06-10-2019 All juvies accounted for and flying

6/10/2019

At the end of the last post on Sunday mid-day, we could not find the third juvie (Black 39/Blue C) after a weak flight and unsuccessful landing on the antennae tower.  Kudos to WS who found him on the roof as he wriggled out from under an air conditioning unit at the base of the tower Sunday afternoon. He stayed on the edge of that low roof the rest of the day and evening and was still there at 6 AM Monday morning after a night of rain.  The building he was on is only 3 stories, which is pretty low, and he would need to gain elevation to get to a safer location.  Young falcons always lose elevation on their first flight(s) and must work to maintain and to gain elevation and avoid becoming grounded.  It seems to surprise them how hard they need to flap to do that.  Rebecca flew overhead and dropped some hints, but no food.  By late morning, he got up his courage to fly and made it to the top of the parking deck (4 points for gaining elevation) and had a bit of a crash landing into the elevator tower (-2 points for the landing).  But he was not hurt and was still points ahead from where he started.  He very quickly decided to fly again and made it to the roof of the City Centre Building – another gain in elevation and a safe perch right next to home base! 

His brothers were both at Peregrine Central on the bank building on Monday morning and were hanging out together at the 15th floor.  They did some loops out and back with strong flights, although their landing skills needed some practice.  One of the juvies did some great laps followed by serval aborted attempts at landing. After a few blunders on his part, Rebecca  tried to give him some pointers, but this got really confusing and he landed on the City Centre instead with his brother. But they did more practice flights and improved.  One juvie even returned to the nest box and ordered take out, which Rebecca dutifully delivered. 

After another long day of juvie watching, AZ was rewarded to see the next flight for 39C on Monday evening.  He circled around and it appeared that he made it to the west side of the bank.  Another shout out to Neighbor N for spotting him at the 12th floor on the west side near the 5/3rd sign.  This was another gain of elevation for our young friend and an encouraging sign for the Peregrine Patrol.     

Photo credit to @Walter J Smolenski    

 

Tags: Kalamazoo Peregrine falcons. Peregrine falcon cam