Just spoke with Bob and Primo has been hanging out in the shade at the relief society building and is doing well, no flying for several hours.
Boxer is at rehab, also seems fine, and will possibly be released tomorrow.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Update on #3
Bird #3 was acting strange. Our falcon rehabbber said it was best to try to get him out and evaluated. Bob attempted to open box and throw a towel. Bird flew out and took a good flight, has been captured and taken to rehab. More news later.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tough News
Well today started out with such celebration, having two of the youngsters fledge within 90 minutes of each other. Sadly, Macy took a long, strong flight off the Beehive and crashed into the Key Bank building around lunchtime, dying on impact we believe. Here's the news I have from Bob after talking with him tonight:
- The first bird out of the nest was nicknamed "Primo", who landed on the admin building and somewhat hung out on the north end until sometime this evening when he flew over to the west side of the tall church office buiilding, ending up on the ground and was banded. Bob is fairly sure Primo is a male, but because the male band was a smidge tight, he chose to band him with a female band (females normally have larger leg bones than males and is how they can be told apart). Primo was taken up to the top of the Beehive around 9pm and when I was talking to Bob, he was still there 'dinking around' and hopefully will stay put for the night.
-The second bird out of the nest was nicknamed "Macy" who after a very strong first flight ended up over on the ledge above the Macy's sign at City Creek shopping center just across South Temple street. Bob said that mid-morning Macy flew over to the area above Kneaders and got herself down in the shade where Bob was able to throw a towel over her and get her inside for banding. Definately female. They then took her to the top of the Beehive for release. She was put out on the west side and not long after Bob got down to the first floor he heard she had taken off heading back to the area where she was earlier. She flew straight in to the Key Bank building.
I am waiting for a small writeup from Bob with his comments on today. As with last year, Bob's motto is 'we need to worry about the living'. The question does arise, whether there is anything we can do to help or prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. The truth is that the parents insist on nesting in the downtown area. Before this nest was provided, they were attempting to nest on parts of the building that were even more dangerous for the eyases. Thus, the box was installed to at least give them a chance at a successful hatch and fledge. Their natural settings would be granite cliffs which could be just as tough for young birds to learn to fly. Bob is fairly sure that bird number 3 will fledge in the morning. Let's hope for a great first flight and soft landing. I welcome your comments.
- The first bird out of the nest was nicknamed "Primo", who landed on the admin building and somewhat hung out on the north end until sometime this evening when he flew over to the west side of the tall church office buiilding, ending up on the ground and was banded. Bob is fairly sure Primo is a male, but because the male band was a smidge tight, he chose to band him with a female band (females normally have larger leg bones than males and is how they can be told apart). Primo was taken up to the top of the Beehive around 9pm and when I was talking to Bob, he was still there 'dinking around' and hopefully will stay put for the night.
-The second bird out of the nest was nicknamed "Macy" who after a very strong first flight ended up over on the ledge above the Macy's sign at City Creek shopping center just across South Temple street. Bob said that mid-morning Macy flew over to the area above Kneaders and got herself down in the shade where Bob was able to throw a towel over her and get her inside for banding. Definately female. They then took her to the top of the Beehive for release. She was put out on the west side and not long after Bob got down to the first floor he heard she had taken off heading back to the area where she was earlier. She flew straight in to the Key Bank building.
I am waiting for a small writeup from Bob with his comments on today. As with last year, Bob's motto is 'we need to worry about the living'. The question does arise, whether there is anything we can do to help or prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. The truth is that the parents insist on nesting in the downtown area. Before this nest was provided, they were attempting to nest on parts of the building that were even more dangerous for the eyases. Thus, the box was installed to at least give them a chance at a successful hatch and fledge. Their natural settings would be granite cliffs which could be just as tough for young birds to learn to fly. Bob is fairly sure that bird number 3 will fledge in the morning. Let's hope for a great first flight and soft landing. I welcome your comments.
 |
| Macy about 8:15 am today after first flight to the Macy's building. |
Fledge 1 AND 2 Woot!!!
Wow, two fledges this morning and we are so fortunate that Skygirlblue caught both on video. First bird left box at 5:40 and second approx. 6:50am. If I have that wrong, let me know. I talked with Bob and he said was not there for the first one but when he arrived the bird was sitting on the north side of the administration building across from the nest (the building you see out of the box window) and the second bird flew across the stree to the new shopping center and is currently perched on a low ledge around the area where you walk into City Creek Center off of South Temple.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Kids June 25
I took a couple photos tonight (like 100) but these give a good idea of what is going on at the nest. Its hot down there! This will be the last I can take until I get back from vacation. Hopefully some of you will take photos for me while I am gone. Be back July 2.
You can see kids, Dad (flying), Mom on the right side of picture, on corner plucking feathers from some prey should brought in.
Testing out the wings.
They are paying close attention to parents flights and locations.
The View June 25
I am downtown today, so I will be taking some photos of the kids from outside the box and posting later tonight. Here's just a quick one I captured as I walked to work ~ zoomed and cropped, so not super clear but oh its fun to see them from this perspective after watching the cams for weeks.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Hang Tight Kids!
Its a windy day here in SLC but the kids insist on hanging next to the edge of the box. My guesses right now is that we have female/male/female sitting there looking at the happenings outside their nest.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Another Meal Video
Crazy kids! You can see dad arrive with a snack, followed by mom. One kid grabs it but its soon stolen by another. Once the other two realize who has it, they go to back of box to attempt a steal ~ you can see the one who has the food 'mantle' over it. Thanks Skyblugirl for this video!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Evening Videos
I captured two videos tonight. The first, the kids are enjoying the live music coming somewhere from the grounds. Their colors are pretty in the fading light. The second video is after the cams turn to black and white and just as a meal is brought it. What a ruckus!!
T - Minus 10 Days and Counting
Below is a photo of the youngsters this evening plus a comment that Bob Walters left earlier today that I thought you'd all like to read. Any guesses on gender yet? I say that middle one is a female and probably first hatched.
Tuesday, June 19 - It's become a free-for-all (credit Bert R. with that one-word description) in the nest box! The kids are racing along the length of the box and vigorously flapping their wings. The adults are making drops of prey and it's every bird for him/herself. Any guesses as to what gender(s) are represented? Of late, they all look same-sized to me and a few other SLC PEREGRINE CAM watchers. I watched a reported (thanks to John O.!) drop by the adult male this afternoon (3:09 p.m.) of a small bird which was snatched and transported to the south end of the box where feeding on it by a lone, lucky/clever kid ensued almost immediately. Nonetheless, with time, all three eyases had taken parts of the delivered meal. About the time of the described drop of food, John O. noted that the unhatched, entire egg had disappeared and eggshell pieces were discerned upon the pea gravel and some consumed by one, or more of the hungry youngsters. By my count, two young-of-the year are 30 days old and one is 28 days old. I'm estimating that the 2012 SLC Peregrine Falcon Hellweek event will begin as early as June 29 unless, of course, something happens before that date including an accidental slip from the edge of the front board on the nest box. RW
Tuesday, June 19 - It's become a free-for-all (credit Bert R. with that one-word description) in the nest box! The kids are racing along the length of the box and vigorously flapping their wings. The adults are making drops of prey and it's every bird for him/herself. Any guesses as to what gender(s) are represented? Of late, they all look same-sized to me and a few other SLC PEREGRINE CAM watchers. I watched a reported (thanks to John O.!) drop by the adult male this afternoon (3:09 p.m.) of a small bird which was snatched and transported to the south end of the box where feeding on it by a lone, lucky/clever kid ensued almost immediately. Nonetheless, with time, all three eyases had taken parts of the delivered meal. About the time of the described drop of food, John O. noted that the unhatched, entire egg had disappeared and eggshell pieces were discerned upon the pea gravel and some consumed by one, or more of the hungry youngsters. By my count, two young-of-the year are 30 days old and one is 28 days old. I'm estimating that the 2012 SLC Peregrine Falcon Hellweek event will begin as early as June 29 unless, of course, something happens before that date including an accidental slip from the edge of the front board on the nest box. RW
Monday, June 4, 2012
99 Degrees!
This picture could look pretty ominous but it hit 99 degrees today! This posture during naptime helps them keep cool. Wow, they are getting big! Below is a comment Bob Walters left today:
The kids are between 13 and 15 days old. It may now be possible to see: white body down, feather development on the wings (dark gray primary and secondary sheath development), bare featherless areas between the feather tracts in the spine and shoulder areas and the first to form feathers, the tail feathers. Also, wild guess based on size: 2 females and 1 male, or 1 female and 2 males. We'll have to continue to monitor relative size before we begin to feel certain as to gender. - Bob
The kids are between 13 and 15 days old. It may now be possible to see: white body down, feather development on the wings (dark gray primary and secondary sheath development), bare featherless areas between the feather tracts in the spine and shoulder areas and the first to form feathers, the tail feathers. Also, wild guess based on size: 2 females and 1 male, or 1 female and 2 males. We'll have to continue to monitor relative size before we begin to feel certain as to gender. - Bob
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Cameras Down
In case anyone is wondering, the server for the falcon cameras is down. Bob has emailed those who handle them but since its the weekend, we may not have cameras until Monday morning.
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