Meet The Peregrine Falcon Chicks!

Update: Baby Girl III did indeed fledge (or fall from the building) last night and is on a nearby building with dad who is taking good care of her.

Update: MassBird has a posting with an email from Tom French from Mass Wildlife that one of the three Peregrine Chicks have fledged and is over on another buidling. Antacids will be a must for the next few weeks.

Allow me to proudly present to you, two of the three female Peregrine Falcon chicks in downtown Worcester. Emily from Fallon was kind enough to allow me to visit her so we could go up to where the nest box was so I could get a close up of the birds I have followed for so long now.

The three chicks finally started to venture out of their nest box yesterday and have been sitting out on the ledge and constantly calling for their parents which is wonderful to hear in contrast with the typical downtown noises I have grown so accustomed to.

The falcon on the right appears to be the most feisty of the three. It spent its entire time I was there, looking at its mom who was perched above them near the Fallon logo. If you enlarge this photo, you can faintly make out this falcon's notch in its bill/beak that is used to sever the spinal cord of its prey to make a clean kill. How cool is that!!!

The falcons have spent the past couple of days figuring out how to use their wings and their feet and it was very entertaining to watch this one try and figure out what to do with its leg as it went to go go lie down to relax. Check out the new shiny band it has on its leg.

The falcons would glimpse at us occasionally which was a thrill. I am sure they were relieved we were not fish and wildlife after the banding experience they had last week. ;o)

But for the most part they just wanted their mom and their lunch.

Standing up this time and looking at mom with pleading eyes hoping that had more of an impact.

Posing for the camera!!

Looking up again and wondering what time lunch will be this afternoon.

Trying to figure out how to perch. The one on the left reminds me of dad and was very laid back in comparison to the one on the right. It is amazing you can already get glimpses of their personality.

A close up of the more laid back one. It is even making a classic dad face!

Check out the leftovers in this picture. I am sure they are saving it for a snack!

The ledge we wish they would go to instead of the green platform they are on. Emily knows this area very well and says is can be slippery which is a source of worry obviously as a high wind could have the potential to knock the peregrine off of the ledge. They are mimicking the parents who do this all the time.

This will give you a better idea of the width of the ledge.

Butt shot to show off the plumage from behind.

The FANTASTIC photos above and below are those of Emily Eaton who was kind enough to allow me to put them on my blog. Check out the gorgeous plumage on this bird already! If you enlarge this photo you can get the numbers on its leg band too.

Wing practice!

I want to thank Emily again for the opportunity to get up there and take pictures. I also want to thank her for all of the hard work she had done tracking these Peregrine Falcons for Fish and Wildlife over the years. It has been wonderful meeting up with her and hearing all of the stories she has behind both the adults and the young (both present and past). A special thanks to Fallon Community Health Care and Mass Fish & Wildlife for the nest box as well. Corporate citizenship at its best if you ask me!!

Take care all

ETA: I hope all of you going to Plum this weekend for the New England Blogging/Twitter/Facebook birding event have a wonderful time. I am unable to make it due to commitments I have made this weekend (atlasing with someone on Saturday and a bird census at Wachusett Meadows on Sunday) so I will be unable to make it. Have fun and I can't wait to see all of the pictures.! A special mention to Christopher and Dawn for all of the hard work they did coordinating it! Oh, and goodluck getting that Missisippi Kite!!!!