GENOAMay 14, 2019
The male and female still visit nest daily.
Here's RRP post ....
Hi all!
I wanted to update everyone with some surprising information. Although we didn't have footage from the time the eggs disappeared, based on what we saw before it and some feedback from people around the plant, we figured another falcon had destroyed the eggs. But...then I got an email from a watcher who said she had watched as a
raccoon came in and ate the young falcons and remaining egg.
Youtube did not preserve the video and the watcher didn't know how to take screen caps. However, the timeframe made sense - they disappeared at night - and we've had raccoon destroy cliff nests before. I reached out to an expert, and this is what she told me.
"I suspect that it was a young raccoon (probably a yearling), as they are usually the ones that climb these unusual structures. Female raccoons regularly nest in chimneys, of course, but not ones that are 400 feet tall. Here in Toronto, raccoons regularly climb construction cranes and elevators on the outside of construction cranes, which sounds similar to your set up. Typically, these are well fed urban raccoons, who are just out exploring?sounds like this one got to the top and had a bonus meal up there. I really doubt that the raccoon started climbing with the nest in mind?as you said, that is a long way to go for not that much of a reward."
So in short, the nest box appears to have been wiped out by an exploring raccoon and not, as we originally thought, by another falcon. The raccoon most likely accessed the catwalk by climbing the elevator railing, which would be like a ladder to an intrepid young raccoon. This is the first time that we are aware of this happening on a power plant stack. If it begins to happen more often, we'll need to address it. Hopefully it was an isolated incident!
Amy
RRP
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How sad!!! Are both PETA and Marcelle still here?
