Banding Peregrines in Duluth
Today's guest blogger is Julie O'Conner, from Hawk Ridge. She runs Duluth's Peregrine Watch. To join her Yahoo! Group for peregrine updates, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peregrinewatch/
Wow, it was FOGGY downtown today! We couldn't even see the Greysolon Building from Canal Park, so we plugged in the camera and got treated to a FEEDING!! I couldn't stand it that I couldn't share camera images with you, so I took a couple with my still camera. I don't pretend that they're even decent photos, but they might be better than nothing!
Later in the day, Rob, Bob and Amy came to band the babies!! Michael Furtman came along to record the banding process an to start this summer's Peregrine Gallery (http://www.michaelfurtman.com/). You'll be stunned by his photos, check them out!! I took my video camera and got some GREAT footage of the process.
As we arrived on the roof, both parents put up a fuss, but quickly calmed down once we had the babies in hand. There are 4 healthy chicks in the nest, 3 girls and 1 boy! At this age, the difference in size between males and females isn't visible, the banders determined the gender of the babies by the size of their legs! Amazing.
(Amy's note - and their voices. The females have a deeper, raspier voice. I thought of it as the difference between a crow and a raven, although they are much more similar than that example might lead one to think. )
When Bob was over the edge of the building, the female was buzzing past him to attempt to drive him away from the nest. She came close to him several times, but Rob was above Bob and would wave his hand out to divert her attention from Bob's head. It worked for the most part, but when Bob was reaching into the box she came up at a steep angle and TOOK HIS HAT OFF HIS HEAD AND FLEW AWAY WITH IT!!
She flew a circle, then came back and dropped the hat just below us on the roof of the restaurant attached to the Greysolon Building! The whole process took 15 minutes or less, and within seconds of the babies going back into the nest, mom checked in, then perched atop the building for 45 minutes or so. Pretty cool!
The RRP people must be charmed...with thunderstorms in the forecast, we could have been rained out of today's banding! After we came down from the roof and set the gear down in the lobby, we looked out and it was POURING!
The babies each have 2 bands on their legs, one purple USFWS stamped with a 10 digit number on the right leg, and the left band is black over green with a 3 digit letter/number combination stamped into it. This green band is MUCH more visible from a distance than the purple band, so will help us identify the babies after they head out about town.
Rob and Bob named the chicks, and I was surprised and honored to learn that one of the girls was named for me! I'm guessing it was the noisest one...
(Amy's note - I think it really was!)
Here's the rundown:
96/C Female named Kelly
97/C Female named Julie
98/C Female named Sarah
C/92 Male named Jimbo
82/C Mother named Amy
Weather permitting, I'll be in the park again on Thursday around 10am.
Hope to see you there!
Julie
Today's guest blogger is Julie O'Conner, from Hawk Ridge. She runs Duluth's Peregrine Watch. To join her Yahoo! Group for peregrine updates, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peregrinewatch/
Wow, it was FOGGY downtown today! We couldn't even see the Greysolon Building from Canal Park, so we plugged in the camera and got treated to a FEEDING!! I couldn't stand it that I couldn't share camera images with you, so I took a couple with my still camera. I don't pretend that they're even decent photos, but they might be better than nothing!
| |
Mom bringing food into the nest. | |
 | |
 |
Later in the day, Rob, Bob and Amy came to band the babies!! Michael Furtman came along to record the banding process an to start this summer's Peregrine Gallery (http://www.michaelfurtman.com/). You'll be stunned by his photos, check them out!! I took my video camera and got some GREAT footage of the process.
As we arrived on the roof, both parents put up a fuss, but quickly calmed down once we had the babies in hand. There are 4 healthy chicks in the nest, 3 girls and 1 boy! At this age, the difference in size between males and females isn't visible, the banders determined the gender of the babies by the size of their legs! Amazing.
(Amy's note - and their voices. The females have a deeper, raspier voice. I thought of it as the difference between a crow and a raven, although they are much more similar than that example might lead one to think. )
One of the Babies |
Putting on the FWS Band  |
When Bob was over the edge of the building, the female was buzzing past him to attempt to drive him away from the nest. She came close to him several times, but Rob was above Bob and would wave his hand out to divert her attention from Bob's head. It worked for the most part, but when Bob was reaching into the box she came up at a steep angle and TOOK HIS HAT OFF HIS HEAD AND FLEW AWAY WITH IT!!
Amy gets Bob's Hat |
Amy Drops Bob's Hat  |
She flew a circle, then came back and dropped the hat just below us on the roof of the restaurant attached to the Greysolon Building! The whole process took 15 minutes or less, and within seconds of the babies going back into the nest, mom checked in, then perched atop the building for 45 minutes or so. Pretty cool!
The RRP people must be charmed...with thunderstorms in the forecast, we could have been rained out of today's banding! After we came down from the roof and set the gear down in the lobby, we looked out and it was POURING!
The babies each have 2 bands on their legs, one purple USFWS stamped with a 10 digit number on the right leg, and the left band is black over green with a 3 digit letter/number combination stamped into it. This green band is MUCH more visible from a distance than the purple band, so will help us identify the babies after they head out about town.
Rob and Bob named the chicks, and I was surprised and honored to learn that one of the girls was named for me! I'm guessing it was the noisest one...
(Amy's note - I think it really was!)
Here's the rundown:
96/C Female named Kelly
97/C Female named Julie
98/C Female named Sarah
C/92 Male named Jimbo
82/C Mother named Amy
Weather permitting, I'll be in the park again on Thursday around 10am.
Hope to see you there!
Julie
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