Counting to Ten

One, two, three...TEN! Ten blessed peregrines accounted for. "Blessed" as in dang dammit, as in blessings and miracles, and as in lucky birds.  Last weekend was full of fun with the Rapid City raptors. Bolt got her chance at independence last Thursday, but contrary to the aggressiveness she demonstrated from the beginning, she wasn't ready to fly off the roof just yet. So at dark, the observation team packed up and headed for a good night's rest in anticipation of another day of observation.

In the evening hours, Rio (released earlier in the week) was actively chasing prey when she flew low to the ground and was accidently hit by a car. Luckily, the accident was called in right away, and Blake Schioberg, the biologist intern on the project responded to the call. Quick obervation and response meant Rio got into a veterinarian right away for care and treatment.

Call two came in. Bolt had been blown off the building ledge and landed in the street below. A group of late night revelers thankfully saw her and got her moved out of traffic to safety. Rescue #2 was underway. By Sunday, both birds were xrayed, observed, and back in the hack for a couple days. Twenty-four hours after her re-release yesterday, Bolt is still atop the roof, moving around the perimeter skirting and taking her time to make that first real solo flight. Rio has a severely dislocated shoulder, will have months of healing and extensive rehabilitation ahead of her, with a small window of hope she'll be able to released to the wild at some point next year. You can observe her in box #2 where she is eating well and trying her best to fly with just one wing working.

That's two birds, and team observations sighted seven other birds dining on quail, or hunting prey on their own in the area. Diners at the Tuesday evening hack board included Lucky Linde, Roxanne, Hope, Wild Bill, Sky, Rex, Amelia, and Kanoa. Athena was observed in flight on Monday.

Ten lucky birds, and lucky me ten times over for getting to be a part of this project!