Our young male, the first to fledge, has now been on the wing for two weeks. He fledged Sunday, June 10, and his one surviving sister followed on Thursday, June 14. The two fledglings followed a familiar routine: they spent most of their time on the Rainier Tower, with Stewart and Bell close by, except when they were hunting for them. The male fledgling had to content himself with swooping at his perched sister until she became proficient enough to join him in aerial play; since then, they've chased each other round and round the buildings near their home "cliff" and round and round the "hat", the pyramidal structure on the top of the WaMu tower.
One or both youngters spent the night either in or near the nest box for several nights after fledging. This varies from year to year; some birds visit "home" regularly for several weeks, while others ignore it, after they make that first flight that frees them to explore the rest of their natal territory.
Like most years, one of the fledglings - the male - got caught in a ventilation pit on the Rainier Tower last week and was removed by project volunteers who work in downtown Seattle. It is amazing how fast a little brown peregrine can run on those great big yellow feet! He was difficult to corner, but eventually flipped onto his back and presented talons to his tormentors, who scooped him up and put him in a box for transport to the roof. Within three or four minutes, he was on the wing again. He circled back to look at his rescuers and then headed straight for the nest ledge, where Stewart was in the nest box. Stewart, who spent less time than usual in the nest box this year, has been in and out of it since the young left the ledge. He has preened, picked at gravel, vocalized at Bell flying by, and scraped in the box, as if it were spring. We have seen this behavior by him before, right after fledging, but not for several years.
As of this weekend, the two fledglings are spending more time on the Financial Center and the Seattle Tower, lower buildings that are across the street from the Washington Mutual Tower. The adults have started perching on small window ledges on their home cliff, where they are close enough to hassle gulls and anything else that might threaten the youngsters. This often gives office workers inside the building up close and personal views of the birds that they don't get the rest of the year, when they are only remote and tiny silhouettes, high above.
