Peregrine Falcon Upate-July

It appears as if the lazy, hazy days of summer have taken hold of the Peregrine Falcons here in downtown Worcester, at least for the parents that is. I have noticed over the past day that the intense bond and parental instinct the adults had toward their young juvenile Peregrine Falcons is starting to lesson some. In the past, the parents were never to be seen because they were too busy flying around the downtown Worcester vicinity trying to keep track of their three youngsters!

Not anymore though. Now the parents have found their way back to the nest box area and are chilling out kind of, while still keeping a watchful eye on their young that is.

Here is the male at his favorite perching place keeping an eye out on the skies for potential avian threats as well as making sure his kids stay out of trouble.

Every once in a while, a young falcon would fly by and he would call out to them. I am guessing to say, gain some altitude you are flying too low, or watch out for your sister!!! HA ;o)

The young Peregrines have found their wings and are very rarely out of the air. They soar around the downtown area calling their classic kak-kak-kak call which echoes throughout the air and causes confused downtown pedestrians to look up toward the sky to try and figure out what the heck the thing is that's making all of that noise.

They have also been sharpening up on their hunting skills but one has a long way to go based upon a conversation I had with someone while waiting for the light to turn green at Dunkin Donuts. We were standing their when suddenly we could hear the call of one of the young falcons and we looked up to the sky to see it soar above our heads. He looked at me and grinned and told me those were hawks that lived in downtown Worcester. HA! I told him I knew all about him and gave him the lowdown on the birds including their proper species name and other interesting facts. He told me he is down here every morning waiting for his bus and last week one of the falcons dropped a pigeon on some poor women while waiting for the bus. The pigeon was dead and it fell on her back and she was traumatized and confused of course! Isn't that the coolest thing! They can make the kill but they can't bring it home. They need more practice I guess.

Anyhow, I decided to pay a friendly visit to the male falcon this afternoon so climbed up the 7 flights of stairs to get the best angle on him for a few photos. Here he is giving me the eye as if to say "Oh no, it's her again"!! They are not half as nervous as they were when she was on her eggs so he didn't even give me a warning call. He just looked away after a few seconds to continue to scan the skies.

The female on the other hand spent the greater part of the day back at the nest box.

She was just chilling out and preening some. Its nice to have them back at their old, familiar hangout as I can see them again.

And what would a Peregrine Falcon post be without a special mention to the other downtown Worcester birds (and the primary food source of the falcons), which are the Rock Pigeons. Check out the color on this one above. This bird won't last long being as white as that. It totally stands out in flight when mixed in with the other pigeons.

Here is a lousy photo of what is now a common occurrence around the City Hall area. One or two falcons will take to the air to hunt for food which causes the pigeons to panic and take to the skies. I guess the pigeons are not smart enough to realize the best thing they can do is fly to a ledge and remain there as the falcon hunts in the sky so the result is a magnificent aerial show displayed by both the falcons and the pigeons (who I think are fantastic flyers if you stop to take the time to watch them)

It has been really nice having them back. I can't help but to wonder how much longer the three young females will be here.

Take care all.