U of Alberta - 2008 / Damon & Radisson

[bev.]

I have been very tardy here .  I have been out of town with hubby but never fear the slide shows are coming , promise. Hubby is going to help me finish them up this week and then you can reminisce.

My biologist friends are in Mexico right now doing a study on some owls so I am hoping to hear from them  when they get back.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Just in case we should hear anything about Hope & Cassie before year-end, here's a new thread for updates.

The Peregrine Chick

[bcbird]

Sorry to hear you have been sick, Bev.  Hope you get well and back to full strength soon. 
 
I am looking forward to seeing your "best of the best" pictures in the slideshows!

[carly]

I have been ill and so thus the slide show is not finished yet.  I got the flu shot and then right after I got sick. so what is up with that

Ack...that happened to me 2 years ago too!  I hope you are feeling better soon Bev. 

Speaking of Chatty Cassie, one of my favorite pictures is of her sitting next to Radisson when she was a few weeks old and in the picture it looks like she's chatting to mom about her day..lol. 

The nice thing is that when you do get through all these pictures, we will have warm memories to enjoy during the cold winter - I sure hope that both she and little Hope are somewhere warm and sunny enjoying their freedom and flying the skies

[bev.]

I have been ill and so thus the slide show is not finished yet.   I am trying and as I look through all the pictures I laugh and I cry.  Cassie was indeed one vocal little girl. I still have to cut down my pictures quite a bit. Peter laughs as I keep cutting and still too many. 
We will do 3 slide shows. the beginning , the growing up and the fledging. You have no idea how hard it is to cut pictures when there are thousands.  I cannot believe that I took so many
Please be patient with me.  I got the flu shot and then right after I got sick. so what is up with that

[bev.]

I am sorry the slide show not finished yet but keep checking. I did not realize how tired Peter and I both wee so we took a bit of a break but he promises to have this done this week. we have so many pcitures to sift through, literally thousands.

It is coming

[bev.]

I received a note form one of the bilogists to answer my question about the egg that did not hatch

His answer was:::

The un-hatched egg had no developed embryo inside, so was most likely an unfertilized egg.  Pairs breeding for the first time often miss an egg.  She was a late nester too, something that usually results in small clutches and low fertility.  If she comes back next year, my bet is she will lay four and hatch four

this was good news . It means that it was not evvironmental. 


Have a Happy Thanksgiving  everyone
We will go to the site on Monday for old times sake. 

[bev.]

Thanks guys.  I still have a slide show in progress so stay tuned.  It will take a few days to do(like maybe by the end of the weekend??) I just have to gather myself together.

I told Tracy in and e-mail that my house looks worse than Radissons box   such is life. 

My one purpose in doing this was to give it as a gift to you after the loss in the spring at your site.  then I realized that we would all learn form it and I think we have.
And I did not realize at the time how attached I would become. I could hardly wait to get down there and see what was happening next.
I think my husband secretly enjoyed it also.  He would not have come otherwise.

[sami]

What can I say - I was in tears, too. I can't begin to imagine how you must feel now that they are gone, Bev. Somehow knowing that they will be going doesn't help much when you finally realize they've actually gone. Thank you so much Bev, for the reports, the pictures, the time, everything you've put into giving us their story.

[maggieblue]

Bev, thank you soo much for sharing the adventures of these falcons with us.  It is so hard not knowing what happens once the young fledge so it was a great gift to us to be able to follow their progress.   
p.s. I cried too.

[dodobird]

Ditto !!!!!!!

[carly]

Ok it's official both you (Bev) and Loriann can make me cry  .  I couldn't have put any of that into words quite as eloquentely as you did so I'm not even going to try. 

[Elaine L]

Bev, I am sure we all feel the same as you about the departure of our precious falcons.   I wish them Godspeed on their amazing journey, and a safe return in the Spring.  We will surely miss them.  Thanks for all the effort you and your husband put into this great story, and of course, for providing us with the details, every day.

[bcbird]

Oh, Bev.... thank you so very, very much for sharing this season with us.
Your story of this nest has been close to my heart all summer, and filled me with many different emotions.  It's hard to imagine how much more intensely you must feel the departure of Radisson and the end of this season's story. 

[bev.]

Wednesday night

The sun was out but it was very breezy.  I have had to bring my friends dog with us but we made sure that she  was hidden a bit so as not to pose a threat.

Well we waited and watched .

We watched the pigeons play in the air. They  seemed a little more care free.
The magpies were  playing but no falcons were around.

I kept hoping but yet I knew. 
One thing I have noticed through all of this.


All birds love to play and touch while flying and love playing tag. Just like our falcons.
Everyone has their favorite bird or animal and they are basically all the same.  They have this zest for life.  They seem to live for the moment .  It is so gratifying to watch. 
I have a respect for them all , even the pigeons.
The other day, Peter rescued a  pigeon at the site . He was walking along and he saw cars going around a pigeon. He saw it flutter to get up and then just crouch there. He thought it was just stunned , so he walked onto the road and picked it up and put it on the grass away from things.  I asked him if he stayed to keep an eye on it but he thought it would be O.K.   We never did go and check on it. Too preoccupied with the falcons. I thought about that yesterday but Peter said he looked as we drove by and did not see it.  I did not see where her put it, so I would like to think it was able to fly off.

Well we waited until dusk again. Peter went and checked on Miss Edmonton while I stayed and waited. 

It was so quiet. There were the usual sounds but none of the sound of falcons.  You get used to  their  calls and  they become a part of you.

Miss Edmonton has not been seen by us since Monday so I think she left Monday but the biologist will be able to tell as soon as I e-mail him.

 We then went and checked where Miss Radisson perches for the night. She was not  there.

And now I know that she has left on her journey.(watch her turn up at neat box now)

I shed some tears for a season that was so hard at the beginning but so sweet at the end.
I wish her a safe journey  and pray that she makes it back.  Hopefully it will be here.  I pray for our wonderful male. And hopefully Miss Edmonton will find a new site and not try here again.  That would be too hard on me. 
And I hope my Hope and Cassie have the adventure of  their lives.

All we all want for these wonderful Birds of Prey, is that they survive. We all want them to be able to do what nature intended without the bad influences of man.

I know that not all can survive, but  I know that  God has blessed this site this year, and given us a wonderful gift.  I will forever cherish this season, with its up and downs.
what A truly amazing thing to witness.  i know that I will never have another like it. 

God sped all my feathered friends and may the wind soar beneath your wings. May you have adventures to tell your grandchildren about. ( I do believe that they must talk about things in their own way)

Peter and I will be putting together a slide show of just some hi lights so stay tuned.  We will  also go to the site on Sunday and   walk   through everything and enjoy the sights and sounds and memories and of course have a coffee.