Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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!!!!

18 comments:

A Scattering said...

Kim, these are super. I'd love to have been that close the these adorable babies.

Dawn Fine said...

Oh Kim..I ABSOLUTELY love seeing these photos..
the chicks look healthy..
thanks for taking all those great shots from different angles!

Sorry we wont see you this weekend..but maybe next year! I am hoping to have another get together next year maybe fall migration time!

Kim said...

Dawn, fall migration would be perfect!!!! Both Plum and Mount Auburn are fantastic for fall migration! I would love to be part of that.

I agree with both of you that they are adorable and healthy. I am just crossing my fingers they don't suffer the same fate as the chicks three years ago when they all died. Trying not to get attached but kind of hard ya know. They are wild birds but that doesn't stop me from worrying about them.

Kim said...

I meant two years ago

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much - this is fascinating and rare. I've really enjoyed this journey and have looked forward to these pics.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Kim, I read the other post first--and hadn't seen the Peregrine's...Those photos are totally amazing. They are such cutie pies... I can't thank you (and your friend) enough for sharing these pictures with us

All I can say is WOW...

Thanks again.
Hugs,
Betsy

Beth said...

It has been such fun to follow this and now to see the babies! You have done a really good job of conveying the excitement at each stage. Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, how wonderful. Great photos, great birds.

Jayne said...

Wow!!! How cool to be able to finally see them so close up Kim! Thanks so much for sharing them with us. :c)

Anonymous said...

Wow. I am so jealous. It must be quite the experience to get that close.

Rottlady of the Ozarks said...

I am so pleased to see the babies are doing so well! Your pictures are absolutely wonderful!

Unknown said...

The ultimate raptor and my dream species as well. May their tribe flourish...Thanks for sharing this series.

Adrienne Zwart said...

How exciting! I'm glad you were able to get such good shots of them from Emily's office. Thanks so much for sharing!

Ginnymo said...

How neat!!! To finally see the babies!! I bet you are so worried that they will fall. I would be. I hope that third one will be okay. How sad that it has to be alone now. So amazing!! You got wonderful photos of them Kim!!!

Heather said...

Holy Cow, those fledglings are beautiful! They have such a special look in their eyes. It's funny to see them laying on their tummies like that.

Deborah Godin said...

Great chick shots. I'd by getting prone real fast too if I was up on the windy ledge!!

NCmountainwoman said...

One of the best series of photgraphs I've seen in quite a while. Kudos to you and the others for bringing them to us.

I do agree that antacids may be in order. I got nervous just looking at the stills. Can't imagine seeing them in action.

FAB said...

Fabulous up close pics Kim. I'm sure you must be grinning from ear to ear! Well done. Lol FAB

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