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Alison:
Another state authorizes taking peregrine chicks from the wild:  >:(

FWP seeks comment on peregrine falcon, shed-antler hunting proposals
The Independent Record / 28 January 2010

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on proposals for the 2010 peregrine falcon take and on shed-antler hunting on wildlife management areas.

The 2010 proposal on peregrine falcon would authorize five nestlings or fledged peregrines be taken between June 1 and Aug. 31. Only one bird could be collected per successful applicant. Peregrines would not be taken from eastern Montana to help the breeding population there expand, and birds from nests of high value to wildlife viewers would also be excluded.

The proposal on shed-antler hunting on WMAs would create walk-in only access to WMAs for the first three days of shed-antler hunting, beginning the day WMAs open each spring. The proposal would apply to all WMAs that are closed to winter access.

Comments are due by Friday, Feb. 19, and may be sent via e-mail over the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov on the Hunting page, or mailed to: FWP – Wildlife Bureau, Attn: Public Comment, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701. For more information, check details available on the FWP Web site, or call 444-2612.

http://www.helenair.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_df4c73a0-0bdd-11df-a881-001cc4c002e0.html

carly:
PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Another successful Peregrine Falcon rescue and release

A peregrine falcon was released back into the wild Monday in Lycoming County.  Two sisters are credited with rescuing the falcon last week. The bird is alive thanks to their quick thinking and some help from a rescue clinic. The peregrine falcon was nearly a goner almost one week ago. Now Lucky is healthy again, ready to leave the game commission headquarters near Jersey Shore. Kristina Franklin of the Big Woods Wildlife Rescue Clinic cared for the eight-year-old female after it was injured on the highway in Williamsport.

"It had a head injury, an eye injury and an abrasion on the wing. She just happened to be very strong-willed oriented so therefore she healed quicker," Franklin said.

Lucky's comeback might never have happened if it hadn't been for Marylee and Justina Laird, sisters who were in the right place at the right time.

"I realized it was alive. It started flapping its wings so I turned around and came back," said Marylee Laird.

The Laird sisters came upon the injured falcon on a stretch of Route 220 in Williamsport near the Market Street exit. It was in the middle of the highway. They rushed out into traffic and saved the falcon's life. Now it's free again in the wild.

"We were on the brim of the highway, 30 people are passing and hitting it as we're waiting to get this bird," Marylee Laird recalled. "I didn't care. I knew she needed help and that's all I cared about," added Justina Laird.

The sisters looked on Monday as Franklin let Lucky go, watching proudly as the falcon flew for the first time since they rescued it.

"That felt unbelievable. I loved it. It was," Justina Laird said. "It's good. I'm glad she's back in the wild but I'm definitely. Now I don't know what she's going to be doing. I'm going to worry," Marylee Laird said.

http://www.wnep.com/wnep-lyc-rehabilitated-falcon-released,0,1864119.story

Alison:
Artemis, the juvie peregrine falcon being rehabbed at Southwestern High School in Somerset, has recovered and has been released:

Pulaski students participate in program for the birds
Lexington Herald Leader / 1 Jan 2010

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/01/01/1079060/pulaski-students-participate-in.html#ixzz1ArLFvYVY

SOMERSET — The peregrine falcon, too bruised to fly only three weeks before, flapped away from the thick leather gloves its handler was wearing, circled in the bright, bitterly cold air and headed northeast, disappearing from sight.

That's another success story for the Raptor Rehabilitation Program at Southwestern High School in Pulaski County.

Students in the program help care for injured birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles, called raptors, and return them to the wild if possible. The program has taken in more than 1,000 birds since biology teacher Frances Carter started it more than 15 years ago.

Many of the birds must be euthanized, but the number returned to the wild has averaged 44 percent through the years, Carter said.  Other programs and people in the state care for injured raptors, but the facility at Southwestern is the only one in the nation on a high school campus, Carter said. The falcon, which students named Artemis, after the Greek goddess of the hunt, was an arctic bird.

It wasn't clear how she ended up in Kentucky or got hurt, said Noe Avina, 17, a senior who helped care for the bird, feeding her and putting her in a large, mesh-enclosed cage where she could practice flying and build up her wing strength.

Last month, a crowd of students watched as Noe told Artemis good luck and gave her a push to get her airborne. They cheered as she took off. It felt good to get the bird back where she belongs, Noe said. "That, for me, was a big deal."

http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/1079060.html

Photos of the release by Pablo Alcala:

 

Alison:
Hampton, Virginia

HAMPTON — The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The conditions were ideal for take-off on a Florida-bound flight path.  By the time Edward Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, arrived at Grandview Nature Preserve in Hampton with a rare peregrine falcon Tuesday, a crowd of more than 30 people had gathered to see the release.

The falcon was nursed back to health by staff at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro after being picked up injured in Accomack County last month. He wasted no time in flying back into the wild, going north before getting his bearings and heading south for warmer climes.  Clark, who drove from the snowy Shenandoah Valley to release the bird, said conditions were ideal for flight. "It's nice and balmy down here," he said.

He addressed onlookers and then drove deeper into the preserve for the release.  "We might get a bit out of these backyards in case it lands in these backyards and a cat jumps on it. We don't want to have to replace someone's cat," Clark said.

Clark said the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on Earth, could get back to Accomack County faster than he could drive there.  "But I suspect this bird has Florida on the brain, which is not an altogether bad idea."

When the falcon was picked up, he was underweight, missing some feathers on its left wing and had an eye injury.  The bird was treated at the wildlife center and given flight exercises in one of the center's outdoor flight pens.

"It was generally given supportive care and it healed. In the wild it does not have the luxury of getting better on its own," Clark said.

There are only about 20 known breeding pairs of peregrines in Virginia — in the Hampton Roads and Richmond areas and on the Eastern Shore.

   

Alison:
Popular power plant peregrines are no snow birds
Holland Sentinel / 26 Dec 2009

Peregrine falcons lingering along the lakeshore have birders and biologists wondering if the part-time residents will again remain in Michigan for the winter.

“Peregrine falcons are migratory birds,” said Nik Kalejs, senior wildlife biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “Typically, they follow other bird species southward when the weather turns colder. These West Michigan birds stuck around last season and seem to want to remain in the area this year, too.”

Last winter, a pair of peregrines remained all season at the J.H. Campbell Complex in Port Sheldon Township, where an artificial nest placed by employees 200-feet up on an emissions stack has been attracting the birds seasonally for eight years. The nest yielded two peregrine chicks this year, with one of the juveniles sharing the territory with its parents well into the fall, another unusual behavior for the highly territorial species.

Tom Kalkman assisted with placing identification leg bands on the chicks as part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program to collect data on the reproductive success, migration routes, and health of the species.

“They’re magnificent birds,” said Kalkman, a Casnovia resident and lab technician at Campbell. “It’s fascinating to think of the fastest animal on the planet residing here in West Michigan — and not wanting to head south for the winter. Obviously, they’re remaining for a reason.”

source:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1671986077/Popular-power-plant-peregrines-are-no-snow-birds

 

 

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