Mississippi River Peregrine Falcons: Great News for Cliff Nesting Falcons

Tuesdays must be the lucky day to find falcons on the river cliffs. On 4/8/08 we located two adult falcons defending Pepin Heights cliff just south of Lake City, MN. On 4/15/08, I spent the entire day surveying river cliffs and was most pleased to find two adult falcons defending a small cliff just north of the town of Minneiska, MN.

It appears that falcons are now taking to smaller or secondary cliffs. However, the one constant is that all cliffs with falcons tower directly over open water. Will this change when all cliffs directly facing water are occupied?

The following is a list of cliff sites with falcons on territory.

1. West Bluff near Maiden Rock, WI: Historic eyrie with falcons back for the third time.
2. Maiden Rock: The matriarch of river cliffs. Purchased and managed by the West Wisconsin Land Trust.
3. Maassen’s Bluff: Four miles north of Alma, WI.
4. 12 Mile Bluff: On the south end of the town of Alma, WI.
5. Castle Rock: Across the river from Winona, MN.
6. Lynxville, WI cliffs: The falcons are back on Larson’s Bluff.
7. Lock and Dam 9: This is the third year for this small cliff to attract falcons. It’s interesting to note that in 2006 there was an adult male paired with an immature female. 2007 an adult male paired with an immature female. 2008 adult female, immature male.
8. Fountain City: Two adults taking to the nest box mounted to the cliff in 2006.
9. John Latsch: Adult falcons present. Bandings carried out by Raptor Center.
10. Queen’s Bluff: South of Winona, MN Bandings carried out by Raptor Center.
11. Homer cliff near Homer, MN: Two adult falcons defending
12. Great Spirit Bluff: South of Dresbach, MN.
13. Leo’s Bluff, Waukon Jnct, IA: The two adult falcons at this cliff have moved to a new cliff just upstream from Leo’s Bluff. This is the third time the falcons have moved upstream. Dan Berger jokes that this is the result of global warming.
14. Pepin Heights 1: We confirmed falcons on this cliff on 4/8/08. On 4/15/08 I saw them carry out a food transfer. The winds were too strong to attempt to read bands on the top of the cliff. I even got a creepy feeling while standing on the top of this bluff being buffeted by 30+ winds.
15. Hussen’s Bluff near Minneiska, MN: I confirmed two adult falcons on this small cliff yesterday morning. I met with the land owner who is excited about his falcons.

Cliffs that have had some falcon activity

1. Twin Bluffs: Near Nelson, WI. Two falcons were present on early visits to the cliff but on 4/8/08 no falcons were observed. This same day, two falcons were observed at the Wabasha Bridge. The owners of this cliff have asked us to install a nest box on the cliff wall.
2. Trempealeau, WI: Falcons were observed several times in 2007. We have not seen falcon activity as of this writing in 2008.
3. Brownsville, MN: There are two cliffs south of Brownville that have in past years attracted single falcons.
4. Alma Marina cliff: This is a historic cliff nest site for the peregrine falcons. Dan Berger working with Fred and Fran Hamerstrom trapped an adult female falcon below this cliff in the early 50’s. We’ve seen falcons at this cliff several times over the years however, last year and, this year, Great Horned Owls are nesting in the one prominent eyrie.
5. Goose Island cliff: We have had falcons visit this cliff off and on over the last few years. The land owner who lives near the base of this cliff will let us know if falcons are seen once again.
6. Hastings cliff: Falcons have nested in the nest box mounted to the small cliff and also on a nearby bridge. I have not heard what site the Hasting falcons are using this season.

Bob Anderson
Director, Raptor Resource Project

Falcons at Maasen's and 12-Mile Bluff

Sorry about the lack of pictures. My camera unclipped from my harness at 12-mile.

12-mile Bluff was supposed to be a piece of cake. Maasen’s certainly went well for us, although we banded just one baby there. The falcons had left the eyrie we’d improved for them and chosen another, with poorer drainage. While Dave and Rob obtained the single baby and brought it up top for banding, Bob rappelled down to the old eyrie and began planning further ways to make it more attractive to the falcons. They had much better production in this eyrie – when they used it! Bob thought that adding a perch after the falcons left in the fall might make it more attractive to them next spring.

The single baby was healthy. We quickly banded it and I got to return it to the eyrie. What a thrill! Maasen’s bluff is really beautiful – limestone swirled with pods of chert and what looks like feldspar to me, interspersed with a darker crystalline rock that I think might be traversine. It is also quite solid compared to some of the places we band falcons – something I quickly came to appreciate. Dislodged rocks are dangerous.

To return this baby to the eyrie, I removed my rappelling gloves and got the firmest footing I could. If I drop the falcon, it dies, so I can’t drop the falcon. Not if rock shifts, falls, or crumbles under my feet. Not if the rope rolls or moves, sending me in an unexpected direction. Not if the baby digs its talons into my skin or the mother whacks me in the head or slices my arm or binds to my back. I quickly recalled all of this before carefully unlocking and opening the kennel door, grabbing the little falcon firmly, and transferring it as far back into the eyrie as I could. I called to have the kennel sent back up the cliff and rappelled down. It was 300 feet from the top of the bluff to the bottom, and it was awesome! I was already looking forward to next year, when we should (if improvement goes well), have even more young to band.

12-Mile Bluff, located just behind the Alma power plant, is a new site. The falcons had previously nested on the Alma power plant, but had deserted the plant for the bluff. Dairyland Power has been very supportive of our work and John Thiel, the company’s biologist, was beaming like a proud father over the prospect of cliff babies. Since we weren’t sure quite where the eyrie was, everyone took a look at it before we went up. We looked for adults, babies, whitewash (aka poop), baby down, and even clouds of flies, which can be attracted to remains. Since no obvious spots showed, we decided that several people would rappel down to look. We got to the top, took a short hike through the woods, and tied off. Bob, Rob, and Dave went down. And down again. And down again. Bob proved his skills by tying off on top, climbing down a short bluff, climbing back up a chimney, and rappelling off that – with something like 50 feet of rope hanging in the air. Rob and I were wincing as we watched, since his rope ran over some small underbrush at the top, where it was tied off. If the underbrush moved or snapped, the rope would move, which could throw Bob off the chimney. I sat on the rope and held it, hoping to prevent any sudden shifts, while Rob made sure that the rope wouldn’t roll. Bob did successfully make the transition down the chimney, which the female seemed to be defending, but didn’t find any young. So we gave up. Bob rappelled to the bottom while the rest of us pulled up rope, packed everything away, and drove down to the bottom, where we discovered that the eyrie had been found. Fast forward through lunch, and it was back up the bluff!

This time, we decided that Dave and I would get the babies. To do so, we had to tie off to trees, back up through underbrush and poison ivy, laying our ropes as flat to the ground as we could, and crawl through a cedar snag. The snag was large and unrooted – ie, just sitting at the top of the bluff. Once we were through, we could descend.

Since there was a real risk of dropping the tree and killing a climber, we decided to go one at a time, Dave first. He got down to the eyrie and tucked under a ledge. Then it was my turn. I’ve never done anything quite so touchy in my life – carefully back through the underbrush, disentangle my rope bag, crawl backwards to the drop through the cedar tangle, first foot out through the cedar, untangle the bag, keep the grigri turned right, second foot out, stand up, lean back, don’t kill my partner! Through the tangle, and I hadn’t dropped anything on Dave. I headed down, at one point rappelling through a live cedar tree – or was it a juniper? – that clung to the cliff. By the end of the ordeal, I disliked the tree.

We got into position. I was on a ledge above Dave, who was positioned on a ledge in front of the eyrie. Bob and Rob belayed the kennel down to me, although it got stuck in the tree on the way down. I caught it and dropped it over the lip of my ledge to Dave, who got the four young falcons in. The eyrie was small and very, very hot – the babies were panting hard and loggy from the heat. However, they looked healthy and had good crops. Dave got the babies in and Bob and Rob took the kennel up.

We’d had to run all the ropes very close together, and of course the tree was in the way. The kennel got briefly caught under the ropes, so Dave and I had to dump rope and give Bob and Rob slack. We did so pronto, although it meant putting a lot of slack in our equipment – something that should be done only if needed, and only if you understand what you are doing. It was needed, and very badly. The kennel easily came free of the ropes and the two men got it up the cliff. We got the slack out of our equipment and dropped the ropes down the bluff. Then we waited. Man, was it ever hot! I didn’t know how those falcons could stand it. I read somewhere that the adults will shade babies with their wings. These babies needed it.

Once the falcons were banded, Bob and Rob lowered the cage again. Of course, it got caught in the tree. Dave used his rope to pop the kennel out and I swung into position to belay it down from the ledge to him, carefully avoiding a large rock that was just waiting to fall on his head. He tucked the babies in, yelled for the kennel to go up, and said, “When I tell you, drop quick. Go right past the eyrie, fast, and don’t even look!”

I don’t like fast rappels, but I did what I was told. Zoom past the eyrie without looking and pull up by Dave, feeling like a real pro. After we got down the talus (stop, pull the rope out of the grapevine or underbrush, drop it a few more feet, stop, pull the rope, etc), he told me that the babies tried to run out of the eyrie after he’d put them back. He blocked the entrance and prevented them from jumping, but wanted me out of there asap to avoid endangering the young falcons.

We got to the bottom and I drank two bottles of cold water in less than two minutes before getting serious and simply showering myself in some ice water. Eventually the rest of the crew got down from the top and we briefly celebrated the return of falcons to yet another river cliff. The four healthy babies were well worth the work! I’ll be looking for them a couple of years from now.

Northern Banding Trip

It started raining just north of Rush City, 12 miles from my home, and kept on raining all the way to Grand Rapids, 3 hours and 122 miles later. We drove through freshets, squalls, drizzles, and buckets of rain, with the radio forecasting yet more rain for tomorrow. I just hoped we didn’t get a thunderstorm! I still remember going up Genoa between thunderstorms in 2004. The stack was moving in the wind and the heavy weather was clearly heading our way. It is the only time I can remember feeling really frightened on a stack.

Minnesota Power again very kindly provided a couple of rooms for us at the Super 8 Motel. Bob and Rob bunked in one, while I took the other. After all that rain the rooms were a welcome sight, as was free coffee and breakfast in the morning! We stoked up and headed out.

Cohasset stack. The box is on the first catwalk.

It wasn’t raining – well, maybe drizzling a little bit – but it was very, very foggy. The Cohasset stack is large and usually easily seen from the road. This year, the only thing we could see was a corner of one of the buildings looming out of the mist. We got on to the plant grounds and back to the stack, where some current and past Minnesota Power employees met us. This year, Bob, me, Mike Chambers, and another Minnesota Power employee climbed the stack to band the two babies here. It went off without a hitch. I love this site – I enjoy climbing the stack, and the view is beautiful. Sometimes we bring the young falcons down the stack, but with a 200' ladder climb, it wasn't going to happen. Bob set up the banding supplies on top of the nest box, where they could easily be reached. He quickly and efficiently banded the two healthy young male peregrines while I held them. They were 24 and 25 days old. Although they still had a lot of white down, their juvenile feathers were coming in nicely on their wings and tail. We tried to get band numbers on the female, but were unable to do so.

Bob bands on the nestbox. Note the falcon's tail.

The guys from Minnesota Power.

The fog began to clear up while we were on the stack and burned off not long after we left. The day was so bright and sunny that both of us were surprised when Bob called the MPL Hibbard Plant in Duluth and found out they were in pea fog soup! Duluth, for those of you that aren’t familiar with it, runs down a large hill to Lake Superior, so it effectively sits in a sort of half-bowl against the lake. As we headed downhill from Proctor, the fog quickly became so thick it was hard to see and I’ll bet the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees. It was hard to find Hibbard when we couldn’t see the stack!

Minnesota Power had put up the box last fall and the falcons adopted it this spring. It is not a cammed site and we had no idea what to expect. We met with the Steve Schiller and went through the plant’s safety training before going to the nest. It is sobering to realize how dangerous a power plant can be. I really appreciate them going the extra mile to work with us on the peregrine-utility program – and I miss collecting footage from the King plant!

We were able to take a lift about 2/3 of the way to the catwalk before starting our climb. As at Cohasset, we were given fall arrest devices. These devices differ from plant to plant, but the ones I’ve used all clip on to a cable or bar that runs in the center of the ladder. If you fall, it will cause the device to catch and stop you. We clipped in and climbed up, where we were greeted by two fairly irate parents and four eggs. Bob checked to see if they had pips and we took a moment to try to read band numbers. We didn’t get them, but did confirm that the birds were banded.

After leaving Hibbard, we went to the Greysolon Building, where we were met by Ed and Miriam, former property managers and long-time supporters of our work; Julie O’Conner, from the Hawk Ridge PeregrineWatch, and her daughter Carly; Kelly Boedigheimer, an employee of the Fond-du-Luth casino and another supporter of our work; and Rob’s friend ‘Third’, whose actual name escapes me. At the last minute Jim, who lives in the building, and Michael Furtman, a photographer from Duluth, also joined us. We all headed up.

To get the babies here, we have to go over the top of the building on rope. We tie off to a window-washing rig that has a flat tire, so a bicycle pump is an absolute necessity – we have to pump up the tire before pushing the rig over by the box. We had a lot of help, and quickly got the banding ‘station’ and rig ready. Bob went over the top.

I think Bob decided he was sick of hard hats this year, because he didn’t have one on. Amy the falcon dove on him several times, finally getting his hat. She flew off with it clutched in her talons and circled around the front of the building before dropping it on a lower roof. I’ve seen some interesting stuff on these banding trips, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen a falcon steal a hat! Bob didn’t miss a beat as he put all four babies in a bucket, which we pulled up to the top of the building.

Amy the Falcon steals Bob's hat

Female peregrines are bigger than male peregrines. When banding babies, we look at size to help determine gender. However, that alone may not be enough. In this case, we had three large babies and one very small one. We think they began hatching on May 15th, although there was a big size difference between the larger and smaller falcons. They all had nice crops and white down, with the tips of a few tail and juvenile feathers just starting to show on the larger falcons. However, the small one was clearly younger, not just smaller. Bob looked at the thickness of the little falcon’s tarsus and size of its feet, and declared her a female. That left the three larger falcons.

The Little Falcon

Can You Pick the Male?

Bob pointed out that the falcons were making slightly different noises. The females make a lower raspier noise, while the males make a higher noise. I thought of the difference between crows and ravens, although they sound much more alike than that. At any rate, Bob had Rob and I band a falcon that he was positive was a female before turning to the last two. We listened to them and banded the next bird with female bands (lower voice, thicker tarsus, size of feet) before turning to the last, questionable bird. Rob looked it over, came to a decision, and asked me what I thought. Hmmmmmm. Well, the voice was higher, the tarsus was thinner, and the feet were smaller. I thought it was a male and he concurred, as did Bob. We banded the last bird with male bands and then took a female and drew blood for the University’s genetic study. I quickly returned the young birds to the nest. It was an odd feeling – last year, Duluth was the end of the year and this year, for me, it was the beginning! But what a great beginning: two babies at Cohasset, four at Greysolon, and four eggs at the new Hibbard site in Duluth Harbor. I can hardly wait to come back!