Author: Matt Perry

On July 4th Tres was brought back into town after spending a full week at Kindred Kingdoms – a Wildlife Rehabilitation facility in Pennellville run by Jean and Len Soprano. Tres’s release went off without a hitch. We were able to introduce him back into the family’s territory by putting him through the hatch at the back of the nestbox. From there he hopped onto the box’s perch and after only a minute, took to the sky again. His flight was strong (as was the wind) and it led him east toward the County Building. The Fledge Watch volunteers followed, and after some searching, found him perched on the roof on the building’s south side. After about 1/2 hour, Astrid and Ares came over to check him out. Astrid made low flights over him and even hovered above him. Ares did the same, and then Tres began to call. Both parents took turns landing briefly on the building thus allowing the fledgling to approach them. That was all it took, and Tres was accepted back into the fold. His parents soared back to the home “canyon” and Tres joined his 2 siblings on the State Office Building. He actually flew up and adeptly landed right between Leda and Indi. I guess he was anxious to relay his alien abduction story!

 

Lately there’s been a lot more running around involved for some of the Fledge Watch volunteers as they try to keep track of where Leda and Indi are going. For the most part the family have restricted their activities to a 2 to 4 block area, which is considerate of them! Indi’s flying continues to improve. She is the largest of the family (noticeably bigger than her mother) and her sizable wings are proving a great advantage in keeping her aloft. So far her flights are not of long duration, but she continues to practice flapping (while perched) in order to strengthen her wing muscles. We are now reasonably certain that Leda is a male and not a female as first thought. Seeing him in flight next to his mother and Ares has allowed us to make size comparisons not possible when the birds were together in the nest box. Leda’s flights are amazing to watch. His aerial maneuvers are becoming more and more graceful and precise. Also, the length and frequency of his flights have greatly increased. He often skillfully lands right next to (within inches)  his sister or his father. Landing next to Ares is usually a plea for food and is accompanied by shrill begging calls. Leda has recently started chasing after his parents. On Wednesday he went after Astrid and even kept pace with her for a few moments, which is no mean feat!

I don’t have an update on Tres yet, but I expect to hear from the rehabilitator today. We await details of a reintroduction plan.

Yesterday at around 2:00 PM, Indi became the 3rd and last of our Peregrine chicks to fledge. Her maiden flight was strong and led her from the nest box over to a high window ledge on the State Office Building. Prior to the fledging, Leda had been sitting next to Indi on the box’s perch. She took off first and led the way. Indi is the largest of the clutch and her sizable wings provided a lot of lift. She had no problem staying high and her landing on the State Building – though not perfect, was not too scary.

Meanwhile Leda is gaining more and more expertise – not quite to the point of showing off, but close. At one point when Ares landed on a high ledge with food, Leda flew in and landed right next to him. Her father seemed most interested in feeding himself, but every 3rd bite or so was offered to his eager daughter.

The report for Tres is all good. No broken bones or any problems were found. He is fiesty and eating well. There are plans to band him and return him to his family. I will give more details on this when I have them.

Early Sunday evening Leda treated herself and the Fledge Watch volunteers to a tour of the Downtown Utica area. During the day she had already made a couple of flights between the State Office Building and the Adirondack Bank, but this time her landing on the nestbox perch was scuttled by her sister Indi who was already occupying the spot. Leda pulled up and headed for the west side of the building. Some of the volunteers quickly set out to regain sight of her and managed to pick her out on a perch high up on the west face of the building. After only a few minutes she was up again and flying north to Hotel Utica where she perched on that building’s roof for a short time. Her next flight led us all Back over to the State Office Building. There she tried to land on a window ledge, but missed it and tumbled. Fortunately she recovered quickly and was able to regain altitude, finally putting down on the roof of the same building. After resting for 20 minutes or so, Leda again flew to the Adirondack Bank where she landed on the roof. From there she sailed back to the nest box and joined her sister.

Leda’s flying abilities are definitely improving. She has now made at least 3 flights back to the nest box from other buildings. Meanwhile, Indi continues to exercise her wings in and around the nest box. Will she fledge today? I guess that we’ll find out. We still need volunteers for the Fledge Watch. Please consider helping us out and safeguarding these magnificent birds!

Here are some more dramatic pictures that Dave Cesari took during the Fledge Watch:

 

Saturday at 5:00 PM, Leda became the 2nd of our Utica Peregrine Falcon chicks to fledge. Her maiden flight took her around Grace Church and the State Office Building. She finally landed on the roof of the Adirondack Bank. Of the 3 chicks Leda was the most prepared for flight. Over the past few days she had put in a considerable amount of practice flying from the nest box perch to the top of the box. In the next 2 hours she made a few more flights around the 2 block area before landing on a window ledge high on the west face of the State Office Building. There she appeared to settle down for the night. Meanwhile, Indi remained at the nest box and did a lot of serious wing flapping. Perhaps spurred by her sister’s success and her parents coaxing, it looked like she was going to fledge as well, but she stayed put. The Fledge Watch volunteers were fine with that decision, having already had enough excitement for one evening.