The Local Peregrines

What a morning.

The plan was to visit the local PEREGRINE FALCON nest box, band a few chicks and then go have some coffee and donuts. Good plan, right? Not so fast.

We get to the bridge, special thanks to the SHA for stopping traffic and letting us climb over and under the span. Scary, you ask? Not so much. It's nice to know the birds are inaccessible and safe from humans. Here she is now... in all of her blurry glory!It was tight climbing down, so I didn't bring my big lens or a flash. BUT, I did manage to have my HD video, so in the near future, I'll be posting some movies. I digress.Here is the quick story: she is a NEW bird from Virginia. I'll get more details about her from Craig Koppie from USFWS. He was our fearless leader on the trip. Where was our old girl, the New Yorker, from last year? We may never find out.Check this one out. Our girl, who Craig dubbed 'Godzilla', is perched on the right watching us. At the same time, the male is flying around screaming. Notice his shadow? Craig might call many of the Peregrines that he meets 'Godzilla', but I thought she did a fine job of earning that name this morning.She had eggs on (at least) three piers of the span. One on one, which she was attempting to sit on and incubate. There were two other eggs on a nearby pier, which failed and one more egg on yet another pier towards the center of the channel.She, and the previous lady of the Severn, never even touched the Taj Mahal of nestboxes that we installed in the Spring of 2008! Instead, the eggs were laid on hard metal with just a bit of dirt that has fallen down from the roadway. She obviously would sit on the eggs and eventually, they would chip or crack on the hard surface.Craig grabbed some gravel from the nestbox and nestled the one good egg onto a 'better' surface in the hopes that this egg would be a success. It doesn't look too promising, but I will keep watch and of course, keep you updated.And the male... he's the same guy.Enjoy your weekend,

Dan

Summer in Annapolis For The Peregrine Falcons

I have great news...

BOTH PEREGRINE FALCONS

I dropped by Uncle Frank's this evening and was delighted to find both Mom (banded) and Dad (not yet banded with bird bling) PEREGRINE FALCON perched very near each other on the bridge.

DAD PEREGRINE

Mom is looking large and bulky, which is a good sign for what I hope is a mother-to-be.

FATHER PEREGRINE FALCON

During my hour long visit, she paced the girder, but never left for her scrape. I was hoping to see where they might be nesting this year. But since she was out and about, and not on eggs, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not they're trying to start a family.

FLYING FATHER FALCON

WALKING THE GIRDER: MOM PEREGRINE

Craig, Alison and several others put up a really nice nest box for them, but as of yet they haven't decided to use it.

MOM FLEDGED FROM THE TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE IN NEW YORK

Maybe it's due to the constant bridge work?

DAD, PERCHED AND WATCHING

Maybe they like the safety of being near Uncle Frank's place? Maybe they recall how they found their fledgling chick last year on Uncle Frank's beach drying out after she took a dip in the Severn River? Whatever their reasons, I'm looking forward to this year's events.

FATHER PEREGRINE FLYING ABOVE THE BRIDGE

Dad PEREGRINE was performing a few acrobatics in the brisk wind above, below and all around the West side of the bridge.

PACING MOTHER PEREGRINE FALCON

I look forward to my next visit and this summer's bridge watch. It's time to break out the kayak.

DAD FALCON

Happy Nesting!

Dan

PEREGRINES COURT, DECLAN ROCK OUT and EVERYONE SLEEPS IN

After a hard night of rocking out... Declan decided to sleep in this Monday morning. His parents happily obliged and snored for an hour and half longer than usual.Declan (I mean, just LOOK at him... a TOTAL rock star) enjoyed a few breakfasts and his mother and I, an entire pot of coffee. Now full, the entire Haas family decided it was time to take a trip. First stop, oddly enough, turned out to be lunch. Did I mention that we move slow on holidays? In accordance with our new fitness goals, a turkey sub with no mayo proved to be both healthy and delicious. The family's hunger was now subsiding, so this was the perfect time for me to pop the question:

Can we go watch the falcons?Happily, they responded with a rousing, "Yes!" So off we went to Uncle Frank's beach.Not two minutes after we got out of the Volvo and finished stretching our legs, the Severn River PEREGRINE FALCONS appeared in the sky over the river. Darting between the puffy white and grey clouds, in and out of the blue skies and sunbeams, the male falcon and the visibly larger female falcon were conducting an wildly acrobatic aerial display. I felt like I was watching nature's version of the Blue Angels, the US Navy's best impersonators of the PEREGRINE. The Blue Angels perform here in May every year for the Naval Academy's Commissioning Week.At one point, both falcons streaked into the middle of a passing flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS over the Severn River. PEREGRINE FALCONS (click to view Bill Hubick's deluxe photo) are exceptionally fast fliers, capable of reaching speeds up to 69 mph in direct pursuit of prey. Cool, yes? Well check this out: in a hunting stoop from nearly a half a mile up, a Peregrine can reach speeds of 200 mph as they plummet toward their prey. Needless to say, the Haases were thoroughly impressed with today's show. And Uncle Frank says hello too.While we were there, we met up up with two folks from the bridge painting company named Gary and Paul. Along with their workers, these two guys crisscross the country, painting bridges and other hard-to-reach areas. Gary installed the scrape that helped a pair successfully fledge chicks on the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia. He told Emery, Declan and I that no one else really had the desire to climb that high with the box, rocks and materials. Lucky for the falcons, Gary and Paul are used to great heights.Hopefully, our local falcons will have their scrape installed and ready for occupancy soon. I shall keep you posted.

Good Courting,

Dan