News! News! News!

Great news - there have been 2 recent visits to the nest ledge by juveniles!  The first juvie was observed on July 5th about 6:20 pm:

The second visit was yesterday about 3 p.m.  Durand was near the nestbox and the juvenile landed on the ledge.  Although you can't see the falcon very clearly, the plumage of the bird closest to the camera is brown, indicating it is a young bird.  The falcon furthest away has a light underside which makes it an adult:

From his office window, Mike Horn also saw and photographed this juvenile on the LeVeque Tower on 7/9/17:

Such great news to finally start seeing the young and to know that they are doing well!

On another very positive note, long time viewers may recall that one of the chicks in the 2000 Columbus nest was named Hunter.  Hunter was identified via his leg band in 2002 in Toronto, Ontario:

He paired with a female there and for over 10 years they attempted to nest at several locations but were unsuccessful each year.  That long-time resident female was lost from the territory in 2013, and in 2014 a new female claimed the territory and paired with Hunter.  We recently received confirmation that finally this season, at 17 years old, Hunter has raised his first successful brood!!!  He and his mate fledged 3 young this year at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada!!  How exciting to learn of this success story!

As with most birds, there is a high mortality in their first year, however, if a peregrine survives beyond year 1, they can live 12-18 years in the wild.  Here is a photo of Hunter this year (thanks to the Canadian Peregrine Foundation for this update and pic):