WILMINGTON ~ JUNE 2011 PART I

Kim Steininger · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:08 pm

Thanks Barb, I look forward to reading the report!

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64351

Well, that was a tad depressing to read...so I went digging...its not much, but.....

Tracking maps of Peregrine Falcons hacked from New River Gorge National Park in the summer of 2007. Data includes current falcon positions, profile information, and an on-going narrative describing each falcon's movement. Maps are updated daily using the Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool provided by seaturtle.org.

data is inconclusive for some of the birds...

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64351

Kim Steininger wrote:

The birds went today. :(

Hey barb...ready to make a road trip? Now, wouldn't it be awesome if they had cams like they did in 2008...

I'm really sorry, Kim...I know how invested and passionate you are about these birds...I think I would feel like I had just lost some of my "kids"...this is a bummer....

obxbarb · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:18 pm

skygirlblue wrote:

Kim Steininger wrote:

The birds went today. :(

Hey barb...ready to make a road trip? Now, wouldn't it be awesome if they had cams like they did in 2008...

I'm really sorry, Kim...I know how invested and passionate you are about these birds...I think I would feel like I had just lost some of my "kids"...this is a bummer....

I agree. I'm sorry for all of you that are so invested in your girls. I'm sure I will get pics for you.

Kim Steininger · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:19 pm

Definitely a major bummer. I was starting to get hopeful that we might be able to get at least one of them if not both. :(

Jane · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:32 pm

Oh, I was so hopeful that maybe the decision could be reversed. Complete and absolute bummer. And whoever thought that CJ and Red Girl weren't providing enough food never looked at the web cam.

bev. · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:33 pm

I am really sorry to hear that the girls went today.

Our biologist says hacking takes a lot of research and infrastructure , which I guess they have the infrastructure.

Where they are planning to hack a few chicks this year is in an area where they discovered that a pair of falcons nested last year, along a river They will take the chicks ,that have never been to a nest site , therefore the only site they will be familiar with is the hack site. Then they are hoping they will come back. they are going to use chicks from a site where they had to take the eggs. (so they were eggs when rescued)

last year our biologist took a flegling from Red deer site and put it at the WEber site, because it had already flown but was found in a chimney and he could not find adults or young at its site. He felt it was best it be with adults. Our own chick flew the day our biologist put the Red deer one in. the adults accepted this juvenile fine.

Another year, remember Cassie and Hope. Hope was brought up from REd Deer(a female), as she was found on ground. NO sign of adults ,so she was put with Radisson and Cassie. Cassie had flown the day before. they both did very well and adults accepted Hope and they went to migration in Sept of that year.
The theory behind this was that they are always better with the adults , that can give them their skills by either watching or teaching.

But then it is done and I am very disappointed. I hope it was not done jsut because they needed some birds for hacking.

And now I will close my mouth before I get in trouble.

obxbarb · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:44 pm

Well, Libby has responded already! She doesn't know the reason why they decided to take them, so evidently CCB was only involved in the back end. TriState took them today with a group of bridge falcons from NJ. They will go in a separate hack box...apparently they have a few boxes, which I didn't know. Libby says they are releasing a total of 21 from the hack boxes there this year. So, this decision was not because they needed them for hacking. All 21 will be in boxes for at least a week. There must have been a reason why TriState did not want to release them yet, but it was still Craig's decision. Kim, I think you'll have to find out from one of them....

REENIE · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:57 pm **Posts:** 19893

WOW, LEFT FOR A BIT FOR A DOCTOR'S APPT AND CAME BACK TO THIS SAD NEWS :cryinggirl:

THEY COULD HAVE PUT THOSE GIRLS RIGHT BACK IN THAT BOX AND RG AND CJ WOULD HAVE CARED FOR THEM. IF THEIR TAIL FEATHERS WEREN'T ALL OUT YET, IT IS POSSIBLE THEY SLIPPED OR GOT BLOWN OFF IN THE BEGINNING, BUT KIM DID SEE THEM TRYING TO FLY. NOW IT'S BEEN DAYS SINCE THEY'VE BEEN IN TRI-STATE, SO THEY WOULD BE EVEN STRONGER AND MORE FEATHERS OUT. I THINK THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST FINE. THEY NEED THEIR PARENTS!!

I'M SO DISAPPOINTED.................

catwoman · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:48 pm

When considering why the girls flew early, keep in mind the terrible winds during that time. One of the boys was seen being blown off the ledge he was on, so its possible that the wind had something to do with the girls "fledging" early, too.

Very disappointing that the girls are already gone. Must be so much more disappointing for you, Kim, since you had so much invested in them. Thanks for checking to see if they were gone yet.

Thanks for the research done by SGB & Susan.

I love reading all the commentary by everyone. We have many people on this forum who have much experience with raptors, from the egg to fledging, & I love to read the various opinions.

Faith · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:53 pm

Jane my sentiments exactly. Red Girl and CJ worked very hard to feed them VERY WELL. I'm SO SAD that they are gone. They were descendants of MOM!!! We knew their linage first hand and it was SO special. We have a real connection with another State and very Good Success.

I have to gather myself here. I sincerely hope we see one in the future, come back as an adult and make a nest in this area. I am SO SAD and upset!

I can't go on with anything else to say!

Greybird · **Joined:** Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:21 am **Posts:** 21

Here is the lastest info we have. It just came from the Clinic Director at TriState Bird:

Quote:

This is my understanding, but I wasn’t party to all of the conversations with DNREC.

They were sent to a less urban area because it was felt that it was likely that they would be injured if they stayed, and there was a support and monitoring system already in place. The parents had a better chance of keeping track of two but not four (I think these two had already gotten into trouble with traffic, etc).. It was also felt that shd they survive, having four peregrines inclined to return to Wilmington to nest wasn’t a good idea, and that by sending them away, they were less likely to do so.

I am not sure how the age difference is being handled.

I might be getting more info later tonight. I requested it.

Something I am stuck on right now.....maybe someone has an answer. If those birds are in a hack box how do they come out stronger and ready to fly? I always thought birds needed to run, jump and flap like crazy to get their muscles strong enough to fly. I doubt the boxes are big enough for so much activity.

REENIE · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:57 pm **Posts:** 19893

OK, I'M REALLY NOT LIKING THIS PART!! "having four peregrines inclined to return to Wilmington to nest wasn’t a good idea" DOES THIS MEAN THAT IF RG TURNS OUT TO BE A 5-EGGER EVERY YEAR LIKE HER MOTHER THAT THEY WILL BE TAKING CHICKS EVERY YEAR BECAUSE OF BEING AFRAID THEY WILL RETURN TO WILMINGTON TO NEST? OMG! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SAID THAT WAS PART OF THEIR REASONING! IN ALL THE YEARS THAT MOM HAD ALL THOSE CHICKS, WE'VE NEVER FOUND ONE NESTING IN HARRISBURG THAT WAS BORN THERE! THIS IS JUST SO UPSETTING!

REENIE · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:57 pm **Posts:** 19893

SORRY GREYBIRD, FORGOT TO THANK YOU FOR THE INFO YOU PROVIDED.

ALSO FORGOT TO THANK EVERYONE ELSE FOR YOUR INFO AND POSTS AND EVERYTHING ELSE. I THINK IT'S TIME TO GET OFF HERE FOR ME FOR THE NIGHT, THIS IS JUST TOO UPSETTING............

Kim Steininger · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:36 pm

That was my first thought!!! Are they going to be taking chicks every year?

Kim Steininger · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:47 pm

And yes they'd had problems with traffic but so had WB and he's doing fine now!!!

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

catwoman · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:03 pm

Thanks for getting that info & reporting it to us, Greybird! :thanku

I have the same problems with the reasoning as the rest of you! I'm not saying that we know more than the "experts", but there are some areas where we have become very knowledgeable from watching these nests, being a watcher for falcon fledging, and working in rehab facilities. I don't know that the "experts" necessarily watch these things as closely as we do.

SusanE · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:11 pm

Thank you, Greybird, for being the point person in communicating with TriState. And thanks to the Clinic Director for sharing their reasons with you. I believe it is important to maintain a good and respectful avenue of communication with TriState. Would they share with you why they think the offspring will return to Wilmington? Kinney of Indianapolis has produced ____x number (I believe it is over 100) offspring and none of them have returned to Indianapolis. Is TriState open to receiving this kind of information?

Catbird · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:36 pm

I don't believe it!!!

I'd checked the forum this morning and was so excited to read westwindschild's and Jane's reports of their visit to Wilmington yesterday. It sounded as if the boys were doing just fine under the watchful eyes of CJ and Red Girl. Since I didn't have time to comment then, I came back just now to thank the Harrisburg crew for making the trip, to congratulate them for their wonderful reports, and to see if the girls had been released yet to join their brothers.

And then I was heartbroken to read that they'd been hacked to West Virginia.

What were they thinking???

I can understand (and fully support) hacking in cases where chicks have little or no chance of survival (e.g., ill-fated nests on bridges, chicks with only one remaining parent), but none of those reasons apply in this case. And to say that lack of food was a reason for hacking Green Girl and No Band just totally blows my mind. We all know what great parents CJ and Red Girl were, and we know what a trooper CJ was in bringing home breakfasts, brunches, lunches, snacks, and dinners thanks to the cam and Greg's reports!

It's truly a sad day for the Wilmington falcons and those who've been following them in person or online. All I can do now is to say thanks to skygirlblue, SusanE, Bev, obxbarb, Greybird, and others for their follow-up today about the hacking. And special thanks are due to Kim and Greg who were involved in the rescues of Green Girl and No Band.

bev. · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:59 pm

Our main biologist here really respects Peters and my opinions because he has said that by watching as much as we do from the ground and the cams we have probably seen more than any biologist.

So they should have looked to the forum to see what was being supplied for food.

I really cannot believe this but then who am I.

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WILMINGTON ~ JUNE 2011 PART I

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