[va-richmond-general] Fw: For Falcons as for People, Life in the Big City Has Its Risks as Well as Its Rewards

  Thought folks here might really enjoy this article!

  Irene in Southside


  > For Falcons as for People, Life in the Big City Has Its Risks as Well as
Its Rewards
  >
  > June 28, 2004
  >  By MELISSA SANFORD
  >
  >
  > SALT LAKE CITY, June 27 - While missionaries explained the
  > Mormon faith and young brides posed for their wedding
  > pictures in Temple Square, a group set apart by their
  > bright orange vests had another mission entirely -
  > witnessing and abetting one of the most basic coming-of-age
  > rituals in nature.
  >
  > Two peregrine falcons are teaching their two fledglings to
  > fly in the middle of Temple Square, the headquarters of the
  > Mormon Church and the most popular tourist site in Salt
  > Lake City, with a cadre of human volunteers keeping a
  > daylight watch under the nest, prepared to act as a safety
  > net.
  >
  > Peregrine falcons usually nest on high cliffs, but some
  > make their homes on tall buildings and bridges in urban
  > areas.
  >
  > It takes a young falcon, known as an eyas, a week or so to
  > learn to fly - a period that Bob Walters of the Utah
  > Division of Wildlife Resources refers to as Hell Week.
  >
  > Flight training for young falcons that are born in urban
  > areas is all the more treacherous because they often crash
  > into buildings or fly into traffic. When that happens, Mr.
  > Walters said, "it wrecks your whole day."
  >
  > Every city with peregrine falcon nests has a different
  > approach. New York City has 15 nests, said Chris Naderski
  > of the city's Department of Environmental Protection. Some
  > are monitored by 24-hour Web cameras, some by bird-watchers
  > and some by bridge workers.
  >
  > In California there is one volunteer in Los Angeles, where
  > falcons are nesting on buildings along Wilshire Boulevard,
  > and another in the Bay Area, where falcons are living on
  > the Golden Gate Bridge, said Brian Walton of the Predatory
  > Bird Research Group at the University of California, Santa
  > Cruz.
  >
  > Here in Salt Lake City, volunteers - clad in bright orange
  > vests with reflective yellow strips so they can be easily
  > seen by drivers - have taken shifts over the last two weeks
  > watching over the nest and its fledglings. Utah's
  > Department of Transportation has installed large orange
  > signs: "Falcon bird watch area. Prepare to stop."
  >
  > "If a bird flies into the street, Bob will try and catch it
  > and I'm supposed to throw myself in front of the cars,"
  > said June Ryburn, 75, a retired office manager who has
  > spent 13 hours a day watching the birds.
  >
  > There were only about 200 American peregrine falcons left
  > in North America in the 1970's, and they were considered an
  > endangered species until 1999. Now there are more than
  > 3,000, according to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.
  > Their recovery is due in part to the banning of the
  > pesticide DDT, which weakened falcon eggshells, and in part
  > to the breeding of falcons in captivity.
  >
  > But the urban landscape remains a threat to the birds. The
  > survival rate for falcons is about 40 percent in cities and
  > about 50 percent in the wild, said Dr. Bill A. Burnham,
  > president of the Peregrine Fund, an organization that works
  > to save peregrine falcons and other birds of prey.
  >
  > Of 16 eyases in Salt Lake City between 1986 and 1996, when
  > peregrine falcons were last spotted downtown, five died,
  > three from flying into traffic or buildings and two from
  > disease, Mr. Walters said. Six of the survivors had help
  > from bird-watchers, he said, including one baby falcon he
  > caught as it was flying into traffic.
  >
  > At Temple Square last week, Mr. Walters said, the young
  > male falcon tried flying before his sister, but navigating
  > Salt Lake City proved difficult. He flew over traffic but
  > slammed into the window of a bank and then hit a nearby
  > mall.
  >
  > "When he was crashing into the building, I was running
  > across the street, stopping traffic and saying, 'Don't hit
  > me, I have to save this bird,' " said Nate Everts, 26, a
  > volunteer falcon watcher.
  >
  > Somehow the bird bounced off the second building and flew
  > back to Temple Square uninjured. This time he landed on the
  > Mormon Temple, the most sacred building of the faith.
  >
  > "They chose the right spot," said LaNita Larsen, 59, a
  > bird-watcher. "There are a lot of people praying while
  > their babies learn to fly."
  >
  > The bird-watchers stand out amid Temple Square's
  > meticulously groomed gardens. It is hard to miss their
  > binoculars, shorts and orange mesh vests.
  >
  > They were monitoring the young female until late Wednesday
  > night as she struggled to take her first flight. She stood
  > on the edge of her nest and peered at the 10-story drop
  > below. She flapped her wings and dangled one leg off the
  > edge, but she did not move. She yelped loudly when her
  > parents flew by.
  >
  > A crowd quickly gathered on the ground. The bird-watchers
  > focused their binoculars on the nest and talked with one
  > another via walkie-talkies. One volunteer sat on the
  > walkway with a towel, waiting to catch the baby bird if she
  > happened to fall. Two more were stationed on the side of
  > the street, waiting to run into traffic if necessary.
  >
  > The Holloways, a Mormon couple from Sequim, Wash., were
  > visiting with their seven children when they noticed all
  > the commotion.
  >
  > "We thought everybody was looking at the prophet," said
  > McKenna Holloway, 18, referring to Gordon B. Hinckley, the
  > president of the church. "Then we realized they were
  > looking at birds."
  >
  > At 6:54 a.m. Thursday, Mr. Walters was already back at work
  > and saw the female eyas take her first flight. Hell Week is
  > not over yet, but he and his weary team are hoping the
  > birds will soon have enough experience to navigate the city
  > safely.



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