IA / Davenport - 2010 / Scorpio & P/D

[Kinderchick]

If this chick could talk, I imagine him saying,"Help! Let me out of here!"

[Alison]

The three Davenport chicks were banded yesterday.

Peregrine falcon chicks banded for tracking

DAVENPORT, Iowa - It happens every year, but our Quad City falcons Scorpio and P/D never get used to their chicks being taken away for a few minutes every spring.  Tuesday morning, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources put bands on the legs of the fuzzy falcons. It's the only way to keep track of them as they grow and establish their own territory.  The falcons have been coming back to a nesting box on the top of the MidAamerican building for about eight years, but this is their only contact with people.

"She's been worked up for about a week, and I think they're more intelligent than we give them credit for. I think they knew this was coming" says technician David Sebben.   The chicks are back safe with their parents. One has been named Desiree to honor the daughter of a long time employee who recently lost her life.  Names for the two males should be chosen in the next few weeks.

source: http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-peregrine-falcon-chicks-banded-052510,0,2393894.story  (The article has a short video of the banding)

[Kinderchick]

What great photos! Too bad about the one egg that did not hatch.

[Alison]

2010 NESTING SEASON

Scorpio and P/D welcome three peregrine falcon chicks

DAVENPORT, Iowa - The MidAmerican Energy / WQAD Falcon cam caught some amazing images so far this year, including three chicks hatching from this year's eggs.  Scorpio and P/D have been laying their eggs in a nesting box along the edge of the MidAmerican building in downtown Davenport for years.

This year, they watched as two of their eggs hatched around May 4 and a third around May 5. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources told MidAmerican that the chicks born in Davenport were the first to hatch in Iowa in 2010.

One week into their lives, the chicks huddled around one egg that unfortunately did not hatch. Both Scorpio and P/D are taking diligent care of the three chicks. A week later, Scorpio is being overly protective of her chicks, leading the humans in charge of caring for them to keep their distance and observe from a window across the way.

source:  http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-scorpio-peregrine-falcon-chicks-born-051910,0,6882626.story

Photos from the article: