~ June 20th, Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon Update ~

By now most of you are aware that all four young falcons jumped from the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff on June 17th. They were approximately 10 days away from fledging. Searchers were only able to find one of four falcons. Bob evaluated Jonathan, a male, and decided to augment/foster Jonathon into another nest box rather than risk having him jump out again. He chose Red Wing Grain as the new site, since the two young falcons there are about the same age as Jonathon. We fostered Jonathon on the morning of June 19th and he seems to have adapted quite well to his new surroundings. http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/

We chose not to continue the search after the first night. Like many young animals, the falcons either hide or try to scurry under cover when they hear threats approaching. We didn't want to drive them so deep in into the undergrowth that Michelle and Travis couldn't reach them. Since then, we have heard the young falcons calling from the area below the nest box, and we have witnessed Michelle and Travis carrying what appears to be prey down below. We hope to see the young falcons at the nest box or on the ledge again, but only time will tell.

We have received numerous questions regarding the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff. Is it a safe box? It is. In the Midwest alone, over 1,000 falcons have been produced at nest boxes that use this design, which provides shelter from the weather and perches for sitting. Netting under the boxes is out of the question, since the falcons would snag their talons, and holes or venting in the side of the boxes to let in wind would also let in rain and snow.

Absent external stimuli, Bob has never seen young falcons jump from a nest box or cliff as they did at Great Spirit Bluff. He believes that insects caused the young falcons to stampede from the box. Please refer to this blog post for more information about insects, intervention, and fosterage: http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/...tervention.html

Although we knew the gnats and black flies were bad, we were unable to intervene, since that would most likely have caused the young falcons to jump before they had developed their flight feathers. In short, the risk of injury or death was higher if we went to the box than if we did not. This was an unusual and unfortunate situation. We haven't seen it before and we hope never to see it again.

Update on Jonathon Per Bob Anderson:
Yesterday morning we placed Jonathon in the Red Wing Grain falcon nest box atop the stack house overlooking the Mississippi River and the river town of Red Wing, MN. There are two other young falcons in the nest that are both females and a tad behind Jonathan in feathering, but are all both the same age as Jonathon. The augmentation (fostering) went smooth and after a few hours the adult falcon was confirmed feeding all three falcons. Jonathon the falcon is now being raised by his older sister a falcon named Laura, therefore his two nest mates are his nieces. Prior to yesterday's augmentation (fostering), he was kept in my falconry mews and he ate very well. Red Wing Grain has limited bandwidth at their Company and yesterday the viewership to the falcon cam taxed their computers so much that they had to shut down the Bird Cam temporarily. They have told me that they will try to have it on as much as they can, as well as in the evenings and on the weekends. ~ Bob

GSBDweller spoke with Bob today - male falcons able to make positive (not sinking) flight at 39 - 42 days old. Females 44-47 days. That will put these falcons at the base of the bluff flying the last week of June , mid- late next week.

Two of the juvies were spotted on the bluff together. It looked like one of the females and Jonathon. That means three of them are accounted for.

Video of those 2 juvies and their beautiful wings.

It was thrilling to see two of Michelle & Travis's brood up on the cliff together this morning. Jonathon and one of his sisters seemed to be overall enjoying themselves while they shared a meal. I finally thought to get a snippy and caught this one of Jonathon lounging on the ledge, perhaps propped on the cable, while sister sings loud and clear to announce their accomplishment.

Jon and his sister were back into view again today. They were preening and watching someone fly over. GSBD zoomed in close to try and I.D. the female, but she only exposes her foot to scratch. The pair of siblings appear to be really fond of each other.

Jonathon was sitting on the ledge below the nest box enjoying his breakfast as the sun came up. I could hear screaming as he calmly pulled and tugged at his meal. Big sister arrived to steal his breakfast and proceeded to eat it in front of him.

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Michelle and Travis came for a long visit to the bluff this morning. Thanks to HW for leaving the bread trail at RC so I didn't miss seeing them. They looked great!