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Tribute to Orville

Tribute and Farewell to Orville
Devoted father and mate to Scout...Orville's life tragically ended too soon the weekend of July 4th, 2009. I will always remember him for his falcon smile

Handsome the Peregrin returns!!!

Solsticewitch13 - This is GREAT NEWS,, we thought Handsome,, had perished, when he went missing last year. Now we hope Kaver,, will one day return to us!!!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A 20-year-old Peregrine Falcon is now recovering at the Erie County SPCA, after it was found clinging to life early monday morning in Amherst. But this is no ordinary Peregrine Falcon and has quite a tale to tell. Wildlife officials presumed he was dead after he disappeared from his nest last June on top of the Statler Towers in Buffalo."He vanished last June," said D.E.C. Wildlife Biologist Connie Adams. "And he has now miraculously showed after a year of being in the wild and fending for him self without a nest site.

The 20-year-old falcon is believed to be one the oldest falcons in the wild, if not the oldest. Officials say an average life expectancy in the wild for a Peregrine Falcon is 15 years. They also believe the bird was attacked by rival falcons.

"They are very territorial, extremely territorial and Peregrine Falcons do not tolerate other Peregrine Falcons in their territory," said SPCA Wildlife Administrator Joel Thomas.
Officials find it remarkable that this bird has outlived most, especially without a nest and recent attacks by other falcons. Wildlife experts tell Eyewitness News the falcon's health is poor, but are hopeful the falcon can recover to prove his legacy isn't over just yet.

I am so happy he is still alive,,

Here is more on him,,

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/northernsuburbs/story/698572.html?imw=Y

Tribute to Mariah and Kaver,, AWESOME!!!!

Thanks to Lou,, for putting this awesome tribute to our 2 most favourite Peregrine falcons,, Mariah and Kaver,,



""It may be the end of an era here in Rochester, NY, but Mariah and Kaver will never be forgotten. Their legacy lives on through their many offspring and in the memories of their faithful fans! """

Columbus may 29, 2009~getting ready for bed

this is awesome!!

Getting ready for bed, the kids return to the box for the night...

thanks Skygirlblue!!

Tiago,, feeds his 4 Eyas

Rhea Mae (from Rochester, NY) & Tiago (from Toronto, Canada) Nest Site at the Sheraton in Downtown Toronto, Canada. Linda Woods was able to catch Tiago at the scrape with the 4 little eyases.

Awesome vid,, Rhea Mae was doing the hunting (they share chores),

LOL

Red Tailed Hawk Cam

The Eyas' are getting cute

http://www.kgw.com/raptorcam/?nvid=226982&live=yes

St. Vrain Bald Eagle Nest - failed nest 3 EYAS dead

so sad,, for the St. Vrain eagle pair,,

Male went missing, and the female eagle could not feed and keep the EYAS warm,

This slide show,, is excellent though to show Eagles building their nest.

I hope the female, can find a new mate, and re-clutch new eggs,, season is still early,
we may yet, have EYAS fledge from this nest,,

Slide show,, link

http://fsvfolks.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=6159240&AlbumKey=L98ap

Update - April 21, cam is now offline they have pulled the entire page for the time being.

Closeup Vid,, of Eyas Hatch at SF

this is a awesome closeup,,

First Hatch at SF!

first Eyas hatches at SF



this cam is daylight only,,,

link to cam,,

http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera.htm



thanks for the catch EI!!

Peregrin Falcon Eggs About to Hatch?? = San Francisco Scape

Paul, reports at Kfalconcam,,

>>

Incubation has been going on for about a month. Today, Diamond Lil is wiggling
on the eggs and periodically looks down on them. She has been on them for quite a long time. Rather than do an exchange of duties, Dapper Dan just brought her some food, which she proceeded to mantle.
>>

http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera.htm

Mariah Update on Imprints

Mariah was seriously injured over the Easter Weekend, in a territorial fight
with a new pair of falcons. These new falcons are banded, but, have not been
identified yet.

Mariah was taken to a DEC vet,, in Syracuse New York,,

here is the latest update, in imprints,,

http://rfalconcam.com/imprints/

And Jim Piscello,, has a new posting in his blog, about the new pair,

http://marchlords.com/birdblog/


It's sad that Mariah and Kaver's reign has come to a end in the skys over
Rochester,, New York,, but they have given us 11 years of a very intimate
glimpse into the lives of Peregrin Falcons. We have watched via the
web cams, as they courted,, laid eggs, raised Eyas,, and fledged them to
the wind and sky.

To even have territorial fights,, is a blessing in disguise,, because short
years ago,, the Peregrin Falcon,, was too rare, the population too small
to play out this ancient drama of the reproductive imperative.

We were lucky with Mariah,, karma,, has a way,, and she was rescued
by her most LOYAL 2 fans,, Carol P and Brian H,,from certain death.

If they had not been there, we would have been left,, always wondering
what became of her. Like we wonder about Kaver, and other falcons
we have come to know and love, on the web cams.

I hope Mariah recovers from her injuries, but feel doubtful, she would
prevail for long,, released back to the wild. Older falcons, tend to die
in battles,, like Mae did at King plant. In the raptor world,, it is
truly the youngest and fittest that prevail.

But this is the way of nature, and we can look forward to this new Tiercel
and his mate,, at Rochester,, hopefully they move into one of the cam
scrapes, and we can begin a new cycle of Peregrins raising Eyas,
right in front of our very eyes.

Awesome Pics of Dapper Dan in San Francisco

wicked pictures by Glen Nevill





http://raptor-gallery.com/04-15-09/index.htm

Neil's New Video from Scotland - Peregrins

Long thought extinct, Carolina Parakeet rediscovered in Honduras

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg63q3w3_0cv7p4vgw

FOR RELEASE: April 1, 2009 Media contacts: Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Hubin Tubbs Office: 607-255-2000 E-Mail: hubin.tubbs@cornell.edu The Nature Conservancy: Karen Forestel Office: 703-841-5300 E-mail: kforestel@tnc.org Long thought extinct, Carolina Parakeet rediscovered in Honduras Captive bird and radio tagged individual shows a non-migratory population survives in vast forested areas ITHACA, NY. -- Long believed to be extinct,--the Carolina Parakeet, North America's only member of the parrot family -- has been discovered in the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in the Mosquitia region of northeastern Honduras. photo by John Heldee A photo of a Carolina Parakeet researchers named "Coqueta" now living in captivity in Honduras. A little fewer than 100 years after the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States, a research team today announced that a small non-migratory population survives in vast areas of neotropical forest in Honduras. A full report is due to be Published in the journal Science in the April issue. The findings include multiple sightings of the long thought to be extinct parakeet as well as preliminary data collected from an male bird tracked through radio telemetry. The evidence was gathered during an intensive year-long search in the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (RPBR) involving more than 50 experts and field biologists working together as part of the Parakeet Conservation Partnership, led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University and The Nature Conservancy. The Parakeet Conservation Partnership was founded over one year ago but kept quiet while more information was gathered. A similar partnership was formed when Cornell researchers took up the search for the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. "These types of partnerships have a track record of proven results," said Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. photo by John Heldee Decares examines a study skin of a Carolina Parakeet from 1882. "The bird we currently have in captivity, the individuals we have seen in the wild and the male we are tracking through telemetry are absolutely the Carolina Parakeet" said Hubin Tubbs, the Science article's lead author. "We know from historical data that the Carolina Parakeet was migratory to this general region. There must have been individuals that did not migrate and they have formed a small but viable non-migratory population all this time." While parrots are not known as long distance migrators, the Carolina Parakeet did historically migrate north through the Eastern United States as far as Pennsylvania and up the Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers to the Platte and regularly to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. DNA analysis from feathers taken from the birds in Honduras was compared to that extracted from study skin specimens from the University of Connecticut, The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Both an initial limited mtDNA haplotype comparison and a more detailed mtDNA cytochrome b, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3, and D-loop sequence confirmed the living species are indeed Carolina Parakeets. "What we find is a match," said Juan Decares the co-author of the forthcoming article in Science. "There was slight genetic variation consistent with what we would expect to see in an isolated sub-population in 100 years. Comparing the DNA of multiple living specimens indicates that the population has very limited genetic variation and may have arose from as few as eight birds." photo by John Heldee A researcher tracks the daily movement of the carolina parakeet flock. "A non-migratory population forming from migratory birds is not as strange as it may seem,' says co-author Juan Decares. "The Canada Goose re-introduced across North America is essentially non-migratory in much of its range. While Canada Geese used to migrate though the United States to breed in Canada, there are year-round populations in many parts of the country and they are breeding further south than they did historically. It should not be thought of as uncommon for birds to lose their migratory ability." The Recovery Plan "Amazingly, America may have another chance to protect the future of this spectacular bird." The excited researchers believe there is still a chance for recovery in North America using captive bred, re-introduced individuals similar to what was done with the peregrine falcon in the 1970s. An exotic species, the Monk Parakeet, has thrived where they have escaped in locales such as New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, coastal Rhode Island and Connecticut, and southwestern Washington. There is estimated to be a feral population of 100,000 in Florida alone. "There is still suitable habitat available," said Tubbs. While the establishment of new non-migratory populations in southern climates may be possible, reintroduction across the full former range of the bird may prove more difficult. "The Carolina Parakeet was once found as far north as Ohio," says Decares. "Clearly with the harsh winter climate of Ohio we would have to have a migratory population. Birds released in colder climates would simply die when winter comes as we believe they have lost the migratory instinct. Studies done by German researchers have shown that Crossbreeding experiments with blackcaps from a nonmigratory population (of the Cape Verde Islands) and a migratory population (from southern Germany) demonstrated that the urge to migrate as well as orientation behavior can be transmitted rapidly into a nonmigratory bird population and thus has a substantial genetic basis. "Because there are no living Carolina Parakeets with that migratory genetic information we cannot simply breed it into them," says Decares. The only member of the parrot family in North America, the Carolina Parakeet is known through lore as a bird of beauty and indomitable spirit. The birds numbers shrank after large amounts of forest were cleared for agriculture. At the same time, it was also hunted for feathers for the millinery trade. The birds that remained were ruthlessly hunted by farmers who believed they would damage their crops. Flocks became rare by the 1880s and the last Carolina Parakeet died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918. While there continued to be possible sightings through the 1920s and early 1930s the species was officially declared extinct in 1939 by the American Ornithologists Union. *** The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution with the mission to interpret and conserve the Earth's biological diversity though research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. From its headquarters at the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Ithaca, N.Y., the Lab leads international efforts in bird monitoring and conservation, and fosters the ability of enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels to make a difference. The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy has been responsible for protecting more than 15 million acres in the United States and more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.