[September 16, 2014]

A new update on the little juvie. It's dated September 16, but did not show up on the site until today.

September 16, 2014

During the week of September 8, Peregrine Falcon #14-1319 finished the course of antibiotics for her eye injury. Blood work was drawn on September 11; the veterinary staff found that the falcon’s white blood cell count was low. Additional blood work was scheduled for Monday, September 15 to determine if any treatment was needed.

Results from the follow-up blood work revealed a higher white blood cell count, and the Peregrine Falcon’s eye was fully healed. The veterinarians gave clearance for education training to resume.

Director of outreach Amanda Nicholson began working with the falcon again on Monday afternoon. Amanda sat in her office with the falcon on the glove. This time, the falcon was more calm – while the bird will need to build trust and learn a lot in the coming weeks, the Peregrine Falcon surprised Amanda by readily eating food off of the glove!

During the next few weeks, the Peregrine Falcon will live inside and will spend her days with Amanda and outreach coordinator Raina. The bird will be on the glove during the day, and will live in a crate in the outreach room at night. As the Peregrine Falcon advances in training, the bird will be introduced to an outdoor enclosure. Amanda and Raina hope to train the falcon to make short flights to the glove for food, which will make it easier to retrieve the bird from the outdoor enclosure.

Photo from the site; more photos with the update.


 
I know she is in a really good place, and she will be well cared for, but it still must be very difficult for her.

Still two eggs . . .

Two on the ledge:

Together again, but just briefly:

The two eggs, a few minutes ago:

So happy that Swift was able to lay her second egg! Just had a glimpse of both eggs when she stood up for a moment.

Love the pics you posted, Donna! Thank you!

Still one egg. Swift is fast asleep at the moment, standing in the scrape with the egg in front of her.

Yankee and Dixie were both at the nest last night. Yankee did not come any farther into view, and left after a few minutes.







Dixie did a little more work on the carpet:

Rhea Mae and Tiago, bonding at the nest this evening.

What a wonderful pair they are.

Since Swift laid her first egg, she has looked much less stressed.







Beau takes his turn:



Swift is back:

Thank you, Shaky! It's great to see Beauty.

[August 26, 2014]

The most recent update:

August 26, 2014

On August 25, Peregrine Falcon #14-1319 was fitted with her education “equipment� – the leather anklets and jesses that are used for training and handling education raptors. While the bird was in hand, the veterinary team drew blood, trimmed the falcon’s talons, and performed a quick physical examination. As outreach coordinator Raina Krasner placed the anklets on the falcon, Dr. Dave noted that the scab covering the incision site in the falcon’s left eye socket was beginning to lift off. A small amount of clear fluid was draining from under the scab – suggesting that the surgical site could have an infection. Dr. Dave took samples and made a slide to check for bacteria under a microscope. In the meantime, the first training session proceeded as planned.

Amanda, the Center’s director of outreach, began working with the falcon -- the initial goal for any new bird-in-training is to allow the bird to get used to its new surroundings and ideally stand quietly on the trainer’s glove. At first, the falcon was not particularly interested in standing on the glove, and bated [flew off the glove] many times. This is to be expected – after a significant and lengthy treatment process, the falcon does not trust humans – so both Amanda and Raina will be working with the bird to build that trust. After spending some time quietly standing in the dark radiology room with the bird on the glove, Amanda was eventually able to sit in her office with the bird for a few hours.

Results from the slide sample revealed that the falcon does have a bacterial infection, though blood work was within normal limits. Dr. Dave decided that it would be best to treat the infection with oral and topical antibiotics, to ensure that the surgical site completely heals. This means that training will be delayed for about two weeks. The falcon will live in the Center’s holding room during treatment.

Photos of the little one may be found here:

http://wildlifecenter.org/critter-corner/current-patients/peregrine-falcon-14-1319

She has been through so much in her short life. I hope things will start to get better for her.

[An update from July 30, 2014]

An update from July 30, 2014

Peregrine Falcon #14-1319 is recovering well from her eye evisceration surgery. The surgical site is healing well, and the falcon has been seen “head-bobbing� – moving her head up and down to judge depth perception and distance as she gets used to life with one eye.

The falcon did not eat well after surgery – at first, the vets suspected the bird was still painful from surgery, but after a few days of not eating, the veterinary staff decided to move the falcon to a small outdoor enclosure to see if the outdoor scenery would stimulate her appetite. The falcon began eating again, and appears to be doing well in the outdoor enclosure.

The veterinary team will continue to monitor the falcon’s evisceration site, and the rehabilitation staff will closely monitor the bird’s appetite. After the bird is fully healed and has had time to rest, the outreach staff will begin training the bird for outreach programs.

[August 31, 2014]

The cams were still down when I checked earlier today, but they are now back online.

I found a short update on Blaze on the Ohio Bird Sanctuary website:

August 31, 2014

Blaze is doing well, however, she still has a wing-droop after flight. She has only been at OBS a few weeks. The rehab process will take time. We will be sure to post about her when updates are warranted.

[Monday, August 18, 2014 Blaze Flying to a New Facility]

An update on Blaze was posted on the blog by Donna Daniel:

Monday, August 18, 2014

Blaze Flying to a New Facility

Well, not literally...but today we transferred Blaze (via automobile!) to another wildlife rehabilitation facility in Ohio.  The first order of business will be a week or two of observation and then if all checks out OK, she will be flight conditioned and offered live prey to learn her hunting skills.

Many, many thanks to Betty Ross and the staff at Glen Helen Raptor Center for caring for her up to now.  And thanks in advance to the staff at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary who will handle the next chapter in her care.  We truly appreciate the partnerships and teamwork amongst these dedicated wildlife rehabilitation professionals!



Meanwhile, downtown, Durand and Spark continue to maintain their territory.  There have been no sightings of the juveniles that I am aware of and it is possible that they may have left the Columbus area by now.   We are hoping for an update on the status of the building work soon.

I hope everything will go well for Blaze as she begins the next stage of her recovery.