FALCON FLASH
Dateline: Cleveland, Ohio
June 14, 2010
Mr. Harvey Webster, Director of Wildlife Resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, sends along this update on Ranger’s condition: “As of Monday afternoon, Ranger has made very slight improvement over the weekend. He is able to perch but not walk. He has to be force-fed as he refuses food on his own. Laura Jordan of the Medina Raptor Center is worried that his vision is impaired in one eye. The more time he spends down in this condition means the more time it will take to prepare him for release should he make a full recovery. All of this suggests that Ranger is in for a long convalescence and will not be releasable any time soon”.
Volunteer nest monitors, Mr. and Mrs. Saladin, visited the nestsite on Saturday and report, “We swung through public square early this evening to see if another male might be around. We were only there about 30-40 minutes, but saw all three juvies up high on the TT and saw a little bit of juvie high flying. SW was perched up high on Key Bank. She soared around the square a bit and then went back to another high perch on Key Bank. Didn't see a new male in the short time that we were there”.
The good news is that all three juveniles are now flying successfully and SW is an experienced parent. The bad news is that SW is now alone to feed the juveniles for the next few weeks until they learn to hunt on their own. The fledglings are now practicing take-offs and landings and working on their flying skills.
