Bird Cams Around the World

I think she's fine. Very healthy looking, and no wounds. She was on the ground for a while. We did see the parents chasing a hawk during fledging, so I wouldn't be surprised at all that she was getting out of their way.

Well, not a successful trip downtown tonight. I got to falcon square about 5:45. Walked around, went onto the bridge for about 30 minutes. No flying up or down the river. Airport traffic was flying very low right above the buildings. The helicopters were at falcon height. I did not feel very good about that, for sure. I saw pigeons flushed a few times from the Capitol area, so I walked up around that area. Its a high elevation point in town. I found the culprit...a red tailed hawk. Probably a relative of last night's big girl.

Got in my car and drove down to the park on the river where yesterday's hawk came from and a nesting spot of the falcons on the Lee bridge. Lots of people enjoying the great evening weather, but no falcons.

Went 10 blocks the other way to Shockoe Bottom, site of many bars and the purple martin roost. On the Virginia ebird report today was a video of the purple martins roosting last night, and a peregrine taking advantage of the many swirling birds. Its also next to Mike's building and the rest of the tall buildings downtown. Dangerously close to I95 too, which is built on a high overpass over the Bottom. No falcons there either, although I didn't stay too long. Local people come to watch the martins every night, and they were all ready at 7:00. On my way back to I95, I drove by the medical research buildings where the falcons were sighted earlier this year. I saw yet another HUGE Red Tail perched on a building.

Well, I'll try again this weekend. They could be on the other side of the river. There are more tall buildings across the bridge at the Riverfront Towers.

Having met the people in charge of the scrape, I have to say again that they know what they are doing. Trust me, the adults are bonding. The hope is that they will choose to go into the pen. It has only been a few weeks. Give the DGIF a chance. It will be far better all around if the adults just choose the pen on their own. Far less danger next spring.

It is hard waiting for word from the field about the family. But again, no news is good news.

I don't think the adults will touch that box with a ten-foot-pole while that cage is there, but I hope I'm wrong. I got the impression that DGIF was going to leave it there & see what happened. I assumed that if the adults wouldn't go to the box, they would remove the pen, but they didn't actually say that. I know it has to be a pain to take that cage down & put it back up, but if the adults don't like the pen, maybe DGIF will at least move it away from the box. They have to go back up there for the banding, so that would mean only one extra trip to the ledge. They could put it back in place when the chicks are banded. I think falcons are smarter than the "experts" give them credit for, & the falcons may very well think that if they go into the box with the pen there, the door will be closed & they'll be trapped like the juvies were! This is the only place I've heard of them using a pen, so I guess its all uncharted territory! I should also add that I am now convinced that using a pen for this nest is necessary.

The adults have been on top of the scrape. You just haven't seen them. Plus, it is dangerous for the eyasses and people to put up the pen. It takes over an hour with scared chicks and really angry parents at a critical time.

It is disappointing not seeing the falcons come back to the box, and I'm sure its frustrating for everyone here. I think for most of the nests we watch there is pair bonding at the box after the kids have fledged.

It also seems to be different in different places. Harrisburg has plenty of perch areas for the kids, so they hang out there and so do the parents. Other places they seem to never come back once the kids fly off. It seems to take several weeks for parents to come back in for pair bonding. Some do it all winter at the box, and some leave.

These falcons stay year round. However, they like the BB&T building best, and then the other bank buildings. Usually out of the sun, and the box gets full sunset exposure. Personally, I think this couple would do their pair bonding on the BB&T building. However, I do think the pen will keep them away from returning, and know that DGIF is continuing to monitor activity here.

I have not seen the falcons perch on the box in my visits. Usually everyone is on the river side of the building, which has a perfect view of the many shore and urban birds that hang around in the parks on the river. I've seen the parents go up and down the river in search of food...rarely over the buildings.

Personally, I would rather have them flying up and down the river, than in and around the buildings in the area. Many of the buildings are all glass. I think that side might be better for the box actually, but I don't know about access.

I find this discussion to be very interesting. I don't like that pen myself, but then I'm not a falcon. I haven't seen the adults returning at all since the day the juvies left. I understand the reason for the pen. Putting up something along the side of the ledge would only give the juvies something to perch on before fledging, so that wouldn't do any good. Of course, I'm not at all familiar with Richmond, and would assume and hope that those "in the know" would do what they think is best. The adults in Harrisburg DO return to the scrape almost right after fledging, and the juvies return there after fledging as well, as I'm sure they associate the scrape with food. I don't think the juvies in Richmond would return to be inside their "enclosure" either, for despite it being in their best interest, they likely don't want to return to where they've been penned in. The adults may have a strong bond for that location, so I guess time will tell. Not sure how long these adults have used this particular location.

Isn't the reason they had the late clutch due to being moved from BB&T? I think DGIF has been trying to move them from there for years. Could be the reason the scrape faces that building and is not on the river side. We will just have to wait a few more weeks or so.

Yes, they did try and nest on the BB&T building. The nest failed. In previous years they have tried on the BB&T building and the Lee bridge, where the eggs fell through rusting metal.
I went down this morning from 10-11. Hung out on the bridge, checked all the perching spots, went over to the Capitol, went to the south side of the bridge, and went down to where Mike's office is. It was so quiet! No sign of falcons. My neighbor works downtown and has seen them in the last few days, so they are still around.
I was looking at likely perching buildings while I was there. BB&T has great perches all over the building. The Capitol area is that way too, and a few old churches around. The Capitol area also has big lawn areas, wide open for flying. I'm sure they are up and down the river too. The parents perch on the bank signs, but that seems like it would require good landing skills.