Juvenile Delinquents

Well, I was tied up with visitors and haven't peeked in on the nest in several days. Wow, the 'kids' have grown! If you are lucky enough to open the cameras to feeding time, you'll hear a horrendous noise that I can only describe as a mob of juvies pushing their way to front of a street fight. Wow, when blood is in the air they are not nice.

Things are heating up in Salt Lake City with a high of 93 yesterday - today we have a respite with a high in the mid 70's, ahhh. The weekend's expected high's back in the mid 90's will make for very toasty days down at Temple Square for the rescue team. If all goes as it should, and if 2009's experience is any indication, starting Sunday morning some of us 'towel' people will be spending time hanging out waiting for the first kid to jump.

I received a nice email from a reader today and it reminded me that I should probably talk a little bit about what it's like being a volunteer and what will happen during HELL WEEK. He was worried about what will happen when  the kids fledge, will they learn to fly ok, etc. I worried about that too in 2009 as a first time volunteer and was very happy to find out that they are well adapted to leave the nest and the parents are great teachers. Actually, there are some stressful days prior to the first leap, of watching them practice flapping wings, hopping up and down, wondering when exactly they will jump. I don't know if this is true of most fledging of Peregrines but both of the chicks fledged in the early morning in 2009, one day apart. Once one decides to go, its pretty hard to be left behind in the nest. Why are we calling it HELL WEEK? Because keeping up with two juvies was worrisome and FOUR is gonna be insane!

More on first days of flight in my next post. Leaving you with a night image of the kids waiting for dinner.

Lunchtime

I caught some video of lunch arriving.

Last night I spent a few hours at Falcon Central. The photo above is for those of you who have never been to Temple Square (the grounds where the headquarters (COB), Tabernacle, Temple, Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) and Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) is located. Its a huge area with business skyscrapers to the south and homes and apartments to the north. This view may give you a bit of an idea of height and buildings where the falcons are nesting and flying. The building on the left is the JSMB and looking south you can see the Zions Bank building just behind it and to the right is the Key Bank building. You can also see a large oval reflecting pool at the bottom of the picture. The Temple, where the kids have spent much time, is just to the right in this photo.

(Note: you can click on any picture to enlarge it)

I found June sitting in a shady spot on the grass and she said that she hadn't seen much of the birds since she arrived. It seemed odd not to find any of them on the JSMB or Temple. I walked down to the south end of the reflecting pool to see if I could see them on the south side of the Temple or on the skyscrapers. Sure enough I saw Lexi atop the Key Bank building and soon after Early flew by. The two of them took to the skies just above the Key Bank and flew large circles together over and over and over.

They were putting on such a great show and I was able to get fairly clear pictures. Which means, I am going to post ALOT of photos today. Who knows how many more opportunities I will get since they seem to be straying a little bit farther from their normal hangouts.

Here's a closeup of the photo above. In most photos you can see a darker and lighter bird. Lexi is darker than Early. So in this photo, Lexi on the left, Early on the right.

The show finally ended with Lexi landing on the Key Bank and Early on the Zions Bank buildings.

Sometime around 7pm, a parent flew into view because Early left Zions Bank and flew over to the COB to accept a dinner handoff (we believe). He screamed and sqwauked as he flew there which seems to happen whenever a parent is in sight. They still depend on the parents for food. He took the meal back to the Zions Bank building and soon after Lexi joined him. This photo combined with the photo of the buildings in the distance gives you an idea of how far they were from us.

Here's a closer view. They just finished eating. They sat up there for another hour before making way over to the Temple.

Lexi on left, Early on right - Lexi with the darker cap.

Day Four - Morning Flight Training

Note: You can click on photos to get enlarged pictures.

Early Bird on July 2, 2009 about 8:20 am

I stopped by Falcon Central at 8:15 just to catch up a bit before work. Of course, Bob Walters was already at his post. Bob reported fairly little activity but that both Early and Lexi had moved to the north side of the west wing of the JSMB. His radio sqwauked just as I start to walk over to catch a glimpse myself. Susan reported that both Early and Lexi had just taken small flights towards the Temple building and then back again to sit in their spots on the JSMB. Shortly after, one of the parents flew to land just below Early, perching on the scroll work.

Here is the adult sitting on the scroll work.

Zoomed in just a bit more. Adult, probably Dad, sitting just below Early giving encouragement.

Another shot of Early Bird after returning from his short flight.

Here's the other adult, probably Mom, perched on a spire on top of the Temple building.

And here is Lexi, practicing footwork on a scallop edge of the building.

One final picture of Early dancing around on the corner.

Early and Lexi Leave the Nest

Lexi sitting near Beehive at top of Joseph Smith Memorial Building

First, let me state, I am not a scientist. I won't be using many scientific terms when describing my time helping out with, what Bob Walter's calls, Falcon Central. I am also not a 'birder'. But I do love the outdoors and nature and the falcons on Temple Square in Salt Lake City have caught my attention and devotion. I've spent countless hours watching the camera that is focused on the nest box waiting for eggs to hatch.

Well, that they did, back around May 18 and this past Monday morning the first one jumped out of the box and took its first flight, panicing Bob and a handful of other faithful watchers who do this act every year.

This blog is mean't to fill a void that Bob can't keep up with at this point. Updating the viewing public. Those of you who faithfully (addictively?) watch those falcon cams from your office and home each day and now are looking at a blank screen and feeling awfully lonely can catch up here on the latest news. As best I can I will update you on what I know each day and maybe provide a picture or two. I work in a building just a block away from Falcon Central and have the opportunity to go by at lunch each day and after work to get the day's low down on the falcon fledglings, Early and Lexi.

First let me give you some links to local TV video of the first day and first flights. Then I will tell you of my first stint as a watcher.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=6997911
http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-falcon-takes-flight,0,4915326.story

And the Salt Lake Tribune Story
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12717742?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

Wednesday July 1, 5:45

I reported for duty just as Bob was taking Lexi, the second fledgling (male) up to the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) to re-release him. This is the routine. The fledglings attempt to fly to various perches around Temple Square, which is about a four block area, but sometimes they miss their landing and fly/fall to the ground. Then Bob or one of the volunteers throws a towel over them, gathers them up and Bob takes them up to the top of the JSMB to let them have another chance. This will go on for the next 10 days or so. Maybe less, since both Early and Lexi are seeming to get the hang of flight fairly quickly. More on that in Thursday's update.

Lexi at 7pm July 1, 2009 - Just after Bob put him back at top of building.

Bob posts people at all four corners of the building plus a few extra in dangerous spots, like the driveway leading to the underground parking just adjacent to the JSMB. There is also much construction just south of the building and various skyscrapers with lots of glass that could cause problems for the new fliers.

Early sitting in 'garland' July 1, 2009, 7pm

Bob has building security escort him up from the top floor through a door and up a steel ladder where they pop out onto a section of the famous Beehive where he will open the box and coax the bird out. After Lexi was released at approximately 6:15pm, he hopped down to a perch just left and below the Beehive. The picture is blurry but gives you an idea of where Lexi perched and remained perched through a thunderstorm that sent most of us watchers running for cover at about 9pm. At 9:15 I gave it up and went home. Early had spent most of the evening hiding out in a cement 'garland' on the northwest corner of the JSMB.

Early on July 1, 2009