With the help of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Ed Deal and Pat Little of the FRG accessed the West Seattle Bridge nest site and banded four peregrine chicks. This is the second time that chicks were banded at this site. The nest is only accessible through a man-hole cover in the bridge deck, which requires the closure of an entire lane. Mary Brown, Bridge Maintenance Supervisor for SDOT gave permission for Crew Chief Greg Funk to assist the banding team.
The peregrines have chosen to nest in a small gap next to an expansion joint of the bridge and are difficult to observe from the ground. However, once the team descends the ladder, we can walk into the nest space, which is tall enough to stand up in. The adult female and four chicks were all in the gap. We picked up the young and kept them safe while they were banded one by one. All four chicks were females.
Note that the nest subtsrate is formed by prey remains.
Saturday May 19, 2007.
Ballard Bridge, Seattle
Once again, with the help of an SDOT crew, (this time under the supervision of John Dahle) Ed Deal got to ride in the bucket of a U-bit truck, the only equipment that will allow access to the nest on the Ballard Bridge. For the second year in a row, we banded a single chick, this time a male.
Monday May 21, 2007.
Interstate 5 Freeway Bridge, Seattle
FRG members Mark Gleason and Martin Muller banded four three-week-old peregrine chicks on Seattle’s I-5 Ship Canal Bridge. For the fifth year in a row, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Widlife Biologist Michael MacDonald arranged for permission and 
assistance from WSDOT. Thanks go to Archie Allen, Regional Bridge Maintenance Supervisor; Rick Rodda, Assistant Regional Bridge Maintenance Supervisor; Dave Wheeler and Gerald Cornell for driving trucks, Tim Ditch, Ship Canal Bridge Maintenance Supervisor, also driving one of the trucks; Eric Engi, the lucky bridge technician who got to go down the ladder first, and Lauren Penning, of WSDOT Public Relations, who documented the whole affair.
Both adult peregrines at this site had been previously banded. The female is from the former Trojan Nuclear Plant downstream from Portland, Oregon, and the male is a descendant of the Washington Mutual pair (Stewart & Bell). We quickly collected the nestlings and placed them in a cloth bag, where they were safe. During our banding activities, the female spent most of 
the time standing in or near the nest box keeping watch. With the young calm and quiet, the adults also remained fairly calm, although they did occasionally voice their objections.
In our program, each young falcon receives two bands. We place a US Fish and Wildlife aluminum band on one leg and a black, numbered Visual Identification (VID) band on the other. The VID bands have much larger symbols which are easy to read in a spotting scope. They allow us to identify individual peregrines at a distance. Bird watchers and other observers often read these bands in the field and report the sightings. In this way, we can learn more about where the falcons go, what happens to them or even how long they might live.The return rate on birds with VID bands is about 25 times higher than USFWS bands alone.
