Over the past week the adult female in Lawrence (V/5) has been on the ground twice.  On Monday, January 5^th she was found in a residential backyard about ¾ mile west of the clock tower.  A toe on her left foot was scrapped and broken.  She was picked up late in the day by the ACO and transferred to an experienced local falconer to hold.  The next day when I spoke with the falconer, It sounded like she had probably struck something but had shaken it off.  She was strong, alert, feisty, and in good weight with no evidence of any wing injuries.  She eagerly ate a homing pigeon.  However, a winter storm had begun, so I had her held over a second night and released the next morning.  She flew from the ground right back up to the clock tower.  It seemed like a good release, but yesterday I learned that she had been found on the ground again, so she was taken to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic.  The cause of her problems is still not clear, but I will let you know when there is more news.

This female was caught by hand at her nest on June 4, 2003.  So, she was banded as a two year old adult, so we do not know where she was born.  She is coming up on 14 years old in May. Since 2003, she has raised at least 31 chicks (17 males & 14 females) to fledging.  Since her nest site in 2005 was not located, she probably raised a few more.  In the 11 years where her nest site was known, she has never failed to fledge at least one chick.

All of these years, her mate has been 2206-59866, 6*/4* black/green  banded on the NH Tower Bldg., Manchester, NH 06-07-01.  Manchester is 25 miles N. of Lawrence.