Welcome to 2013 Nesting Season!

Do YOU know where the nestbox is in this picture?

It's 2013!! We made it. We are just five to six weeks away from our first egg (hopefully). Its been pretty chilly in Salt Lake City, but this week it will warm up to the 50's. The adult pair of peregrine falcons have been seen and heard downtown in the past weeks. I thought I would share a note that I received from Bob Walters of the Division of Wildlife Resources. Note: we may have a couple more nest locations brewing in our valley ~ see below:

Salt Lake City (Joseph Smith Memorial Building):

Jesse  reported on Mon., March 4 at 1:06 p.m. as follows:

"I just walked by the falcon box for lunch and there was a larger bird with a more orange breast feathers inside the box chirping. The smaller male was outside on the ledge to the south of the box. Another fun season starts."

The nest box has been cleaned up, examined, etc. New, HD cameras have been installed and are ready to go.
 

With luck, live, streaming falcon activities begin following the LDS Church Spring Conference, April 6 and 7.

Plans are in motion to retrieve Primo from Colorado soon. (more news on possible release to come later)

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Sandy City: Jordan Commons Office Tower, or JCOT (east of 9400 S. and State streets, where, as I now recall, I received a credible report of observations of a lone peregrine falcon last Fall)

Mention of a peregrine and, subsequently, a bird whitewash problem (even more specifically, the expense associated with clean-up) at this location led to my investigation of the situation in the Fall of 2012. I dropped by the location yesterday, March 7 at 3:33 p.m., and while I did not detect peregrines, I noted that building management personnel have installed a conduit-framed, hardware cloth shroud over the Debry University sign on the west face of the JCOT. I'm certain that this addition was designed to preclude use of the sign as a perch site in order to at least minimize the whitewash problem. While baling twine, wires and hardware cloth are scary when it comes to birds (due to risk of entanglement), I plan to continue monitoring the site and encourage your help, when you can, if you are in that neighborhood on this, that, or the other errand, etc. 

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Murray: Intermountain Medical Center (5121 S. Cottonwood St., roughly 5000 S., west of State St.)

Stopped by yesterday, March 7 at 3:59 p.m. to take a look and lo and behold, what did I find? Answer: a pair o' peregrines perched atop the Intermountain Medical Center sign on the east face of that building. Both the male and female appear  dark-capped/hooded due to sooty, or blackened ear patches. Let's hope that this pair gets crackin' ... the nest box on the east face awaits use as a nest site! 

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All for now. Well not quite all. The Airport bald eagles appear to be incubating ... so far, 36, successfully fledged eaglets over 17 years!