Things are getting exciting at the Rochester Kodak nestsite. Zephyr left the nestbox very early indeed: at 05:25 to be precise. Couldn't be earlier! And went on the run. haven't seen hem back. from the behaviour of the juvies in the nestbox I even think Zephyr hopflapped further down. Around 9 miss SusanB left the perchrail as well and went on to exploring the area. Mariah kept a close eye on things. At some time she even laid down beside the nestbox to get a nap. Very special indeed. You seldom see an adult peregrine lay down like juvies do! Susan B stayed in close range of the box, but Zephyr, I haven't seen him back.
The lady of the day: juvie 003. Photo by Nick Brown
An early morning with breakfast for 2 and a fledge!
This morning the webcams showed 2 juvies waking up, and one leaving at 06:34. Only 4 minutes later one is back who leaves again at 6:42. At 07:23 food breakfast is served and toddler is joined by a sibling, who leaves again shortly after breakfast. The morning went by without any action..........at least not in front of the webcams.
There was however al lot of action outside, because juvie 003.... "had fledged but hadn't quite made it. She had landed on a nearby roof but been frightened off by workmen. Taking to the air again she made it for a tree, but failed to get a hold, and fluttered to the ground. Just as before she was rescued by Nick Brown from the Wildlife Trust, aided this time by Jon Salloway." ( quote from the Derby Blog)
Lady in distress: juvie 003 Photo by Nick Brown
Later this morning we received more news from the Project Members. Juvie 003, the only female fledged and tried to land on top of a roof which was being repaired. She got scared of by a workman and took off. But she could not clear the trees nearby and crashed into them. She was hanging upside down from a branch but soon came crashing down through the branches onto the paving below. Fortunately Jon Salloway and Graham Whitmore were on hand to help shepherd the bird into a small garden where she could be easily caught. She was boxed up by Nick Brown and brought up the Cathedral Tower to recover from her adventure. Some fabulous photo's where made of the juvenile by Nick Brown and Jon Salloway.
After the action the day went by easy without any incidents but with al lot of this wonderful wingflapping!!
Visit the Blog of Jon Salloway with wonderful pics of the Derby Younsters and their parents by clicking this link: http://derby-peregrines.blogspot.com/
A treasure hunt. That's sort of what it feels like when searching for the birds now. It is a hunt to find out where they are, but oh the treasures you see at the end of it! If only they would mark where they were going to be with a big X or a huge talon print...ah, if only.
They are moving further south now. We first discovered them this morning down by Conseco Fieldhouse. That's a bit of distance away from the immediate Circle area. They are flying from building to building to building and back again. We had all four juveniles in sight in no time flat.
KathyQ
Many sights to embed in the falcon section of my brain. Good rewards for all the hours spent on the street. Falcon tag, falcon fly-bys, falcon squawks, falcon kaks (yes, KathyQ was kakking at us again - this time we were on the street - good grief!), falcon mock food transfers - it's all good. I go home with the sounds of the birds in my mind.
KathyQ
They are all doing very well, so well it is hard to distinguish an adult from the one of the kids in the air now. We didn't witness an airstrike by one of the juveniles but they definitely aren't being fed by the adults anymore - it's a drop-off by KathyQ or Kinney and get the heck out of there. They are even plucking their own food. We did see some mantling action by one of the kids who then proceeded to eat the whole thing.
Kinney
The juveniles are even audacious enough to land on the fire escape of the Barnes-Thornburg building. It's audacious because this is KathyQ's kingdom. She'll perch high up on the top rung of the escape which gives her a good view of the whole scene.
What where the special moments? All of them but perhaps it is remembering Kinney seemingly urging KathyQ to get in there and lay those eggs - recall back in March, he seemed to entice her in with his masterful tidying up of the scrapes? She didn't seem to care, maybe playing a little hard to get or just so full of eggs she was in a daze. Or perhaps it is remembering Kinney counting his precious eggs or trying to cover them with his smaller body. Or the first hatch - now how fun was that, all the anticipation and the emergence of the first chick? And of course, the antics of the fluffballs as they unabashedly grew up before our eyes in the box, sometimes looking directly at the camera lens as if to say hey humans, what are you looking at? Magee, Edna, Adira and Val - you are a great addition to the falcon family and I hope fruitful and long-lived lives are in store for all of you.
Thanks to Kinney and KathyQ and the 4 juvies Magee, Edna, Adira and Val. And to Laura James-Reim for all her reports!
Until next season!
Photo's provided by Scott, Ron, and Duane and Kathy G
This blog is all about Peregrine Falcons and part of my website: www.falcoperegrinus.nl. At the start of the new breeding season 2009 I will observe several nests all around the world just like last year.
And I will write about the peregrines, their eyases who will turn into strong juveniles. Join me in a new adventure!
I want to thank Chris & Chad Saladin for their amazing pictures of the peregrine falcons of Ohio. I feel very honoured you gave me permission to use this wonderful collection for my Blog and Website. You guys are the best! Thanks so much!
" We need another, and a wiser, perhaps a more mystical, concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion.
* We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man.
* In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.
* They are not brethren. They are not underlings. They are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”
