Comments on: Tragedy and hope in Wilmington, Delaware http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/ A Bird Blog with Kate St. John Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:19:25 +0000 hourly 1 By: Kate St. John http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7502 Kate St. John Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:23:56 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7502 Susan, this may well be the case. I participated in the 2nd Breeding Bird Atlas in Pennsylvania and was looking tonight at the statistics for peregrine falcons, comparing the first atlas (1984-1989) to the second (2004-2008) twenty years later.

In the recent atlas peregrines were confirmed breeding in 27 of the state’s 67 map-blocks. In 1984-1989 they were confirmed in only 3 map-blocks. This huge resurgence from near extinction means the lives of today’s peregrines are much more competitive than those of 20 years ago. How ironic that a successful comeback from the brink results in these tragedies. And who could predict that they’d resort to killing a rival’s young?! I’ve heard male lions kill their rival’s young. I had no idea female peregrines would.

]]> By: Susan http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7499 Susan Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:12:05 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7499 I wonder if the successes of having these nestboxes in many places has finally resulted in a higher concentration of falcons in certain areas, and that that has led to competition for mates, nestboxes, etc. If so, there may be more documented cases of this in future seasons.

]]> By: Leslie http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7498 Leslie Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:00:19 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7498 After getting a second chance, this is so depressing. This can be a tough obsession of ours sometimes. If there are any breaks in the “case,” let us know.

]]> By: Kim Steininger http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7493 Kim Steininger Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:17:54 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7493 Thanks Leslie!

Unfortunately the last chick has disappeared. I’m not hopeful that he’ll be found. :(

]]> By: Leslie http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7489 Leslie Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:03:49 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7489 I found that Genoa article courtesy of the good folks at http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/peregrinefalcon.html
It’s an invaluable source of webcam links, stories and postings. I directed them to both your sites, Kate and Kim, and they are frequent visitors.
BTW, your photography is astonishing, Kim. Many of your photos look more like paintings.
I’m thrilled this had a happy ending for at least one of the youngsters. Please keep us posted! :-)

]]> By: Joann http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7482 Joann Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:10:08 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7482 Kim, I watched the video & I guess she could hear noise from behind the peephole & since she couldn’t find her chicks she probably thought that’s where they were & was trying to get to her babies. If she was that fiesty it’s a wonder she would let anyone take her babies out of the nest or let them fall out. It doesn’t seem from the video that it would be that easy for the babies to fall out on their own. What a shame-hopefully the boy chick will be okay.

]]> By: Kim Steininger http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7473 Kim Steininger Sun, 31 May 2009 21:46:54 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7473 Here’s a link to the video I mentioned. You might want to fastforward to at least the halfway point.
http://birdsbykim.com/misc/video/MVI_1276.AVI

]]> By: Susan http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7472 Susan Sun, 31 May 2009 15:22:38 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7472 I wonder if the male that was nesting with that female in Genoa made any attempt to defend her, or does he dissasociate himself and mate with whomever wins? Apparently it didn’t make a difference that they were actively raising chicks at the time. I guess there’s no chivarly with peregrines.

]]> By: Herk http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7471 Herk Sun, 31 May 2009 14:58:23 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7471 Joann mentioned earlier the Manitoba British falcons and a concern the box (nest) would tip. I saw in the newspaper article that the weight of the gravel in there is over 35 pounds so it’s unlikely to tip

]]> By: Kim Steininger http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/05/29/tragedy-and-hope-in-wilmington-delaware/comment-page-1/#comment-7467 Kim Steininger Sun, 31 May 2009 07:16:04 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=6593#comment-7467 Yes, thank you for posting that link Leslie! It sure does seem eerily familiar.

I checked on the chick again last night and all still seems to be fine. I’m hoping if it was an intruder that she’s gone now. Even if I had approval from F&W to take the chick, I would have a very hard time taking the momma falcon’s last chick away from her! I don’t know that the person who tried to do that would fare very well in that battle either! She’s a VERY spunky falcon to say the least!!! Later today I will try to post a link to some video of her attacking the peephole at the nestbox on banding day. You’ll see what I mean.

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