MI / Jackson - 2010-13

[The Peregrine Chick]

2013 NESTING SEASON

Chayton & Big Red have four chicks this year - Millie, Cascade, Coney & Tower.  I don't know the gender of the chicks but here are some photos I found from this year taken by Mike Mulholland and posted on MLive.com.


     

 

 

   

 

[Alison]

The chicks have been out of cam range lately, but finally today I found one at home:



 
And later, there were two                                                 And then all three

[Alison]

The family in the sun today:

[Alison]

A short article on the Jackson falcons, with photos of the chicks:

Baby photos in Jackson, falcon-style

As the official peregrine falcon reporter of the Citizen Patriot, I have not fully explained that Jackson's resident falcon family has been virtually adopted by the information technology department of Jackson County government. This oversight will be corrected in an upcoming column.

For now, here are a half-dozen photos of the baby falcons at 10 days old. The photos were taken by IT Director Connie Frey and/or her staff. The best way to keep track of the computer people keeping track of the falcons is on Jackson County's Facebook page.

 



More photos here:  http://blog.mlive.com/bradosphere/2010/05/baby_photos_in_jackson_falcon-.html

[Alison]

I was able to access the cam today. Here is a live pic from the nest:

[Kinderchick]

What a GREAT photo of Big Red feeding her chicks, Alison!

[Alison]

An article on Chayton and his family, from 2007:

Brood Enrolls at University of Toledo

Falcon chicks born last month in the University of Toledo’s University Hall Tower will now go by Chayton, Skyler, and Swoop.

Representatives of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife placed leg bands on the three peregrine falcon chicks yesterday to identify and track them.  One male fledgling was named “Chayton,” which is Sioux for falcon. The university community submitted name suggestions for the other two chicks and the names were chosen by UT officials.  “Skyler,” which is Scandinavian for “learned one,” was chosen for the second male chick, while the female was named “Swoop.”

The mother, who was hatched in 2003 in Pennsylvania, was given the honorary name of “Belle” because she is raising her family in the university’s bell tower. Birds banded in Pennsylvania are not given names. The father was identified through his leg band as “Allen,” who hatched in Lima in 2004.  The two adult birds were spotted in the tower during the late winter, and the local wildlife district office in Findlay confirmed they appeared to be a mated pair.

source:  http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?&Dato=20070602&Kategori=NEWS21&Lopenr=70602002&Ref=AR

Chayton's Mom, Belle, is a daughter of Dorothy and Erie at the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, hatched in 2003.

Belle:

[Alison]

Big Red's mate has now been identified, not as Joe, but as Chayton, born 2007 at the University of Toledo to parents Belle and Allen.

I've always liked the name Chayton (pronounced "Shayton"), which is a Sioux word for falcon. I still remember Chayton from Rochester in 2003.

Falcon update: Father of chicks on Jackson County Tower building identified

Jackson’s family of five peregrine falcons is now fully identified, if not yet fully named.

The male falcon, father of three chicks hatched Wednesday in a nest high on the Jackson County Tower Building, was unidentified but now numbers on his leg band are confirmed.

Chayton’s parents, father Allen and mother Belle, had two other chicks at the same time.

Fate paired Chayton with Big Red, a 2-year-old female born in Chicago, to form a family in Jackson.

Male and female peregrine falcons pair up, sometimes for life, so they could become lasting residents of downtown Jackson. Their chicks will fly away and look to form families elsewhere.

As owner of the nesting site, Jackson County government receives the honor of naming the three chicks, which will be banded by state biologists in about 20 days.

Jackson County has announced a naming contest. To enter, send e-mail — the address is falcons@co.jackson.mi.us — with one name per e-mail.

source: http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/05/falcon_update_father_of_chicks.html

 
Chayton                                                                         Big Red feeding her chicks

[Alison]

Big Red and Joe have three chicks!

Peregrine falcon birth alert in Jackson!

By Brad Flory | Jackson Citizen Patriot
May 05, 2010, 9:50AM

The world is atwitter this morning with word that Jackson's most celebrated eggs have hatched. Three rare and brand new peregrine falcons are now nesting with their mother high atop the Jackson County Tower Building.

Falcon watchers can keep tabs by clicking here for the county government Falcon Cam, which updates photos of the nest every 15 seconds.

Be warned about the Falcon Cam, though. It can take a long time before the mother falcon, Big Red, moves away from her young far enough to provide a clear view of the babies. Due to glare off a window, the quality of images varies with time of day,

Birth of baby falcons completes a two-year effort by the county to provide a suitable nesting place. The lightning-fast raptors have been seen around the Tower Building for years but until humans added pea gravel to high nooks and crannies this spring, the falcons did not nest.

"We're parents," proud Jackson County Administrator Randy Treacher said this morning.

http://blog.mlive.com/bradosphere/2010/05/peregrine_falcon_birth_alert_i.html

There is a photo of the chicks with the article. The Internet keeps going down here, so I can't save anything.

[Alison]

Allison, this link is working now.
Though it is too dark to see details, the refreshes are happening every 15 seconds.
http://96.61.192.55:8888/update.html

Unfortunately, the webcam site still gives me an error. I know other people have problems accessing this cam, but I'm glad it does work for some people.

Big Red's mother, Rahn, was born in 2001 at the WPL Edgewater Generating Station, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Her father is listed as "Joe from Milwaukee".

Joe (banded black/green 59/H) was born in 2001 at the Froedtert Malt nest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became Rahn's mate in 2008 after the death of her long-time mate, Etienne.

[bcbird]

Allison, this link is working now.
Though it is too dark to see details, the refreshes are happening every 15 seconds.
http://96.61.192.55:8888/update.html

[Kinderchick]

Great photos, Alison!

[Alison]

Here is Big Red with her eggs:

 

[Alison]

2010 NESTING SEASON

The city of Jackson, Michigan has its first peregrine nest. The female here is Big Red, who was born in Chicago in 2008, the daughter of Rahn (banded black/green, 01/A) and her then-new mate.

The amazing reproducing peregrine falcons of Jackson now have a fourth egg   (April 2010)

Easter is an egg holiday for falcons as well as bunnies.  Big Red, a rare peregrine falcon nesting atop the Jackson County Tower Building has laid her fourth egg.  Suspicions were detected on Good Friday then a fourth egg was confirmed photographically, said Connie Frey, director of information technology for Jackson County government.  Frey is the county's Unofficial Peregrine Falcon Coordinator from her office on the 16th Floor of the Tower Building. Her office installed the Falcon Cam.

Four eggs is the top end of the normal range for peregrine falcons, according to experts with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. So Big Red, at age 2, is doing a good job of motherhood so far. Click here to read about Big Red when she was barely more than a newborn herself.  If all goes well, the eggs will hatch in May. The possibility more eggs may be laid cannot be ruled out.

"Being as she is such a young mother, I hope she is done," Frey said.

There is a webcam, but the link doesn't work for me:  http://96.61.192.55:8888/update.html