It's good to see Ozzie flying so well!  Hope when he's released there's no trouble..Harriet has a new friend.

Dorothy and E2's special needs eyas!

http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2015/05/27/up-and-down/  By Kate St. John

Banding is Friday.

Reading some comments on other sites, which aren't nice but some say the nest needs more gravel as the eyas keeps sliding when it tries to right it's self. I tend to agree, he has no footing and does slide a lot. I have grown fond of the little "eyas that could"!

I don't know how she could say its a "special needs" baby when no expert has physically examined him. It obviously has balance issues..ear mites? parasites? His right leg hasn't been normal since he laid on his back for 24 hrs..maybe with Dorothy trying to right it several times and stepping on him, he suffered an injury? They expected Dorothy to have an abnormal baby from the start so we're going to wait until Friday to examine the poor thing to see if he has any issues that could be treatable.

With the oldest eyas being 21 days old today, is banding of the 3 week old eyases going to be soon?

Banding Day tomorrow, May 27. 

Was just going to post this!   

Baby has been on its back a few times today but has managed to right itself..until now.     Hoping it can do it again.  I wish they would come check it out soon..banding is supposed to be this week.

One of it's leg's isn't right though, maybe all that kicking and pulling hurt it.  He tried to stand but can't seem to put pressure on the left leg.  It's out to the side now.  Okay he's pulled it in, he pooped which is good and now will hopefully sleep for a few hours.  Dorothy is much more relaxed now and on the perch looking proud of herself.

I'm so happy that it's upright again!  I hope its leg is OK..it was before, I think.  Maybe just a good night's rest will help.  Yay for Dorothy! 

 

Third breakfast!

                 

Oh no, I thought he was okay....gees

I did too, Carly.

Dorothy and E2 just fed the chick, on it's back.  Dorothy is now trying to flip it over, like she did yesterday.  The chick seems to be breathing okay and just wants to sleep (food coma).

I'm a bit out of the loop on this how this whole thing came about as I've not been watching regularly but every time I do the chick looks fine to me.  It's been fed, brooded - extensively so by an over protective mom, and is growing. 

Solo chicks as we know are always tough to watch, they don't have a sibling to lean on so they fall over alot especially when they're being stuffed silly and they've got those big feet to contend with.  Having watced Dorothy in years past, she's never been the type to use up energy caring for a chick that isn't well so I'm going to follow her cues and figure since she is caring for it with all her might - in her falcon mind, this chick is viable. 

This above post by Kate was after all the concerns the day s(he) was on his back so long.  People started saying it was frail looking, walked on its elbows, can't sit up straight, etc.  I think it looks fine to me but Kate hasn't been optimistic since it was hatched plus she never thought Dorothy would lay eggs or hatch any..it was just a follow up to posted concerns.

I've been watching..just barely moving its toes and still on its back.

I"m going to say it's a family thing - first our baby here, then Dorothy's and lest we not forget the Queen of laying on her back 'Miss Tesh'  

But seriously, Dorothy is determined to stuff this chick silly - may I present Exhibit A (photo by Catwoman):



I'd be on my back too  

                 

This little one looks like it has blue feet! 

I noticed that a few days ago. 

I'm a bit out of the loop on this how this whole thing came about as I've not been watching regularly but every time I do the chick looks fine to me.  It's been fed, brooded - extensively so by an over protective mom, and is growing. 

Solo chicks as we know are always tough to watch, they don't have a sibling to lean on so they fall over alot especially when they're being stuffed silly and they've got those big feet to contend with.  Having watced Dorothy in years past, she's never been the type to use up energy caring for a chick that isn't well so I'm going to follow her cues and figure since she is caring for it with all her might - in her falcon mind, this chick is viable. 

This above post by Kate was after all the concerns the day s(he) was on his back so long.  People started saying it was frail looking, walked on its elbows, can't sit up straight, etc.  I think it looks fine to me but Kate hasn't been optimistic since it was hatched plus she never thought Dorothy would lay eggs or hatch any..it was just a follow up to posted concerns.

Third breakfast so far.

So hard to know what's going on here until the eyas gets big enough..good catch, Carly.  Wonder what happened to the 2nd one? Unusual season for RM&T..maybe because of the construction?

Posted by Chad & Chris on CMNH:

Nature's Tough Lessons:

Without trying to prematurely abandon all hope that the chick could somehow have made it out of camera view, I think we all are facing the harsh likelihood that the chick has died. We would be more than happy to be incorrect in this assumption and to be pleasantly surprised by the chick reappearing, yet as reported earlier it didn't seem that the chick was covered or adequately fed overnight or into the morning and there was no sign of the chick when Chad went to check today.

With the help of TT security, Chad was able to get mostly out of the window to check the tray and nearby ledge today and they were able to pull the drawbridge forward with a pole to check as much as possible underneath. Boomer and Newton were both at the nest as Chad stepped out, although Chad said that Newton was notably less defensive than she had been when we checked on Friday evening.

We were hopeful last night when we heard the chick calling and saw that the chick was not stuck and was able to move a bit in the corner crevice. We also saw Newton vehemently defending, and as she flew up and landed next to the chick it raised its head and was responsive to her. We even heard the "e-chip" vocalizations from both Boomer and Newt when we closed the interior windows as we were waiting for the right tools to remove the bolts to allow the exterior windows to open (signifying a potential upcoming feeding). So, we could see that Newton would have been able to get to the chick to feed and would be able to brood as needed, and the chick was mobile enough that we weren't overly concerned about not being permitted onto the ledge to retrieve the chick and place it back in the tray (as security requires that we would need to be tied off to go out there).

We wouldn't have guessed that the very experienced and historically nurturing and maternal Newton would have basically ignored the chick through the night and that she would return to incubate the four unhatched eggs that she had been no longer consistently incubating as she was brooding the lone hatchling, but that's exactly what happened.

We are left to speculate as to what happened to the chick after we were unable to retrieve it on Friday night. It was last seen in that same crevice, so we figure that it either crawled further underneath the drawbridge (out of view when Chad checked this morning) and died or it may have died in the crevice and was carried out of the nest by one of the adults. Sadly we have experienced this scenario in the past watching the Brookpark Road Bridge nest in 2010. At that time, we watched helplessly (unable to get to the nest) as one of the two chicks appeared weak and wasn't able to remain upright during feedings. Mom initially tried feeding the chick as it was on its back, but eventually stopped feeding the sickly chick and after it died she even made a brief attempt to feed it to the surviving sibling before removing the body from the nest. We posted about this on the CMNH forum, but we never posted the pics of the dead chick getting carried out of the nest (as we figured these were images that no one would want to keep in their head).

Having had that previous difficult experience at Brookpark, we are left to wonder if Newton sensed that something wasn't quite right with her chick and stopped tending to it in much the same way that we had seen before.

We always have and always will believe in doing all that we can to help these magnificent animals when we are able. Yet we also understand that some of the laws of nature are quite difficult to accept and "survival of the fittest" means that our very human desire to see the underdog make it through despite poor odds doesn't always get satisfied.

Meanwhile, it seems that sad endings like this are also reminders of the wonders and blessings of successful nests and young and how fortunate we are to experience their intricate lives up close, in life and in death.

Sorry that we weren't able to do more. Once again, we appreciate the shared passion and support of the very caring individuals here.
   

Posted on CMNH: 

Sorry but Chad has never posted and doesn't know tech. I'm just off work now. He made it there this morning but no good news to report... no chick found.