Hamilton peregrine falcon chick faces uncertain future after 2 'mishaps' in 9 days
CBC
Two "mishaps" over a nine-day period have left one of four peregrine falcon chicks that hatched in Hamilton in May seriously injured and facing an uncertain future.
Leah Schwenger, one of the lead monitors with Hamilton Falcon Watch, said the chick, named Lawfield, crashed into an object on June 11 while learning to fly and fell to the ground.
Schwenger said the bird was quickly rescued and taken to The Owl Foundation in Vineland, Ont.
"It was in the evening that they examined him. He was very feisty, very alert and they gave him a good bill of health but it was decided to keep him overnight just to be sure," Schwenger told CBC Hamilton on Sunday.
The following day, Lawfield was brought back and released at the top of the downtown Sheraton hotel to be reunited with his parents McKeever and Judson, and three siblings — Charlton, Winona and Simcoe.
The four peregrine chicks hatched in a nest on the 18th floor of the hotel on May 3.
On the morning of June 19, the Falcon Watch team noticed that only three chicks were visible — Lawfield was missing.
Schwenger said volunteers were alerted later that day about a falcon inside the inner courtyard at the Hamilton Convention Centre. The volunteers soon discovered that it was Lawfield.
The bird was captured and once again taken to The Owl Foundation.
"It was determined that he had an injured right shoulder and they felt he would need some time to rest up and heal. He was also very dehydrated," Schwenger said.
She said volunteers also learned that Lawfield had an eye injury and "a bit of a head tilt … and the people from The Owl Foundation felt that maybe this happened during his first incident."
After more than a week at the The Owl Foundation, "things were not progressing as they had hoped," Schwenger said.
On Sunday, Lawfield was briefly transferred to the National Wildlife Centre in Caledon, Ont., for further assessment, Schwenger said, noting that it was too soon to say whether or not Lawfield would fly again.
"We're hoping if he can't fly out in the wild again that perhaps he could either stay at The Owl Foundation or perhaps go to Mountsberg [Conservation Area] and be kept there and either used for educational purposes or breeding purposes," Schwenger said.
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