to move the box. We may be able to make some changes to perch design, although they can't impact overall weight and size too much since we have to get the box over the cliff and place it using minimal tools. This is a new problem and it will take some careful thought and consideration to address.

Raptor Resource Project:  Boxes with this basic design have produced thousands of falcons since we began placing them in the late 1980s. Last year was the first year we saw a problem with black flies stampeding young from the box. We thought that might have been an exception, since we had never seen it before. GSB wasn't successful at all before we put a box here in the early 2000s. Falcons tried to nest on the ledge below the box but weren't successful, probably due to raccoon (we found raccoon poop on the ledge).

So what's going on with blackflies? They caused falcons to jump here last year, are implicated in the fall this year, and caused widespread whooping crane and loon nest failures in 2013 and 2014. Are monsoon weather and explosive blackfly hatches the new normal? If so, how do we deal with it - and how many other birds are suffering reduced production and fatalities as a result? A sobering thought. If we change some aspect of nestbox design - and that is an if, given how successful the design has been overall - we need to make sure that our response is helpful and accomplish-able given the challenges of installing nestboxes in places like this. It's a much more complicated task than it appears.

Update:

Raptor Resource Project We weren't able to find Mac below the bluff. Anyone who watched last year will remember that we found one young falcon and fostered him at Red Wing Grain. However, Travis and Michelle raised two more, going into the heavy brush and feeding them until they fledged. We'll be listening for Mac. If he survives, we should see him in 10 to 12 days. His vocalizations and Travis and Michelle's behavior should give us an idea of what's going on here.


Someone posted after this that they can hear Mac screaming...hope he's OK.

(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/djweeds/6-21SBFeyas_zps8b0d5d9b.jpg) (http://s140.photobucket.com/user/djweeds/media/6-21SBFeyas_zps8b0d5d9b.jpg.html) They found little Mac, in a tree!! A few more days until he can fledge!  :heart:

This is NOT the tree he was in yesterday, they think Mom and dad coaxed him up! Not sure how but he moved!

 goodnews:

Great to see Mac and that's she's doing OK!  :2thumbsup:

Amazing!  :clap:

Michele just fed Mac. It wasn't easy for her to balance on a branch to do it but she is a mother and did what had to e done!

Missed it and had it open all afternoon too! Must be hard for Mac on that branch and not being able to lay down and snooze! Thanks Glo!

Someone said it was recorded so maybe it will be in the videos tomorrow.

http://youtu.be/cReGongzZCs (http://youtu.be/cReGongzZCs)  Michelle feeding young Mac in the tree!
Great balancing by both!
She even supplied Mac with a snack at 9 pm!

When they found Macintosh!

http://youtu.be/4D-j-sfD8Mw (http://youtu.be/4D-j-sfD8Mw)

 :clap:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/49377525/highlight/522879 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/49377525/highlight/522879)

He fledged but they say he is still covered with bugs!!  :(