After a week of searching for the Peregrine fledglings, Grace and Cade, we have come to the conclusion that if the youngsters are still living, they are well away from their parent’s territory and unlikely to return. We hasten to add that there is no evidence that they met with an accident (or accidents). We’ve talked to local wildlife rehabilitators as well as the DEC, and no downed birds have come in or have been reported. Fledge watch volunteers thoroughly searched Astrid and Ares’ territory and beyond, and have found no trace of either youngster. We’ve checked rooftops and have talked to building managers and no downed birds have been recovered. We followed up on leads regarding alleging Peregrine sightings – all were confirmed cases of mistaken identity. In each case we are confident that it was American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks that where being seen. There have been no reports of juvenile Peregrines on the local birding listserve (oneidabirds) or in Cornell lab of ornithology’s bird database called eBird. Most importantly, the parent birds have given no indication that they are visiting and/or caring for the young birds in another area. Quite the contrary, they appear to have moved on and are even starting to perform ledge displays at the nest box. They very much seem to be looking forward to the 2017 breeding season. It has now been a week since Grace has disappeared, If she did return it’s doubtful that Astrid would accept her back into the fold. We can only wish the fledglings good luck wherever they may be. Thank you to all the watchers who took time to help us with the search. Your efforts are very much appreciated. Also thank you to the building managers who allowed us access to rooftops. As usual we will continue to monitor the downtown area and the activities of our resident pair of falcons. Here are some pictures from the last days the young Falcons were seen (June 25-28):
