So much happening, I could write a book. First of all some sad news. I found out what happened to our 23 year old friend Mr 79, the long time male on the Arboretum nest (with the cam). He did end up at The Raptor Center the day after I last saw him in April.
He was in pretty bad shape...he was admitted on 4/24/15 with an old projectile wound in his neck, a large necrotic wound on his left wing near his elbow, and permanent damage to his left eye. He was also in a state of starvation and could not be saved. He is free now and his genes will live on his offspring. I loved knowing him for all those years. He must have survived many difficult experiences to get back to his home that one last time. I shed a tear as I write this. It's hard to explain what it's like to observe these birds for so many years, and then to lose them. It's the way of things, and he had a terrific, long life...but still knowing that he encountered some awful experiences that would cause a projectile wound in his neck, makes me wonder about this world.
I will miss him.
On a happier note, his former mate, Ms 3S, who moved to a new nest with a new male, has successfully hatched some eggs and I watched her feeding the wee ones, still not visible, this morning.
I checked many nests today and on at least four of them I found males feeding females and chicks! So sweet. I have been able to count the chicks heads on many more nests now, so we are starting to get an idea of the size of the class of 2015! Only one nest today had three chicks, most had two, tho the chicks are so young that there certainly could be more wee ones in there! Many chicks are just still too young to be seen.
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