06-06-2021 Falcon Week
When the young falcons start to leave the nest area, it is always a precarious and stressful time. Their enthusiasm often gets a few days ahead of their flight feathers and this year has been no exception.
The first fledgling (and we will use that term loosely because they are more jumpers than flyers) took off on June 4 and landed on the Chase Bank building. He had a good updraft that accounted for his long and successful flight. However, reality hit later in the day when he tumbled down the face of the building to East Michigan Avenue. Kudos to Becky S and her fast reaction time. She quickly reached where he fell and found him between a car tire and the curb and pleaded with the car owner to wait for help to arrive. We were able to scoop him up without any further mishap (like scooting into traffic) and decided to take him to flight camp at Wildside Rehabilitation for a few more days of practice in a safer environment. Due to the circumstances, Chase seemed like a fitting name. His band number is Black C over Blue 70.
Not to be outdone by his sibling, another male made a short leap on June 5 to a windowsill on the adjacent building. After stumbling over a potted plant on the window ledge he had a controlled fall to the skywalk between the parking deck and the City Centre building where he spent most of the day. An attempt to fly landed him on a lower window ledge where he spent the night. Thankfully, he waited for his loyal followers to arrive early the next morning before he attempted to fly again when he landed on the street where he was quickly caught up. He and his brother both had a lot of downy feathers and were not really ready for flight. So, he was soon enrolled in flight camp and joined his brother. Because he landed, then fell from the skybridge, the name Skye seemed to stick – maybe be short for Skywalker or Sky King. We hope such an auspicious name will result in more time in the sky rather than on window ledges. His band number is Black C over Blue 71.
We hope that the remaining male and female wait a few more days before launching off the parapet. The “official” fledging date is June 8. The chances of successful flight increase with each day they have to develop flight feathers and practice wing flapping.
