Friday, July 11, 2008

All going well for the fledglings


Things have been very quiet around the nest ledge with few sightings of the falcons via the cameras. In fact, the most action has been window washers cruising up and down the face of the building! Now that nesting is complete, the windows on the front of the building can be cleaned (crews always avoid the south side of the building during May and June so as to not disturb the nest).

The last reports I have of young falcons via the cams was on 7/4 when Boomer and Mistic were observed. Yesterday an adult and one of the young were reported on the Franklin County Building which is on the south side of the downtown area. Sightings at the nest ledge will continue to be few and far between during the summer months - most falcons seen on the ledge from this point on will likely be the adults checking in from time to time. We can interpret the lack of falcons at the nest to mean the young are out and about the city skies perfecting their flying and hunting skills. As the summer progresses, the young will become totally independent and eventually leave the Columbus area to hopefully survive to establish a territory of their own elsewhere.

If anything notable happens with any of the young, Scout or Orville, I will be sure to post it but in general, this is the last of regular updates for the season. Victory's final disposition will be determined late summer and I will post details when they are known. Have a great summer and THANKS for everyone's support of the Ohio Division of Wildlife's Peregrine Falcon Project in 2008!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Red,White & Boom tonight-what does it mean to the falcons?

No reports on the fledglings except Boomer was again observed and confirmed via leg band codes on the nest ledge 7/1 during the early evening hours. We're still assuming that no news is good news and all the young falcons are doing well.

Columbus' big fireworks event, Red, White & Boom is tonight. Every year I get asked what do the falcons do during the show--will it scare them, etc. By the time the fireworks are going off the falcons will be at their chosen roost for the night and the fireworks will be much the same to them as a big thunderstorm-just a lot of lightning and thunder. All of the people downtown for the event won't bother the birds - they see people and cars in the streets everyday. In the past you could see some of the fireworks via the ledgecam but I have heard that the location of the launching has changed this year so I'm not sure if they will be visible or not. Interested folks will just have to tune in. Happy Fourth of July!