2008 Banding season started

Today, Tuesday May 13, 2008, with the help of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the three-week-old peregrine chicks on the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge were banded successfully. This year's team consisted of Eric Engi, bridge technician; Broch Bender, from WSDOT Communications; Michael MacDonald, WSDOT Wildlife Biologist.

The adult female here was banded as a chick in a nest box in Rainier, OR (power plant) in 2000. Her VID band is 71 over A. Her mate is VID band 1 over G, one of the 2001 offspring from Stewart and Bell on the WAMU tower, in downtown Seattle.

Unlike in previous years, there were only three young this year. They now sport USFWS bands (right) and VID bands (left). All three took female-sized bands, although one of them smaller (7A) than the other two (7B).

The photo at left shows Mike MacDonald, WSDOT Wildlife Biologist, holding one of the chicks after banding.

In years past the female has been extremely agressive towards the intruders who came to band her young. She usually would hit the first person down the ladder, and others too as they approached the nest. This year, much to Eric's surprise, she yelled at him, but didn't hit. As the team members gathered at the base of the ladder, she stood in the nest box, next to her young. Only as Mike and I approached to gather the young did she fly off.

The young were gathered up and kept safe inside a cloth bag, while we banded each in turn. The team members stand within a couple of feet of the nest box, using part of the bridge structure as a working table. This also allows us to keep an eye on the whereabouts of the adults.

As I banded the first chick I glanced over to the adult female and noticed that she had laid down in the box! A most unusual posture for an adult peregrine that's not incubating. It makes for nice calm working conditions though.

We did not see the male during the banding activity, although I believe I heard him vocalize from somewhere out of view on the bridge.

We would like to thank WSDOT Supervisors Archie Allen, Rick Rodda, and Tim Ditch for granting permission for the banding operation. Dave Wheeler and Gerald Cornell assisted by driving the trucks.

Seattle Eyass Update 18 June 2007

The Seattle eyasses at most sites are fledging at roughly the same time this year. As usual, not all of them have good experiences during the first few days on the wing, but thankfully some fledge without problems.

West Seattle
At West Seattle, a third fledgling was picked up and brought in to a local wildlife care center. This leaves only one of the original four fledglings remaining with the adults. On Sunday, this bird was observed perching briefly in a precarious place – the guardrail of the West Seattle freeway – but she soon left to chase her parents. She flew strongly.
We hope to release the other falcons back to these sites as soon as they are ready to fly well.

First Avenue South Bridge
Two youngsters fledged at the south Duwamish site. The adults had earlier laid their eggs on a really horrible ledge under the bridge rather than in the luxurious custom-built nest box that we provided for them. Oh well...
As of Sunday, both fledglings were staying close to the nest area, but looked good on short flights.

I-5 Ship Canal Bridge
On Saturday at the I-5 site, a recent fledgling perched on roof of a building near ground level. Unfortunately, it was only a few feet from a doorway where a number of people were entering the building. Though the crowd was oblivious to the fledgling peregrine perched directly above their heads, the adult female perceived the humans as threats to her vulnerable youngster and gave an impressive demonstration of stooping (folding her wings and diving) at the heads of bewildered pedestrians in an attempt to drive them away. I observed her stooping at least three times to within 4 to 5 feet of a small group of people, who immediately ran around a corner of the building.
Probably a good thing she did not hit anyone. This bird currently has the reputation among the FRG banders of being the most aggressive and dangerous female of all the sites we band. She hits hard and has drawn blood more than once. Of course, we consider that to be a good thing. She is a really good "mom".

A week ago, there were three youngsters on the I-5 bridge nest ledge. A fourth was at another wildlife care center. However, this weekend, no one could locate the remaining two fledglings. This is common at this stage. There are many low perches where the young can be concealed by vegetation or buildings, so we will continue to try to find them and hope for the best.

Update 8 June 2007

Here in Seattle, it seems like just yesterday that we checked nest sites to confirm hatching. The nestlings, or eyasses, at most of the sites are approaching six weeks of age now and fledging (first flight) is imminent.
We had two reminders of this Wednesday, June 6. Two eyasses ended up at PAWS, a wildlife care center north of town, after apparently tumbling off their respective ledges at our I-5 and West Seattle sites. We want to thank everyone involved in their rescue.
Both youngsters are healthy birds – they just weren’t yet capable of keeping themselves airborne and ended up running around on the ground, which is a very dangerous place to be. Dogs, cats, cars and people can all cause injury to a grounded nestling.
At this age, they have remnant patches of white down, and their pristine new feathers are still stubby. They’re not quite ready for flight yet, but they have developed an intense curiosity about the world beyond the nest ledge
Soon, very soon, instinct will prod the other nestlings to leave the security of the ledge and take that critical first flight.
If you find a recently fledged young peregrine on the ground, we suggest calling either PAWS at (425) 787-2500 or Sarvey Wildlife Care at (360) 435-4817. Both have experienced staff that can offer advice and help.
By Ruth Taylor

Michael MacDonald reports on I-5 Ship Canal banding

Michael MacDonald is the Washington State Department of Transportation wildlife biologist who is instrumental in banding the peregrine chicks at the I-5 Ship Canal bridge. To read his first hand report of the banding effort, click the link below:

http://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/

Banding at Seattle Peregrine Eyries

Friday May 18, 2007.

West Seattle Bridge, Seattle

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.

In this picture of the adult female you can see how much easier it is to decipher a VID band compared to the USFWS band.

Seattle Peregrines March Update

March 2007 Update

A record six pairs of peregrines nested in the Greater Seattle area in 2006. All pairs fledged young, but we had very few sightings of juveniles after the initial fledging period. Unfortunately, window strikes and apparent vehicle collisions took a toll of some of the young birds, and those that survived apparently dispersed. With young birds, no news may be the best news.
The birds that breed here are residents; they do not leave in the winter. Six pairs of residents make it easier to monitor peregrines year round. But, since residents exclude intruders from their territories, it is now more difficult to locate birds that are wintering here or are moving through the area. Experienced observers identified several “strangers” outside of established territories this winter. Birds of unknown origin were seen on Lake Washington, at Ballard, Beacon Hill, Rainier Beach and the Central Area. One was a juvenile; the others were adults. It is now rare to see a juvenile in Seattle in the winter, in contrast to earlier years of peregrine monitoring. The dominant adults are probably chasing them off, as juveniles are reported outside the food-rich city.
A hatch year 2003 male from Tacoma was a non-breeder on territory throughout the 2006 breeding season and into the fall. We thought he might try to breed here this spring, but he has vanished. The unbanded juvenile female that kept him company is gone, too.
As we move into the 2007 breeding season, it appears that all the breeding adults are still on their territories, except at the Ballard site, where there is a new male. Courtship is going on now, and peregrine watchers are looking forward to courtship flights, eggs, fuzzy chicks and the chicks’ metamorphosis into beautiful fledglings, ready to challenge their brave new world.

WAMU

The young female from the Washington Mutual nest – the only survivor of the two young – was last reported in downtown Seattle in August. Some juveniles continue to “visit” their parents on into the fall, probably in hopes of getting an easy meal from the adults. However, it can be very difficult to locate one juvenile in the forest of downtown buildings, so the absence of sightings after August may not be significant.
As far as observers can tell, the unbanded adults at this skyscraper site are still the same pair that first nested there last year. They have been seen regularly on the nest ledge and other parts of their home “cliff” throughout the fall and winter. Activity around the nest ledge has increased steadily over the last month.

Ballard

The sole fledgling at the Ballard site made it through her first few weeks on the wing, but has not been reported since.
An unbanded adult male has replaced the banded adult male that bred at the Ballard site last year. We don’t know when or how this happened. The original male was the hatch year 2004 offspring of the pair at I-5, and we hope that he will resurface at some other location in the future.

West Seattle

The last confirmed report of a youngster still hanging around its natal territory was a juvenile seen in early September, dozing on the West Seattle nest ledge with a full crop. One of the other young birds died from an apparent vehicle collision earlier in the summer. The adults have been observed regularly at this site throughout the winter.

South Duwamish

Both adults at the south Duwamish site were trapped and banded after the breeding season. We don’t know the origin of either, but the VID (Visual Identification) bands will allow us to keep track of them while they are in the area. Both are currently on their home territory. Their sole fledgling, a female, was found dead on an adjacent road only a couple of weeks after her first flight.

I-5

Two of the young from this site died from window collisions, one at the University of Washington and one in a residential area. Based on partial band readings, it appears that the adults at this site are the residents that have been there since 2002.

Eastside

The adults at our one eastside site were very early nesters last year; we don’t know why they are earlier than other resident pairs. Based on recent observations, it appears that they are on an early schedule again this year.

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.

30 May

The two little charmers in the WaMu nest box continue to grow at a rapid pace. The energy they take in via meals during the first half of the six-week nestling period goes to attaining full body size, while the second half goes toward growing feathers. At 2 ½ weeks, they’ve grown their second coat of down, which makes them look soft and fuzzy. Once they pass the three-week milestone, watch for rapid feather growth. Once this starts, it’s possible to see them change from day to day. The majority of the meals we have seen the female feed them have featured small birds, with a few pigeons as well. As the female increases her amount of hunting, we expect that there will be more pigeons. She has time for hunting now that they can regulate their body temperature and don’t need constant brooding to keep warm. They will be banded at approximately three weeks. This is the ideal age, as their legs have reached their maximum size, which assures that the bands each will wear for the rest of its life are the correct size. Also, at this age they can’t move around very well, which means they can’t run down the ledge to get away from the bander.

As far as the other Seattle area peregrines, four young were banded at the I-5 Ship Canal on May 17, four at West Seattle on 5/23 and one at Ballard on 5/23. All appeared healthy. We would like to thank the Washington State DOT and Seattle DOT for access to the ledges for banding. The young at these sites are older than the WaMu eyasses, and they are in various stages of transition between down and feathers. Pristine new feathers are growing in, but lots of fuzzy white down is sticking out around and between the feathers. Sleek does not describe them at this age. Although they are active and curious, they still are quite clumsy. However, when one stops and stares intently at something beyond the ledge, the dark-eyed gaze and intent posture give a glimpse of the potential powerful raptor within.

May

Washington Mutual has hatched! The last time we had fluffy eyasses to watch downtown was in 2004, which seems eons ago, rather than only two years. While it is disappointing that two of the eggs did not hatch, we look forward to watching the two eyasses mature and to observing the adults taking care of them.

This is a new pair. Since neither is banded, we know very little about them, other than that they have been here since last summer. The female may be the same bird that attempted to nest on a ledge on the IBM Building last spring.

The peregrine population in the greater Seattle area continues to expand. We now have pairs at seven sites, and six of these pairs have laid eggs. All except the Washington Mutual Tower are on bridges. One site from last year – the Grain Terminal – is not active this year.

Four young at the I-5 Ship Canal hatched the last week in April. This is the fifth nesting season for the pair at this site; the previous two years have been successful. The male is from the Washington Mutual nest (hatch year 2001) and the female (hatch year 2000) from an Oregon site on the Columbia River.

The West Seattle pair fledged four young last year, for the first successful nesting season ever at this site. The pair did not use the nest box this year and laid eggs in a nearby expansion gap on the bridge. Observations of prey deliveries by the adults confirmed that eggs had hatched by May 1.

The pair of two-year-olds (hatch year 2004) at the Ballard Bridge had at least one young hatch by 5/2 or 5/3. The Ballard male is from the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge site, and his mate from a nest on a crane in Olympia.

After showing interest in a nest box provided for them, the pair of unbanded adults at our south Duwamish site chose instead to lay and incubate eggs on a small ledge that is out of view. This is a new site and a new pair.

The first youngster fledged from our one eastside site May 14th. This is a very early fledge date for the Seattle area. This is the 4^th season at this site for the hatch year 2001 female from Portland. Her current mate is an unbanded adult male; probably the same bird who shared unsuccessful incubation duties last spring after the disappearance of her original mate (hatch year 2002, Washington Mutual).

An adult male from the 11^th Street Bridge in Tacoma (hatch year 2003) is on territory on I-90 and has attracted a mate; the birds have not laid eggs.

The Grain Terminal is not active this year, and there have no recent sightings of birds at this site.

We had an anniversary to celebrate on May 2, 2006. On May 2, 1995, three peregrine eggs hatched on the WaMu tower. It was Bell’s first breeding season and the second for Stewart. Only one of the young, a male, survived past fledging. Because he stayed in Seattle his first two years of life, many of our volunteers were able to watch his adventures as a juvenile and young adult. When this little brown peregrine was only a few weeks post fledging, he challenged an adult female for her territory at the Grain Terminal, and the following spring he courted another adult female in Ballard. In his second winter, he courted a much older female that wintered at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge for years. Our last confirmed sighting of him in Seattle was in 1997. Based on a partial reading of his VID (visual identification) band several years ago, we suspected that he was still alive. Last month, we were delighted at confirmation (via VID band reading) that the eleven year old male we called “Junior” is still alive and nesting in the Bremerton area.

2005 post-season summary

Downtown Seattle - Washington Mutual Tower

After the unidentified pair abandoned the nesting attempt at the IBM building, summer observations were scarce, until July. We believed that Bell probably died either in the winter or early in the breeding season, but on July 27, we confirmed (by her VID band) that a dead peregrine on the roof of a condo in downtown Seattle Avenue was Bell. The roof had been checked about a week earlier, and she was not there then. She died two blocks from her home cliff on the Washington Mutual Tower, where she fledged a total of 26 young from 1995 to 2004.

Her cause of death is unknown. We don't know if the pair of adults that appeared on the WaMu Tower around the same time was responsible for her death or if the timing was a coincidence. The new female is not banded; the male's band status has not been confirmed yet. They have been observed on the nest ledge every week since July, and we expect that they will breed this spring.

(Read more about Bell here)

West Seattle - finally!

After years of waiting since the first attempt in 1999, four young--a male and three females--fledged from the West Seattle site in late June. The current female finally had a "full time" mate who did what male peregrines are "supposed" to do. It was a joy to watch the young grow up.

When she was still fluff and feathers and not ready to fly, one female eyas fell off the nest platform and apparently helicoptered to the pavement below. Someone grabbed her, put her in a box, and took her to Pioneer Square that evening. He was showing off "his" bird, when the police intervened and rescued her. We have seen a lot of fledgling "drama" over the years, but we never imagined this scenario! She stayed at a rehab center until she was ready to fly; she was then released and joined her siblings and parents. A second female also spent a few days at a rehab center, after she was found wandering on a busy road near the nest; she was released at the same time as her sibling. The third female and the male fledged uneventfully.

Ship Canal Bridge

Three young fledged from the bridge in early June - two females and a male. One of the young females promptly got into trouble with the local crows and ended up in a bush in a restaurant parking lot. When she was rescued, it was noticed that she had a slightly deformed mandible. Because of concerns about the beak deformities that have been observed in Washington State, she stayed at a wildlife care center for a short time for further observation, but was then released at her home territory. We don't know the whereabouts of the young birds at this time.

Grain Terminal

After this pair fledged four young in 2003 and three last year, it was disappointing that they only fledged one - a male. Several weeks post fledging, he was found dead on a seldom-visited part of the structure, wrapped in fishing line. The grain terminal is at the edge of Elliott Bay, just south of a public fishing pier. It is all too easy to imagine him getting tangled in discarded line, flying up onto the structure wrapped in it and trapping himself fatally in his attempts to get free. This was a very sad and graphic demonstration of the harm that discarded fishing line can cause.

Eastside

When the breeding season began, our same eastside adults from the previous two years were together at their nest site and appeared to be incubating. We don't know when an unbanded adult male replaced the original male (Washington Mutual 2002). The new male and the female incubated, but the nest failed. We didn't know what happened to the original male until the end of November, when Department of Transportation crews found him dead in a crevice in a bridge on I-90.We don't know when he died.

Since the Breeding Season

We have seen our resident west side pairs regularly on their breeding territories, except at the Grain Terminal, where sightings have been scarce. However, this pair was also hard to locate last winter.

We may have a new breeding pair this spring - at the Ballard Bridge. This would be a first - the nest box there has only hosted Canada Geese and Glaucous-winged Gulls in the past. Since both birds are banded, we know that they are hatch year 2004. The male is the offspring of the birds at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge. His father is from the WaMu nest, so he is Bell and Stewart's grandson, in human terms. The female fledged from a nest box atop a crane at the Port of Olympia. They were first reported together at the Ballard Bridge in September. A lot can happen between now and the breeding season, but it certainly looks like this pair will breed.

We have had sightings of single birds and pairs at several other locations in the last few weeks. As usual at this time of year, it is difficult to determine what might be a wintering pair and what might be a pair that will stay and try to nest. Spring will be here soon, and then we will find out. We hope for successful seasons for all our pairs.

May

Downtown Seattle – Washington Mutual Tower

The unidentified adult female made a late, unsuccessful late nesting attempt on a small ledge on the 21 story IBM building and then abandoned the nest. Since then, we have seen an adult female on various perches downtown. As in past months, she sometimes perches on the nest ledge, but has never been seen at the nest box. We have had no reports of the male for several weeks. We were not able to confirm the identity of these adults, though we do know that at least one is not banded.

Ship Canal Bridge

The eggs at the Ship Canal had hatched by April 27, and three young (one male, two females) were banded on 5/18/2005. There was also a broken egg in the nest box. This was the fourth attempt for this pair and was the second time they have hatched young. They fledged four last year.

The male is hatch year 2001 from the Washington Mutual nest, and his mate (hatch year 2000) is from the Oregon side of the Columbia River. One of their young from last year, a male, was hanging out at the Ballard Bridge a few weeks ago.

West Seattle

Will this be the year that young finally fledge from this site? The site has a history of failed attempts going back to 1999, when the nest was predated (we think a Great Horned Owl was responsible). We believe that attempts since then failed because the male was attending another nest; we were not been able to confirm this because the male was not banded. The current female is the 3^rd at the site since 1999.

Right now, there are four healthy young in the nest, with both parents attending to their every need. It looks good. Keep your fingers crossed for them.

Grain Terminal

The Grain Terminal birds are still incubating, as of 5/23/2005. Neither adult is banded, but we believe that the female is the same bird as last year. It is more difficult to determine whether the male is the same, since many adult males are so similar in plumage.

Eastside

This site has been successful for the past two years. The adult female is a Portland bird (hatch year 2001) that has been around since at least spring of 2002. The adult male, a hatch year 2002 bird from the Washington Mutual nest, was confirmed at this site earlier in the spring, and it appeared that the birds might be incubating (the ledge is not visible). However, he has now been replaced by an unbanded adult. The birds were confirmed incubating on 5/8/05. No one is predicting the outcome on this one.

2004 season summary

2004 was the best year ever for breeding peregrines in the greater Seattle area. There were pairs at six sites. Of those six sites, four fledged young, one failed, and one pair did not lay eggs. The successful sites were Washington Mutual (4 young), Ship Canal Bridge (4), Grain Terminal (3) and eastside (3). It was the first successful year for the Ship Canal pair (4 young) and the second for the eastside site (3 young).

The adult males at the both the Ship Canal Bridge (hatch year 2001) and our one eastside site (hatch year 2002) were the offspring of Bell and Stewart. These two males did not go far from their natal territories when they established their own territories. Both these males are mated to females from Oregon, and it is typical that females disperse further from their natal areas than males when they establish breeding territories. An adult female (hatch year 2000) found dead at her nest in the San Juan Islands in July 2004 (young taken, killed by a mammalian predator) is the only female from the Washington Mutual nest that we know reached adulthood and became a breeding bird.

6 June

The Washington Mutual eyases fledged! The first one flew from the nest ledge Wednesday morning, June 16; the second fledged Friday morning, June 18; and the last two fledged Sunday morning, June 20. The first fledgling spent part of its first morning on the 45^th floor balcony on the WaMu Tower. We didn’t see it again until Saturday morning, when an observer spotted both fledglings wing-flapping and hopping around near the top of the Seattle Tower. The second bird fledged on camera. It spent several minutes flying and hopping from the nest box to the back ledge (the ledge just above the nest box) to the light bar and back, before taking flight directly from the edge of the nest box. The two that fledged on Sunday took their first flights off camera, so we have no details.

As if four fledglings downtown weren’t enough, the youngsters at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge started fledging over the weekend. This is the first time birds have fledged from this bridge, and it is a very different environment from vertical downtown Seattle. On Saturday, the male fledgling flew back and forth between the beams overhead with relative ease, while a female sibling was still on a ledge near the nest box. However, observers spotted a fledgling perched on a fence post only ten feet off the ground and another walking around in a park under the bridge! The clueless bird on the ground wandered about with little concern for walkers and joggers (most didn’t even notice it), so it was a relief when it finally flew. By Sunday, the young birds had discovered the closest power tower, which is a good place for them to perch. They’re above the people and cars, away from the water, and in a place where the adults can keep track of them, at least for a few days.

13 April

Bell and her mate are now incubating four eggs in the nest box on the Washington Mutual Tower. Egg dates were 3/31, 4/2, 4/4, and 4/7.

Although we confirmed Bell’s identity in the fall by reading her VID band, no one had reported her at close enough range to re-confirm over the winter. However, in early March, we got a digital photograph of her finishing a pigeon meal on the IDX tower, with her VID band plainly visible. She first bred here as a two-year-old in 1995, so it was wonderful to know that we might be able to follow her through yet one more nesting season.

A few days before she laid her first egg, we saw her on camera for the first time since 2002! She stood in the scrape in her pre-laying fluffiness, as round as a feathered balloon. As is typical during egg lethargy, her eyes lost the intent, evaluative gaze of the predator, and she appeared largely indifferent to the world beyond the ledge, except when she spotted her mate.

The jury is still out on the identity of her mate. For better or worse, he is very similar in plumage to her mate of all the past years. Whoever he is, he appears to be diligent in attending to his incubation duties.

Other Seattle peregrines are incubating, too. The birds at the Ship Canal Bridge and the Grain Terminal are on eggs. This is the third nesting attempt for the banded adults (he’s Stewart and Bell’s offspring) at the Ship Canal. The Grain Terminal female appears to be the same bird that successfully fledged four young last year; we haven’t yet identified her mate. There have been several observations of a male at the West Seattle site, but many more of the female by herself. However, she still has plenty of time to attract a mate and nest this season.

Stay tuned for more peregrine activity.

Late 2003 update

Here’s what has happened with Seattle peregrines over the fall and winter.

As far as we know, the four Grain Terminal young dispersed without problems. Grain Terminal employees told wonderful stories about the young peregrines watching them while they worked, the adults flushing and nabbing pigeons at close range, the adults chasing off other raptors and the ever-present gulls and, the screeching youngsters chasing their parents – close, personal views of the lives of a peregrine family with vigorous flying young.

One of the Grain Terminal youngsters was at the Ballard Bridge in December. Observations of the juvenile with an adult female at this location, without conflict, suggest that the adult may have been its mother. As the peregrine flies, it’s only a few minutes in the air from the Grain Terminal to the Ballard Bridge. An adult female that appears to be the same bird is seen regularly at the Grain Terminal. There have been no recent reports of her mate, but observations at that locale are spotty. We will certainly be looking – this was our only successful nest last year!

The female that tried to nest in a ventilation pit on One Union Square began perching on the nest ledge at WaMu in late summer, after abandoning incubation. In the fall, we confirmed this was Bell by reading her VID band. She spent time close to the nest box almost every day until the cold weather in late winter, when she became less regular there.

An adult male has also been present at the WaMu tower since fall and has been seen almost every week. We have not been able to confirm his identity, so we don’t know if this is the double-banded adult reported at One Union in late spring. Keep in mind that it’s not impossible that this male could be Stewart. We haven’t been able to confirm whether he is or is not in the area.

As the days have gotten longer, the female and male have been displaying near the nest box, as we would expect at this time of the year. We want to confirm that the female is still Bell and see if we can determine who the male is. We see them only at a distance, and the birds we’re seeing may not be who we think they are.

Both the Ship Canal adults are active and highly visible on their territory. An observer read the male’s VID band about a month ago and the female’s last week and confirmed they are still the 2001 male from the WaMu nest and his Columbia River (Oregon) mate. We hope that the 3^rd try will be the charm for this young pair and that they will nest successfully in 2004.

Recent reports suggest the West Seattle female has not paired with a male over the winter. This could change, though. This is the time of year when unpaired birds are moving around, looking for mates and territories.

There have been regular peregrine reports from some of the areas outside of the core activity area in Seattle – in Renton and Tukwila, for instance. Time will tell whether these birds are wintering birds or will stay in the area and attempt to breed.

Stay tuned for breeding season updates.

13 July

Good news! We thought there would be no fledglings in Seattle this summer, but we were wrong. On June 14, an observer discovered four large eyases in the ancient nest box at the Grain Terminal. Three females and a male were banded two days later, and they fledged around July 2nd and July 3rd. We were concerned about how the noise, fireworks display, and crowds associated with the Independence Day celebration on Elliott Bay might affect the youngsters, but all four young and both adults survived unscathed. The fledglings are now spending carefree days exploring their surroundings, chasing birds that they can't catch, and playing tag with each other, while the adults protect them from possible threats and provide food. By the end of last weekend, they were venturing out toward the Amgen project to the north and out over the water and were starting to swoop and dive on each other. Now, at about a week and a half on the wing, they are soaring over the west slope of Queen Anne Hill.

The adults appear to be the same birds that were hanging out at the Grain Terminal earlier in the spring; neither are banded, and the male is very similar to Stewart in appearance.
This is the second successful nest site in Seattle since peregrines began nesting here in 1994. There have been unsuccessful attempts at West Seattle and at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge in the past, but this is the first site other than downtown to fledge young.
The pair that were attempting to nest in a ventilation pit on One Union Square failed; this was confirmed this week. Egg-laying was prolonged, the substrate is minimal, and it was a late attempt, so it was not a surprise that the nest failed. The adult female looks like Bell, but we haven't been able to read her VID band to confirm. The adult male's identity is unknown at this time.

25 April

This has been a disappointing spring. We miss watching our resident adults raise their chicks. The spring peregrine season in Seattle is different this year, to put it mildly. We have a lot of questions and few answers.

The latest news is that a pair has attempted to nest in a ventilation pit on the east side of One Union Square, 4 blocks east of the Washington Mutual Tower. There are two eggs in the ventilation pit. They have been there for at least a week, but it doesn't appear that the birds are incubating them. Both adults are double-banded, which is major news, because Stewart has never been banded. Whoever this male is, he isn't Stewart. No one has been able to read the VID bands, so we don't who these birds are. We suspect the female is Bell, based on her plumage, but this has not been confirmed. In addition to wondering who they are, we can only wonder why they are where they are - in a ventilation pit with just a bit of gravel, pigeon wings and other debris on the floor, rather than in the nest box on the WaMu Tower.

The West Seattle female is incubating, though observations suggest she may be incubating only sporadically. The bridge tenders report that a male is visiting the site. We believe that the male seen regularly at West Seattle for the past two breeding seasons and earlier this season is probably Stewart, so we hope to confirm that the male observed there recently is still the probable Stewart. However, it may be a different male - anything is possible.

We are still getting reports of a bird or birds at the Grain Terminal, though no one has tried to identify the birds for the last few weeks. Before that, it appeared that the same unbanded adult female was hanging around, though she seemed to have lost interest in the nest box.

The nest at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge failed. When biologists checked the ledge this week, they found fragments of at least one broken egg in the box and a broken egg outside the box. We have no idea what happened. This was a big disappointment, since these birds attempted to nest last year, and, especially since he is the offspring of our downtown pair. All we can do, like them, is wait for next year and hope for a better outcome.

We hope we will be able to confirm the identities of the birds at One Union Square, the male at West Seattle, and the Grain Terminal bird or birds over the next few weeks. We would love to hear from any of you who have observations and/or information to pass on.

15 February

This is an interesting spring - unlike any breeding season we've observed in the past. We haven't updated our site with current information about the Seattle peregrines because we've been trying to figure out what is going on.

Here's the current status quo, from the human observer's perspective.

Bell is still downtown and in control of her home territory. Her identity has been confirmed by reading the VID (visual identification) band on her left leg. There has been almost no observed courtship behavior downtown, and most sightings are of a single bird. Several volunteers are running tapes a few times a week, but there has been no activity around the nest box.

An adult male that appears identical to Stewart has been hanging out at West Seattle, for the third spring in a row. Stewart is not banded, but there's circumstantial evidence linking him to these sightings. Please see our winter update for more on West Seattle. Whenever he flies into the area, the West Seattle female rockets to the nest box and displays. We've had reports of long mutual ledge displays.

An adult male that looks like Stewart has also been visiting the Grain Terminal, northwest of downtown. With its plethora of pigeons and starlings, this is a popular hunting destination for peregrines, and, for years, both the downtown adults and various young have hunted there. There is an old nest box there, that the peregrines have ignored, until recently. Now, an unbanded adult female appears very attached to that box. Her plumage is different from the West Seattle female, so we know it's not the same bird. However, she reacts the same way whenever the "probable" Stewart shows up - with much excitement, vocalizing, and displaying at the nest box.

Stewart and Bell have a long history of successful nesting, and last year was one of their best ever. While most pairs stay together as long as they nest successfully, it is thought that the bond is at least as much to the territory as to the mate. We have lots of questions about what is going on this year, and why, but we don't have any answers. Right now, we're waiting to see if there will be a late nesting attempt downtown and if either or both of these "extra" females will lay eggs.

The one place where the breeding season appears to be moving along in the usual manner is at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge, where Stewart and Bell's 2001 male offspring and his Oregon mate are incubating.

As for the web camera status, we are currently monitoring the nest ledge with our 24 hour time-lapse camera/VCR. Currently, the camera images can only be viewed from the TV monitor located in the lobby (1st floor) of the Washington Mutual Bank in downtown Seattle. Because of the expenses involved in maintaining the FRG web-cam, we will only be providing live images on the website if the falcons utilize their traditional nest ledge. We certainly hope we will be able to provide your this experience this year.

27 January

Washington Mutual Nest - the fabulous four:
In 2002, Stewart and Bell fledged four young, for only the second time in their long nesting history. To the amazement of the project volunteers, none of the young required human intervention and assistance during those first weeks on the wing. Trouble-free fledging has only happened once before, in 1998 when only two fledged. Four brown peregrines hurtled themselves through the air in pursuit of pigeons, their parents, and each other among the urban pinnacles and canyons of downtown Seattle.
It appears that they didn't all disperse from the Seattle area, as we had sightings of juveniles downtown throughout the fall. In November, a small juvenile seen with a large adult presumably was one of the young males with Bell, but the observer was unable to read the VID bands. Reports of juveniles continued into mid-December.

Last week, one of the WaMu juveniles was trapped in a bathroom in an unfinished building in the Central Area. It chased a pigeon into the building, cornered it in the bathroom, and made a meal of it, before it was trapped. The young peregrine was missing its right leg, with a completely healed wound near where the leg came out of the body. Speculation is that it probably hit a wire, which amputated the leg. The bird was evaluated by a vet at Woodland Park Zoo, but was released because it was healthy, aside from the missing leg. Obviously, a peregrine with one leg is at a
disadvantage, but, so far, this young bird is a survivor, with a demonstrated ability to catch prey.

West Seattle - the changing of the guard:
This spring, during egg-laying, an unbanded adult female took over the West Seattle territory after the former occupant was injured in a collision at Safeco Field and could not be rehabilitated. The former occupant, a hatch year 1997 bird from the San Juan Islands, had been a Seattle resident since spring 1998. The new female moved into the territory within two weeks of the injury and is still there. Like her predecessor, she shows a great deal of interest in an adult male that visits her on a regular basis. Like her predecessor, she may find that he is only a part time mate. He is not banded, but plumage and behavior over the past two years point to Stewart as the culprit. Speculation is that he considers West Seattle part of his territory and is strong enough to drive off other males that show an interest in the area and the female. Bigamous relationships are unusual in peregrines, but not unheard of. Stewart fits the pattern - an older, experienced male that devotes most of his attention to his alpha female and their nest, while the second nest fails. This is what happened at West Seattle in 2001.

In September, an adult male from Tacoma (hatch year 2000) courted the new West Seattle female. Peregrine observers hoped for the ideal situation - a male strong enough to hold the West Seattle territory, but not strong enough to cause mayhem downtown. At least as for now, though, it appears that Stewart has driven him off and is firmly in control of that territory.

I-5 Ship Canal Bridge - son of Stewart: A juvenile male and an adult female attempted to nest this spring on the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge, north of downtown Seattle. The male is Stewart and Bell's offspring from 2001; his mate is a hatch year 2000 bird from the Oregon side of the Columbia River. It appears that the nest failed primarily because of the male's youth. Juvenile males usually lack the maturity and hunting skills to nest successfully, and he was not an exception. He lost interest in incubation as the weeks went on, and observations suggest that he probably did not provide the female with enough food. The pair abandoned incubation. They are still together, and we hope for a better outcome in 2003.

Bellevue - possibilities:
An adult male and a juvenile female were present in downtown Bellevue this past spring, but did not nest. The female's VID band identified her as hatch year 2001 from the Fremont Bridge site in Portland, Oregon, where peregrines have nested for years. We don't know the male's origin. There is still a pair of peregrines in downtown Bellevue, but we don't know if they are the same birds. Whoever they are, there is a nest box on one of the buildings in downtown Bellevue waiting for them.

For so many years, we have had our breeding pair, Stewart and Bell, downtown, with other birds arriving in the fall to establish winter territories. As we begin 2003, it appears that we are now transitioning to a breeding population. Perhaps, in a few years, we will have a breeding population in urban areas along the I-5 corridor, from Everett to Olympia

8 April

Welcome to the Seattle Peregrine Project 2002. We apologize for the delay in getting our web cam up and running.

The birds have not waited for us, of course. Stewart and Bell are now incubating four eggs. Egg laying dates and times are: 3/25 at 1425, 3/27 at 2029, 3/30 at 0041, and 4/1 at 0754. Last year, Bell laid her first egg on 3/21; however, last spring was sunny and dry, while this year, we had rain and snow less than a week prior to the first egg. Increasing length of daylight triggers breeding behavior, but it is believed that weather fine tunes the process. We are not far enough into incubation to tell how the adults will split incubation duties this year. Bell did the vast majority of incubation last year, but, in other years, Stewart has done over 40% .

Stewart first nested here in 1994, and his original mate, Virginia, died that June, when their chicks were still tiny. (Two young fledged that year, thanks to a great deal of human intervention.) Bell arrived in town in August, and she and Stewart promptly established a pair bond. She still had a few juvenile feathers scattered in her fresh new adult plumage, so we were able to determine her age (hatch year 1993). They nested the following spring (1995) and have nested every year since, except 1999, when they were unintentionally disturbed at a sensitive time. They are resident birds; they do not leave the area during the winter.

We had good news this winter about two of their offspring, thanks to their VID (visual identification) bands. On 11/25/01, one of the females fledged in 2000 was seen on a smokestack in Stanwood, about an hour's drive north of Seattle; she now is a beautiful adult. She is only the second bird from the Seattle nest that we know has reached adulthood in the wild (two other
individuals, non-releasable, reached adulthood in captivity). The other survivor in the wild was a hatch year 1995 male.

We have more good news about last year's male fledgling. We had a probable (incomplete band reading) report of him in the Kent Valley, south of Seattle, in October; he was identified near the University of Washington campus Thanksgiving weekend and was in the Kent Valley on January 7, 2002.

This past weekend, April 6 & 7, he was at the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge here in Seattle. There was an adult female at the bridge, also. However, we don't expect that he will nest this year; juvenile males usually lack sufficient maturity and hunting skills for the male's extensive responsibilities as part of a nesting pair.

There are more possibilities. There is now a pair in downtown Bellevue, just across Lake Washington from Seattle. This pair is an adult male and a juvenile (hatch year 2001) female. Her VID band tells us she is from Portland, from the longtime nest on the Fremont Bridge. This is the first confirmed report of a Portland bird appearing in Seattle.

It is exciting to think about having other urban pairs - if not this year, perhaps next year.