Two Weeks Old, Fledge in Three Weeks

Hello to everyone, I've been out of circulation this past week ~ my son (who works on this show) was visiting from Los Angeles. It's been almost two years since he's been to SLC, so we hit a lot of his favorites spots including restaurants and independent movies.

I highly recommend Chef which is playing at the Broadway. Funny little movie with a great cast and its all about great food! If you've never tried The Bayou for Cajun, do it! The Jambalaya and Gumbo are amazing.

Dolcetti Gelato is another of our favorite stops. We LOVE the Coconut Sticky Rice. And if you haven't tried the Oh Mai Vietnamese sandwich shop, what a treat that was. The Honey Glazed Pork Banh Mi was GREAT. OK, go eat something!

On to Falcon news;  the Fledge Watch Team is getting ready and you are invited to help out!!

Bob says....

"So far, so good. About only one guarantee: we'll be busier than last year! Three "wrigglers" on hand, getting ready to go!" (by the way, the fourth egg will not hatch, in case anyone is still wondering)

So everyone/anyone is invited for the fun! Dates to Remember:

 

Tuesday, June 17 at 6:00 p.m. Watchable Wildlife Program field trip - Nesting SLC Peregrine Falcons ... watch the adult(s) and, perhaps, young-of-the-year from the ground, learn more about the SLC Peregrine Falcon Project, receive training in assisting the young earn their wings and participating as a member of the 2014 Team." See www.wildlife.utah.gov (Calendar) for further details.

The estimated dates of the 2014 version of Hell Week(s). Tuesday, June 24 through July ?  =  Bob will likely be on site beginning as early as Saturday, June 21, or Sunday, June 22.

BTW, its heating up. If you see the 'kids' looking like dead chickens, that is their way of keeping cool during the hottest part of the day.

Family Video

Hi, I'm sure you've noticed we have three hatches now. The third came on May 19.

Here's a cute video of the whole family.

Feeding Photos

One of my readers sent in some more photos, thank you Sloan! Love the third one of Dad hanging out on the ledge. You know it's killing him to be off the nest!

Hatch No. 2

Hatch 2 happened about 9:15.

Thanks to Sloan for sending me a photo right after hatching.
Note: Mom is not letting Dad be on the nest much now!

This one is at 12:00 after drying.

Hatch No. 1

Whoop! We have a baby. Hatch happened sometime before 6:30am local time.
Breakfast at 8:12am. And let me just say, Bob Walters pegged the date perfectly. Note hole/pip in another egg in the top photo. I'd expect hatch two sometime today.

We have a Pip!

Hello! I'm back. Just in time... we have a pip. Go over to BCAW to see more great photos. Apparently if you are watching at just the right time you can hear the chick in the egg. Bob predicted first hatch May 16 through 18.

http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=334&t=1671&p=300565#p300565

Falcon Central

I am headed to Chicago this weekend but will be back just in time for hatchings!

I spent some time labeling photos of our falcon playgrounds to help out the BCAW website's SLC page. Take a look. Bird Cams Around the World SLC Page 

More diagrams and witty explanations at the link but here's a sample. The fun starts in about two weeks!

Egg 4

I guess its not over until its over, right? Egg 4 arrived April 15 approx. 9:45p local time.

So arrival dates are:

April 8 (earliest detected 7:45am)
April 10 1:55pm
April 13 (earliest detected 7:28am)
April 15 9:45pm

Hatch dates should be the second week of May based on 29-32 gestation from last egg appearing. That's May 14 to 18.



Video credit goes to, of course, Mary Anne of BCAW. (http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=334&t=1671&start=60>

Incubation

It appears that incubation is now in full swing. I was asked about why they were ignoring the eggs a couple days ago. I found this explanation on the Boise peregrine page. Based on this, it appears we will only have three eggs this year. I hope Bob Walter's stops by to comment on this. Happy Tax Day.

Typically, the falcons do not begin incubating until the third or fourth egg arrives so that all the eggs hatch about the same time. Otherwise, the bigger, first-hatched chick would have an unfair advantage at feeding time over the smaller, last-hatched chick. You will see both adults sitting on the eggs at times over the next few days but incubation does not begin in earnest until the laying period ends.

The eggs are capable of withstanding temperatures below freezing. The chicks do not develop much inside the egg until incubation begins. Occasionally, the eggs will appear to be left alone for short periods but, even when the adults are out of camera range, you can rest assured that at least one is always nearby to protect the nest.

Mom, serious about incubation.

Egg No. 3

I turned on the nest cam about 7:25 MT to see Dad getting up off eggs, and there are three now. So I am guessing it has been there a little while. He is has settled back down again but I snapped this before he did.

Egg 2

Egg No. 2 arrived this afternoon! We are so thankful to skygirlblue for grabbing videos!! This new Dad is very cute. I think it must be his first family.

KSL Interview

You can't keep Bob away from the camera. This was a good spot with a little bit of the peregrines history. BTW, egg No. 1 arrived early this morning, about 7:45.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=29401569

Bonding Video

Hi again, thought I would share a little video shared on the BCAW site from yesterday. We've seen this behavior before... seems a little bonding ceremony over the nest is in order.

 

Cameras are ON!

Good Morning!

The nesting season kicked off this weekend and our cameras are live. You can access them directly from http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2310931541001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAjP0hvGE~,N-ZbNsw4qBprGx4FBqVjCHKnXz1jxdax&bctid=3427136757001

or go http://wildlife.utah.gov/learn-more/peregrine-cam.html

The new male we saw arrive late last season seems to be a keeper. Here he is snoozing in the box over the weekend. As I opened the cam this morning, he's on the ledge of the box looking a little wet or maybe just ruffled for warmth.

 

 

The second photo was taken a few weeks ago up on one the tall office buildings.

 

 

Welcome to 2014

The cameras will be turned on in early April, right after the conferences are over.

This was posted on the SLC Falcon Facebook page a few weeks ago. Sorry about the bad news but it's good to know our female appears to have a new mate and has been visiting the nest box over the winter. Coverage of the 2014 season will begin in late April ~ see you then.

We have some sad news concerning our own SLC peregrine falcons. The male adult peregrine falcon (aka Dad) has been laid to rest. Bob, the rehabilitator and the rescue team went to great lengths to save and enable dad to be used as an education bird, but foot problems, some of which were undoubtedly a result of balance difficulties associated with the dislocated shoulder, proved to make that best hope impossible. We didn't want him suffering. The good news is we still expect a pair in the box this year. The female has been spotted downtown with a new male falcon. The cameras will hopefully come on sometime in April--not too long.

October Update - Mom still Downtown

Hello, I thought I would drop some notes in a post that I received from Bob plus some of the Facebook updates from the Wildlife page. These are in order of most recent going back to early September. I requested an update on Dad. I will post when I receive it.

-FYI - 4:21 p.m. on Tues., October 22: my 1st of the season rough-legged hawk observed soaring just south of the northern boundary (2200 North St.) of the Salt Lake City International Airport, "roughies" are fairly common winter visitants in Utah

-1:48 - 2:07 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 22:
2013 adult female perched on last k in words Key Bank on north face of the Key Bank Tower

-SLC Peregrine Falcon Cam fans ... new (first) California condor webcam in the wild:
www.ventanaws.org
Check it out ... let 'em know if you see something interesting!

-I drove downtown (about 12:30 p.m.) to identify the reported bird on the top of a car yesterday, October 16. Unfortunately, I was a moment too late since the car pulled away (to the west) from my vantage point on the east side of Main Street.  However, with the help of able co-worker Patricia Engel (who greatly enlarged the posted photo), we were able to identify the bird. Upon close inspection of the enlarged photo, we were able to agree that it appeared to be a common nighthawk ... an aerial insectivore that nests on leafy, or gravelly ground in woodlands (as well as on flat-topped, gravel, urban roofs) and occasionally shows up as a prey item in the diet of the Salt Lake City peregrine falcons. The broad, white bar on either wing of the nighthawk is an easy to spot feature in peregrine prey collections that I've made through the years.
-I've observed a lone peregrine with some regularity over the last few weeks in the downtown SLC area. I just returned from there having observed (1:27 p.m. on Wed., October 9) an adult peregrine that looked like Mom of 2013 (obvious, white cheek patches and a wide/broad, buffy-colored tip o' the tail) perched, where I have spotted a lone bird often, on the Key Bank Tower (KBT) sign on the east face of the KBT.

Thanks to Justin Matkin for photo taken October 10.

-I observed an adult on the north-facing Key Bank Tower sign on Tuesday, Sept. 24. On Sept. 13, I saw a young-of-the-year peregrine perched on one of the lattice-type power line structures off 3200 W. just north of the Salt Lake City International Airport. 

 

-6:30 - 6:52 p.m. on September 11, 2013: adult female (presumed to be the 2014 "Mom" since sported no bands and exhibited the highly recognizable, buffy-tipped tail) observed perched atop the tallest column (farthest to east) at the west end on the north face of the Zions Bank Tower 

 

 -The adult female (Mom), or a lookalike, was spotted on the southeast, "shoulder" corner (south face) of the tall Church Office Bulding (COB) at 7:00 p.m. on September 4. At 7:46 p.m., Mom was observed making the short flight to a presumed roost site to the west below the tinted glass at a point where the shoulder level of the building intersects the main column ... I've observed adults at roost on either side of the central column of the COB at that level on the south face of the COB on numerous occasions in the past. Mom, or the lookalike, may have been the peregrine that was reported to me by Church Security as "stuck" within the observation deck on the west side of the COB earlier in the evening, sometime around 6:00 p.m. When a Security officer accompanied me to the area earlier (around 7:00 p.m.), the bird could not be found and it was assumed that somehow (and finally since the time that it was reported to me) it had managed to bolt/vault over and above the observation deck perimeter walls to attain the freedom of unobstructed, open air. No other peregrines were observed in the area at/on all the usual places so I'm fairly certain that Mom was indeed the earlier-reported trapped bird.

Comment from co-worker upon hearing my report of the incident: tell her to knock that (getting trapped) off/stop it! Amen, but, of course, they'll do what they do!!!

Note from Bob

I am without Internet while visiting family but wanted to pass along a note from Bob.

"Please rest assured that we are not trying to avoid commenting on Dad's status.

We are continuing to contact and discuss his condition with experts and carefully considering our options. His shoulder and elbow injuries are, after all, serious and we do not want to rush to a decision.

I spoke to Jo last evening and she reported that he is doing well, eating well and behaving calmly. That makes the aforementioned contacts and discussions easier in the sense that we do not have to hastily reach a hard decision as to Dad's fate right now."

Sad News

I am so very sorry to report that Solo did not make it. Here is the official note from Bob Walters of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources:

On July 13, 2013, Solo the only, young-of-the-year peregrine falcon to hatch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) this year, died from injuries received on July 3^rd. The injuries were a result of a high speed impact into the north face of the Zion’s Bank Tower located due south of the JSMB. Following his injury and rescue, Solo was transported to a Salt Lake City rehabilitation facility where supportive therapies were started under the care of Jo Stoddard. X-rays were taken on July 5. While no fractures were evidenced, Solo suffered soft tissue, nerve and spinal cord injuries. These injuries resulted in flaccid paralysis of both legs, incontinence and head trauma. While some slight improvement in the paralysis was detected over the 10 day holding period, other systems began to shut down. He was found dead midday on Saturday.

Robert Walters

July 15, 2013

Bob will try to answer questions if you have any. Please leave them in the comments section. I have no update on Dad. Mom has been seen in several locations over the weekend. No sight of the new male though.

Update from Bob

Hi Everyone,
Just thought I'd move a comment up here that Bob left today.

06:53 - 07:27 a.m. this morning, July 9: adult female (Mom) observed feeding and then loafing on the key icon that precedes the words Key Bank Tower (west face of the Key Bank Tower), adult boyfriend was not observed

FYI - I collected the only, remaining, entire egg today at 1:43 p.m. from the nest box. It weighs very little (contents desiccated?), but I intend to determine if analysis is possible. Who knows ... we may learn something! Adult(s) not observed at ground level in the usual places as I entered the JSMB and no protest mounted at man in (at rear of) nest box by either the adult female, or her boyfriend.

No new news on Solo, or Dad, but I'll update as soon as possible.

RW

Fan Mail from Some Flounder

This blog is written by a VOLUNTEER that puts in 100+ hours of VOLUNTEER time before, during and after Fledge Week with the team, networking with other birding folks, taking and editing photos, updating the blog so that ALL the people who have watched the cameras over the course of the nest season can still feel like they are part of the action... This blog is for the common folk. Those of us who don't need a degree in ornithology to enjoy and appreciate nature. I started it because I was downtown VOLUNTEERING and wanted to share some of the experience. The State of Utah does not pay me for my hours nor do they have anything to do with this blog. NOBODY has a right to complain about anything with this program if you haven't had your 'boots on the ground' during fledge week. (This is written in response to someone who complained that my blog wasn't professional. To the rest of my readers, thank you for being here.)

Phew, now that I got that off my chest. BTW, any further professional explanation of Solo or Dad's conditions can be requested directly from Bob Walters. I am not a wildlife biologist, but I might have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

Here are a couple of photos caught on the cams yesterday of the new male in and leaving the nest box. Note he has no metal bands so he is not a returning juvenile from a prior nest season.

Solo and Dad Update

Bob sent out this note yesterday:

 

"Solo: Xray(s) revealed no lesions, no fractures and no dislocations.

Wings appear okay ... this after Bob mentioned noticing a "mouse" on Solo's right wing when upon the JSMB (east-facing, south interior scalloped edge) before his flight to the window ledge on the west face of of the JSMB and later a report of a drooped wing on that same ledge before the flight where he bumped into glass on the Zion's Bank Tower  

What's next ? continue supportive therapy (fluid and food), see if Solo improves with time. 

Interesting that: Solo weighed in at 790 grams ... on border between male and female weight, JoAnn said that Solo looked huge when compared to Dad, when positioned side to side. So, Solo may not be a male, but a female with skinny legs. I'm convinced that all that heat contributed in a major way to Solo's problems and for that matter maybe it even figured into his Dad's problem too.

We wait and see if improves by staying in touch with JoAnn, just to say it: there is no guarantee that he can re-enter the program and certainly not any time soon.

Dad: Xray(s) revealed a dislocated shoulder (left wing) Xrays and clinical notes have been sent to several experts in the U.S.A. and Joann is awaiting feedback. Dad continues to do well ... eating, etc."

New Guy?

Mary Anne caught some video of a bird in the box this morning. At first I thought it was Mom, but something seemed different. I cropped an image from it and also took an image from a June 20 video of Mom. I think these are two different birds. I pasted video below as well. Any opinions?

July 4 Update

Bob said that there is nothing new on Solo. He is due for x-rays tomorrow. He said that one our watchers was downtown today and saw Mom and the new male. I hope to go there tomorrow to get a photo. This is another photo shared with me from the rescue of Solo on Tuesday.

Happy Independence Day to all.

Solo Injured

I hate to report this. Bob sent this note out today. Say a prayer, light a candle, send good thoughts:

"Unfortunately, Solo bumped/clipped the north face of the Zion's Bank Tower mid-morning today, July 3. He appeared to recover from the "hit" and then fell upon the "easternmost" awning above the sidewalk at the South Temple St. entrance of the Zion's Bank Tower.

Solo was taken to JoAnn, examined and is now scheduled for an x-ray on Friday, July 5.

There is a window of time of seven days in which the adult female will maintain fidelity/interest in the young-of-the-year, nest site, etc. So, Solo will not go out today or tomorrow and we'll see, if and when, based on what JoAnn determines via the x-ray, close observation and monitoring of Solo, TLC, etc.

I'm going to monitor the adults (note plural, not singular) with some regularity.

P.S. it's unknown if Solo has an injured wing (this was reported elsewhere earlier today) and there's no new news on Solo's Dad, except that he is eating well = has a healthy appetite"

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.