Peregrine Falcon

November 8 2016. The Owl Foundation  exists to treat and rehabilitate (if possible) wounded and orphaned owls; they’ve been at it for about fifty years. These sorts of undertakings rarely have a precise starting date but it seems it all got started for Kay and Larry McKeever sometime around 1967. Today the Owl Foundation receives a hundred or so damaged owls every year; sadly many are beyond saving.

Owls in the wild fly across political borders all the time but governments see borders differently and make it difficult for the foundation to accept injured or orphaned owls from anywhere other than Ontario. Interprovincial regulations make it complicated; international regulations make it impossible.

I volunteer some of my time and energy to help raise funds for the foundation and I spent half of today at their facilities just learning more about the operation.  If you like birds and feel that wildlife gets a bad deal, feel free to donate to the Owl Foundation; they will sincerely appreciate your support.

I had thought to open this post with a list of bird sightings today but no one would be fooled. Today’s list of birds included: Great Grey Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, Long–eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Goshawk, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Osprey and American Kestrel – I think that’s all of them. And yes they do sometimes accept other raptors, usually another rehabilitator’s overflow.

But of course, notwithstanding the mission of the Owl Foundation, these are all caged birds – well there was a free flying Red-tailed Hawk perched in a Red Oak just outside the foundation’s office. Many of them will fly free again once strong enough or fully re-feathered.

Any one of these birds whether owl, falcon, buteo or eagle could make Bird of the Day. My loudest gasp of appreciation or admiration was for this young Peregrine Falcon. Just look at those flight feathers! It had somehow suffered a torn crop (how that could happen is anyone’s guess) but surgery, tube feeding and recovery time have done the trick and it will be released fairly soon.

And, by the way, on my return home I saw a free-flying, wild Peregrine Falcon sitting on wires close to a nest site that has been reliable for a few years; so it wasn’t all captive birds.