Battle Cry for SW
Updated 33 minutes ago · Taken at Terminal Tower
Didn’t see SW at all today, but judging by Boomer’s behavior at the nest I’m rather confident that there’s an intruding female challenging her. Boomer was at the tray when I arrived around noon, with a fairly full crop and snoozing off and on. Right around 1:00 he sleeked his feathers, spun around quickly with his wings out and gave the sharp “e-chip” vocalization as he visually tracked something high in the air. Although this particular call is similar to the sound the male makes during ledge displays, in this scenario it is the alarm vocalization specifically used for another peregrine intruder. We’ve mentioned this before, but this has never failed us in our years of watching… the “kekk, kekk” alarm call is used for most intrusions, but not with another peregrine. I didn’t get a good sound bite of it to post, but we have posted a clip of the call and posture on our FB page in the past if you’re interested (Posted April 21st under “Intruder Alert Vocalization” featuring Ely at the CC nest).
I went out around 2:00, but didn’t see any PFs and by the time I got out there Boomer was gone from his ledge. Checked with a hot dog vendor and policeman, but no one saw or heard anything up in the air (although there was a concert in the square, so it was a stretch that anyone would have heard it). While Boomer was gone I made the food/medicine drop. The contraption I put together needed to be modified (further to that ledge than I figured), but I was able to get a prepared swallow with crushed medicine out there about 3 feet to the right of the drawbridge that extends from the nest tray. Also, saw a tidy cast on the drawbridge right near where SW was lying down yesterday—she was moving her crop around as she lay there, so it looks like she was able to expel a pellet (which seems another good sign that she’s eating).
Returned the Greenbriar key so that the kind people from Forest City could go home and decided to wait out rush hour by watching outside. My 6:00 deadline got extended as Boomer appeared up high (didn’t see him come in), but staying longer didn’t pay off. Stayed until 7:30, but no SW, and Boomer stayed put on that high ledge (after looking like he might dive off a few times).
Going to try once more tomorrow morning to see if the swallow is gone and to make one more food/medicine drop, but if she’s not around we’ll suspend the supplementation idea and save the medicine.
Hope you all don’t mind my sharing strong feelings and opinions here, but even though we care about SW and don’t want to see her “go”, Chad and I believe that if a peregrine dies in the wild fighting and defending and doing what peregrines do it’s the way it “should” be. Obviously, we believe in helping where we can, but at this point I’ve shifted my thinking to considering this palliative care for SW: we’ll do what we can to help her to be as comfortable and pain-free as possible yet when it’s her time to go the cycle of life and death will continue as it’s meant to be.
Thanks for all of the support today, friends! I talked with Laura and Laurie a couple times and your online words of encouragement are very touching and too kind!
By C & C
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.700283006664141.1073741951.590679534291156&type=1 Lots of pics here
