News: Peregrines

[The Peregrine Chick]

Pere­grine Fal­con found on City Bal­cony
Anna Mar­grét Björns­son /MBL / 13 Oct 2014

A fam­ily in west-cen­tral Reyk­javík found a sur­prise vis­i­tor on their bal­cony on Thurs­day. Their guest was of the winged kind, a pere­grine fal­con who stayed on the bal­cony for the whole night. "He was hud­dled up on the bal­cony and we thought he would fly away but he was still there in the morn­ing, poor thing," said fa­ther Trausti Þorgeirs­son.

In an in­ter­view with mbl.is news, Þorgeirs­son said that it seemed that the fal­con had been knocked out ei­ther by fly­ing into the win­dow or onto the bal­cony rail­ing. "It looked like he was try­ing to fly away but could­n't take off." The bird hud­dled in­stead by the bal­cony door and stayed there un­til the fol­low­ing day, when Þorgeirs­son called the po­lice.

 
Peregrine falcon on a balcony in west central Reykjavik. Photo/​Trausti Þorgeirs­son

Nei­ther he or the po­lice of­fi­cers who ar­rived dared to go out on the bal­cony to cap­ture the fal­con. "The po­lice force has no train­ing in how to cap­ture a fal­con on a bal­cony.

In­stead, they got an ex­pe­ri­enced fal­con han­dler from closeby Melaskóli el­e­men­tary school who ar­rived armed with a spe­cialised glove," said Þorgeirs­son. "But when the guy tried to get close to the bird, he flew up on the bal­cony railng and then flew off into the world, prob­a­bly with an in­jured leg."

Þorgeirs­son added that the spar­rows in the area had re­acted strongly to the fal­con's pres­ence when he flew away, fly­ing to­wards him and fol­low­ing him some dis­tance.

Last month two pere­grine fal­cons were spot­ted in the south penin­sula, one of them a young bird and the other one older. Ac­cord­ing to or­nithol­o­gist Jóhann Óli Hilmars­son it is quite pos­si­ble that the bal­cony fal­con was the younger bird. The pere­grine fal­con is some­what smaller than the Ice­landic fal­con. The species nests in all con­ti­nents ex­cept for the Antarc­tic and is a rare sight in Ice­land.

Source:  http://www.mbl.is/english/news/2014/10/13/peregrine_falcon_found_on_city_balcony/

[The Peregrine Chick]

That is very sad news about Madame X being shot. But wonderful news that she is learning to fly again & with determination, may actually be released into the wild before too long. Amazing.

Note about peregrines getting shot ... peregrines have a bad habit of chasing crows and they are dark and crow-sized and unless you can tell the difference in flight (most folks can't), they are often mistaken for just one of a murder of crows.  And folks like to shoot at crows and while many more crows have been shot, peregrines mistaken for crows have been as well.  I'm not saying this is what happened to Madame X or that it is okay to shoot peregrines or heck shoot crows, I thought I would share a piece of peregrine trivia ...

[Kinderchick]

That is very sad news about Madame X being shot. But wonderful news that she is learning to fly again & with determination, may actually be released into the wild before too long. Amazing.

[RCF]

Endangered falcon shot in West Allis, Wisconsin
Mar 11, 2014
Someone opened fire with a shotgun on this beautiful bird. The x-ray shows her body full of pellets, and it's particularly troubling.  Peregrine falcons are an endangered species, and Madame X is a mom, expected to mate again this spring.

http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/Endangered-falcon-shot-in-West-Allis-249645131.html




UPDATE June 11 2014

Endangered peregrine falcon shot in March learns to fly again

WEST ALLIS -- Madame X, an endangered peregrine falcon shot in March, is learning to fly again.

"When she first came to us with multiple shot gun pellets in her body, her prognosis for release was guarded," said Scott Diehl with the Wisconsin Humane Society.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/Endangered-peregrine-falcon-shot-in-March-learns-to-fly-again-262705721.html

[The Peregrine Chick]

This is, indeed, very strange, but also very interesting - peregrine falcons raising herring gulls. Do you think what they mean by "the outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young" could mean that after they fledge & become self sufficient, they could then become prey for the peregrine falcons?

check my note below 

[Kinderchick]

This is, indeed, very strange, but also very interesting - peregrine falcons raising herring gulls. Do you think what they mean by "the outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young" could mean that after they fledge & become self sufficient, they could then become prey for the peregrine falcons?

[The Peregrine Chick]

Tracy I'm not sure where to post this. Nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08eDN1csgRA&feature=youtu.be

Nothing wrong with it's location as it is more of a news story than just a video.  I've tweaked your title to make it easier for folks to find later.

I'm interested in this phrase from the text below the video: "The outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young."  Not sure why they say this ... other than perhaps imprinting on peregrines but I don't know how much gulls will imprint on another bird species.  As for diet, Herring gulls are omnivores so they can digest meat just fine - not sure what the proper balance is for growing chicks but so far this peregrine seems to have managed very nicely.  As for when they fledge, according to what I know about herring gulls, they often get separated separated from their parents, live on their own before hooking up with other gulls - sounds like that part is hardwired in which case, they may be a herring gull with an odd background but still a herring gull.  Since peregrines don't as a species demonstrate any infanticide or siblicide behaviour, not sure that's a big issue ....

Also, the herring gull is a "red" listed species by the RSPB in the UK
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/herringgull/index.aspx (click on the Red button to find out more about the classification)

[Doreen]

South Coast Peregrine with an interesting brood
South West Peregrine Group / 10 June 2014

Tracy I'm not sure where to post this. Nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08eDN1csgRA&feature=youtu.be

[Kinderchick]

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.    

Weird... it doesn't work for me now either, RCF.
It did work when I came across the article a few days ago.
Very strange.

Thanks for posting a new link about the article, RCF. 

[RCF]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.     I tried it a couple of times and got this.

Not Found Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.
or this
The requested URL "http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/" cannot be found or is not available. Please check the spelling or try again later.

I found this link though and it seems this was from May 2013. 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/appeal-as-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-1-2948034

[RCF]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.     I tried it a couple of times and got this.

Not Found
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.

or this

The requested URL "http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/" cannot be found or is not available. Please check the spelling or try again later.

[Kinderchick]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

[RCF]

Peregrine falcons eggs hatched in police custody after smuggling swoop Birmingham airport.

A man tried to smuggle the peregrine falcon eggs out of Birmingham International Airport

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/peregrine-falcons-eggs-hatched-in-police-custody-after-smuggling-swoop-birmingham-airport/

[The Peregrine Chick]

Found this on a tweet (never thought I would say that  )


Migration pathways of Peregrines fitted with satellite tags in five regions of Arctic Eurasia.



Click on the image to see a larger version of the picture

[The Peregrine Chick]

Peregrine falcons halt Essex reactor decommissioning plan
BBC Essex /  19 April 2013



Nesting peregrine falcons have halted work to decommission a former nuclear reactor in Essex.  The pair were spotted on the roof of one of two reactors at the Magnox Bradwell-on-sea site, which were about to undergo maintenance work.  Because the birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the company has had to "pause" the work. 

A spokesman said it had taken advice to ensure other work at the site "would not distress our new residents".

There are about 1,400 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the UK. They normally favour rocky cliff tops to make their nests.  However, the two birds have this time chosen to build a nest more than 50m (165ft) up at the industrial site.  It is not the first time peregrines have chosen the reactors as a nesting spot. In 2008 another falcon was filmed in its nest on the reactor.  The latest residents, however, have chosen a less accessible spot and filming the nest has not yet been possible, the spokesman said. 

Steve McNitt, the site's safety and environment manager, said: "It's difficult to know how long the falcons will stay.  We are hoping for a successful brood and are planning on having them around through the summer. Eggs normally hatch after around four weeks, and the chicks begin to fly about three weeks later.  They tend to stay close to the nest and remain dependent on the adult falcons for around a further two months."

Members of Essex Birdwatching Society have confirmed seeing the falcons returning to the reactor nesting site. 

The twin reactors at Bradwell-on-sea are currently undergoing decommissioning work. The site was shut down in March 2002 after 40 years of operation.