For the first time in many weeks, SW looks significantly better today. She is brighter, more active, and more interested in her surroundings. She and Boomer had a good bonding session at the nest which lasted for seven minutes.

Boomer waiting for SW:



The bonding session; Boomer is on the left.











Boomer left; SW remained at the nest. She has been there since shortly after 10:00 a.m., and has remained standing throughout. It is so good to see her looking better.

http://feathertailedstories.blogspot.com/2013/09/peregrine-falcon-seagull.html

Indy Froona nesting in Wisconsin!!     Lots of pics and story!

She caught a juvie gull!

Great article and pics! Thank you, Donna!

IndyFroona has now been nesting at Port Washington for three years. This year, she and her mate raised four beautiful chicks; Gasco, Griff, Bucky and Lightning.



As far as I know, her mate is still Ives (banded black/green 78/N), born in 2004 at the Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

IndyFroona's mate migrates; she does not. For the last few years, she has spent much of the winter at the University of Milwaukee nest with the resident male there, Hoffman. Hoffman's long-time mate, who is unbanded, also migrates. At least once, in the spring, there was a territorial battle in which the Milwaukee female reclaimed her nest. In other years, it seems that IndyFroona simply returns home to her own nest in the spring.

[Etobicoke]

Etobicoke

I very rarely see Jack at the nest, but caught both Jack and O'Connor there around 12:15 p.m. today:





Seconds after the pic above, they were replaced by one of the juvies; I believe this is Lizzy.







Then she, too, was gone.

Only 14 candles were lit for Kendal when I checked a few minutes ago; I lit a few more for him.

This morning:







Gone after the last pic.

I just caught Bobbin visiting; she was on her favorite perch. It was so good to see her for the first time in months.











I was pretty sure this was Bobbin, but I kept trying to read her bands. Here is the best view of her bands:



Cropped and enlarged: she left after this pic.

Thank you for the update, Donna! Good to hear that Kendal is continuing to eat well.

Thank you for posting the update on Spirit, Donna. She has already come a long way, and I hope she will continue to do well and make a full recovery. I am so glad she has already gained a significant amount of weight.

it is probably easier to ask a Peregrine Falcon to relocate and hopefully find a new mate in a different habitat than it is to educate a human populace that, for the most part, does not possess the attention span required to learn how to live peacefully with a very beautiful and territorial bird. In order to understand wildlife you must first appreciate it. Unfortunately this appreciation is sorely lacking in the general public.

Amen!  Great post, sounds like she had the best care possible.

Totally agree, Carly! I am so glad that BB received such good care. I particularly noticed the part of the post which you quoted above; sad, but true. It is obvious that the person who cared for BB does appreciate these beautiful birds.

I love the photos of BB being released. I wonder if there have been any sightings of her since then.

Can't get to the cam, say's it malware! Even if I was there before don't go there now!! WT??

I think it's one of those google thinks it's malware when it really isn't kind of thing.

Just sent them feedback...

The links to the cams, and the home page, are okay. Don't go to the link for "FalconCam Project Site". That page was hacked into last year, and has not yet been fixed. the ledge cam doesn't work for me at the moment, but the nest cam does.

No egg so far, as of a few minutes ago.

Just read the news about BB being released. I am so happy for her; she deserves to be free. I wish her a new home, a new mate, and a long life with many more chicks.

[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.

At home this evening:

Scott has posted photos of her foot taken yesterday.

http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?73750.170

That's so sad for her.  How old is SW now?

I know she's a senior! 14?

Yes, SW is 14 years old. There was no sign of either her or Boomer today, on cam or in person; Chris and Scott each went to the Terminal Tower to check on her. I can only hope she is doing okay, but I think that she does not look at all well. She is one of the great falcons . . .

!!! Kendal Update
July 29, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills
CPF Postmaster Reports:

July 29th - 2013

We have just received an update on Kendal as of July 29th-2013

Kendal’s doing fine as of date. Both eating well and holding his weight and still receiving medication for pain management and to prevent Aspergillosis (not uncommon in captivity if peregrines are under stress). He still has the wing wrap on, and he’ll have it on for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Kendal is being housed in a room by himself to minimize stress and keep things as quiet as possible for him.

Thank you for posting this update, Dumpsterkitty. It sounds encouraging; I hope Kendal will heal quickly and be able to be released.