Wing Beats from the Chicks
I glimpsed my first physical sign of chick(s) this morning. For weeks, I’ve heard them vocalizing when Max and Herc bring food to the nest. But today, I actually saw a flicker of wing tip.
Max and Herc were nowhere in sight as I crossed the garage to my favorite viewing spot. The nest, however, burst with activity and noise. I closed my eyes and listened hard, detecting what I thought might be two voices rising and falling in excited squawks and beeps.
Every few minutes or so, large clouds of feathers and debris puffed out of the nest entrance. If you click on the picture above to access the larger version, the debris is easy to see. I watched closely during one of these feather flurries and saw the black tip of a wing flicker in and out of sight as a chick inside beat his/her wings furiously in an attempt to get out of the nest and onto the ledge. Thanks to Dan giving me an opportunity to view the nest from far above, I knew that it was about a 3-4 foot drop from the nest ledge to the nest bottom.
After awhile, I looked up and noticed Max sitting on the skyperch and Herc on the Monadnock perch. Herc rested, feathers puffed out, one leg up and with one eye closed and the other open, watching the nest. For the hour I spent on the garage top, this feather flurry event replayed again and again.
My cell rang. Dan greeted and excitedly told me that he and some coworkers were watching from above and could see a baby fluttering around in the nest and another sitting quietly to the side. So, two confirmed! A co-worker of Dan’s, Ed, confirmed four. Everybody is excitedly looking forward to seeing the chicks out on the ledge.
As I was packing up to go to work, James and Tom came up to watch the debris fly. They laughed and laughed and both agreed that it was high time we all get to see the babies! Can’t wait!
With all this hubbub, it shouldn’t be long now. Maybe even this weekend?
Chicago Peregrine Falcon Blog 