Great pics, Pat!  Thanks for sharing!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50152845n

                   

New update:

Juvenile Hawks Update, Part 3:

Our colleagues at the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Health Center have updated us that unfortunately the condition of the injured hawk in their care continues to be very serious. Today the veterinarians will examine the tissues in the bird's legs, which have severe abrasions, to determine the extent of damage and whether tissues are still viable. We are grateful that this young hawk is in the care of one of the top veterinary facilities in the country and we want to express our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated and expert staff there for doing everything they can to help this bird. We're thinking positive thoughts for recovery even as we acknowledge a realistic possibility that the hawk may not survive or may have injuries too severe to lead a quality life, either in the wild or in captivity. If you'd like to send an encouraging word to the staff at the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Health Center, please see the address in the previous post. They also welcome donations, which enable them to help this hawk and many other animals in need.

We also wanted to update you that we've been told it will be at least another week before the diagnostic lab has completed the test results to determine a cause of death for the other hawk. Thanks for your patience as they complete their work.

We will share updates with you as they become available. Thanks so much for the positive words you have shared with us and our patient's caregivers in the past few days.


             

Juvenile Hawks Update:
The injured juvenile hawk remains in serious condition from injuries sustained last week (described below). We wanted to assure you that it is receiving the best care possible, and we'll share more information when there's more to share.

We are also awaiting results of diagnostic tests on the young hawk found dead on Friday, and will share more information as it becomes available, hopefully later today.

Lastly, one juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (identified by hawkwatchers as "D2") is still being seen around campus, as are Big Red and Ezra.

We ask for patience as it takes time to learn more. The passionate, skilled vet school staff has its hands full caring for animals (including this juvenile hawk), so please let them focus their energies on healing and direct any questions about the hawks to us at <birdcams@cornell.edu>. They are in communication with us about each of the cases, and we'll update the cams community as we receive more information.

Thanks for your support of the hawks—each day they remind me, even with a heavy heart, to keep looking up!

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/welcome-to-the-inglorious-twelfth/

                       

From Wikipedia:

To further illustrate, Schrödinger describes how one could, in principle, transpose the superposition of an atom to large-scale systems. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a sealed box, wherein the cat's life or death depended on the state of a subatomic particle. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation implies that the cat remains both alive and dead (to the universe outside the box) until the box is opened. Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; on the contrary, the paradox is a classic reductio ad absurdum.[2] The thought experiment illustrates quantum mechanics and the mathematics necessary to describe quantum states. Intended as a critique of just the Copenhagen interpretation (the prevailing orthodoxy in 1935), the Schrödinger cat thought experiment remains a typical touchstone for limited interpretations of quantum mechanics. Physicists often use the way each interpretation deals with Schrödinger's cat as a way of illustrating and comparing the particular features, strengths, and weaknesses of each interpretation.

One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter, there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small, that perhaps in the course of the hour one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges and through a relay releases a hammer that shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts.

                               

Wonderful post! Thanks for sharing!  I'm also glad that BB was in the care of this person and that she realized she needed to fly free! Kudos to her!

[Friday, August 9, 2013Necropsy Results]

The necropsy results for one of the two Richmond chicks have now been posted on the site.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Necropsy Results

The body of the falcon chick retrieved from the ledge of the Riverfront Plaza building was submitted for necropsy to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia.  Results revealed that the chick was afflicted with meningitis of a bacterial origin, with E. coli and Enterococcus sp. found in the brain, gastrointestinal tract and liver.  The brain tested negative for West Nile virus.  The cause of death was ruled to be bacterial sepsis (presence of bacteria in the bloodstream, which is normally a sterile environment) and meningoencephalitis (infection/inflammation of the brain and of the membranes enveloping the central nervous system).   

Bacteria could have been introduced into the blood stream from a variety of pathways, including via a penetrating wound (not noted during necropsy), ingestion of contaminated prey items, or bacteria from the chick’s gut entering the bloodstream due to a sustained elevated core body temperature (the days leading up to the death of the chick were extremely hot with high heat indices).

We would not normally expect high ambient temperatures or ingestion of contaminated prey to ultimately cause the death of the chick.  However, underlying genetic, stress-related, or traumatic conditions may have rendered the chick more susceptible to the effects of hot weather and/or suppressed its immune system, thereby allowing the bacterial infection to take hold. In any case it is likely that a combination of factors were ultimately the cause of this chick’s demise.

These results seem to be somewhat unexpected.

What a tragic year it has been for Ozzie and Harriet. I can only hope next year will be better for them.

How sad for that baby. 

I wonder what they did to her in rehab that they decided she could be released-behavior modification???

I wonder about migration.  Kendal does migrate and unless he is released at 1000%, he could perish during migration.  I hope the Wildlife center takes that in consideration.  He could make a late migration and be stronger for the extra time at rehab. Or if someone is flying south a bit later, they could release him further south... maybe even a car ride south....it won't be the first time.....

I didn't think Kendal migrated.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/08/11/franklin-institute-red-tailed-hawk-on-the-mend/

Peanut on the mend 

 Schubert says Peanut couldn’t use his legs at first, but now, he’s sitting on a perch. There’s one big sign of improvement — the bird is loudly demanding food. 

Good to hear!

The first 25 days of Giant Panda cubs!

http://youtu.be/Sp-hkYndu08

So is it also possible that the eyasses have different male parents?

We don't think so. One of my off season projects is to look carefully at the lineage. We have a theory Madame X may be the one passing along a blue/pale footed gene. Dot.ca has Madame X somewhere in his lineage...I can't recall the details right now. Might be his father Jack is the son of an offspring of Madame X & a prior mate. Stay tuned.

Carly posted this previously:

Good write up kitty...you know Dundas and DotCa are related.  Dundas was Madame X's son and DotCa's dad was Madame X's son...sooooo a family gene?!  (MadameX had different mates in at the time so I'd say the gene is in her line not the males if this is indeed the case)

Excellent news!  I'm so happy for BB-flying free once again! 

This is bev's nest site that she monitors in Alberta, Canada.

http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=377&t=1356&hilit=Genesee