There is good news from downtown Seattle. The young female was released on her home "cliff"–-the Washington Mutual Tower–-late in the afternoon on July 12th. She flew almost immediately and appeared strong as she cut into the wind. Since she was in a large flight cage at the rehab center, with lots of room for exercise, we expected she would look good, and she did.
The following day, there was lots of activity around the tower that appeared typical for a fledgling and its parents. It is much more difficult to keep track of a single youngster than 3 or 4, but we will post updates on her as we get observations.
July 14, 2006
July 5, 2006
5 July - other sites
With the number of active nest sites we now have, there are other fledglings in various stages of independence at bridges all over the city.
At West Seattle, a recently fledged youngster awoke from a nap in the grass and flew to the top of a train stopped on nearby railroad tracks. With the oblivious fledgling atop it, the train started moving, headed for a bridge that would have eventually carried the youngster across the Duwamish. Thanks to an observer who jogged along beside the stop-and-go train, frantically trying to get someone’s attention, an engineer flushed the bird from the top of a boxcar, and it flew to a tree close to the nest ledge. Another fledgling at this site was not so lucky, as it apparently was hit and killed by vehicles on the swing bridge. Two other fledglings ended up at a rehab center; one was later released back at its nest site.
One early fledgling at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge was taken to a rehab center, but the other three fledged uneventfully. The one with problems was later released and joined its siblings.The lone eyas at the Ballard site fledged successfully, though it took well over a week to confirm this. There are hundreds of places in the immediate area to perch out of view, and no one could locate the fledgling or an adult until an observer spotted the young female racing in to harass her mother near the nest ledge. In human terms, this youngster is Bell’s great-granddaughter. Love these multiple generations!
We set up a nest box at our south Duwamish site, in an attempt to lure the adults away from a ledge that we felt would be dangerous for eggs and young. However, the birds chose to ignore the nest box. We observed two fully feathered youngsters on the cramped ledge, and one survived fledging. Since we were afraid that neither would survive its initial flight, we were relieved that at least one was successful.
Over the next few weeks, the fledglings clustered around their home territories will hone their hunting skills, spend less time around their parents, and begin to disperse. They will not have the freedom to explore as much of the city as fledglings in years past, because of the increase in resident pairs. Some will have problems; others will disperse without incident. We will never know what happens to many of them, but we will hope for the best. We will continue to post updates when we have news.
At West Seattle, a recently fledged youngster awoke from a nap in the grass and flew to the top of a train stopped on nearby railroad tracks. With the oblivious fledgling atop it, the train started moving, headed for a bridge that would have eventually carried the youngster across the Duwamish. Thanks to an observer who jogged along beside the stop-and-go train, frantically trying to get someone’s attention, an engineer flushed the bird from the top of a boxcar, and it flew to a tree close to the nest ledge. Another fledgling at this site was not so lucky, as it apparently was hit and killed by vehicles on the swing bridge. Two other fledglings ended up at a rehab center; one was later released back at its nest site.
One early fledgling at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge was taken to a rehab center, but the other three fledged uneventfully. The one with problems was later released and joined its siblings.The lone eyas at the Ballard site fledged successfully, though it took well over a week to confirm this. There are hundreds of places in the immediate area to perch out of view, and no one could locate the fledgling or an adult until an observer spotted the young female racing in to harass her mother near the nest ledge. In human terms, this youngster is Bell’s great-granddaughter. Love these multiple generations!
We set up a nest box at our south Duwamish site, in an attempt to lure the adults away from a ledge that we felt would be dangerous for eggs and young. However, the birds chose to ignore the nest box. We observed two fully feathered youngsters on the cramped ledge, and one survived fledging. Since we were afraid that neither would survive its initial flight, we were relieved that at least one was successful.
Over the next few weeks, the fledglings clustered around their home territories will hone their hunting skills, spend less time around their parents, and begin to disperse. They will not have the freedom to explore as much of the city as fledglings in years past, because of the increase in resident pairs. Some will have problems; others will disperse without incident. We will never know what happens to many of them, but we will hope for the best. We will continue to post updates when we have news.
5 July - WaMu
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.
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.
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