BIG NEWS!!!

Just received this news via e-mail

Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:30:33 -0800 (PST)
From: lynn rollins
Subject: Re: Pale Male nestwork

Mission completed. Nest has been spring cleaned of almost 72 spikes(I would like to see all of us try to turn an egg without getting impaled). Three eggs were retrieved which will be sent to Ward Stone...they are still heavy so that makes it more interesting.

The Mission was photographed and video taped. Pale Male made a nest stop while the engineer was being brought up to make sure everything was properly done and we hope he likes his new digs and brings his bride home to roost!

Hats off to Sandy for her work. It was quite a feat to organize all these people...and many thanks are due to people who helped make it go so smoothly.

Lynn

What does this mean?

1. The work on removing the spikes from the base of the cradle where Pale Male and Lola are nesting has been completed! The spikes were long considered a possible reason why the eggs haven't hatched for the last 3 seasons. Now let's hope they WERE the problem, because that problem no longer exists.

2. What are those 3 eggs? Those are the ones that didn't hatch last year and were never retrieved by DEC. They would have impeded the nesting process this year -- Pale and Lola would have had to work hard to remove them. Now they have been removed. Even better, they've been sent to Ward Stone, the wildlife pathologist of DEC in Albany. Perhaps he can still find material for analysis at this late date.

3. NOW, everybody, finger-crossing time.

And great thanks to the NYC Audubon and all the scientists who worked hard to make this valiant attempt at making the nest egg-worthy this year.