MI / Monroe - 2009-10

[The Peregrine Chick]

Fifteen years is nothing to sneeze at so while sad, you can be sure that his genetics are alive and well somewhere in the Midwest and that is a very good thing.

Of all the birds hatched in North America 10 years ago, only 11% are still alive.  Of all those hatched 20 years ago, only 0.1% are still alive.  So at 15 years of age, he was probably one of less than 3% of all the birds hatched in 1995 that are still alive.  That's an amazing feat for any bird!

[Kinderchick]

...In his 13 years at the DTE Power Plant in Monroe, Michigan he fathered 33 chicks with three females....

Very sad, carly. But what a great legacy he leaves behind.

[carly]

2010 NESTING SEASON

Well I hate to start a new topic with bad news but I just read on the CMNH board that Leopold has passed away and he is one of those long lived tiercel's that has made a major contribution to the world of falcons we so enjoy today so I felt he should be honored.  Fly free Leopold  

Also sadly, 3 of the 4 chicks they hatched this year are in rehab but they will be okay and may be returned to her in shifts so she can manage now that she is on her own.

Here is Barb's post from: http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?51584.210#post_54094

Sad news ... Leopold, b/r N/*4 who hatched at the Rhodes State Office Tower in 1995 died yesterday of a bacterial infection in his crop. In his 13 years at the DTE Power Plant in Monroe, Michigan he fathered 33 chicks with three females. The chicks at this site are only banded when they are grounded and rescued, so 17 chicks were banded. The current female, Millie, black 81/K will be very busy feeding this years four chicks without him

[Alison]

Thank you for this info Alison, I don't know if the folks in Port Colbourne are aware of Millie being there?  If not I will post it for them to go see.

I don't know if they are aware either . . . I didn't know she was there until today.

[carly]

Thank you for this info Alison, I don't know if the folks in Port Colbourne are aware of Millie being there?  If not I will post it for them to go see.  

[Alison]

2009 NESTING SEASON

The male at this plant is Leopold, now fourteen years old. He has been at this nest since 1997. Last year it was reported that Leopold had flown into a wire and had been euthanized; however, this was not the case. I believe that the falcon involved was Leopold's long-time mate, Raynie. 

This year Leopold has a new mate. She is Millie, a daughter of Freedom and Purity of Port Colborne, Ontario, born in 2005. Freedom, of course, is a son of Mariah and Kaver in their first year together, born 2002. Millie's former mate is/was Swifty, a son of Freedom and Roosevelt of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Leopold is a brother of Erie, the former mate of Dorothy at the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh.

Millie and Leopold had two babies this year, Heidi and Tyson. One of them appears to be missing:

We had 20 chicks born this year in SE Michigan (that we are aware of anyway), 17 of which lived long enough to attempt first flight and were successful (we lost all three chicks at 12 days of age from our Whittier Apartments site in Detroit - cause unknown), as of today (7-19-2009) we can account for 12 of these young Peregrines still alive (no carcasses have been found, however we are not able to find 2 at Blue Water Bridge, 1 at UofD Mercy, 1 at Monroe Powerplant, and our only Flint produced falcon 'Maize').

webcam link:  http://www.geocities.com/macomb_audubon/Falcon_Page_2009.htm