Stunning

That's the word I'd use to describe this young peregrine falcon. Her name is BOLT and she's about four months old. I got a call today around 12:30 about a downed falcon in Sheridan. I was on the road by 1:00. Thanks to WGF Biologist, Tim Thomas, I again didn't have to drive the whole three hours to pick her up. We met in the Big Horn National Forest at Observation Point. Halfway for both of us.

She has some bruising on her right elbow but I'm not sure if it's broken or not. She goes in tomorrow for xrays. She's a very unusual dark color, at first I thought she might be an escaped hybrid. I had Chris Pfister come over and give me his opinion. He said that young birds have a big variety of colors but she's definitely a pure peregrine.

I hope her injury is not serious and she will be able to go into training for release. She's a bit thin so I gave her a quail to eat. SHE ATE THE WHOLE THING! And in a matter of minutes.

School is in session

Just a few days ago little LANDON, my baby prairie falcon, left here with master falconer, Chris Pfister, to beginning training for eventual release. He came in with a broken left wing and was thought he wouldn't fly well enough to return to the wild. He's proving everyone wrong so with Chris's help he will fly free.

Baby LANDON is now flying high. Here he is up at the highest point in his mew and enjoying looking down at me. He goes for training this coming week so he will be strong enough, and skilled enough, to survive in the wild.

Triple ouch

I believe this is a female and her name is ROWAN. A baby prairie falcon, about four months old, she apparently was hit by a vehicle while chasing a meal. Her right eye is shrunken and of no use and she has a broken right leg. The third thing is she's almost starved to death weighing only 16 ounces. Luckily she came down at a place where she was seen.

I've thawed some quail and gotten one whole breast down her so that will make her feel better. And she's in a safe place now too. She'll go in tomorrow for xrays to see if her leg is repairable. Her eye is not so she may not be releasable even with a leg that works. Because falcons favorite meals are other birds, and they have to be able to do quick turns and dives, she needs all systems go. With one eye she would probably miss more often than connect and then starve.

If her leg is fixable I'll try and place her at an educational facility so lots and lots of people can see this beautiful baby.

UPDATE: She has a mid-shaft fracture of her femur (knee to hip) and will go in for surgery on Monday. In the meantime I'm hand feeding her quail bits so give her the strength for the upcoming ordeal.

And another baby

This is a species I don't get that often altho they aren't rare. His name is LANDON and he's a Prairie Falcon about three months old. He was found on Greg Anderson's ranch in Pavillion which is near Riverton. Thanks to Jessica Beecham of the WGF for meeting me at our usual place, the Quality Inn, in Thermopolis.

Xrays show he has a fractured radius in his left wing near his elbow joint. He's wearing a support bandage right now and for a couple weeks, to see if that will keep the bones in place. They are in good alignment right now so the prognosis is pretty great.

Now to explain the name. I have to stretch sometimes to come up with one. Okay.....Remember Michael Landon, Little House on the Prairie???? Told you it was a stretch. I believe this is a male and with his attitude he should do well. Unfortunately a majority of this species are insane, I can only hope he's not.

Home again

I just got home after releasing JULIUS, the adult male kestrel I've had for a few weeks. He was found in town with no reason for his not being able to fly. I still don't know what was wrong but when he left the crate in his own nest territory he never hesitated. As I drove up to the release site I saw three other kestrels in a very large dead tree. That's where he headed and all four of them flew off together. A great homecoming for him. Naturally it happened so fast I never got to take any photos.

Badly wounded

This amazing Peregrine Falcon, JIMMY, was probably hit by a vehicle or possibly hit something as he was chasing a meal. His left wing was torn off between his elbow and wrist. I'm hoping he'll survive this ordeal and be a candidate for surgery to clean up the tip of his wing so he can be an educational bird on a fist. Right now he's fighting hard and I'll be with him the whole way.

UPDATE: He did not make it.

Superman is gone

Well, CLARK is now gone. This is a photo of my Peregrine Falcon being released after six months of recovery and training. Chris Pfister, a master falconer, and my subpermittee, spent that time helping this amazing falcon recover from a bad wound to the back of one wing after it was sutured closed.

Because these birds eat birds, and have to be very quick and able to switch directions instantly, he had to be at 100% for release. Thanks to his expertise, Chris brought this almost one year old male falcon to peak performance and ready for release.

As you can see, this is a beautiful habitat full of small birds, and even pigeons, the perfect food source for CLARK. Thanks to the Lichtendahl's for spotting him and calling me so he could make this awesome release.

He's visiting

CLARK, aka. KRYPTON, came here on September 18th with a wound to his back. I think he hit a barbwire fence while chasing a bird. He went to my subpermitte and master falconer, Chris Pfister, for training to see if he's strong enough for release. He's now almost ready for that big step, we're just waiting for the migration back of small and medium songbirds, the main diet for a Peregrine Falcon. He's only here for a couple days as the Pfister's are on a skiing weekend in MT. Isn't he just so handsome!

Another trip

Luckily this one was very short in comparison to those I've been taking. Only about 35 miles up to Clark to pick up this awesomely handsome five month old male Peregrine Falcon. Thanks to Kathy and Ken, who live there, he was rescued today. Kathy saw him yesterday morning in a tree next to the road. He was on the ground there this morning so she called me when she noticed he had a wound on his back.

CLARK is now in the hands of my master falconer, Chris Pfister, who will be seeing to his care until the wound is healed and he's ready for training. The cut was deep enough to require suturing but no underlying tissue was damaged. A round of antibiotics and he should be good as new in a few weeks.

Another away

I posted a photo and story about what was called a "baby grey owl" and showed you that it is, in fact, a baby female Kestrel. Her name is GREY and yesterday she flew away on her second big adventure. I released her just outside my front gate as I have kestrels in the area so know it's a good placement. You can just barely see her to the left of the power pole, even with the top of it. She was so quick in flying off this is the best picture I could get. She circled a few times and then landed in one of my trees. I never saw her take off again.

Amazing recovery

KESWICK arrived here on July 9th after being found on the road to Valley Ranch almost at the end of the Southfork Road. He had a fractured right hand and was almost starved to death. I thought surgery would be needed to remove the tip of his wing but he was so thin I knew he wouldn't survive surgery right then. I decided to feed him up, gain strength, and then tackle the surgery.

A couple weeks ago I weighed him again and he'd gained a much needed ounce but I also noticed his wing was stronger. I put him into a small flight area to see what would happen. He never looked back, was flying in the 8'x 20' mew with no problems.

Yesterday I took him out to an area known to be a great kestrel habitat and released him. As you can see by this photo, he again, never looked back. Instead of landing on a nearby tree, he turned away and left us in the dust. Thanks to my friend Susan Osborne for getting this shot of him flying off.

Just proved to me that I should never take things at first face value.

Mistaken identies

The phone rang this morning with a call from a Devil's Tower Monument person. Amy said they had a young Peregrine Falcon that had fledged a couple weeks ago but was found on the ground this morning unable/unwilling to fly. I was fortunate when Amy agreed to meet me in Buffalo, a three hour drive from Cody, so I wouldn't have to go all the way to the Tower.

Well..........by the time we met, the bird turned into a young female Prairie Falcon. They believe she fledged off a nest on a bluff near the Tower but not on it. I was told she had a dragging wing but I can't find anything wrong. MAGIC is a bit thin but not starving. She also has a nasty temperament but then most Prairie's are insane. She goes in tomorrow morning for an xray just to see if there is something wrong that doesn't stand out.

She will be going to master falconer, and my subpermittee, Chris Pfister for training as soon as she passes her physical.

UPDATE: Even with a tummy full of quail her attitude isn't any better this morning. Xrays showed something going on in her left shoulder joint but she seems to be able to flap the wing and holds it in perfect position when perched. More xrays later after some cage rest.

About a week ago I got a call from a lady in Thermop who said she had a "baby grey owl" in her yard and it couldn't fly. Well, having a Great Grey Owl is something so I asked her to send me a photo. I was amazed, not only was it NOT an owl, there wasn't any grey on it. It is a baby female Kestrel, brown with dark brown spots and not as big as a robin. I sent five emails to her explaining that it's a falcon. She kept saying baby grey owl. I also called a couple times and left messages.

Then yesterday I got an email saying a fellow was driving to Cody and bringing the falcon (she got it right that time) to me. I met Bob near the airport and asked what she had been feeding this baby for all that time. The dreaded answer was "hamburger'. That is a huge no-no for raptors but nothing I could do now. I can't find anything wrong, she should have been left in that area to be cared for by her parents. There were apparently four or five more baby kestrels too, they were okay.

Now this baby will have to be trained to catch live food here. She would have been so much better in the care of the adults but we will deal with it. Her name is GREY.

UPDATE: This beautiful baby bird has proved herself. She's caught many mice on her own and will be released this week in a wonderful habitat for kestrels.

A beautiful young man

Kestrels are one of the prettiest birds and are the smallest falcon there is. Previously called a Sparrow Hawk, they are aggressive hunters of mice, grasshoppers and, of course, small birds. This little fellow was found on the road to Valley Ranch up the Southfork, probably has been hit by a car. The very bad news is that the damage is to the tip of his wing and it's not repairable. It's also of long duration so the only solution is probably to remove that tip.

Of course he won't be able to fly again but these awesome birds are very excellent ambassadors in educational programs. They are sometimes rare to find so placing him shouldn't be a problem. Right now he's very thin so the goal is to give him enough groceries and gain strength to handle the surgery.

Wild baby girl

I got a call this evening about a downed kestrel whose mom was frantic any time the land owner got near it. When I got there the wind was a bit strong so as I tried to catch the chick it took off. Because of the wind it was able to fly pretty well but landed in a small evergreen. Then I was able to catch her.

Her mom was also there, hovering above us as I checked the recently fledged female out. All was fine but when I opened my hand for her to fly away she seemed content to just sit there. I finally jiggled my arm and she flew off. She is in excellent condition, a chubby child who has been well taken care of so I have no doubt she'll be just fine.

Thanks to Maryann Alquist for calling me and taking this beautiful photo.

Famous name

Not the bird, just the name. This beautiful adult male Prairie Falcon was found on his back in a yard on McCullough Dr. east of Cody. Of course his name is DAVID. He doesn't write books either. He doesn't have any fractures but does have a small cut in the underside of his right wing. That area is bruised too.

He also wasn't able to stand when I picked him up but now he's getting closer to doing so. With a temperature of only +1 this morning it's no wonder he was a bit stiff. I have no idea what caused the wound, possibly hit a window when chasing a meal. He's in my warm rodent house for now and will be moved to a larger pen when he's ready.

UPDATE: I'm saddened to say that this beautiful young bird died during the night. He was found early in the morning but I have no idea when his injuries occurred. It was near zero degrees and he was found on his back. That, combined with the damage, probably contributed to his death. So sad.

Hurt young falcon

Lynn George showed up at my door this afternoon saying he'd found a hawk on the side of the road near his home. My breath caught when I saw the bird, it's an adult male Peregrine Falcon and he's so awesome. Unfortunately he has a fractured left wing which is why he has it bandaged in the photo.

The bad news is that it's Saturday afternoon and I can't get him in for an xray until Monday morning. He's in good weight and certainly has an attitude that says "go ahead, try to touch me". I'll post an update when I get it.

UPDATE: Xrays show a fractured radius/ulna near his left elbow joint. It cannot be surgically repaired but as the bones are in good alignment he will be in a support bandage for some weeks to come to see if they will mend well enough for flight. Even if he doesn't fly strong for release he will make an awesome school bird.

Dry and together

The last little female kestrel is now dry and sharing the cage with the other two females. They were all on the perch when I opened the door but naturally didn't stay together.

Three little girls

It seems not long ago all I was doing was driving to or through Thermopolis for birds. This year it's Powell. And the worst part is having to drive over four miles of road under construction. They seem to feel the roadbed must be at least four feet higher and then the left over dirt in piles on the side of the road has to be trucked along the road behind my place so they can dump it over the hill. Of course then they have to have a front loader spent every day smoothing out the dumped dirt. Must be costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Too bad someone didn't think of selling the dirt, would have made some money to help cover the $4 million per mile they're now spending. But I digress.....

So far in the past couple weeks I've driven 12 times to Powell to pick up eight baby great horned owls and four kestrels. I still have five of the GHOs and three kestrels. The owls are just waiting until they're ready for release.

The same for the kestrels but in the case of two of them it's because their dad was hit by a car a couple weeks ago and had to be euthanized. Because kestrel litters can be up to six babies, it's very hard for the one remaining parent to keep them in food. I have no idea how many were in this clutch but I believe that all but these two have probably died. These little girls are quite thin but are scarfing down their mice so that will soon correct itself.

This single little female also came from Powell but when she came out of the nest she apparently went right into the ditch. She got herself out but was caked with dirt. That's why she's all wet, had to give her a bath to remove it. Talk about an attitude, she's quite feisty so should do well when ready to fledge.