2004 Peregrine
Falcon's at Eckert...
...it started in April
and May when a LBWL
employee would hear and see the
falcons at his work, at Eckert. I kept
hearing him say that they would Kak and
swoop him and they would dive and were
fun to watch. So I decided at the end
of May to check them out for myself.
Tuesday, May 18th - I took my
camera, binocs, and some time and got to watch
them in action. It was so cool. There's an
adult male and female hanging out by the old
silo, we don't use it anymore, it's
abandoned. *There is a catwalk to the silo
between the 5th and 6th floors - that's where
we watch them from.
So I decided to jump online and
check out some websites about the Peregrine,
where they nest(cliffs
and tall building ledges), when they lay
eggs(March/April) , how long incubation
lasts(around 31 days), when they band
the chicks(3 or 4 weeks old-May/June),
and when chicks fledge(June/July). Use
same nest year after year, mate for
life, endangered, fastest creature on
earth(220+ mph) , etc.
Thursday, June 3rd - I decided
to go back and observe the falcons a little
more. I was able to see them both again, took
more pictures, noticed the female at the end
of the catwalk just laying there, wasn't sure
if she was sick or hurt, I just left her alone
and took a few pictures and went back to
work. Spent the rest of June and July on the
internet learning as much as I could about
them. Watched a few nests via web cam,
watched the chicks grow up and fledge, very
very cool sites out there!
So I flew out West, for my
sisters wedding, the 3rd week of July, when we
got back there was news of 3 chicks at
Eckert. I was flabbergasted to say the
least!
Friday, July 30th - I went back
up with 2 cameras, a video camera, and binocs,
and watched them during my lunch hour. Not
too much activity but was fun seeing 3 heads
pop up and peek down at me. (We put a fence
across the catwalk to keep the chicks out of
the building, and keep our employees from
going down the catwalk to disturb them).
Knowing that the adult talons are razor sharp,
I kept my distance most of the time anyway. I
need to call the MDNR.
Tuesday, Aug 3rd - I went back
up, again on my lunch hour, spent an
hour up there watching the chicks. I couldn't
believe my eyes! I began to wonder why they
were so young at this late in the summer, they
looked about 5 or 6 weeks old. One of them
jumped all the way down the catwalk, up to the
fence (where I was standing), stood there for
a few minutes, said hi and bye, and jumped,
with wings in motion, stretching them
out, back to the other end of the catwalk to
join it's siblings. I took pictures and
really enjoyed that visit a lot. Was able to
see the bands on the adult males legs, one
green(left leg) and one purple(right leg).
Couldn't make out the letter/number. Got back
to work and left a message for someone at the
DNR to call me back.
Wednesday, Aug 4th - I got a
call around 11am from our environmental
manager, that the DNR
were going to visit the silo at
2:30 to observe the falcons and if I would
like to join them. Of course I did! So I met
with the DNR, they thought maybe next spring
we could change a few things with the nest, a
safer spot on a higher rooftop, close the door
to the silo, maybe put a web cam out there! A
few ideas were tossed around. They stayed
about 1/2 an hour, was able to get the band ID
off of the adult female,
4S. While talking to a
coworker in the ground level, a
maintenance guy showed up and said he found
the original nest from earlier in the spring
with 3 eggs in it, on the 10th floor. The
original brood!!! (I have not gotten up there
yet to check the old nest site out). Had a
message at home that night there was a talon
or foot found on the ground over there under
the catwalk with a tag on it, and if I wanted
it to call.
Thursday, Aug
5th - my call this morning was from the
manager at Eckert, the DNR was there with big
DNR cameras, and wanted me to go back over
there. I drove
over and met with the photographer, for
about an hour. Saw the adult male on a beam
with a pigeon, or whatever bird in its talon,
he flew over to the nest, the adult female met
him there, they left the meal for the chick(s)
to feast on. It was neat. I hadn't seen them
do that til then. Very neat, very fun to
watch. Back at work I received an email from the
DNR, the name of the adult female is
Stelco and she's been in the Lansing area for
about 5 or 6 years now. Wasn't
able to tell me her age or where she came from/fledged
from originally. The foot with the tag
on it arrived, which I set aside to give to
one of the DNR guys. It has a yellow band
with 2004 on it and the letter 'M'.
Friday, Aug 6th -
I took a call the Eckert Manager, around
2:30. He said that two falcons were found at
GM's parking lot, one died, and one captured.
He asked me to come over to Eckert and see if
we had all 3 of our chicks still, if I'd be
able to see into the nest, if I had my
binoculars with me(of course I did), or if
maybe the 2 at GM were from another nest.
When I got to the catwalk there was one chick
half way down enjoying the sunshine, not too
active from what I observed. I tried to make
it down the catwalk to see over the edge of
the step into the nest, but Stelco wouldn't
let me. I stayed long enough to watch the end
of the catwalk to see if there were any
stretching wings or jumping around. None.
The two at GM's parking lot were from Eckert.
I called the
DNR and asked him if the captured chick
was ok, he said it is healthy and strong, and
that the parking lot event had happened
Wednesday evening. The chick is with a
rehabber in a private home and doing well. They thought
maybe they would bring the chick back on
Monday to the nest and let the parents keep
feeding it, and see if it would continue
trying to fledge. Dropped
off the banded foot of whatever bird the
falcons ate. In exchange I was fortunate to
get to see the photos he had taken the day
before. Wow!
Monday, Aug 9th - 11:15
A.M. the DNR was at
Eckert picking up the 3rd chick. It
was on the ground level and not trying to fly
away. He also thought that it seemed
listless. He also thinks that Stelco and the
male adult are gone now. (I wouldn't think
they would leave so fast). In keeping updated
with the other falcon web cams, the adults
stay until the chicks are fully fledged and
hunting and catching food of their own. I
emailed the DNR asking about the chicks
getting banded, suggesting names, hoping to be
kept in the loop of the going on's.
Tuesday, Aug
10th - Our nest is empty, the male and female,
I'm guessing, are still using it, but am not
certain of that. An email from the
DNR says that the MDNR does not name
birds after a family member (Even though I
have seen other websites that have). I
offered my suggestions for names as Soldier,
Noble, Pride, Joy, and thought Pride and Joy
would be perfect. (Maybe next year we could
go with Inkin, Blinkin, and Nod.)
Wednesday,
Aug 11th -
I was called at 11:30, said that
the DNR called and questioned a rumor
about a 4th chick. Ten to twelve, stood at
the doorway of the catwalk, no signs of the
adults. Walked to the end of the catwalk
where they nested - didn't see any signs of a
4th chick. I would imagine if there is a 4th
chick that Stelco or the male adult would have
been there with bells and whistles to stop me
from going down to that end. I stood right at
the doorway of the silo. Someone pulled the
door to the silo mostly closed. It's still
open enough to let the birds in at night if
they need to. I'm wondering if someone with
BWL or MDNR closed it. Seems like we would
have left it open til this season was well
over. The adults still could be using it for
themselves...???
I stayed for
only 20 minutes and took off. I'm pretty
sure, not 100% sure (but close), that there
isn't a 4th chick up there right now.
Monday, Aug 16th -
An email from the
DNR letting me know that
"Soldier" was
released this morning at 9:30 from the Romney
Building downtown. His
band number is
52/S and both Stelco and
Alimak watched him go.
Alimak is the adult male, he's a four
year old from Alma, WI.
Stelco is the
female, seven years
old from Hamilton, Ontario. Now I just need
to hear about the third chick, will he or she
fledge as well as Soldier did...
Tuesday, Aug 17th - Headlines
of the Local section of the Lansing State
Journal capture our
Peregrine Falcon
story and indicate that the third chick
is in rehabbers care with an injured eye. I
haven't heard from the DNR yet, as to what
happened to it. Update on the foot I gave
to the DNR, "...gave the foot to Ray and
they're guessing the foot is from a pigeon,
and the band was put there by someone who uses
pigeons for "racing", a recreational pursuit.
At any rate, the band was not for research
purposes." I sent an email to Ray to let him
know that another
LBWL employee saw 2 eggs at the nest
site, and that I'd be going over tomorrow to
see if they are peregrine eggs or if maybe
just pigeon eggs. I asked if he'd like me to
collect them for him to check for pesticides,
he said no.
Wednesday, Aug 18th - I reached the
10th floor/roof of Eckert to see the original
nest from earlier this spring. On the roof
you have to look down to the 8th floor to see
the nest site. I could see half of an egg
with my binocs. I'm not sure how anyone
(DNR) would be able to band them - not an easy
spot to get to, if the peregrine should ever
successfully incubate eggs there. I stopped
back on the 6th floor to check the silo
again. Knowing that the adults are seen
downtown more, I felt pretty safe and
confident to go to the end of the catwalk. I
was told on Monday that there were 2
egg shells at the nest site. I was totally
grossed out by all of the maggots, oh man!
There was an egg with an embryo in it, so we
can safely say there were 4 eggs layed. The
other shell I couldn't tell if it was the
shell of one of the three that hatched, or if
it was actually a fifth egg layed. It seemed
pretty hollow, and fairly full sized still,
but I was just getting a good look at it when
Alimak showed up. Had me blocked between the
silo and the door to Eckert. So I made my way
to where he was (overhead on the beam), I
ducked down as low as I could, and made my way
back to the door. I watched him for about 10
minutes, was able to watch from about 10 feet
away. Couldn't see his bands, he wasn't being
too aggressive today. Kind of felt like a
good-bye visit from him. Maybe I wont see any
of them until next year now. Maybe if the DNR
wants them to relocate downtown I wont see
them again at all. I
would be sad.
...It will be interesting to
hear where Soldier shows up at next year, may
not ever know. I've asked to
be there when they fledge the third
chick. I
haven't heard back. I still don't know
the gender of the third chick, if it was
banded, I would assume it has been, or what
they named it.
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