[TN-Bird] FW: Peregrine Falcons above Alum Cave

  • From: "Charles P. Nicholson" <cpnichol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "TN-Bird Listserve" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:30:33 -0400

Yesterday's New York Times had a nice article about young Peregrine
Falcons taking their first flights from urban nests.  Here is the
article:

For Falcons as for People, Life in the Big City Has Its Risks as Well as
Its Rewards
By MELISSA SANFORD

Published: June 28, 2004

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.

Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN

-----Original Message-----
From: tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of hoyle
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 7:33 PM
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [TN-Bird] Peregrine Falcons above Alum Cave


Alum Cave
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
TN

Kristine Johnson and I observed 4 Peregrine Falcons about 1/4 of a mile
above Alum Cave Bluff on the trail to LeConte. We identified two of the
birds 
as
juveniles, but were not able to clearly identify the other two as the
adults or more juveniles. The pair at Duck Hawk Ridge has typically
raised three chicks. As usual, the juveniles put on a incredible show:
making spectacular dives and chasing each other in out of the
trees...The location of the nest site this year remains a mystery, but
it good to see that the Duck Hawk Ridge pair have once again been
successful.

Susan Hoyle
Knoxville, TN

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=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================


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  • » [TN-Bird] FW: Peregrine Falcons above Alum Cave