Grinnell is in care

I am so grateful to one of my readers (Thank you, B) for reminding me about Grinnell. Sadly, I had been monitoring Diamond and my note about Grinnell had gotten lost in the pages. I feel really bad because we all care so much for Annie and Grinnell.

Everyone loves Grinnell! Grinnell is the partner of Peregrine Falcon, Annie. They have their scrape at the UC-Berkeley Campanile in San Francisco. I know many of you watch the streaming cam of the couple raising their eyases. This season Annie and Grinnell raised three male hatches to fledge: Wek-Wek, Fauci, and Kaknu.

This is part of the original announcement appearing in the UC Berkeley News:

Grinnell, the UC Berkeley campus’s beloved male peregrine falcon, was found injured southeast of campus on Friday following a fight with a pair of peregrine falcons and is being treated at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek. The incident is raising questions about whether he and Annie, his longtime mate, who likely also was there during the attack, can hold onto their home atop the Campanile, where they’ve raised their young for five years.

It is possible that the new pair is trying to take over the territory,” said Mary Malec, a member of Cal Falcons who monitors local raptor nests for the East Bay Regional Park District. “In other territories, sometimes the fight ends with one skirmish, and sometimes the fights last over many days.”

The rehabbers posted this:

It is very fortunate that Grinnell did not break any bones. However, the tip of his top beak is broken. There is also a wound on his head, an injury on his left wing, feathers missing under his chin, and various abrasions on his body, according to the wildlife clinic.

Sadly, territorial fights are not unusual especially when the real estate is as prime as it is at the Campanile.

The Campanile at Berkeley. Grinnell and Annie raise their chicks above the bell.

The UC Falcon FB page has reported that the male intruder has gone into the scrape box and is trying to court Annie. Here he is on the streaming cam. So it appears that it is a lone male as opposed to a couple.

Grinnell will be kept until he is fit to return to the wild. It is not easy for the birds to live in the wild….human causes and territorial fights often mean death or major injuries. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Please send your most positive thoughts out to Grinnell, Annie his long time mate, and also to Diamond who is healing in Orange, Australia today.

Thank you for joining me today. Please take care everyone.

Thank you to ‘B’ for reminding me of Grinnell’s injury and sending me the link to the reports and to UC Cal Falcons streaming cam and FB Page where I took my screen captures.

3 Comments

  1. Linda Kontol says:

    Thank you Mary Ann! So glad they found Grinell in time to help him! He’s so beautiful!
    Also is it possible for them to rescue Diamond or does she must heal on her own?
    Prayers for them both🙏🙏
    Have a good day Mary Ann!
    Linda

    1. I am so glad too. Poor thing sitting on a trash can unable to move. It sounds like there was a lot of damage done to Grinnell but, thankfully, nothing that cannot be fixed. I worry about about the end of his top beak because that is used for hunting. That is a good question about Diamond. I admit to wanting something on the front of the scrape to keep her in and have her taken for a check up. If it is a muscle injury I am told that they will heal 100% of the time.l. If it should happen, sadly, to be something broken then without intervention it would not heal well and we would have the situation of WBSE 26 – a bird always in pain and not well. I hope we see some real improvements in Diamond by the end of the weekend. Fingers crossed.

      1. Linda Kontol says:

        Yes indeed Mary Ann! Prayers for these wonderful and beautiful falcons to heal soon ❤️❤️🙏🙏

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