Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Solo's Adventures ~ Mon/Tues

Hi! I hate Mondays and Tuesday, because I have to act like a normal person and work, haha. A couple years ago I reached a point where full time work, hobbies and a grandchild became just too much to handle, so something had to give. Guess which I chose to give up?

The point of that is that I ran out of time on Monday and Tuesday to do updates, since I also spent 5 hours at falcon central helping out. So here is an update covering Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday and this morning.

When I left Sunday, Solo was still on that North Office Bldg (NOB) sitting under an exhaust fan, cooling off, staying out of the sun. Dinner was delivered by Mom, and he stayed there the rest of the night. On Monday morning, the crew lined up again on North Temple awaiting some movement from him. Mom started some flyovers, we assume to encourage him to get his butt up and start moving. He did! And then he was lost. For about six hours.

When he left NOB, he flew over to the Church History Bldg, then from there flew just a bit west and sharply south through the gap between Relief Society Bldg and The Temple. And nobody saw where he went. A search of all the walkways, gardens, rooftops, and ledges turned up nothing. That starts to get worrisome. But our only choice is just to sit tight and wait for that happy phone call that someone spotted him. In the meantime, I went up to the 10th floor of JSMB where a nice man let me sit in the NW windows where I could look out over all the area where he disappeared. No sign of Solo at all. About 3:30 the phone call came. A maintenance person spotted him on the ground near the iron fence between The Temple and the Reflecting Pool. He must have been hanging out under the bushes in the shade.

But wait! When Bob went over to pick him up, he noticed two adults on the NE corner of JSMB! The intruding adult male was back, hanging out with Mom. The usual events played out, Solo was picked up, boxed and taken back up to the Beehive for release. Not five minutes after release he flew off the south end of JSMB headed for all the glass on the Zion's Bank Bldg! He hit lightly then veered over to the scrollwork on West Wing JSMB, SE corner, see picture below. After we were sure he was staying, I took the elevator back up and grabbed a couple pictures. Mom delivered dinner and she sat nearby and called loudly. Was that reassurance to him that she was there or calling for the new male? Who knows but it was loud and went on for awhile during his mealtime. He ended up taking a quick flight around to the west face of JSMB to a window ledge and he has been there since. I just talked to Bob and he was fed this morning, although much of it fell to the ground. Looks are it's a Sora Rail (go look that up on google ). Bob said it's very possible that the new male is helping hunt out on our wetlands/bays.

NOB where Solo spent the night under cooool fan, July 1.
Mom keeping watch from COB on July 1.
Solo after being 'toweled' near The Temple garden area, photo credit to Salt Lake City Peregrine Falcon Facebook page.


Solo resting after glancing off Zion's Bank, July 2.

Uh, dinner is just a few feet away. But Solo isn't hunting yet. Mom delivered dinner soon after this.






10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates. Love hearing about Solo and his flights.

JSturr said...

Love those pics of the "dinner" just a few feet away - great site - keep it up !!

JSturr

Diana Bobo said...

Can we be sure the "new" male isn't Dad? Maybe the injured male is a visitor. Or could one of the males be last year's brother Primo?

Angie said...

Thank you so much for the great update. I look forward to them so much. I'm so glad he is doing so good. I hope he keeps up the good work and stays away from those glass buildings. Me and my son have been wanting to come up and help but it's been so stinking hot that my son refuses to go outside the air condition house. You make me feel like I am part of it even if I can't be there. Thanks again for all you do!!

Lisa Deon said...

As the saga continues, it should be interesting how things will play out when Dad is released back into to the urban jungle. Will he & the new male duke it out? Or will it be a happy family reunion? Next time, on "As the Feathers Turn"...(Sorry, I'm a writer. I must have conflict...) ;)

Willi said...

Liz- so sorry to hear about Solo's little accident. I hope its not serious.
As much as we love the "falcon Season" it isn't a very good place for them to learn to fly. I hope She is ok, maybe Joanne can unite Solo with Dad for a visit. Keeping my fingers crossed about his/her welfare. Still think Solo is a girl. Thanks for your colorful updates. You are the best!!

Liz Schubert said...

Dad is in rehab, south end of Salt Lake valley. It can't be Dad. There have been peregrines seen in Hell's Canyon in North Salt Lake. But this new guy could be from anywhere.

Liz Schubert said...

Thanks for reading!

Liz Schubert said...

Lisa, I wish there was a 'Like' button on this. Thanks for the smiles. Its been a tough couple days with Solo.

Liz Schubert said...

Ahh, I know. I don't remember fledglings several years ago having this much trouble. Is it because he is a one chick nest? or because of the heat, his strength is sapped? Is Mom not around enough? Who knows. but he can seem to stay away from Zion's Bank.