On this Earth Day we can be grateful for the important environmental laws that made it possible for Peregrine Falcons, Osprey, Bald Eagles and other birds of prey to return to our skies. The original race of Peregrine Falcon that inhabited the Eastern United States went extinct in the mid-1960s. That was largely due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. When DDT was banned for use in the US in 1972 and the Peregrine was designated as an Endangered Species, a path to recovery for these birds became possible. At that time dedicated organizations like the Peregrine Fund began captive breeding programs (using other races of Peregrine primarily of North American origin) and by 1975 they began releasing Peregrine Falcons into the wild. The reintroduction program was remarkably successful and 40 years later we can again enjoy sharing our environment with these remarkable raptors. It’s important to remember that environmental regulations can have major positive impacts!
This morning Ares relieved Astrid at the nest box at 6:00. He didn’t bring her a tribute, but soon enough she was eating breakfast on the ledge of the hotel. The meal may have been the leftovers of a dove that Ares caught the previous night. The day was quite cool, windy and overcast with occasional light showers. The falcons responded to this by making their changeovers at the nest box extremely fast and taking care not to leave the eggs uncovered for long. In the early afternoon, Ares was seen plucking and then eating something on the hotel, but as far as we know he didn’t offer to share it with his mate. At 6:45 PM, Astrid began calling and then abruptly vacated the nest. It was hard to tell what was happening, but she may have been in pursuit of an intruder. Before 2 minutes had elapsed, Ares was back on the eggs. Astrid returned to the State Building a few minutes later, but then flew off again. She remained elusive and mostly out of our PTZ camera view for more than an hour. We weren’t sure if she was hunting or what she was doing, but clearly she was staying out later than usual. Occasionally Ares would let out a squeak as if he saw her, but we were unable to confirm that with the cam. At 7:37 PM Astrid finally returned to relieve Ares. At that point we believed they were settled for the night.
