Peregrines in The Green Diamond!

[emerald]

It's been a great week for bird news here. A pair of peregrine falcons has taken up residence in Reading and produced 2 chicks.

The Reading Eagle published related articles twice this week in Berks and Beyond (B Section). Both stories ran at the top of page 1.

I hope you will enjoy A falcon first for Reading? by Félix Alfonso Peña and Air war: Falcons, egrets battle in Reading by Dan Kelly as much as I did.

I have no idea how long these links will be good, but I expect they will expire sometime, maybe soon.

[woodsy]

Yes indeed, enjoyed the reads. Falcons on rooftops? hmmm.
Must be quite an attraction, everyone walking around looking up?

[emerald]

Yes indeed, enjoyed the reads.

I'm glad as I posted primarily for your enjoyment, but I would be happy to learn others enjoyed the articles too.

Falcons on rooftops? hmmm.

I've often wondered about that myself. Before peregrines were reintroduced to the east, I don't know to what extent they frequented cities.

I was able to view a pair around the time they were about to fledge their young at Smugglers Notch in Vermont years ago when I was employed by GMC. Those birds located a suitable nesting site on a cliff near The Long Trail.

I won't attempt to second guess peregrines and where they think they should raise their young. I'm happy for their success regardless.

Must be quite an attraction, everyone walking around looking up?

Haven't seen them myself. I suspect there isn't near the interest you imagine.

Why this news has drawn the apparent attention it has may be in no small way related to Bill Urhich's involvement with PGC and his relationship with The Reading Eagle. People benefit from learning about such things and they learn things they wouldn't otherwise when those things are published. It's all good.

[woodsy]

Those birds located a suitable nesting site on a cliff near The Long Trail.

Well thats the kind of habitat I thought they preferred but what do I know, I've only ever seen one of them in the wild and that was through a pair of binos as it sat in it's nest down Acadia National Park.

Now that I've read these stories you posted, I'll be more aware that they could be most anywhere .

[emerald]

Those peregrines may have been wiser than an owl to camp near The Reading Eagle Company.

[woodsy]

More interesting facts about these FAST flying birds
AT hikers should be aware that it is possible to sight one of these birds along the AT in VT and NH in particular.

[emerald]

Seeing those photos of egrets woodsy reminded me of Sarah Orne Jewett's A White Heron, which I first read back when I lived amongst the pointed firs. Have you ever read it?

[woodsy]

Have you ever read it?

I have now. Sylvia was a smart girl not to sell the whereabouts of the Snowy Egret to the stranger.
I read where Peregrins like Pidgeons for dinner...no wonder they like rooftops in urban areas!

[rickb]

Not on the AT, but here is a falcon cam in Rochester, NY....

http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/multiView.php

[emerald]

Sylvia was a smart girl not to sell the whereabouts of the Snowy Egret to the stranger.

It is also true Miss Jewett chose a most appropriate name for her.

I read where Peregrins like Pidgeons for dinner...no wonder they like rooftops in urban areas!

Too bad they don't like venison. The local deer have all but destroyed a small patch of old growth several hundred yards from where I live.

If the coyote population continues to rise, they may take care of what hunters can't. The place to which I referred seems to be where the deer go to die every winter. Earlier this year, when I visited that spot, I noticed something carried off a leg and stripped it clean.

[emerald]

What follows are a few excerpts from A Century of Bird Life in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Even though this is one of the rarest species to be seen along the Kittatinny Ridge, more Peregrine Falcons are seen during the fall at Hawk Mountain than anywhere else in Berks.

The 10 year average [at Hawk Mountain's North Lookout] from 1987 to 1996 is 36.

Last year's count was 62.

[emerald]

To learn more about Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, raptors and migration, go here, or, even better, when you can, go there.

[emerald]

A side trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is an opportunity that should not be missed, especially by SOBO thruhikers, since most pass through The Green Diamond when raptor migration peaks.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary recently posted a new page called Hiking at Hawk Mountain which includes a downloadable map.

Those SOBOs who want to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to spend part of an afternoon observing migrating raptors may want to plan to stay at Allentown Shelter and use Eckville Shelter the following day. One's pack could possibly be checked with the caretaker at Eckville to make the 1.5 mile hike up Hawk Mountain Road easier.

Check out the map above for other options including circuit hikes using HMS trails and the A.T.

[emerald]

Spent some more time reading about Rochester's peregrines (rickb's link > history > Rochester's falcon history). I noticed Cabot-Sirocco, the male, came to Rochester via Toronto.

A female peregrine hacked at Reading in 1994 turned up at Toronto in 1995, produced two chicks and also nested successfully in 1996. Maybe your Rochester peregrines descend from those that once flew over Reading!

[emerald]

The Reading Eagle now has a Falcon Blog for those interested in learning more about the peregrines which may now have both fledged.

[emerald]

The younger falcon was found dead by a wildlife biologist earlier this week. Cause of death could not be readily determined and may never be known.

The older juvenile is missing. It's not clear what happened to this bird either. PGC has requested that anyone with information call the nearst field office.

The adults are still in the area and PGC's falcon coordinator believes they are likely to return to the same site next year.

New information about Reading's falcons is available by clicking on the link in my last post. Pennsylvania DEP's falcon page is linked now linked from Bill Uhrich's most recent post of June 29.

[emerald]

Reading's peregrines have returned and are attempting to raise another brood. This time they have selected what may prove to be a better campsite at 5th and Penn on the Callowhill building.

According to an article published in The Reading Eagle Friday, a fledgling was seen testing its wings the day before. It will soon be known if these birds will learn to fly as only peregrines can and should.

This post was created with someone in mind for whom peregrines have a special significance and who will test her wings on the rocky heights of Katahdin soon.

[mudhead]

Very cool bird. Inquisitive, too. I hope people there will give them space, instead of trying to get close for a look see.

Seem to like raven nests. I would have figured they would have some little nook in the cliff.

[shelterbuilder]

Very cool bird. Inquisitive, too. I hope people there will give them space, instead of trying to get close for a look see.

Seem to like raven nests. I would have figured they would have some little nook in the cliff.

Reading is a city of "concrete canyons", so I guess that the top of the Callowhill Building is a close to a "nook in the cliffs" as we can give them!

I hope this mating pair succeeds in raising many generations of young. It's cool to see the birds adapting to the changes that man has wrought on the environment.

[sheepdog]

Peregines nest in high places and like pigeons. A natural city dweller.