Dot.ca waiting for Beauty:

   

The Manchester pair raised four chicks this year. As far as I know, they all fledged successfully.

I found two of the juvies back at the nest for a visit. They had a minor skirmish in the nest box, and then took turns going up on the perch.

Update on the eagle from the Fontenelle Forest Raptor Recovery site, posted today:

When the Raptor Recovery Program at Fontenelle Forest got the bird they were at a loss for answers. Luckily plastic surgeon Coleen Stice knew what to do.

“Surprisingly bird physiology turns out to be a lot like mammalian physiology so I feel pretty comfortable doing a full skin graft on this bone. This is exactly what I would do if it was a human,� said Stice.

Stice, along with Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium veterinarian Trenton Shrader, took the eagle into surgery.

“What is unique about this eagle procedure is that it is in a unique location being on top of the head and a unique species,� said Shrader.

During surgery the doctors sanded off the surface of exposed bone and put in a skin graft taken from the bird's inner thigh.

“The skin just stuck immediately,� said Stice.

Then the doctors put gauze and stapled it in place and put a cover dressing on it hoping the skin graft doesn't move.

“Now we just keep our fingers crossed that he doesn't tear it loose,� said Stice.

And that’s key because if the skin graft moves the blood vessels would tear off, so they are keeping the eagle in a secluded place, “Human actively is very disruptive and can be quite an anxiety-inducing experience for him so we set up a facility so he is not troubled by people coming in and out. We'll have cameras set up for people to monitor him 24 hours a day,� said Shrader.

When the eagle recovers he won’t be bald anymore; he'll have a nice new hairdo.

“They won't be white and this is a bald eagle, so if the feathers grow back it will be brown, he'll look like he has a toupee,� said Stice.

The next 10-14 days are critical to the recovery of the eagle because that's how long it takes for the blood to go into the skin graft.

If the graft doesn't move, doctors said the hope is to have the eagle be a free bird again in a month to 6-weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/fontenelleforest/posts/1612579542108629

Congratulations, Donna! Wow, 25,000 posts! Outstanding!

I also really appreciate the sense of humor which comes across in your posts.

The many expressions of Beauty:

         

And then DC arrived:

     

     

Beauty spent a long time at the nest, making a detailed inspection of DC's work on two scrapes.

         

DC kept trying to coax Beauty back into the nest, and he succeeded:

     

And again . . .

       

Beauty and DC back at the nest again:

     

       

Beauty returned to the nest at 1:17 p.m., and stayed for almost two hours.

       

Beautiful as always, even during the molt. Her coloring is incredible.

Great pics..Peregrines included!

http://www.audubon.org/news/eleven-wonderful-photos-birds-just-living-their-lives

These are wonderful photos, Kris! Thank you for posting the link!

Just found this one of a peregrine taking a bath, also from Audubon:

https://www.facebook.com/NationalAudubonSociety/photos/a.212081654006.129095.18709174006/10154996603454007/?type=3&theater

Beauty looking contented:

In the meantime, a new, unbanded male appeared at the nest. Linnea has now accepted him.

Photo from the site:



"Hey! My name is Kornrad, and I'm new here."

The cam is not live at the moment.

http://www.kof.nu/falkarna/index.htm

Once again this year, RÃ¥ger and Linnea incubated four eggs. However, it was thought that RÃ¥ger appeared to be injured at some point during the spring, and then he disappeared.

Linnea continued to incubate, but the eggs did not hatch. Usually this pair has been given a foster chick to raise, and they have done a wonderful job each time.

A few days ago, RÃ¥ger's body was found. His bands (A/2) were clearly visible. It would seem that his disappearance was not caused by a territorial dispute after all. He had no visible injuries. I translated this from the Swedish on the site, with some assistance from Google.

RÃ¥ger's disappearance earlier this summer was not entirely unexpected. Perhaps primarily because of the disturbance that had occurred in the territory in connection with the "intrusion" of other falcons, but also because of his advanced age. But the explanation that it was probably due to an accidental event was a less-anticipated solution.

In the last few days, Lantmännen's staff found Råger's remains inside a pipe. It is always very sad, even when it is caused by an accidental incident. At the same time, with the experience that Råger had at this place, why should he suffer? I do not think he was quite okay physically, but it may be due to the time element and even the pipe itself may have been the cause of the accident.

However, we will probably never learn the whole truth about what happened.



RÃ¥ger back in 2002: A very handsome tiercel.



Photo by Henrik Ehrenberg.

This is another very sad loss. RÃ¥ger was the first and only resident male at this site from the beginning. He was a great provider, a very supportive mate and a great Dad to his chicks. He will be missed.