OH / Columbus - Rhodes Tower - 2008-16

[bcbird]

I was so happy watching the take off.  Thank you for the link, Pascalger

[RCF]

It's a very sad thing what happened to Swoop   
but it sure looks like Spirit had a great takeoff....Happy flying Spirit!! 

[carly]

Donna has posted an update on her blog, seems Swoop was not ill - she seems to have hit the building and that may have stunned her or knocked her out.  I hope Spirit has had a good first flight.

July 01 - Spirit Takes Flight

This morning Spirit flew of her own accord at 6:04 a.m. - it was a deliberate liftoff from the ledge. Several folks were watching and saving video. This clip includes a slow motion replay at the end (thanks to Pascal for the clip). If you watch closely you can see one of the adults follow her from the next ledge over. We really like to see a falcon leave the ledge "on purpose" like this vs. an accidental fall as happened Monday to both nestlings.

More on Swoop...additional details are known now after video and witnesses on the ground have come forward. It appeared from the video that Swoop was simply making her way down the ledge when she lost her balance and went over the edge. Again, this is not an uncommon way for a peregrine to make its first flight. Eyewitness reports from the ground indicated there was no flapping when the bird was falling. When I retrieved her from the sidewalk I noted that she had an abrasion on the top of her head. I first believed the injury to have occurred when she landed. However, later reports from witnesses indicated she landed flat on her back on the sidewalk. Therefore we can figure that she must have hit the building on the way down. It is likely that the building strike may have stunned her or even knocked her out, thus the explanation to why she was not flapping as she fell. A very unfortunate incident but nothing anyone could have done would have saved this bird.

[allikat]

Looks like Spirit is doing just fine...a little wingercizing being done on the ledge.
Just keep building up strength in those wings Spirit....flap away, and fly when ready.

[jadoo]

....aaaand now she's out on the ledge, making me look like an overprotective idiot.  Well, I've looked worse.    And now she's wingercising vigorously on the edge of the ledge, and calling.  But she still doesn't look ready to go;  her wingercising hasn't lifted her off the ground yet, and i'm put in mind of our fledges from last year, that would cling to the air vent and beat their winds so long and hard you'd think they were going to carry the vent cover off with them...

[jadoo]

..i've been keeping an eye on the nest box cam here, and Spirit has been in the nest box most of the day, occassionally calling, but not doing much else...I'm very much aftraid she might be ill, or injured(?) from her unsuccessful first flight...anybody else been watching her?

[birdcamfan]

I feel sick seeing this. I'm sure it happens more often than we realize. Lots of young birds don't make it through the first year. It's just hard to actually watch this and know what the result was.

[jadoo]

...i expect that with a chick with no experience on a windy day, one good gust could have banged her back against the building and stunned her - that could have caused the 'no flapping', i guess...

[bcbird]

That was hard to watch.  It looked like a gust just lifted her off, and down she went.

[Linder]

There is a video on the BCAW forum that Queenie of the Hancock forum took of Swoop's fall. An obvious slip from the ledge when she started to run toward the nest box. The link is below and the post is the third one down on the page.
http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=622&start=300

[bcbird]

Bad luck then, for Swoop, and so sad to hear.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Sounds like half the fledges out there ... sometimes they go intentionally and gracefully.  Sometimes its a case of oops and off they go.  Hurricane who is out in Brandon got blown off the edge of the nestbox and she managed to get a nearby building ... she did fine and is now a second year resident female in Brandon who was happy to take our heads off yesterday when we banded her offspring.

Keep in mind that the chicks don't really fly for the first few days, they are big gliders and so long as they stay high, they are fine.  Flying up is tough and takes some practice.  Taking off from the ground likewise takes work as it takes practice, skill and strength, none of which the chicks have right away.  Luck too plays a part in all fledgings!

[carly]

From watching the video Swoop was visibily upset when they returned Spirit to the nestbox.  Scout was definitely kakking up a storm and Swoop headed to the ledge and did wingercize a bit but not enough to take flight. I really don't think it was ready to go yet and probably nothing wrong with it medically. Only my thoughts.

I wonder too linderlou.  It also seems strange both chicks would fall within hours of each other.  I wonder how windy it was and if the area is prone to wind tunnels. I know we have nasty areas here where there are concentrations of high buildings densely pack together and I personally, being as small as a rag doll (as my friends would say) have often gotten caught up in them and literally been blown onto the street into traffic - it feels like a hand is on your back and you have no control at all so imagine a poor little falcon who has yet to have tested her wings.   

It can't be easy to make a decision as to whether to return her to the ledge or not at that stage.  That's part of the reason they do our releases at night -  so the parents don't panic and so the released bird and any siblings up there don't panic fly or fall.  They learned that lesson the hard way I'm afraid.   Either way, I'm sure Donna must feel horrible.

[Linder]

Also checked out the comments on the Ohio Webcam Site:

Possible Fledge This Morning

I haven't gotten any concrete confirmation but a couple of reports indicate that one of the juveniles may have fledged earlier this morning. The accounts indicated that the bird was flapping near the edge and basically fell off the ledge while turning around. Since then only one chick has been observed on the ledge.

At this point they have all of the feathers necessary for flight. So, even if the "take off" wasn't deliberate, once over the edge the bird will instinctively flap. It is important at this point to try and get leg band codes via the ledgecam to help tell which bird(s) are on the ledge.

This was the first one that obviously wasn't ready to fledge that went over the ledge and when it was returned to the nest ledge the second went over the ledge an hour or two later.

[Linder]

Decided to check out the BCAW site for comments as they all follow this site closely:

I am with you SGB; I am in total shock; I was out in my yard when my neighbor came up to me and said they were downtown; I am always telling them about our girls; that is when they told me - Patrice was driving down Broad Street and out of the corner of her eye she saw something fall from the sky - she thought it was a chunk of the building but it turned out to be Swoop. She said Swoop was laying intact on her back with her wings spread so she was trying to fly;

Of course everyone has a hard time believing what has happened as there were no visible signs of Swoop having problems.