Mary Malec photo of Haya in Oakland
Haya recuperated in her mew from last Tuesday to Saturday. She bathed, ate and was released back to the Richmond area where she was previously observed to be killing and roosting successfully. Soon, she moved on to Oakland where Mary and Janet have reported in with sightings yesterday and today. Downtown urban settings are challenging for both direct observations and telemetry tracking. We stand with neck craned back looking twenty or more stories up and jog around city blocks to glimpse between buildings at a hidden ledge. Radio telemetry is line-of-sight so tall concrete buildings obstruct signals to make tracking confusing. But for now she seems to be settling on buildings that have often served as peregrine perches in recent years.
It is interesting to note that the Fruitvale birds have been seen in downtown Oakland in past years and that Hiko has been seen in Oakland often. If we were given to drawing a parallels between individuals (not always a safe thing to do) we might conclude that she is doing the same thing that EC of San Jose City Hall did after being ousted from his territory: roost nearby. Let’s all hope that she continues to eat and gain strength in a familiar area and that she also continues to stay away from the nest ledge at the Fruitvale Bridge that is now occupied by another female.
stewartfalcon 