A return to the wild: Rescued falcon set free at Ottumwa Generating StationBy MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer
CHILLICOTHE — Two women behind the Ottumwa Generating Station were letting a killer go free.
Wildlife rehab specialist Kay Neumann spent more than a month with an immature peregrine falcon that had been rescued by Alliant employees.
“She was mostly dehydrated and hungry,” said Neumann, who specializes in working with birds of prey, or “raptors.”
These birds are instinctive hunters, killing and eating full-grown pigeons or quail. But the last time this peregrine baby was handled by humans, she screamed like she was the one being murdered.
And if those assisting with the Ottumwa Generating Station banding program back in June needed a reminder that these birds-of-prey are not pets, one of the chicks slashed part-way through a worker’s thick leather glove.
So when they found a drenched, shivering and grounded chick after a storm, the falcon’s actions — or lack of actions — let employees know something was very wrong.
They called Judi Johnson, the Ottumwa Generating Station employee who has taken the lead in watching out for the raptors.
“She let us walk right up to her, pick her up and hold her like a baby,” said Judi Johnson.
The bird was still too young to fly, and the mother peregrine falcon had three other young birds to care for.
The best theory now, Johnson said, is that the baby bird might have gotten knocked out of the nesting box, located 300 feet up the face of the Ottumwa Generating Station smokestack.
How could a two pound bird survive a 300 foot fall?
“Well, she may have flown a little bit,” guessed Johnson. “But she wouldn’t have survived the night if we hadn’t found her.”
Neumann agreed, both that the bird was in trouble, and that the immature bird’s wings could have functioned as a type of parachute during the fall.
But without being able to fly back to the nest to Mama, and without the ability to hunt, Neumann had to keep the falcon longer than usual at SOAR (Saving Our Avian Resources), the nonprofit organization in Carroll County.
After the bird was in Intensive Care, she was moved to the flight pen, where she began to learn how to fly. The pen also allows birds to practice hunting and gain strength before being released.
Neumann said this is the longest she’s ever kept a bird away from its mother and then attempted reintroduction.
“This is a first,” said Johnson before the bird’s arrival. “I hope for success. It’s been over a month. She could be accepted — or she could be rejected.”
But if that was the case, the extra time spent in rehab taught the bird both to fly and to find food.
But it was still a worry to let this “strange” bird loose at OGS. Would the other hunters recognize the long-lost family member?
When the baby was released, she began flying and calling out. At first, the response was not welcoming: An adult peregrine dove down to chase the “newcomer.”
But after a tense few minutes, Neumann said, the pair went toward the nest. The adult allowed the bird to enter the box, and then went about its business.
“I was so afraid the mother [falcon] would kill her,” Johnson admitted after the release.
Neumann said the release appeared successful, and believed the returned bird would thrive.
Reporter Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at
mgnewman@mchsi.com. Information about the rescue of eagles, hawks and other birds of prey in Iowa can be found at
www.soarraptors.org.
