Four healthy, vigorous eyases were banded on Friday afternoon, 5/24, and we have two males and two females. The banders gave each eyas a preventive dose of medication against frounce (avian trichomoniasis), which has been a problem for the young at this site several times in the past. We did not publicize banding because our web cam had been down, and we were not sure if it would be up and running in time.
Stewart made a brief appearance during banding and zipped by the building, but, as usual, he left the heavy duty nest defense to his mate. Although Bell made many strafing flights at the window washing stage and scored one direct hit on the engineer running the stage, she was not as aggressive as in the past. Also, rather than riding the stage back up from the ledge, glaring at its human occupants, she went directly to the nest box and the chicks. Speculation is that she is, after all, a nine year old peregrine and may be feeling her age. Certainly, there are older birds in the breeding population, but the majority are younger; this is yet another reminder that we will not always have Bell and Stewart. But, if we are very lucky, in the
future we may watch one of their offspring raise its young in the very same place.
For the eyases, their next big steps will be out of the nest box and onto the ledge. We expect their next adventure in a few days.
