It seems like just yesterday that we watched as two fuzzy WaMu eyasses were banded. Soon they made the usual clumsy trek to the extreme north end of the ledge, out of camera range, where they slept, ate, and checked things out from their new vantage point. With one eyas of each sex, it was easy and fun to observe the differences in their feather growth, activity level, and agility. Soon, two fully feathered youngsters were almost ready to go.
On Friday afternoon, June 23rd, both wildly flapping youngsters were racing up and down the nest ledge. By early Sunday, at least one was atop the nearby Rainier Tower. It appeared that fledging was off to a good start, but we were wrong. It wasn’t until later in the week that we were notified that the male fledgling died and was picked up Saturday morning, June 24th, on 2nd Avenue. Since he was still on the ledge the previous afternoon, he may have died on his initial flight. This was a huge disappointment. We are all aware of the high mortality of young birds, but we had hoped for a better start for our new pair.
On Thursday, June 29th, the young female’s escapade sent her to a rehab center for evaluation. From a low perch in the courtyard of One Union Square, she flew across the street into a glass-enclosed FedEx office. Her motion triggered the automatic door opening, and in she flew, rather than smashing into the glass. Once inside, she hopped around from box to box, much to the amazement and bewilderment of the staff and customers. Someone alerted a security guard, who by coincidence had previous experience with peregrine fledglings; he threw a jacket over her and put her into a box until help arrived. She appeared healthy, and we expect that she will be released soon.
