Manitoba Peregrines > UND, Grand Forks, North Dakota
UND Tower - 2015 / Marv & Terminator
Alison:
--- Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on August 13, 2015, 13:38 ---Hopefully this will be what happens when/if we get to return Tiggy in the next little while!!
--- End quote ---
I hope so too. Waiting to hear good news of Tiggy.
The Peregrine Chick:
Hopefully this will be what happens when/if we get to return Tiggy in the next little while!!
dupre501:
Thanks for the update Alison! Glad to hear she's doing better.
Alison:
One more photo of Malala:
Alison:
Malala is home!
Peregrine chick returns to Grand Forks after rehab
By Brad Dokken
Malala had herself quite a day on Tuesday.
The Grand Forks-hatched peregrine falcon hitched a ride from The Raptor Center in St. Paul Tuesday morning and headed west on Interstate 94 for Alexandria, Minn., the first stop on her return trip to the UND water tower where she was hatched this spring. Malala was sent to the center last week when she was found unable to fly.
Malala's chauffeur, a Raptor Center volunteer, met Grand Forks birding enthusiast Judy Johnson in Alexandria.
Nestled comfortably in a cardboard container, Malala resumed her trek north in the back of Johnson's blue Ford Escape.
She pulled into town early afternoon and was set free before a half-dozen onlookers on the south side of UND's Starcher Hall. First, though, she left a little love mark on the left thumb of Grand Forks raptor expert Tim Driscoll, who had removed Malala from her container for Johnson to release.
Set free, the falcon sailed over the top of Starcher Hall before disappearing around the corner of the building, most likely to join her parents who were nearby on this stifling August afternoon.
And that was that.
Left; Tim Driscoll with Malala. Right; Judy Johnson with Malala. Photos from the article.
Mystery malady
No one can explain why Malala couldn't fly after a police officer found her grounded on Aug. 3 near the new UND Medical School building.
Driscoll, who banded Malala and her three siblings in June, can't explain it, nor could Raptor Center staff who examined the peregrine after she was taken to the facility.
Driscoll drove Malala to Alexandria on Aug. 4, where a Raptor Center volunteer picked her up for the rest of the trip to St. Paul.
There was no sign of injury or disease, Driscoll said, and Raptor Center staff dubbed Malala fit and able to fly.
And so she came home, her mystery malady marking the second time in three years Grand Forks-hatched peregrines were found unable to fly for no apparent reason. Two other chicks displayed similar symptoms in 2013.
"They didn't diagnose any blood disease or wing problems," Driscoll said. "We wonder about something internal or something in the blood."
Driscoll said Malala is still hanging out with her parents, who are expected to remain around the UND water tower until October, while she learns to hunt and fend for herself.
"As a young bird, the sooner we can get her back with the adults, the better," Driscoll said. "She's probably hunting on her own, but she still needs the support of her adult parents. So we let her go."
Driscoll said Malala looked much better than the bird he picked up last week and appeared to have gained a few ounces.
"I thought she looked great," he said. "She was frisky, she was feisty, she gave me a little kiss goodbye—and she flew, unlike the last time we had her over here when she was on the ground and didn't want to fly an inch. I guess that's about as good of news as we can hope for."
Driscoll, who names the birds he bands for convenience—it's easier to remember a name than a band number—named Malala after Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who won a Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt aboard a school bus for defying the Taliban's ban on girls attending school.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/outdoors/wildlife/3816596-peregrine-chick-returns-grand-forks-after-rehab
Many thanks to everyone involved in making sure that Malala received the best of care, and in transporting her back and forth to The Raptor Center.
Northeast Dakota and North Minnesota are now under a severe thunderstorm warning. I hope all peregrines and humans will stay safe.
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