Thursday, June 26, 2008

Falcons are flying!

A lot has happened the past couple of days. Here's a rundown of reports I've received:
6/23 Mistic (S/73) observed via the ledgecam 7:19 p.m.
6/24 Justice (S/47) reported to have fledged about 6 a.m. Columbus (C/65) and Boomer (C/66) believed to still be on the ledge at the time of Justice's flight, but Columbus believed to have fledged sometime later in the day on 6/24.
6/25 Boomer reported to have fledged about 6 a.m.

While in the field on 6/25 I got a call from the highway patrol at the Statehouse reporting that Justice was in a window well on the 1st floor. Although she appeared uninjured, it can be difficult for an inexperienced falcon to get from the ground back up to the building tops, so Division of Wildlife personnel retrieved her. I checked her out and she appears to be fine so I will be returning her to the nest ledge this morning. Hopefully, many falcon fans are still watching and can help monitor her activity after she is released. The best case scenario would be that she would rest on the ledge for awhile before attempting flight again. This is a photo of her at my office this morning.

Other than the minor mishap with Justice, it seems that all is well. While downtown I'll take a look around the building tops to see if I can see any other fledglings.