It was like finding a needle in a haystack, spotting this Vulture caught in a leg trap.

http://niagara-gazette.com/communities/x1472217658/Healed-turkey-vulture-set-free-into-the-gorge

  Freed by the ones who found him!

Great story! Thanks!

From their FB page:

The third year of peregrine falcon reintroduction is underway atop the Black Hills Corporation building in downtown Rapid City. The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks sponsored effort is an attempt to restore a missing part of Black Hills ecology. Peregrine falcons once nested in two western counties of South Dakota, but no known nests have occurred for more than 50 years. The use of the pesticide DDT, illegal shooting, extermination of the passenger pigeon, and habitat loss all contributed to the near extinction of this speedy and rare falcon.

 Today the fastest animal in the world has a new future in South Dakota where reintroduction efforts in the urban area suit the cliff and ledge loving falcon just fine. This bird eating falcon preys on pigeons and ducks from high above, diving at speeds of over 200 mph! Fascinating biology from a 2 pound bird of prey!

Young falcons are purchased from captive breeders across the country and are flown in at about 30 days of age. The young falcons are then banded, weighed and placed into special release boxes atop the Black Hills Corp building. This important site will serve as their home from which they will learn to fly and hunt. Come fall these young birds will migrate to Central and South America where they will remain for 2 years, until they reach sexual maturity. The rational is that the peregrine falcon will return to breed, to the place from which they learned to fly.

 Currently 7 falcons are free flying with 2 more in the release box scheduled for a weekend release. Other new falcons are arriving by airline later this week.

 Should you find a grounded falcon wearing a red leg band on one leg and a silver band on the other leg, please help to recover it and call the project coordinator Janie Fink at (208) 582 0797. Often these young inexperienced flyers get into trouble before they learn to fly well and then to hunt and it is often the public who report these incidencences.

I don't know? What does egg butt look like?

         

Zoom came back for breakfast. She's doing well! 

Great news!

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!   

Trying to get update on Bailey.

Thanks, hope all is well!

Their FB page says- Bailey is okay and will be home by tomorrow! Yea!

Here's our 2013 Hammie!

I was watching-too funny! Which one is it?

Higher and Higher We Go

June 25, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Harry Crawford Reports:

Day 11 - morning check.
 From the west side of University Ave. at 8:15am, I spotted one chick
 on the Exchange Tower and the other one on Sun Life at 200 King
 West.  These buildings are higher than the ones they were on in
 previous days.  This was just after the storm.  A bit later, they
 were gone and one was seen heading north higher than the Sheraton
 Centre.  A check of Sheraton 43 saw the two adults, one on 120
 Adelaide and the other circling just east of there.  Terry sent us a
 webcam photo taken at 9:40am showing two adults and a chick on the
 nest ledge.

Luna is flying well but Carina is still staying low, BUT holding her altitude never the less!

June 24, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills

Mark Nash Reports:

June 24th - 2013
 Today was one of the hottest days in the year so far with almost record high temps and debilitating humid-x!

Despite the heat, both fledglings were more active than you might have expected today with Luna really demonstrating her ability to not only hold her altitude, but she is now investigating the world around her.

While Luna is still a typical fledgling, (with some good landings, and some not so good landings), she clearly has mastered sustained flight and no longer of high risk of coming to the ground and needing to be rescued- (provided of course that she stop crashing into windows)!! By the end of the day today, she had flown much farther in sustained flight almost out of sight to the west having landed on the roof top of a large gray rooftop. Quest closely followed her and the two of them they spent more than 30 minutes together perched on the roof top far out to the west. Satisfied that Luna was not in any trouble, Quest later left her on the roof and eventually flew back to the nest building and watched over Carina.

Throughout the day, Luna had half a dozen very good flights to some of the surrounding upper roof top elevations clearly demonstrating that she has gained the confidence and mastering controlled flight. On one occasion, she ending up on one her flights miscalculating her landing, and slipping down into one of the balconies on the copper/pink coloured building next to 225 Duncan Mill road building. After spending 15 minutes out of our view down in the enclosed balcony, she finally re-appeared on the leading edge of the balcony and eventually flew out no worse for ware.

Throughout the day, Kendal brought in several very fresh kills, and for the first time this season, I witnessed his hunting skills and incredibility ability to simply take a pigeon out of the sky with little effort as he simply passed over the pigeon while in flight and snatched it out of the sky.

Carina on the other hand, (while still holding her altitude) has not yet regained her confidence after colliding with the window several days ago, and although has made a half a dozen short flights from building to building (between the 220 and 240 Duncan Mill road buildings), she is still sticking very close to the nest building preferring to favour the 240 Duncan Mill road building ledges. She has yet to gain any real altitude beyond the mid way elevation. Both fledglings have been fed today and Quest and Kendal have been very attentive indeed.

It has been incredibility funny to see the two mindsets of the adults over the past week, as Kendal brings continues to bring in fully feathered - unprepared kills (several have been very much still alive) and deliver them to the fledglings. When Quest has sighted him, she has quickly flown in screaming at the top of her lungs and snatches the unprepared food offerings from both Kendal AND the fledglings and flies off with the food to properly prepare it, then returns to feed the fledglings with the prepared food.
 On several occasions, Kendal has slipped in un-noticed by Quest, and simply dropped fresh kills and unprepared food offerings, (some have been retrieved cashes) and simply dropped them off in front of the fledglings and flown off. Luna has now figured out what to do them and is starting to eat on her own, while Carina is still confused as to what to do them. She screams, jumps around on the them until Quest attends and feeds her beak to beak.

By the end of the watch today, both Luna and Carina were perched on the window ledges (one atop of each other (on separate window ledges) on the east side of the 240 Duncan Mill road building. Both Quest and Kendal had flown over to the Thales building to the south east and remained there until dark. Luna had lied down on he ledge was hunkered down for the night while Carina remained standing tucked into the corner of the ledge.

A huge thank you to Donna Hays and all the Harlequin staff for their incredible support, Sally, Karen and others that have have given up their lunch hours and brakes to come out in support, and to Murray and Bob who have also been out covering my back and helping out on the fledge watch,,,, and to Fred from the Redborne Realty management group and their security that has been incredibly supportive and understanding with us invading their facilities and roof tops to do releases. A big thank you to Berkley property management group, their security team, the board of directors and business owners at 220 Duncan Mill road for allowing us accesses to their facilities.
 A GREAT TEAM INDEED!!!

Stay tuned……


Posted on June 25, 2013 7:02 am

Observation for  Toronto - Don Mills

Her feet will eventually change, some just take longer than others, no circulation problems.

I think she visited blue Oz and drank some of that blue water or curaçao.

           

OK!  You all asked and we answered.  Lou did a great job designing the official 2013 Rochester Falcon Watch Weekend Shirt.  Just click on the attached link.  Remember you can choose any color or any type of shirt.  Hope you all like it!  Thanks Lou!!!  

http://www.zazzle.com/rfalconcam_2013_watcher_weekend_t_shirt-235095441361263947

Just curious as to whose pics are on the t-shirt that Lou made.  Do you know, Carol?

Hi Kris, He said he chose three flight shots and wasn't sure which falcons they were.  Definitely Rochester Falcons.

Carol is correct. I don't know exactly who they are but they are Rochester Falcons. I used an old Photoshop file that I played around with a while ago but never used. They are all banded so that leaves out M&K ... I just don't recall who's who. Sorry.
Lou

So they're offspring of M/K then? We had Jemison/Callidora tees in 2010, I don't recall that there was a tee offered last year with Beauty, DC and Orion on it so it would have been nice to offer a t-shirt showing our 2013 family. I did send Carol a nice group pic of them from this year's archives that could have been used but probably too late now.

So the 2nd male we can presume is lost?    Great for the other two though. Meatloaf said, "2 out of 3 ain't bad!" I on the other hand like the 3 better.

I think it's Welcome who's missing. 

Morning Air Show
June 24, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Harry Crawford Reports:

Day 10 - morning check.
Around 8am I saw what I thought was an adult circling above York and
Adelaide.  Then a second one joined in the fun.  It was Gurdy and
her brother putting on an impressive air show.  They were vocalising
so loudly that you could hear them over the rush hour traffic.  When
I last saw them they were as high as the top of Shangri-La.  Way to
go!

Posted on June 24, 2013 12:52 pm
Observation for Toronto - Sheraton Centre

!!! More peregrine window washing, this time its Luna that did a face plant into the window!

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2013/06/sightings/more-peregrine-window-washing-this-time-its-luna-that-did-a-face-plant-into-the-windows/

Success! Everyone back in the box!