Peregrine Falcons at the Bay Bridge

[Peltz]

There used to be Peregrine falcons the lived on the old grain elevator in Locust Point in Baltimore before it was torn down to build condos and such. One time I was wade fishing on the Susky by Wrightsville, PA and a Peregrine flew in and hovered over me for a good couple of minutes. Couldn't have been more than 40 feet above my head, maybe less. It was very cool to see one that close for that long.

[ldleta]

Very funny hookman. I used to have one also - or was it a Fairlane (it was my first car)? It had an automatic transmission with buttons to shift on the dashboard. On another note, those are Red-Shouldered hawks in your photo.

I used to have a Falcon that I did a little nesting in back in the 60's. There used to be a little screaching from time to time as well.
It was a four door.
Sorry Shawn, Somebody had to do it. Seriously though, these 2 guys have been having a feast for over a month in my back yard.
Young Red Tails I believe.

Great post until I ruined it.

Attachment 57782Attachment 57783

[uncle Bob]

They are really protective of the area when they have young in the nest. They have a nesting program in Baltimrore. The falcons will swoop down and brush the top of your head if you are on the roof of an adjacent building. It is a little uncomfortable.
Uncle Bob

[Shawn Kimbro]

Dredging up a post from last year, for anyone interested, there's an article about Bay Bridge falcons on WTOP today: http://www.wtop.com/46/3309739/Baby-...-in-Bay-Bridge

[Piscophile]

Howdy, Shawn: Just a couple weeks ago I started wondering when we would hear of the Bay Bridge Perigrines.
Now , thanks to you for posting that link, we learn they have chicks, look like a couple weeks old too.
Hurrah for the proud parents, and thanks to the pigeons for offering themselves up to make more Perigrine.
You could,nt tickle me more with a feather, hope all continues to go well with bringing up those young uns.

Piscophile

[pkeating]

Very cool - not sure why he felt he needed to handle the chicks but I guess he knows what he is doing.

Pat

[Piscophile]

Mr. Keating : More than likely the chicks were being banded, this requires them to be weighed and their gender guessed at.
The female Perigine, ( known by Falconers as the "Falcon"), is quite a bit larger than the male (called the "Tiercel").
"Tiercel" is an archaic term roughly translated as 1/3, meaning the male is 1/3 smaller than the Falcon.
Whithout doing an invasive surgery the relative size of the chicks would be used to estimate the gender, weight and, body measurements may also be taken for the data used in the banding process .
Unfortunately this requires them to undergo a certain amount of "manhandling".
Those of us who have indulged in banding birds of prey have a few scars, and memories to show for it.
Blood, scars and all, I loved it, I would probably still be doing it if I had kept my liscense, 15 years ago.

Love a Hawk
Piscophile