A Mariah Update, and What’s Up With Quest?
Mike Allen sent an email with an update on Mariah’s condition, which we’ve excerpted here.
I thought I’d let you know that Mariah made Syracuse without incident. Our veterinarian examined her closely and was very grateful for the detailed log of what had been done since she was picked up on Sunday. She was quite feisty even after the long trip and the vet tech commented that “feisty is good.” The concern obviously is the wound at her throat. They wanted to give her some time to settle in before examining further. I’m not sure how often I’ll be updating this situation but I will try to do so as frequently as time allows. My interpretation is that she is in excellent hands and has already made “new friends!”
Keep looking up!
Mike
This news is about as good as any we could expect at this point, and we’re very grateful for the update!
You may be wondering why we haven’t posted any Quest updates recently. The news about Mariah has taken precedence for the past several days, but the real issue is a technical one. We’re currently migrating the Rochester Falconcam to new web servers, and a side effect is that we’ve temporarily lost access to the email account where we receive Quest’s transmitter data. As soon as we get that back we’ll update you on Quest’s latest adventures.
April 15th, 2009 at 4:40 AM
Thanks, Mike, for watching over Mariah and making sure she arrived safe and sound in Syracuse. We know you’ll make sure she gets the best care possible!
April 15th, 2009 at 10:56 AM
That’s very encouraging, a feisty Mariah is good! Thank you Mike, no doubt that’s the first time Mariah’s ever made that trip on 4 wheels instead of 2 wings…but given that she’s still feisty…the trip back may be different!
April 15th, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Thanks for the update!
April 15th, 2009 at 12:44 PM
You go girl! Show Syracuse how a feisty female from Rochester has “fun”! And thank you so much, Mike, for watching over her. I await the day we hear that Daughter AND Mother are back over the skies of the eastern US.
Again, thanks to everyone for their time and dedication.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:51 PM
We all greatly appreciate everyone’s efforts!!
April 15th, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Be sure to read Jim’s website with the story of the territory dispute that caused Mariah’s injuries. He is such an excellant writer and now we can understand what most likely happened.
http://www.marchlords.com/birdblog/
April 15th, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Sincere thanks to all those involved in her rescue,
her care, her transportation and the updates….we
have all come to care for Mariah and wish her well.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:16 PM
Would someone please post a picture of Carol and Brian. It would be so nice to put a picture of the two rescuers for those of us not in Rochester. Thanks.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:48 PM
I am soooo glad to hear Mariah made the trip okay. God bless all of you for your fine care of this magnificant girl. I hope her wounds are not too serious, just thank god you all were there to rescue her. The new one (female) must be much younger, to get the upper hand (so to speak). Is that true, if you know? As for Quest, hope she is doing well too. Looking forward to more info as you can transmit it to us. Again thank you for reassuring us about Mariah’s progress. God bless her.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:30 PM
The new female, as I understand from piecing the accounts of the events of the last couple of weeks together, is banded, so if we get a reading on the bands we will know a great deal more about her than we ever knew about the unbanded Mariah.
Has anyone sent out a call for Quest information from the Cape Cod birders who were so generous with their reports earlier this year?
April 15th, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Thanks, Mike, for the report on Mariah. Does anyone know exactly where in Syracuse Mariah was taken?
April 15th, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Great post on Jim’s ‘Peregrinations’ website. Thanks for the tip, Janet H.!
As I posed to Jim, is it possible that the new female is one of Mariah’s offspring?
April 15th, 2009 at 5:37 PM
I feel so much relived to hear that Mariah is doing better and her trip went well. To bad not hearing about Quest though. Well I’m glad Mariah is doing better and hopefully those email issues will be sorted out soon. Im glad I snuck on Imprints during school to see how everything is going, makes me happier to see that Mariah is doing better. But, don’t worry Im not missing out on anything its an academic! LOL 😉
~Angela~
April 15th, 2009 at 6:50 PM
Glad Mariah’s got her attitude back. Her hormones must still be raging so she must be a handful. I hope Mike told them about her old wing injury so they can assess that along with her fresh wounds.
I hesitate to say this since I wasn’t there to witness the battle, but I think it’s a little unfair to assume Mariah lost the battle to a younger, stronger falcon given that she was battling two falcons at once. I’m not pointing this out because of my fondness for Mariah or animosity for the new pair. I think the tiercel may have just gotten caught up in the frenzy. But in fairness to Mariah, she lost the battle because she was outnumbered, not neccesarily because she was the weaker falcon. 😉
Glad to know why Quest hasn’t been updated. Was wondering if he was being chased around the Cape by returning residents.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:29 PM
@ Juanita – The name of the veterinary facility in Syracuse is being withheld for the time being. If we receive permission from the practice owners we’ll release it.
@Maureen – Anything is possible. We’ll have to wait until we can read the female’s leg band to confirm her identity.
@Angela – Keep studying!!! 😉
@chrissy – A two-on-one battle would be hard for any falcon to win regardless of her age. If she’d gone head to head with only the female, who knows what the outcome might have been? As it was, the male chose not to sit out the contest, which may say something about his estimation of the two females’ potential as mates…
April 15th, 2009 at 8:25 PM
It is true, however, that Mariah is no “spring chicken” – we have knowledge of her for some 11 years and she was mature when she arrived. That makes her about 13 +. A banded female is most likely younger. In all the sites I have followed on line I do not recall any resident falcons being replaced by birds known to be their senior.
The fight on Friday, where Mariah got her first wound was not observed by watchers and it could be that the female in that fight displayed such prowess one-on-one that the tiercel did, as Jess suggested, decide that his future lay in her talons (so to speak) and this could account for the observed behavior on Sunday.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:53 PM
I see what you’re saying, Alison, Jess. Ultimately it’s what’s best for the species.
Wow, sitting here doing my taxes (always wait till the last minute, you never know, there could be a coup d’etat!) while listening to NPR, on comes a report about Mariah! . . NPR’s local station, WXXI, gave a lengthy report about Mariah including the latest on her status. Was that Mike Allen being interviewed? Apparently the throat injury may have perforated her crop 🙁
April 15th, 2009 at 10:20 PM
chrissy,
Audio available?
I located article:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1493335§ionID=1
April 15th, 2009 at 10:23 PM
bluhawkk, I read that article yesterday, they never mentioned a perforated crop but maybe they’ve given her an extensive examination now. Can they fix that? Does anyone know?
April 15th, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Sorry, can’t find a script for the report. I’m listening through iTunes. Maybe they’ll podcast later or repeat at 6pm.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Kathy, to possibly put your mind at ease… I once adopted a Parrotlet that had totally recovered from a perforated crop as a result of an altercation with one of her siblings. The very caring breeder noticed food leaking from her crop and immediately took her to an Avian Veterinarian who made the repair. “Leaky” never had another problem with it. Mariah has been in such extremely good hands the whole way that I’m hopeful.
There’s not much I can add that hasn’t already been said about this latest incident. Just thanks to all involved in Mariah’s rescue, care and updates.
Barbara
(Los Angeles)
April 16th, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Such a sad year for Mariah! Firstly with her nest disappearing, and then with Kaver not returning. If Kaver had returned she may have survived her territorial encounter, as the pair were so closely bonded Kaver probably would not have intervened in the fight. Mariah and the new male would not have had much chance to really bond.
Mariah has been and incredible falcon, and all of her admirers have had an incredible time being able to “watch” on.
Unfortunately this ty pe of event was going to occur at some time.
It is wondeful to see so many people rallying to help her, and to learn that Mariah has so much fight still in her.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Oh thank you Barbara, that is very encouraging to hear. Not meaning to worry over every little thing but I just don’t know alot about peregrine biology. Thank you for responding!
April 16th, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Yes, thanks Barbara! Good to know the crop can be repaired.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:41 AM
Chrissy, the interview has been posted now that you heard earlier:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1494122§ionID=1
April 16th, 2009 at 3:48 AM
@chrissy – Yes, that was Mike Allen being interviewed, though they called him “Jim” Allen, possibly because Jim Pisello has given a couple of statements to WXXI over the past days as well.
@Kathy & bluhawkk – Thanks for posting links to the articles!
April 16th, 2009 at 3:18 PM
This sight has to be the most informative and educational of all of the sights I have visited over the years. Thank you to all who are involved in helping to educate us. One quick question. Does anyone have an update on Linn? The last info I can find on her was last November. Thanks.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:14 PM
@Judy – The Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s website doesn’t have any updates for Linn at this time, but it looks like they may be experiencing some technical difficulties that prevent them from posting the updates. We’ll see what we can find out.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Oh, Thanks, Kathy. Jess, yes they called Mike “Jim”. The rest of the report was accurate, however. WXXI is the best for accuracy.
It’s becoming apparent that Mariah will need an extended period of time in care and some specialized surgury. It occurred to me, times being what they are, the DEC may have budgetary limits to consider when deciding on Mariah’s care. If that should be the case, I hope Jess will allow us to contribute privately to a fund that will guarantee payment of vet expenses.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:29 PM
I only just read about Mariah’s condition today. This is such sad news. I have been watching the Toronto falcons since 1997 and we went through a tragic situation also, where our fierce and heroic couple were replaced by an intruder pair. It was very difficult to deal with and they will remain the favorites and special creatures they were. We have however, of course, continued the watch – never forgetting our original two.
It is wonderful to see all the concern expressed by all of you. Thanks for the links to the articles, thanks to the rescuers!! I hope to be reading about Mariah’s speedy recovery soon.