Montreal, Quebec Peregrines 2017

[Carol P.]

You can see it on youtube, I hope you will be able to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7C17tqpMOo&feature=youtu.be

 

[Kris G.]

Saving Spirit..short documentary

http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/m/blog/saving-spirit

[carly]

Saving Spirit..short documentary

http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/m/blog/saving-spirit

Just an FYI:  The nest box fight is shown on the video so proceed with caution when viewing .

[AlisonL]

You can see it on youtube, I hope you will be able to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7C17tqpMOo&feature=youtu.be

Thank you, Penelope! I was able to watch the documentary on the YouTube link you provided. It is an excellent documentary, very interesting, and the views of Polly and Algo are beautiful.

I hope they will stay safe, and will be able to find a suitable place to nest.

[AlisonL]

Saving Spirit..short documentary

http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/m/blog/saving-spirit

Thank you, Kris! I was not able to see the video on CBC, but was finally able to see it on Opera, which is not a browser I normally use.

I wonder where Spirit is now, and can only hope she is safe.

[AlisonL]

I had not seen much of Eve recently, but since the day after Spirit was released, Eve has been spending more time at the nest.

Yesterday:





Today:

[patsy6]

These photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing, Alison. I hope neither Eve nor Spirit gets hurt. No territorial battles, please!

[MAK]

Great pics! 

[AlisonL]

Eve and Éole bonding at the nest:







So far, I have seen no sign of Spirit on cam, and I have heard no news of her. I just hope she is okay, wherever she may be.

[MAK]

 

[AlisonL]

There is additional information on Spirit from Union québécoise de réhabilitation des oiseaux de proie (UQROP), posted today:

Did you know that Spirit, the female peregrine falcon star, was a survivor? Learn more about her story of rehabilitation by visiting https://uqrop.qc.ca/fr/actualite/31-l-histoire-du-faucon-spirit. You will learn there, among other things, that she was shot with lead ammunition from a rifle at some time in her life! Our educational work still has a lot more to be done.

[AlisonL]

Here is the article, which I translated from the French.

The story of the falcon named Spirit

Posted December 15 2017

A falcon with a great deal of "Spirit"

In May 2004, in Cleveland, Ohio, biologists banded young peregrine falcons at a nest installed on a bridge structure. Several years later, one of these birds was observed in Montreal on one of the buildings of l’Université de Montréal. It was thanks to the numbers on the bands on her legs that she was identified, and she was named Spirit. Then, in 2009, began a long history of following the reproduction of peregrine falcons in Montreal by means of webcam images on the Internet. You can see Spirit's family tree at this link here, or follow the activities of these magnificent birds live at http://www.ornithologie.ca/faucons.

In April 2017, webcam surveillance allowed the observation of a fight between two female peregrine falcons at the nest. In July 2017, UQROP received a call from a trucker in Montreal concerning a bird of prey who appeared to be injured. He sent us a photo on his cellphone, which allowed us to recognize an adult peregrine falcon. One of our most valued volunteer transporters, Christian Fritschi, agreed to go and catch the bird and bring her to us at the Birds of Prey Clinic at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

During the general examination of Spirit at the Birds of Prey Clinic injuries were observed on the cere and the beak, covered by dry scabs, as well as a major, hot swelling of the right elbow. X-rays confirmed a septic arthritis of the elbow, and we also found an old fracture on the right side of the pelvis (synsacrum). All these injuries were compatible with the famous battle of about 30 minutes duration which took place in April and in June with another female. The X-rays also told us that Spirit had been shot with lead ammunition from a rifle (lead shot) at some point in her life. What a survivor!



Radiography of Spirit where the arrows indicate the swelling of the right elbow (septic arthritis), the fracture of the right hip and the lead shot in the keel bone.

After several weeks of treatment with antibiotics, wound care and physiotherapy, Spirit was able to be transferred into a rehabilitation flight at Chouette à voir! at Saint-Jude. The final stage of her rehabilitation took place in the large flight. Then
the great moment arrived on November 19. Spirit reclaimed her freedom at the site of Chouette à voir! at Saint-Jude. We are waitimg to hear news of her when she will be seen and recognized by her bands.

[AlisonL]

Photo of Spirit taken by the trucker who found her:



Photos of Spirit in care at l'Union québécoise de réhabilitation des oiseaux de proie by Guy Fitzgerald.







Photo by Christian Fritschi of the beautiful moment of Spirit's release:

[carly]

Wow..I had no idea that Spirit had been shot in the past, holy moly...survivor indeed.  Thank you for posting all this info and the photos Alison.  I hope she is doing well and flying high and that we hear of a positive sighting of her in the future.

[AlisonL]

One small correction to the article:

Spirit was not named after she arrived in Montreal; she and her siblings were all named at banding in 2004.

Buckeye and Hillary had four chicks in 2004:

Spirit, banded black/green 93/E, female

Mystic, banded black/green 92/E, female

Turbo, banded black/green 50/P, male

Pulse, banded black/green 61/P, male

Turbo disappeared shortly after fledging. Searches were done, and searchers found his body on the ground.

Mystic was found at a later date with a fractured wing. She had surgery for the injury, but very sadly died during the surgery.

Pulse, at three years old in 2007, attempted to take over the Cathedral of Learning nest in Pittsburgh, which at that time was owned by Erie and Dorothy. There was an extremely fierce territorial battle at the nest box between Pulse and Erie, and very sadly, Pulse was killed in that battle.

So for ten years now, Spirit has been the only survivor of these four chicks.

Still no sightings of her that I know of, but I continue to hope that she is doing well. Having looked at her X-rays, I am somewhat surprised that she was able to be released, but I have a great deal of confidence in Spirit.