Don't forget the rehabber.
http://www.bcwildlifestation.com/donations.html

Thank you Shaky, for the link. Good thinking.
And Kapi, for remembering Wild Wings.

Dale

hissing and nipping!  Did he eat a snake?

hoping it's just a sore wing.

thank you so very much, Carol and ALLLLLL the watchers!!

what's on the menu? quail?

I've been thinking all day that they must be the falcons that have been snatching all those dogs all these years!  And we never believed the stories!

A pelican falcon could easily carry off one of those dinky little doglets in its beak-pouch-thing.

Dale

Not a happy camper...but OK  

that's an understatement!  grumpy, grouchy, and profoundly PO'd.
Great picture.

Dale

Great report and smashing photo, Jim. What a gorgeous, splendid bird he is!!!!!

I hope he's really OK. Maybe the vet knows more about his gender now ?

probably only if J. got really mad at the vet and dropped his drawers to show what he thought of the whole business.

But there seems to be a growing sense, doesn't there, that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...well, it's a duck, and Jemison might take it down but he sure won't be able to fly off with it, because he's a guy...;)

Oh, gosh...just as I was thinking that it seems as if they had both gotten their wings going without mishap!  I sure hope he's fine...glad he was found so promptly!!!

Gayle,

May your year be healthy, joyful, fascinating and just as surprising as an eyas stomping around trying to figure out what its wings are for!

Cheers!!

Dale

wonderful work, watchers! thank you! 

That's great story. Good watchers!!!!!  We were discussing, at our fledgewatch meeting, one's options in different kinds of situations: when to just guard them so they can rest and other people and/or cars don't hurt them or spook them (maybe they'll take off again soon), when to herd them to a safer place where they can rest or from where they can be retrieved and replaced in the scrape, and, once in a while, when it is safe to try to flush the bird. It's so scary!!!!!!

dale

... the original falcons from the Kodak Tower were massive.  They stood about 3 feet tall and had a HUGE wing span and their heads went back and forth like a cobra.

The woman pointed to one of the juveniles yelling from atop a nearby building and explained to her companion that, "that's a Parakeet Falcon over there."  I was delighted with the idea of a talking raptor ("Want pigeon!!"), but this one clearly tops it. Paul

How about "Pelican falcon"? I heard that one!!  

As I figured, his were the sort of massive peregrines that some people keep in their heads. At least on your balcony they don't projectile-poop and fog up your eyesight.  

Quite a few homeless people hang out around the Evanston Library - some years they have helped - once I remember there was an early morning fledgling down and they watched it until someone came; but they do tend to inform you with great authority that "Those are all baby hawks!" or something of the sort.

dale

Great news, and good write up.  I do hope Carol will expound on the massive Peregrines visiting that passerby )

I second this on both counts.
Sounds to me like the massive Peregrine Falcons some people have inside their heads, telling them what to do? This person's got 'em on his balcony instead. Certainly more hygienic to keep them out there. Thanks, Carol!!!

...That's Jemison & Callidora right before they flew back to Times Square for the night.  I do have the whole adventure recorded, but it will have to wait until tomorrow to upload.

speaking of adventures, Ei, thank you once again for editing and posting that video of Callidora's fledge, including J's flight...I absolutely love that video for so many reasons!  That's a REAL keeper!!  Dale

Jail birds are a tradition in Chicago (no, I'm not talking about local politics)...there has been a "prison bird" scrape on the Metropolitan Correctional Center right downtown for about 13 or 14 years, as far as I know.

THANK YOU to all the watchers!!!  

I recorded Callidora's fledge from the long video Shaky recorded.  You guys weren't kidding when you said it wasn't pretty!  

Oh, Ei and Shaky - thanks SOOO much for this video!  Seriously, I'd take this video over ANY graceful takeoff. All that stomping around and hesitation and faking it and pacing - it's absolutely priceless to see that. Two big fat thumbs up!!! wow!

dale

Hey! Those missing feathers seem perfectly symmetrical! That is so odd!!!