As you know, Garrama was grounded after fledgling at 39 days (a bit early but in the range but, still…). It rained. Garrama was seen by a staff member. The following day, Dr Cilla Kinross retrieved Garrama and took a small pair of scissors and cut off the remaining sheaths on his tail feathers. The elimination of these is normally done by preening. A call went in to have Garrama checked by a wildlife specialist.
The sheaths remaining on the tail feathers look like plastic. See the two below.
I went to the UK as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1990 and received my PhD from the University of Leicester in 1993. After three decades of university teaching, I retired to devote my time to the study of raptor behaviour. I am particularly interested in Ospreys and am working on a long term project on third hatch survival and siblicide in these raptors. My blog is a result of a fascination with my local wildlife and the desire to encourage others to love and care for birds! I live on the Canadian Prairies and prior to the pandemic travelled a lot. I am questioning the use of aviation fuel at the moment as we all strive to help our planet. My early research was in politics and art including British public statues exported to Southeast Asia and Vietnam Resistors that contributed much to Canadian ceramics. Books and articles were published on those subjects over a period of 3 decades. Now I am working on books for children so they can learn about the challenges our raptors face.
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My heart is going through it’s ups & downs this time of year…Eagles protecting eggs & themselves from Owls …while the WBSE’s have me with tissues.. And again a few eagle nests might have another visit from a hurricane 🙁 Ospreys & falcons soon to fledge…and Garrama is breaking my heart, but many many prayers are said for all God’s creatures…I am happy to hear that Hugo Yugo is so much better… Here, we finally had “some” rain after 2 months of drought, it helps a tiny bit with our wildfires here. I hope all is well with you..TY as usual for all your commentary…also I’m praying that the windmills will be handled & taken down, so as to stop killing our birds of all shapes / sizes & catagories
I believe that we have a huge international community that feel gutted and are numb this year from losing all these precious babies. And don’t even get me started on those wind turbines. It is such an easy fix to paint one blade black. Seriously easy. And few do it. What has happened to our society and any empathy?
This is unbelievable. I am beyond devastated. You are right about this scrape losing one each year–this year Garrama, last year Barru “disappeared” after a couple of weeks, 2022 Rubus had an accident in his second week after fledging, 2021 Yurruga “disappeared” in the week after fledging in severe thunderstorms, and in 2019 Gaia “disappeared” three days after fledging. These are the documented ones. Peregrines are my favorite bird for many reasons, and this has been a heartbreaking year for losses–Smallie at Amersfoort, Nox at Berkeley, Luna at San Jose, Elise at U of Montreal, and now Garrama. There were also four (I think it was) in Omaha who died because the parents didn’t feed them. I don’t know what that was about because peregrines are the most diligent parents.
You mention a new vet not being quick to euthanize–yes, we had a 3-legged stray cat hanging around for a while, and boy, could that cat run! There is a bald eagle on the Mississippi Flyway that has a foot missing. It was seen last year and this year so is surviving. Another eagle had been banded incorrectly, was caught, and when the band was removed, the foot fell off. She was seen later doing quite well. Clara (Berry College, I think) had a pronounced limp but successfully raised many chicks, and dear Alden who saved the scrape at Berkeley the year Grinnell died had a limp, but it did not stop him from being a good provider to Annie and Grinnell’s chicks. It would be interesting to know more about Garrama’s spine condition. Food for thought. There are many birds in captivity who are not able to fly like Murphy, Rita, and Connick and others I met at a presentation for children by a local wildlife organization. They make wonderful ambassadors.
Dear Cheryl, I couldn’t have made a better list! It was Ma Berry from Berry College and she left the nest and let Missey take over after she had stepped on and killed an eaglet (or nearly – I would have to look it up). She was photographed at a lake in Alabama. My dad had a three-legged dog when I was born. Trixie was old then and lived til I was 11 never knowing she was ‘different’. Garrama would have made an excellent ambassador bird. I am so very sad, like you. It has been a hard year. I am concerned about Yira. I think she might not be with us any longer, too. She will be # 185 or 186 on the Memorial Wall and the year is not even over. Our hearts break for these little ones.
My heart is going through it’s ups & downs this time of year…Eagles protecting eggs & themselves from Owls …while the WBSE’s have me with tissues.. And again a few eagle nests might have another visit from a hurricane 🙁 Ospreys & falcons soon to fledge…and Garrama is breaking my heart, but many many prayers are said for all God’s creatures…I am happy to hear that Hugo Yugo is so much better… Here, we finally had “some” rain after 2 months of drought, it helps a tiny bit with our wildfires here. I hope all is well with you..TY as usual for all your commentary…also I’m praying that the windmills will be handled & taken down, so as to stop killing our birds of all shapes / sizes & catagories
I believe that we have a huge international community that feel gutted and are numb this year from losing all these precious babies. And don’t even get me started on those wind turbines. It is such an easy fix to paint one blade black. Seriously easy. And few do it. What has happened to our society and any empathy?
This is unbelievable. I am beyond devastated. You are right about this scrape losing one each year–this year Garrama, last year Barru “disappeared” after a couple of weeks, 2022 Rubus had an accident in his second week after fledging, 2021 Yurruga “disappeared” in the week after fledging in severe thunderstorms, and in 2019 Gaia “disappeared” three days after fledging. These are the documented ones. Peregrines are my favorite bird for many reasons, and this has been a heartbreaking year for losses–Smallie at Amersfoort, Nox at Berkeley, Luna at San Jose, Elise at U of Montreal, and now Garrama. There were also four (I think it was) in Omaha who died because the parents didn’t feed them. I don’t know what that was about because peregrines are the most diligent parents.
You mention a new vet not being quick to euthanize–yes, we had a 3-legged stray cat hanging around for a while, and boy, could that cat run! There is a bald eagle on the Mississippi Flyway that has a foot missing. It was seen last year and this year so is surviving. Another eagle had been banded incorrectly, was caught, and when the band was removed, the foot fell off. She was seen later doing quite well. Clara (Berry College, I think) had a pronounced limp but successfully raised many chicks, and dear Alden who saved the scrape at Berkeley the year Grinnell died had a limp, but it did not stop him from being a good provider to Annie and Grinnell’s chicks. It would be interesting to know more about Garrama’s spine condition. Food for thought. There are many birds in captivity who are not able to fly like Murphy, Rita, and Connick and others I met at a presentation for children by a local wildlife organization. They make wonderful ambassadors.
Dear Cheryl, I couldn’t have made a better list! It was Ma Berry from Berry College and she left the nest and let Missey take over after she had stepped on and killed an eaglet (or nearly – I would have to look it up). She was photographed at a lake in Alabama. My dad had a three-legged dog when I was born. Trixie was old then and lived til I was 11 never knowing she was ‘different’. Garrama would have made an excellent ambassador bird. I am so very sad, like you. It has been a hard year. I am concerned about Yira. I think she might not be with us any longer, too. She will be # 185 or 186 on the Memorial Wall and the year is not even over. Our hearts break for these little ones.