Bird Cams Around the World

I must go out for a while, but have looked at about half of Sue's pictures. Note that #50 shows Red Girl on the roof of the Wilmington Trust with both of the boys. For what it's worth, Red Girl was rescued THREE times in Harrisburg after she fledged. And look at her now!

I agree that we aren't likely to get the girls back. If cost of transport was the only thing holding up a return, though, I'd chip in. I can accept that it's a done deal and get on with my life. But there is a bigger issue that I am not ready to put to bed.

I am really upset about this decision, because it seems to go exactly opposite to the general philosophy of non-interference with a functional situation. It is the basis for the entire code of ethics for amateur birders and is presumably a guiding principle for professionals as well. It worries me that this fundamental idea seems to have been set aside without due consideration, simply because there were a few other falcon chicks already going west from the same site. Isn't there some sort of protocol for making this decision? Does the protocol weight the decision in favor of returning chicks to parents in a functional situation or in favor of providing sufficient number of hatchlings to the hacking program? What criteria are used to determine a nest site is too unsafe to return them?

There are plenty of good reasons to send a chick to be hacked, but they should only be considered if there are also good reasons NOT to return a specific chick to its own nest or foster it. In this case, I don't see how that argument could be made. I have to think that if due consideration had been taken, they would have realized our girls don't meet the criteria for hacking on so many levels. To recap the reasons against hacking, my own and those that others have suggested on this forum:
They belong to a nest that has a long history of successful fledges - the tragedies of the last 2 years were aberrations. I don't see how you can argue the nest is too dangerous for fledging in light of its history.
They belong to a functional family unit with willing and capable parents: A gentleman Jane and I spoke with in Rodney Square shortly after we arrived on Tuesday said that he had watched the adults apparently searching for their missing chicks on all the ledges on nearby buildings for several hours after the last one vanished. And RG and CJ are doing a great job supervising the 2 boys as they get the hang of their wings. Willing - check. Capable - check.
They have an abundant food supply available and parents to teach them how to catch it. The amazing number and variety of feathers and assorted bird parts on the sidewalk and parking lot decks are absolutely a testament to the ready availability of food on the wing.
And they have already flown, even if their fledges were premature/accidental. They are almost certainly already imprinted on an urban environment so they are very strong candidates to return to the eastern seaboard if they survive the summer in Appalachia.

I don't want to inflame dissent or turn this into a war. I try to avoid getting into fights I can't win and there could not be a winner here if it turned into a fight. Tri-State, CCB and Craig are the good guys - they are on the falcons' side. Which puts us all on the same team. It's just that they are team management while we are the team's fans (although some of us are also management for some team somewhere). Management has one perspective - they are focused on the overall population. We care about the overall population also, but as fans we are focused on individual nests and individual falcons. So that gives us a different perspective. And I think our perspective should be of value to the pros. I don't know if Delaware has any other falcon nests on city buildings. It's been 3 years since there were Wilmington chicks in the mix. So it's good odds that the releasable chicks they have encountered after banding day for at least the last few years have been good candidates for hacking. Maybe that has led to the formation of a habit of thought? Chick in rehab - send it for hacking? Talking with a spokesperson for the Wilmington falcons (like Kim, or greybird?) to discover specific information before making that decision might have led to a different decision being made. If there is nothing we can do to recover the girls, maybe at least we can get a dialogue going to make sure this does not happen again.

I'm thinking of the environmental mantra "think globally, act locally," which I have always taken to mean that it is important to keep the overall picture in mind, but that decisions should be based on the specifics of the individual case. Obviously, when you are dealing with all of the falcons in a region, it isn't possible to focus a lot of attention on each one. But we can and we do. Our base of observation and experience of individual nests and falcons could be a real asset to the big picture folks when they are facing a decision of this sort.

Again, sorry for long post. And I've been working on it for several hours, so I apologize if I'm covering ground already covered.

Well I've read until I just can't read anymore. Sounds to me like falcons are just unwelcome and unwanted by some there. Evidently, they just didn't want to fool with them. Too many birds coming back to Wilmington? Oh Please.


I don' even want to think of the outcome for the two girls. Poor babies, taken from their parents.

Well said WEstwindschild.

I ditto everything.

YES, SUE, VERY VERY WELL SAID!!

Question - has anyone got any reports on how the boys are doing yesterday and today? I've been so caught up in the drama about the girls, and I know that both boys seemed to be very well launched after watching them fly about Tuesday evening, but I still like to hear where they have been and how they are doing. Any news?

I wondered the same thing, Sue. Not sure if people are checking in on them or not. So glad we gave that nice man some contact numbers on Tuesday, as he said he's down there a lot.

I seriously doubt they would ever admit they were wrong!

Ditto!

I stopped by to check on “the boys” on my way to work around 6 AM and both were on the Nemours Building (building to left of nestbox building). RB had just been brought breakfast and WB was screaming wanting to know where his was. He took some short flights while I was there and he’s looking good!

And RB definitely wasn't waiting around for anyone to feed him! He was chowing down!

This afternoon one of them was reported to be sitting by the nestbox in the shade.

.

I'd have to say that they wouldn't be interested in anything we have to say about this. Do you agree Greybird?

I know from working with these TriState people that they don't like to get emotionally involved with the birds. Much of it is about numbers and moving birds out.

They can do good work and I am glad they are there.