Rfalconcam Forum

http://www.teambelisle.com/test/

WooHoo!  Excellent!  Can't wait to follow them this year!

  Tres bien, Nicole!  :clap:

It is in french but sometimes Eve translate photos in english   :educated:

http://fauconsudem.blogspot.com/

Merci Kris   :2thumbsup:

Hooahh!! Thanks! bguitar

A new peregrines cam!  :thumbsup:

The young female, Polly, born in 2009 is still with her parents. It is a weird situation. She is handicap at one leg and maybe that she has problem to hunt. She stays with her parents to steal a part of pigeon's breast or leg ! ! ! ! !
That's very surprising that her parents tolerate her and more, they seem to appreciate her presence. They fly together and play. She also helps to protect the territory against others peregrines.
Is that such behavior normal ??

Thanks for answer. Nicole

Well I'm no expert but I thought you might be interested to know of two separate cases in the UK where parents tolerated a juvenile the following year when they nested again.  In one case they witnessed the young subadult feeding her parents new eyases while she watched on.  She helped the parents hunt and protect the nest, and was seen hanging out with the parents even after the season was over so it does happen.  But it doesn't seem to be common or maybe we just dont' know about because the cams and people usually only watching during nesting season.  

Urban nesting seems to be showing us that falcons don't always behave the way the experts said they would.  I remember reading that the parents drove the young out of the area - and yet I've seen at my own site where the parents tolerated their young for months after they should have left.  From what I've seen they leave when they are ready, our female this year stayed until the end of September and hunted daily with her mother.  I also read that a tiercel and a female would never have a territorial fight - then we saw one on the live cams in Sussex last Spring.  Everytime I read they 'shouldn't or don't do something - it seems they do the opposite!  

It will be interesting to see if anyone else has experienced what is happening at your nest site, and also to see what happens.  Obviously the fact they are still feeding her shows that perhaps they know she can't get along on her own and she's not a threat as she is their offspring.  Now whether they will feel that way when she is an adult will be interesting.

You might also be interested to know that there was a young juvenile male in Hamilton that lost one of his legs and everyone said no way he would ever survive or learn to hunt with one leg.  Not only did he survive but he was discovered at a nest site with a mate two years later.   There was also a wonderful female falcon at GRE in the US who had a bad leg, one talon was missing and her leg looked like it was turned inwards.  She successfully nested and raised young.  I remember watching her on cam and she would hop on the one bad leg so it is possible to adapt.  Maybe Polly just needs some time to learn to survive with her handicap and once she does - she may surprise everyone.  I hope she does  :)

BRAVO   :clap: :thumbsup: Carly....great post!

Cooperative breeding has been observed among peregrines fairly often, it seems..http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1642/0004-8038%282003%29120%5B0717%3AOAEOCB%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=tauk (http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1642/0004-8038%282003%29120%5B0717%3AOAEOCB%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=tauk)

This table from the above reference lists them as regularly breeding cooperatively, and notes that the extra, or "helper" bird is a juvenile.  Evisently, not only to the young sometimes stay with the parents for a long time, but they also help raise the next brood when they do.
 http://www.bioone.org/action/showFullPopup?doi=10.1642%2F0004-8038%282003%29120%5B0717%3AOAEOCB%5D2.0.CO%3B2&id=i0004-8038-120-3-717-t02 (http://www.bioone.org/action/showFullPopup?doi=10.1642%2F0004-8038%282003%29120%5B0717%3AOAEOCB%5D2.0.CO%3B2&id=i0004-8038-120-3-717-t02)

Paul

Thanks for those links Paul, very interesting and encouraging in my opinion  :notworthy: 

Fascinating!  On the job training for the sub-adults and "at home" care for the parents.

Good post Carly.  I've always said that Urban Peregrine Watchers know more about the behavior of Urban Peregrines than the "experts".  

They say that only Tiercels will battle Tiercels and the Falcon (females) will fight each other.  How many times did we witness Kaver driving off a female?  Like you, we've seen many behaviors that go against what the "experts" say.

The year that Gahastey was hurt, Mariah and Kaver allowed her to land and remain on the Kodak Tower late in the season.  Havoc (male), the guardian angel of that year, tried to remain and hang out with Gahastey.  He would land on one of the RG&E smokestacks, while Gahastey was on the Kodak Tower.  

We saw Mariah attempt to chase Havoc out of the area multple times, while she seemed very content to allow Gahastey to remain.  I believe they do know when a young one needs extra help.

More about "guardian angels".  Every year, one of the young fledglings seems to take on that role, hanging out with siblings that may need extra help.  I've noticed that it's usually a Tiercel hanging out with a sister, but not always.

I find studying the behavior of these magnificent creatures fascinating.  Can't get enough of watching them.  I am not addicted!   :laugh:

Nicole - Please keep us updated on what happens this year at your nest site.  It could get very interesting.

That's what I meant by '' expert '' Carol. You the gang of Rochester, street watchers.
Thanks for the answers.
Nicole

I thought Alkyonis was the one that was hurt that year, 2004. She was treated and released (along with Grissom) after going down a stack and wound up going to ground downtown later with a shoulder problem.

It was definitely Gahastey and Havoc.  We were sad to hear that Gahastey had passed away the following year, but glad that she had survived after leaving Rochester.  She somehow injured her foot.  It was closer to the end of the season, maybe sometime in August.

Alkyonis was the one released back to the Kodak Tower after rehab (having gone down twice!).  Mariah was first uncertain about this "intruder" until the fledglings accepted her.  I remember watching all day long after she was released, to make sure she would be ok.

Nicole, does Polly hunt on her own at all that you know of?  Or is she entirely dependant on the parents?

The falcons at this site are Spirit and Roger. Spirit, band black/green 93/E, was born in 2004 at the Hilliard Road Bridge site in the Cleveland area to the great Buckeye and his mate Hillary. She had three siblings, Turbo, Pulse and Mystic. Turbo died very shortly after fledging; Mystic was found later that summer with a fractured wing, but she did not survive surgery. Pulse was not seen for three years, but in March 2007 he showed up at the Cathedral of Learning nest in Pittsburgh, where the resident falcons were Dorothy and Erie, the parents of Beauty in Rochester. Pulse fought a territorial battle with Erie in the nest box, and Erie killed him.

Spirit is the only survivor of this clutch. Her mate, Roger, is unbanded.

Last year, the pair had two chicks, Polly and her brother Algo. In August, Polly somehow sustained a severe leg injury, from which she has been struggling to recover. She is still at the nest with her parents.

A few updates on Polly from the blog:

From August 17:

As I mentioned last week, poor Polly still has an injured foot. I have made several attempts to capture her with the intention of taking her to the rehabilitation centre for birds of prey at St-Hyacinthe, but without success. Still, I have not given up . . .

From September 19:

In spite of numerous attempts to capture Polly and have her cared for, my efforts failed and I have had to give up on the idea, due to lack of time. The good news is that she seems to have adapted to her handicap fairly well, since she has managed to survive so far. I see the juvies less and less; I am really quite surprised to see them still in the area. I would have thought that they would have left long before this!

And from December 1:

I have not seen Algo since mid-October. It seems that he has left his parents' territory, or at least he no longer visits the Tower.

On the other hand, to my great astonishment, young Polly comes to perch on the Tower regularly. She still has the problem with her right foot; however, I see a slight improvement when she is in flight. At first her foot hung down like a dead weight, while now it is bent back a little. She can also move her toes and use them a little bit, as you can see in this video taken on November 19.

It seems clear to me that her handicap has slowed down her ability to learn to hunt, and thus her departure has been delayed . . . I am nevertheless hopeful that she will be able to fend for herself during the next few months, because she seems to be in good condition. I am fairly sure that she is now able to catch prey for herself.

Roger and Spirit show absolutely no aggression towards her, but neither do they show any particular interest in her . . .

The blog entry for September 29, 2009 has a short video of Polly. She was barely able to walk.

Polly at the nest:

   

Roger at the nest:

 

Good summary Alison.

Nicole, does Polly hunt on her own at all that you know of?  Or is she entirely dependant on the parents?

One thing is sure is that her parents do not feed her anymore.
She was seen running to small birds. But she stole some food to Roger and Spirit and they let her do.
Is this answer is correct for you Carly?
Nicole

http://ornithologie.ca/faucons/ (http://ornithologie.ca/faucons/)  in the nest now

I'm assuming Spirit is the one in the nest all the time now.

Université de Montréal falcon pair may have to evict their daughter



Welcome to Montreal's newest Internet reality show, Mind Your Own Falcon Business, starring Spirit, Roger, Polly and Eve. Who needs soap operas when you've got the real thing on your computer?

I have studied and written about peregrine falcons for more than 30 years and I thought I had seen it all. But this year takes the cake.

It all started in 2007 when Eve Bélisle, a programmer in the chemical engineering department at École Polytechnique on the Université de Montréal campus, contacted me about a pair of peregrines hanging about the 26-storey tower there. The following winter, we installed a comfortable nesting box on the 23rd floor and, lo and behold, right around Mother's Day in 2009, the birds produced two young, a male and a female.

From reading her leg band number, Eve discovered that the mother's name is Spirit and she fledged from a bridge nest in Ohio in 2004. She gave the name Roger to the father in honour of Roger Gaudry, the man the tower is named after. The two nestlings were called Algo (after Alain Goulet, owner of the Centre de conservation de la faune ailée, a nature store in the east end, and the financial backer for both the nest box and the web cam) and Polly, a former name for Spirit. And Eve, of course, is now the official voyeur. So now you know all the players in this fascinating drama.

After the usual rescues of both nestlings from the ground when they made unsuccessful attempts to fly, both kids hung around Mom and Dad for quite a while.

Algo eventually disappeared and will hopefully show up as a breeder at around 3 years of age - a very natural thing for young fledged peregrines to do. But here is where our story gets quite interesting.

Polly became the child who wouldn't go away; she stayed with her parents through the entire winter. Eve had noticed that Polly had sustained some form of permanent leg injury, which, to a peregrine used to nailing their prey with their feet in the air, can be a handicap. Thus, it is conceivable that Polly remained with her parents throughout the winter with the thought that she could garner the odd food handout for old time's sake.

Spirit and Roger are now sitting on a clutch of four eggs in the nest box. The episode titled The Trouble with Polly started during egg-laying. Polly just couldn't keep her little beak out of Mom's business. Every time Mom or Dad would enter the nest box, Polly had to be there, too. You see, some bird species like crows and scrub-jays welcome assistance from helpers in the form of youngsters from previous years, but not falcons, at least not to my knowledge.

Having a teenager around the home is not necessarily a bad thing, but Polly became annoying to her parents. Often the eggs would sit uncovered due to her constant interference, and on some occasions Spirit has had to physically kick Polly out of the nest box. So I will be especially curious to see what happens if and when the chicks hatch. Does Polly's disruptive behaviour with incubation cause the death of some or all of the embryos? Will she help feed the babies? Or when they have new chicks to deal with, will the parents kick Polly out of their territory?

There is an intriguing sidebar to this peregrine drama: It is not unheard of for some bird species, including falcons, to engage in incest.

The very first pair of American kestrels, a small cousin to the peregrine, to return to a nest box on McGill's Macdonald campus in the '80s were a father and a daughter who raised five healthy babies. If Spirit were to perish in the next year or two and Polly and Roger were still around, would they perhaps hook up and raise kids together?

Eve has indeed observed Roger sneaking off with Polly out of camera range for long periods.

Want to become a peregrine voyeur too? Just click on www.ornithologie.ca/

faucons, and follow the links to Bélisle's blog.

sss

Thanks to Eve, I can pass on other news of Montreal's peregrine falcon population.

Your other favourite peregrines, the ones on Place Victoria, suffered a setback in 2009 when the male killed himself flying into a window right after fledging the young.

As expected, a new male has shown up this year to court the female, but according to Jean Masson of Fasken Martineau Dumoulin, who has watched these falcons for more than a decade, they "come and go" but there are no eggs yet.

Eve visited some other Montreal sites. There is probably a pair on the Mercier Bridge, but she is not sure about the Champlain and Jacques Cartier bridges. The city of Laval has a pair nesting in a quarry for at least the second year in a row.

- - -

David Bird is a professor of wildlife biology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre on the Macdonald campus of McGill University.

This is a first....Polly stays with mom and dad. Hope more is published soon on this.

NOTE - 3 topics (Webcam at Montreal university, Question for expert, & Montreal university blog) are combined since they all discuss Polly and the Montreal nestsite.

Thanks for posting Donna.  Linda Woods also sent the article to Carol P and I was just going to post the same.  I went into the archives at http://ornithologie.ca/faucons/ and found  a photo of Polly caught on today's cam 4/21/2010-18:36, while Mom (Spirit) sits on the eggs.

Along Came Polly. This is quite amazing. Wonder how long she'll stay...I guess forever if allowed.

If she's injured, this could account for the refusal to leave.  Too bad she can't be treated????

Well Polly is back and just as she came in, mom took off. Now Polly is just laying in the nest next to the eggs. Wonder if this will impact hatching.

Polly still there! Do these eggs even have a chance? Why can't mom or dad make her move, at least away from the nest? Could they be afraid of her? I don't get it.

I wrote to Eve from Montreal and here's what she has to say about Polly Pockets.


It's hard to tell what they are thinking as this is the first time this situation is seen, to my knowledge. I'll try to answer your questions from what I have seen and what I think is going on.

Polly is not incubating the eggs although it seems like she tried a couple of times. She just likes the box to have a nap in the sunshine and the warm rocks ! She has been doing it through the winter. I thought that her parents would chase her off when egg laying started but it was not the case. Mom is not afraid of her - I have seen her get Polly out of there on a few occasions in the past. You can also see when they are together that Polly has her head lower than Spirit when they bow to each other, it means that Spirit is still the boss. Also, Spirit has no problem getting other females out of the territory, so if she wanted to she could do it with Polly quite easily. When Spirit leaves the nest, it's because she has been sitting there for several hours and wants to go out and stretch, thinking that Roger would take over. This is where the problems start - Roger, of course he's way smaller and can't win a fight against Polly. But again there is no fight, when they are together in the box it's clear that Roger is not afraid of her, she's just annoying him and that's why sometimes she prevents him from doing his job. However most of the time he manages to sit on the eggs.

This morning I think Spirit was out hunting when the eggs were uncovered for a long period of time, as she came back to the box with a prey. Otherwise she would have told Polly to get out after a while.

So obviously, both parents have decided to accept Polly as part of their life for now.
Also, it is clear to me that Polly is now able to hunt on her own. I have seen her disappear for a few days, and come back to the tower with a full crop when both her parents have been there for a while.

Now I don't know whether the time without incubation will be fatal to the embryos. I certainly hope not as I am very curious to see Polly's reaction when/if we have chicks.


It was nice of her to write back so quickly. I hope these eggs hatch. Polly means no problems, she's just being a kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBIM4vi2xQQ&feature=player_embedded#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBIM4vi2xQQ&feature=player_embedded#!) Polly attempts to care for the eggs. Roger comes along to take over

Poor Polly she is like all teenagers. Have a good will but she is clumsy. There nothing to do with her except hope that the eggs will be OK.
Eve tried very hard last year to catch her to take care of her leg but she is very intelligent ( Polly), (Eve is intelligent too ! ! !) and she always escape.
Continue to watch. It is so interesting.
Nicole :wave:

That was nice of you to write, Donna and nice of her to answer!

Are these folks in contact with Mark Nash?  Do we know?

Looks like 2 chicks and 2 eggs. I haven't seen Polly on Cam in a while.....is she still around?

She is still around Donna.  Yesterday morning she came in screaming her head off and mom left her alone with the new chick for a minute.  She poked at the chick gently a few times and then looked from the eggs to the chick several times as if she was having an ephiany and then she took off.  It was scary and cute at the same time  :surprise: 

Oh thanks Carly, I'm kinda glad she is around...I think. Who knows how she'll handle all her new (sibs). She could be a big help or a big hindrance. Time will tell.

Feeding @ Montreal

http://ornithologie.ca/faucons/ (http://ornithologie.ca/faucons/)

Here a topo of the UDM falcon.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/videos/?mediaid=691921

Tragic news here tonight.  Looks like Polly may have taken one of the babies and they suspect she ate it.  Eve has just posted it on her blog.  :crying: :'(

OMG!!! NO Polly! Oh please don't let her take another.  :crying: :crying: :crying:

Polly stole a baby in his mother about 18:30 tonight. I went outside and looked over the rooftops to see if the small would not have fallen and still alive but no luck ... How sad! Hoping it does not reserve the same to others.

Do not blame him, it has no instinct that tells him that something other than food. What is surprising is that Spirit has not been more aggressive with his daughter. Finally, hope it never happens again ...

This is the translation!  :(

I don't get it....did Polly just go in and take? Wow, this is bugging me...I can see if it was another Raptor taking 1...and yeah....it's nature but unnatural.. or a first for this to happen. I'm not sure I can watch this cam now. Polly needs a spanking! Dad and mom need to put their talons down on her.  :(

 :eeeeek: I was checking the CMNH forum when I saw Carly's post there.  This is so sad.  I certainly hope Spirit and Roger protect their remaining eyases.  This is hard to take and even harder to watch because more than likely, Polly may try again.  Sigh!  :'(

How sad!  She probably doesn't see the difference between the babies and any other food she eats. 

Good point jeanne.  Somehow even that seems unnatural, and very, very sad.  The eyasses much seem like an easy snack.  We're all learning something here.

 :(   The parents need to send her packing!    :heart:

2 in nest and 1 unhatched egg still. Hope Polly stays away today.

i wonder if someone from that site has contacted Mark Nash from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation??? This whole situation seems really odd

If no one did yet, I sure will. He may have some interesting answers.

Thanks, Donna.  He and his group are so good and maybe they can propose something to do about this

Spirit seems to be keeping her food inside with the eyases now under her.  Polly was in earlier terrorizing her again but she left peacefully.  I'm not watching anymore, I can't so I just check the various blogs as I'm too afraid to see her grab one of the babies. 

I sent Mark an email last night too as I was totally freaked out by this.

I saw that prey underneath her with the babies...the prey's foot was hanging out. EW. I saved the pic.

Still 2 here today..phew

Thank goodness!  I looked awhile ago and saw mama falcon but didn't see babies.  I thought she they were under her but I was nervous looking again!

  2 babies in Montreal this am. Heart pounding  :doctor:

Two little ones - so cute!  :heart:

For those who are interested with the UDM falcon saga.

Here a mail that Eve wrote to David Bird:
Polly stealing a baby from under her mother... Spirit barely reacted -
Roger was upset and chased Polly, don't know what happened with the
baby ... Right after she was back on the tower and the parents did not
chase her away... She was back twice yesterday but no damage .... But
i'm afraid we won't have any chick left to band!!

And here the answer of David:
 That;s incredible...I have never heard of that before.  Despite it being terrible news for your brood, we might be able to publish a scientific note on it.   Keep as many notes as you can on what's happening between the birds.   Sorry to hear this though.   xox
David M. Bird, Ph.D.
Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University
21111 Lakeshore Road

I just called the Peregrine Fund and spoke with one of the biologists.  He said it is pretty unusual for the parents to not push out a juvie from the year before and tend not to lay eggs until all are ousted.  I sent him the link to the Montreal site.  There is  a youtube of the snatching of the baby but I can't find it.  I was so sickened that I forgot to save it. 

Jeanne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUs5Txq6Hfs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUs5Txq6Hfs)  Here's where Polly meets the 1st chic....she could have taken it then

Looking for the other but probably don't really want to see it.

Donna, it is a different youtube.  It was posted on the montreal site last night.  I did look at it but it was so hard to watch.  She took the little one right from under her parent.  That poor baby.  I was so shaken, I didn't bookmark it. 

Your brave jeanne, I don't think I could watch it. I'd be traumatized by it. Seriously.

Actually, Donna, you are brave.  Especially after seeing that youtube, I am really nervous looking at the site.  Those sweet babies.  I know it is nature but sheesh.

jeanne, I don't think this is suppose to be nature as no one has heard of such a thing. A juvie falcon hanging around for a year. So we actually don't know what this is all about. I'm not liking it.  :nono: :no: :thumbsdown:

It is sad and maybe it is not nature,  but we can't shoot Polly. For her babies are food. Just hope and pray that Spirit and Roger can keep her away. The situation is a mystery. Nicole

It is definitely unusual.  It is up to the parents to shoo her away.  Part of the mystery is why they haven't.  I think there had been an attempt to rescue her at one point but it failed.  That would probably be the only possible option -- to rescue her until the others are fledged- but I don't know how possible that is.

It's sad.  Nature is not always easy to watch or to understand.

  Still 2 there. Maybe Polly got a good talking to by dad...he seemed more disturbed over the "TAKE" than mom.

Here's part of the email about Polly

That being said, I have been kept apprised of the Montreal happenings.  While it is very sad indeed, we have seen this same situation happen on two other occasions at two other nest sites.  The end results have always been the same and this news does not come as any surprise as tragic as it is.

As Polly matures, (and her hormones take over and control her behaviour), she will become more aggressive (assertive and dominating), and will compete for control of the territory and the nest site itself.  Sadly, there is not much that can be done as the birds will have to work this out on their own.
Unless Spirit dispatches Polly, I would not be surprised to see additional happenings.  While I have doubts that Polly actually ate the hatchling, you just may see other nest robbing in the future if Polly’s mom continues to allow her at the nest.  Don’t expect that Roger will do any dispatching, as he will allow whatever Spirit will allow to continue.   He has really no idea what is actually happening, so don’t count on his support to rectify the problem and dispatch Polly.

In both of the other situations that we have observed, the yearling juvenile (both were also females), tried to take over the nest and new hatchlings.  The chicks were trampled and eventually died at one of the other nests in the ongoing battle for control of the actual nest ledge, while at the other nest,, all of the new hatchlings were removed from the original nest by the yearling juvenile female - (just as in this case).

We believe that the young yearly juvenile bird actually attempted to brood the stolen chicks on another ledge altogether, as she was observed bring food into the various ledges that she had placed the hatchlings on.  All three of the hatchlings eventually died (or died during the process). Sadly, they were all found dead on the  ledge before we could gain access in an effort to recover them.

I can only hope that Spirit does not allow this to continue.  It is also possible that Polly may be allowed to provide foster care to the remaining hatchlings ie: (a second mom), as we have also see this happen on another occasion.

Who knows how this particular story will unfold, as each bird is as different as the next one.

Not sure that I’ve helped.
Sincerely
Mark Nash
CPF

I guess it's not that uncommon but now we have to worry that Polly will want that nest and when she comes of age, she's just like any other female. Oh boy.

  Moms guarding these 2. Wonder what's up with Polly. Like Mark said, she probably didn't eat the chick, just took it. No one knows why but she was just being Naughty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJjdjMk4kY&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJjdjMk4kY&feature=player_embedded)  A clip of the 2 remaining chicks.

:rofl:

I found the video where Polly takes an eyas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuljWqemVc&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuljWqemVc&feature=related)

This is the strangest thing I have ever seen :surprise:
Greetings Carla

Nope...I just can't watch it.

  These 2 are doing well. Wonder how Polly is? Anyone know?

We are all wondering about Polly as well, Eve says she hasn't seen her in over a week.  Hopefully she's okay and just out exploring her world.  Apparently she has been MIA for a week before so keeping positive thoughts.  Perhaps mum suggested she take a vacation until the kids are a bit older  :-\

Next wednesday, 26 may, banding day here in Mtl.  :thumbsup:

 :cool-045: What time?

The banding is scheduled for 1200 ( midi )  amd will be transmitted on livestream camera and also there will have a camera in the room.

Thank you!  :clap:

And Nicole is at the banding today!!    :clap:

I watched the banding.
Thank you for your message.  :wave:

What an EXTRAORDINARY experience. We have a male ( Horus ) and a female ( Eve ). :clap: :thumbsup:

Cool, I hope we get the same!    :2thumbsup:

Eve (F) red band and B/W 77K

Horus (M) yellow band and B/W 78E

If one of these days you see one of our BB just let us know  :wave:

Polly has not been see since may 11. Hope she is well..

  getting big  :D

Look at the site of UDM. Horus did his first flight and Eve is at hospital. Hope she get well to be return to the tower. :'(

Nicole, I just noticed that last night!  So glad they did the intervention for Eve.  Hope she is ok.  I ran the blog through a translator!  I took three years of French and forgot a lot!

At least, Jeanne , you have the meaning of the text. Continue, the french will come back.
I also hope that all will be OK for the entire family.

I know!!!  That little family has had quite a year!

Here is the blog post...

So many emotions today ...

We found this morning that Eve looked ill, she was amorphous in the bottom of the box, and Spirit was trying to feed her but she has hardly eaten anything. His behavior "sick" was started yesterday, but I hoped there improvement. Here come the tough decisions .... what? Let nature take its course? or intervene? Me and Simon Duval had a long discussion with an expert on falcons, Peter Molina, who was present at the UdeM with us. We also sought the views of David Bird and Guy Fitzgerald. We all agree that intervention was required for Eve, but the danger was that Horus tries to steal and hurt.

Even before Simon and Peter open the door to attempt a catch, Horus had already jumped! It is therefore a sign that he was ready to make its first flight .... phew relief! He also flew as a champion and tried to return to the tower, but it was about 3 feet too low. He made a turn toward the Lassonde to land on a small roof on this side, unharmed. My friend Richard Dupuis and some observers are on the watch this afternoon, seems that Horus is good form, continues to exercise its wings and plays with a small scale. Spirit or Roger should come eat tonight at this place. It would be surprising if he tries to fly again before tomorrow, but everything is possible! I'll be there tomorrow morning to watch, but I have to leave during the day. I hope that other observers will be taking over the watch. I am very confident that he can fly well enough in a few days as we saw its first flight!

As for Eve, she underwent a physical examination which revealed nothing apart from dehydration and a relatively low weight - it weighs only 800g. She received fluids and a good meal, blood tests and x-rays can we say more tomorrow. For now she sits at UQROP, in good hands. I hope they can heal as quickly as possible and I will be able to bring her back this week at UdeM. Who pays for that? Well, it UQROP - an extraordinary organization funded entirely by public donations. Think of them during your next charity donations! Here is their website: http://www.uqrop.qc.ca/

Here are photos of Eve:

Very sad news. Eve died at the bird of prey hospital this afternoon. They will do a necroscopy to  know why. Nicole

Oh so sad...poor Eve. I'm sorry!  :crying: No word on Polly?

 :no:   :(   :heart:

Oh no! :crying:  Poor sweetie.  Let us know if they figure out what happened to her. 

             :(

I just read the montreal blog.  They are waiting results for Eve but they think it was some bacterium since multiple organs were infected.  Poor thing

The little guy flew into a classroom and had to be rescued!  There are pictures of that and of one of his landings.  He landed beneath an adult but not well-- doing the "bat" look while gripping the building!  The adult was looking at him!

It is possible that our Eve has the same illness that Blue has in Harrisburg.

Nicole,

I am so sorry for the loss of Eve.  It's never easy to lose one of these beautiful creatures.  :(

Carol P.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened"               

Jeanne would you tell me in what work of Anatole France did you get this sentence. Thanks.

I have another for you from unknown person: A dog has a master, a cat has a slave...... :bow:

Nicole

Nicole,

I'm not sure.  I have seen the quote from Anatole France several times and loved it but I have no idea where it is from!

Love the quote about dogs and cats!  Seems to fit!!!

jeanne

The temporary diagnosis responsible for Eve's death is, in french:
Hépatite à Herpesvirus et pneumonie bactérienne. A more complete result will come.

Horus is in a great form and a superb flier. He will be able to hunt by himself very soon.

Ahhhh, poor girl. I loved watching them. Thanks Nic.

Is someone could tell me if there is a nest where they had vaccinated the eyas for trichomonasis at the same time of banding ?  I mean for prevention. Thanks. Nicole

Nicole, I think it's the Jersey City nest (the one Bonnie watches).  They give them a dose of medication before they're big enough for banding, then another at banding.

Thanks EI. If you see Bonnie this week end could you ask her to tell me longer about that please.
Nicole

Hey Nic, this is Bonnie's post from a while ago:

The last pic is of one of the four chicks getting the medicated quail.  The bird is definitely not sick.  They were all quite healthy and active.  Kathy Clark has been giving the medication early on for several years.  She has had losses from the disease and wants to prevent it.