Little Joe still AWOL

Hello,

Our Broad-winged Hawk, Little Joe, is still roaming the Huntsville, Alabama area near Three Caves at the Base of Monte Sano Mountain. Originally lost five weeks ago, he was spotted last week in the neighborhood around Cleermont, Fagan Springs, Waller, Watt and Desoto Roads. He was also seen near the Maple Hill Cemetery on July 26th. Little Joe was lost during our June 23rd presentation for the Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama http://landtrust-hsv.org/ . He was harassed by the local bird population for the rest of the day and was too spooked to fly down to us. I (John) returned the next day and located him where he had roosted. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays and Robins were still after him and after two hours, I lost sight of him. He is wearing his leather jesse straps, an ID tag, and a bell, but not a transmitter, which would have helped us find him. The local Huntsville media has been great at helping us spread the word. After several weeks of sporadic sighting, several residents of the neighborhood saw him and Hallie Davenport of the Land Trust got within 5-10 feet of him. I went to Huntsville after our last show on Saturday and searched the area until dark. After a search all day Sunday (Dale joined me in the afternoon) revealed nothing, we had to abandon our efforts at dark. He is still in the vicinity and we hope to be able to get close enough to entice him with a savory rat or mouse. If you see Little Joe, call us at 423-605-8908 or 423-605-8917. Thanks to everyone who has helped us so far!

John (and Dale)

p.s. special thanks to Falconer Curt Cearley who has been running down all the possible sightings!

Peregrine Release Delayed

Hello,

The Peregrine Falcon released scheduled for today has been postponed until 8/2/10 due to the fact that the smaller Peregrine, Ted, has lagged behind in development compared to his brother, Zenith. They will both be fitted with transmitters and leg bands on Sunday afternoon, 8/1/10 and will be liberated early Monday morning.

Dale and John

Peregrines arrive at Rock City

Hello,

Today, we received two male Anatum Peregrine Falcons from falcon breeder Andy Kramer of Minnesota. Two years ago, we got the male Peregrine "Rocky" from Andy and now we have the latest two. The birds are 30 days old and will be held in a "hack" box for two full weeks. The birds will be fed without human contact and will continue their growth and development. At 40-45 days of age, the young falcons will be fully grown. After two weeks, the birds will be fitted with Federal leg bands and radio transmitters so we can track their movements after release. On the morning of July 28th, the front door of the box will be opened before dawn and the birds will be able to liberate themselves at their leisure. This year's release is about two weeks earlier than our last two, so we are hopeful that the birds will stay in the area longer. It is our hope that these birds will return to the Lookout Mountain area to nest. So far, we have released three Peregrines: Garnet and Frieda in 2006 and Rocky in 2008. This year's project is fully funded by Rock City and we are most thankful to them for the support! Stay tuned for more news...

Dale and John