Just after 3:00 PM yesterday, June 15th, Comet, the first Peregrine chick of the season to hatch, became the first one to fledge. Earlier in the afternoon Comet had been spending time out on the nestbox perch flapping his wings and strengthening his wing muscles, but we believe that leaving the perch was not exactly what he intended to do. Apparently, Astrid landing right beside him on the perch, was what forced him off the ledge. Fortunately his wings were ready and he managed to navigate around the Adirondack Bank Building. He came down on a tiny 15th story ledge on the back of the bank building. The Fledge Watch volunteers took a while to locate him and were (obviously) relieved to find him unscathed. He wasn’t a happy camper though, and at one point he tried to scamper up the bricks alongside a window frame. He ended up right back were he started – back on that same narrow ledge. Both parents seemed to know where he was and flew by him several times; possibly they were trying to coax him off the ledge and to somewhere they could see him (and drop off food to him) more easily, but he wasn’t having it. There he seemed content to stay for the night.
WOW…great pics. Thank you. I hope Comet is ok this morning.
Comet is fine. As of this morning – June 17th, he’s on a ledge on the east side of the Adirondack Bank building
Thank you Matt. I am going to stop over there tonight after work. I work in the Brodock Press Bldg. facing the bank bldg. However the church steeple blocks my view of the nesting box. This morning around 9:30 a large bird flew past my window and landed in a nearby tree. I went to get my co-worker’s binoculars and by the time I got back in my office it was gone. I’m wondering if Comet is flying around the area or is he mostly on the ledge? I am always on the lookout!
So now I understand why the use of the term Veranda – you have added “ramp” structures to each side of the nest box
Thanks for the great pictures
!
A thought for next year > cameras for the Verandas once the babies are old/young enough to find their way to them
(cameras that can be turned on later in the season)
And perhaps labeled as east side / west side
A
This would be a great idea. I teach 6th grade and we have been watching your live cam for two years now. I teach from the book, Frightful’s Mountain, which is a sequel to My Side of the Mountain. I start this book just about the time the falcons lay their eggs at the bank in April.
Today, we finished our novel at about the same time the falcons are beginning their first fledge! Seeing them from the verandas would be great as we view the live cam daily during class. My students really enjoy seeing the direct correlation from the novel to something in their community!
Thank you for such a great learning opportunity for my students.
I’m so glad that you are able to use our live stream for your class! Each season we try to make improvements in the project. We probably won’t have streaming video from the side verandas available until next year, but it’s something that’s high on our list of priorities.
We do now have cameras on the east and west verandas, but they are not yet accessible on the website. Might not manage to get them up until next season.