All fledged!

NOW I can report that all chicks in the metro area have fledged! I have visited many of the late nests in the past few days (and it has not been pleasant in this extreme heat...boy it drains  my energy). I can't necessarily say they all fledged successfully...in many cases I can tho, if I have seen them all back at the nest after seeing them flying. There are some cases where I have not been able to locate all chicks at once post fledge. Since many are not banded, I am not always certain that each individual bird has made it back to the nest. I do my best tho. It does become a needle in a haystack sometimes...and chicks certainly do get into trouble far from their nests, long after fledging. That's why the mortality rate is so high the first year. I do try to be accurate with my data...so in some cases I can only say the chicks survived to fledging age. In many cases tho, I can confidently say they all fledged successfully. A nest cannot be labeled as "successful" unless at least one chick is known to have fledged successfully. Flying away and landing on the ground and dying, is not a successful fledge.
Some of the definitions of the terms that I have used here, and are generally accepted in the scientific community are as follows: an OCCUPIED nest is one where a pair was present, whether or not they laid eggs. An ACTIVE nest is one where eggs were laid, and a SUCCESSFUL nest is one where young were known to have fledged. Many of you who know me, know how hard I work to adhere to good scientific methods, to be careful to use terms that accurately reflect documented data. I have a lot to say on this subject...but will save that for another time!