Rfalconcam Forum

Madness, a young falcon, was put into "foster care" at another site when she was attacked by an intruding falcon at her birth site.

http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?63402.240 (http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?63402.240)

I just read through that and have been following C&C's struggles with the site Madness was rescued from.  They have done a wonderful thing by giving this little girl a chance to survive.  And Green Girl - first time mom seems to have accepted her!  She is the daughter of the famous 'Mom' and Lil Dad from Harrisburg so ti's quite poignant that this is happening.

Carly, what site was Madness originally from? I was reading the thread but couldn't find it and who attacked her?

Donna, Madness is from ArcelorMittal Steel site - the resident pair there were Flash and Jersey.  At first they thought it was Flash (the male) that was missing when they got there and saw a falcon attacking the juveniles as they were attempting to fledge.  They found one little male dead on the rocks and another climbing up the rocks as he was trying to avoid being attacked.  The following day they went back and finally saw Flash and the new female (ID'd as Diana now) and determined it was Jersey that's been displaced or killed.  There were 2 young females still left on the ledge and yesterday they went back and found one missing and Madness on the ground so they made the bold decision to take Madness to safety.  Magic - the lone male fledgling is still there and seems to be holding his own but for how long?  

here is the thread for ArcelorMittal - if I've mess up any of the facts of the story I apologize as it's been full of twists and turns:

http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?64343.70 (http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?64343.70)

Oh my, thanks Carly, I never heard of that site but will follow it now. Poor babies, I know it's not Diana's fault, she's doing it because it's her way but then I think of Harrisburg and the new female there, is NOT harming the 2 juvies that have fledged. So much to learn about Falcon behavior, all different.

I agree!  Thanks so much, Carly.  These poor babies.  I'm so glad Madness was rescued and am so touched that she has been accepted by the new parents.

Green Girl was mate to Cheyenne after our Seneca disappeared.  After Cheyenne was hurt, GG abandoned their eggs and eventually ended up mate to Titan.  It's wonderful that GG and Titan have accepted Madness.  :clap:

I probably just missed it way back somewhere, but does anyone know what became of Seneca?

NO. There was a rumor that she may have been the one "relocated" to Toledo supposedly (was it from the airport?).  Think it was the airport they were killing a bunch of birds for plane safety but a falcon was "relocated so they say" but there was no band information given.  Happened at the same time she disappeared and she hasn't been seen since.

I wonder if she was a casualty of the bird clean up and they covered their mistake by saying "relocated". But then I have a low opinion of some humans. She was my favorite from that year. Daddy's little girl.

Good thinking BC, I don't trust many humans either!

Ditto on the trusting of humans ladies! Seneca,Archer,Kaver-where are you?  :heart: :heart: :heart:

unfortunately I believe Kaver is over the bridge because he would have come back to Mariah if he was able. I hope  :pray: that Archer is healing and Seneca really did get relocated and we will hear from her soon (probably in Toronto that seems to be the place to go for our girls)  :laugh:

From Chad and Chris   :crying:   What a story, what a tragedy!

Once again, thanks for your patience with my overly descriptive narratives, friends!

An emotional roller coaster at this site today. Thursday morning started with little promise, as I arrived at first light and saw GG on the outside arch with prey. She called and looked around and flew it up to one food begging juvie inside the bridge. This turned out to be the unbanded male, and he’s the only one that I could account through 10AM. I combed through what I could of the woods underneath and to the south of the I-90 and Hilliard bridges. Didn’t catch any glimpses of Madness and started to wonder if she literally climbed up to the inside top of the bridge to die. Was feeling disheartened at this point, so I decided to go and check a few other fairly close nest sites (Mittal and Bohn).

Returned to this site again in the early afternoon. Crossed the river (thankfully, it’s low due to the lack of rain, and my water shoes are holding up well) to again check the area near the sheer cliff leading up to where we last saw Madness. As I arrived at the top of the bridge, I was pleasantly surprised to see a juvie perched on the low south railing part of Hilliard. Hadn’t brought the camera to hike through the steep woods and wasn’t close enough to tell who it was, so I hiked back down and crossed the river to my car, and then drove up to check the juv out from on top. My mood perked up, as I heard a juvie calling in the bridge area that wasn’t the same one that was on the bridge railing, so I knew there were still at least two.

From the top of the bridge, discovered that the juvie was the male. Around this time Chad was on his way to meet me here (around 3:30) and I decided to hike through the woods below once again. I was thrilled to see Madness walking out and trying to go up the steep embankment between the bridges. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her footing and kept slipping back down. I stayed low and hidden so that she wouldn’t scare back into the unreachable area underneath Hilliard, and then I looped far away from her to walk back up to the top to see if I can see her walking up (their instinct is always to try to get higher, so I figured she’d try to come up). Couldn’t get any looks at her from this perspective and feared that she wasn’t able to make it up the steep dirt, so I went back down. Called Chad to let him know I was going to try to get a look from the south side, and Chad planned to stay near the top on the north side. As I went down and around, looking for anything that resembled a falcon (and believe me, any lump of dirt, rocks, stumps, or branches can look like a juvie when you want so badly to find them), Madness was casually perched facing me as I looked up on a fallen section of a tree. She was easy to grab, but was loud and feisty as I held her. I called Chad and he got a carrier to meet me on my way back up with her. As I crossed a section of exposed dirt underneath I-90, both GG and Titan circled and kekked at me as Madness screeched and flapped in my grasp. FYI—Laura from the MRC taught us how to hold a raptor by the legs with an index finger between them so that the legs don’t rub together and risk injury to the bird, which has been helpful over our time of doing this.

Got Madness into the carrier and Laura was able to meet me halfway. We figured that Laura could further assess Madness, hydrate and feed her, and we could work on placing Madness onto a ledge where the adults would provide food. We can’t get her high enough here for the adults to come to her level to feed, and Madness (likely because of her bad experiences with Diana, wouldn’t fly to GG for food that GG was offering). I think I have a lead on a cherry picker truck, though, that could get us where we need to go with her.

Anyway, Chad remained at the bridge for awhile and called me as I was on my way back from meeting up with Laura. Chad saw the dark female, Smolder fly and land into the wooded section between the bike path and the river. Chad spotted Paul, a friend and wildlife watcher/photographer in the park down below, and while Chad drove down and underneath Paul had located her about 30 feet up in a tree. Before I got there she tried to fly, but ended up down deeper into the woods with no place to fly out. Chad retrieved her and we met on top of the bridge to try the soft release with her again.

So, at this point I was thrilled—three of the four accounted for, with Madness getting what she needs in the good and capable hands of the MRC.

We did the soft release, positioning the carrier on the west end overlook. Smolder walked out, and at first didn’t show much interest in flying. She occasionally got excited when she heard or saw her brother or an adult. The male was on the bridge railing as we were preparing to release Smolder. He didn’t remain there long, and without hesitation took off back toward the valley (which we’re always glad to see when a newly fledged juvie seems to get the hang of not going into the roadway).

Chad had to leave for a night work shift, so I stuck around with Smolder. Wondered if she might not have wanted to fly toward me, as she aimed herself the other direction. So, I got on the other side of her so that she could take off away from me. At around 7:30 she flew, but only made a short flight to the bridge railing to the east of the cubby. I positioned myself between her and the road, as she was bobbing toward traffic (they bob their heads to get a sense of depth perception before taking off). It worked a little, as she walked and hop-flew from west to east on the railing. Then she took off, at first looping out over the valley. But then, a mistake that proved fatal—she looped back toward the bridge, slowed as if she was going to land on the bridge railing further down, and she ended up landing in the second lane of traffic with a busy strand of cars driving through. A car in the second lane ran right over her just after she landed and she was dead instantly.

I retrieved her body, and I’m not embarrassed to admit I was pretty tearful. Took her down below Hilliard bridge and placed her into the woods. Saw our friend Patrick just afterward, who had been watching the adults and the male juvie from down below the bridge. Thanks Patrick for your kind reassurances at a time I needed it.

I’m not trying to be melodramatic, but I just need to try to express this. I can tell myself all of the logical things: All you can do is try to help; The odds are stacked against their success, especially during their first year; if one of these four make it to adulthood it will be an overall success; You can’t control the decisions that they make (and they don’t know the dangers of traffic); at least she had a chance to live for a short time in the wild; at least she died instantly and didn’t suffer, etc., etc. Still can’t help but to have a heavy heart tonight for this beautiful gal. So, one thing we can always count on in monitoring these guys… the roller coaster will continue, and there will be more “ups” to look forward to!

Oh dear little one  :(

 :crying: Tho I didn't witness the tragic accident I was the first one to see Unity laying dead after being hit by a car. Reading this heartfelt report I can relate to Chris and I am actually sick to my stomach thinking about it. Fly free with Unity little one... :heart:

I pictured that in my mind and it made me cry.  :wub:

is there any new news?  :confused:

From C&C on CMNH:

First the shots of Madness: where she was before she finally came out from underneath Hilliard Road Bridge and where I found her perched on a fallen tree. Unfortunately, she was assessed by Dr. Riggs and a slight fracture of her radius and ulna in her right wing was detected. It’s reportedly a very fixable injury, although it will delay her return to the wild and she may need to be worked by a falconer to acquire hunting skills that she never got the benefit of learning from parents.

So sad for Madness. Heal well young one!  :(

Thanks Kris

Speedy recovery so you are free and flying again as you should be!  :heart:

I'll second that  :pray:

I actually feel better that she has been retrieved. they wil fix her up and fatten her up and a falconer is the best thing for her. She will learn good hunting skills.

I finally feel confident for her

I do too, Bev. 

Same thing happened a few years ago in Jersey City. One was a hairline fracture.  The bird was young and healed within three weeks.  The second was very serious, but the bird healed and was released three months after the accident.

Chad + Chris   
Tue Jul 10 2012

Laura reported that Madness has healed so well that she can’t even feel a difference from one wing to the other. She’s making short flights in the small flight cage and has been very responsive to food, showing no problems eating in captivity. So, now comes the tough thing… finding the best option for her release.

After much discussion between us, DOW, and Laura, we all have come to the agreement that the #1 option would be for Madness to be hacked out for release. The problem with this is that we don’t have a local hack tower and process in place and they are overloaded with birds and can’t take her at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center. Option #2 would be for her to be placed with a falconer, who would hunt her and release her as she progresses and shows an ability to kill consistently on her own. Laura is checking with a couple falconers who might be interested, although it’s very up in the air at the moment. The third option that it might come down to is giving Madness another shot at fostering. We decided that if this is the only option available we would release her back at Hilliard. Of course, it’s a bit of a gamble, as the time span since her injury may impede their acceptance of her as the lone juvie there, Turbo is now “hit or miss” around the bridge area, as he’s beginning to go out hunting with Titan and on his own-- he’ll be way ahead of Madness. On the positive side, we now have the ability to use a lift truck so that we can get her up closer to the nest, and “soft release” her instead of forcing her to fly from the top of the bridge without knowing where to go. As of now, we’re preparing for this option in hopes of releasing her on Monday, since time is of the essence and the lift truck need to be reserved in advance and is only useable Monday through Thursday. If this is the option that we go with, I’ll post about it right away. Chad and I will be able to be around for the beginning of the week and hopefully we’ll be able to see if there’s a problem. Of course, we’ll still take as many sets of eyes as are willing at this site… Liz, Christa, Patrick, and any others who have observed this site over the years, please post about any sightings of Turbo leading up to Monday, and let us know if you’re seeing any behaviors of concern.

Chad and I saw Turbo Sunday, and he was still food begging and chasing adults, so at least we know that he’s not getting too close to independence. It would be good to know about him, as it seems the adults are more likely to accept another juvie when they are still caring for one. In fact, I think I saw you leaving tonight, Patrick, as I was coming by for a late check (around 8PM). Didn’t stay long, but I didn’t see Turbo; did you while you were there?

So, once again, we’ll post about this and try to keep the information current here. We really want Madness to make it! Thanks, everyone for your support.

Fingers crossed for a good outcome!  ;D

Same thing happened in Jersey City two years ago.  We released the fledgling with the hairline fracture about three weeks after the injured bird was discovered.  The juveniles were still being fed and the bird went off from the nestbox.  Both parents were there to greet the fledgling and escort it into the skies to be with the rest of the family.  The other bird to go down from the same hatch group had a seriously broken wing.  It was healed three months later and on Oct. 29 we released it from the nestbox.  The parents attacked the juvenile.  It was far too late for a young one to be around.  We are hopeful that the juvie made it out of town OK.

My point is that Madness should be just fine.

Let's hope-she's been through so much in her young life. 

Update about Madness on CMNH:

Laura Jordan from the MRC was able to find a location where hacking out is still done in South Dakota. Through a grant they are able to accept birds for their hacking project in an attempt to reintroduce peregrines to that area. So, Madness will be rebanded as a part of this project. She was renamed "Journey" by Laura and was on her way to South Dakota as of Thursday morning.

Journey is to be involved in the hacking project starting today (Friday). There will reportedly be cams set up to monitor her progress, so Laura hopes to be able to pass along information and possible cam views in the future so that we can all keep track.

Looking forward to having more to report here about Journey! We're all just thrilled that she will have this
opportunity, and we hope for the best for her!!


 :clap:

Oh my, Madness has quite a Journey!  Good news! Thanks

I'm so glad they are doing this for her.  She is living up to her new name!

 :mbanana: :clap: :bguitar:

Madness to Journey to Delilah!  An update on CMNH by Chad & Chris:


Couldn't wait to hear more about Journey, so when I found a link to the PF reintroduction project on Facebook I sent a PM. Biologist Blake Schioberg sent this prompt reply with some good info.:

"Yes we had heard her story from MRC and also realize she is a very special bird!! We are fortunate to have her and give her another chance in the wild! We banded her yesterday, Friday, upon her arrival. She has a red project band on that is A41 and a silver federal band. We have a live webcam up that you can watch her from at www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org (http://www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org) or there are many ustream postings of the link on our wall. She has currently been placed in a hack box with another older bird to imprint on the area. She will remain there for a couple of days and then will be released! We will post the release days here on FB, provided we don't get too busy, but I will make an extra effort for you and this bird!!"

Later, Laura let me know: "She is in box 3 far right. They renamed her Delilah. They purchased all their Peregrines she is the only wild bird they have." Not crazy about her newest name (really liked Laura's choice in "Journey"), but still thrilled about the project and this opportunity for her, so it doesn't matter! She might end up the most multi-named falcon around!

Are they not showing the 3rd box? I see the 1st one is open and the juvies are roaming around! Glad she will get a second, third chance at life in the wild. Thanks Kris.

because madness, or Journey, or in my mind precious little one  she wil do great at hacking site. Nows she will have lots of food provided till she can hunt.

this is really the best option for her, other than a falconer. Most of these hack sites are a great option. I know a lot do not agree with them but the idea of hacking is to have them come back to that area in a few years

Our biologist will be doing a  second hack this week, that I may be able to attend and it will be along a river with nice cliffs. Great area

The thing is, if this little one was put back at that other site, she would probably have been chased off. too much time has transpired and then she would be without food

I will check here to see if they have posted anything new.

I am so grateful that she has this chance :wub: :wub:

What I don't understand was the need to re-band and rename her? Why wasn't what she had good enough.  :confused:

From the Peregrine Falcon Reintroduction FB page about Journey (Madness)-they kept her new name!
July 23

We received our 20th bird from Ohio on Friday and she is in the boxes awaiting release. This bird is a special bird as she was recovered from a wild nest after loosing her family to a territory dispute. Her siblings and mother were killed by a new female taking over the nest. It is a sad story, but we are glad to have this amazing bird and she will get another chance in the wild! She has been appropriately named by her rescuers, "Journey", as her life journey has been tough so far.

Aug. 11

It's our last release day for the 2012 reintroduction. Three will be released: 2 were released previously but were grounded and spent time recuperating. Our newest bird is Journey, a rescued peregrine fledgling from Ohio. Keep checking in on the webcam over the to see all our free-flyers who are coming back to the release sight on occassion (some are still daily). Only a month or two before they start their migration south.

I see they have colored markers on the wings, any clue as to what color Journey is sporting?

I wrote to them and they said "orange and she's flying beautifully!"

                                   :clap:

Journey's release:  She's so beautiful, I hope she makes it.   :wub:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24635443 (http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24635443)

Oh thanks Kris and Carly. Bless that little girl. Fly well and find your dream, you deserve it.  :wave:

Update on Journey on their FB page:  :2thumbsup:

Mary Ann Pembroke wrote:
Here is an update to our release: Journey (Red Band A41) was the first to fly. She flew beautifully around a high building next to the launch site, then expanded her range to about 2 blocks to the south. She was observed flying and manuevering with another, experienced peregrine who was chasing and bullying her (normal behavior). The male in the group, Percy (Band A12) was previously released so he had plenty of experience. He took off to the south of the release sight, flying smooth and steady. Athena (Band A35) made full use of the ledge around the release boxes but as of late evening, she hadn't flown. She hung on to the artificial turf through a torential downpour, facing right into the wind.

    

Chard on the CMNH Forum posted this update on Journey (Madness):  :2thumbsup:

The PF reintroduction site hadn't provided any updates for awhile, so I asked by PM about Journey as well as how their dispersal normally proceeds with the project. The response was prompt and positive:

"Journey was seen feeding at the hack board several days ago, so she is still in the area, along with about 6 other juvies. She is doing so well! She is big and healthy and flies expertly. We had a report of a peregrine capturing a pigeon several weeks ago, grounding it to a city street, and then leaving it flying off out of harms way. The witness reported it to be a large bird with orange paint. This would likely be Journey. It's been interesting in that two of the birds we released in mid June are known to still be in the area, occassionally coming back to the hack site. Last year, we had the hack board up into the first week of October. As scheduled now, we will keep food on the hack boards as long as we have some coming back, and the camera will be up until mid October. I know for certain they are killing on their own. Monday when I went to feed, a dead pigeon was laying atop the ledge with puncture wounds, and I found another dead, partially torn pigeon about 2.5 blocks from the hack sight.

The hack boxes are now empty, so we have the camera zoomed in on the hack board itself. Maybe we'll get another glimpse of Journey. She is such a beauty!"

I imagine we won't continue to know all that much as she is likely to move on, but it was wonderful to get this update!