Weekend Monitoring
I’ve spent considerable hours this weekend monitoring the MCC site from the ‘el platform. In all the hours I was out, both morning and evening, I did not see one peregrine, adult or juvenile. As well, I didn’t hear any squawking from inside the nest (that’s been pretty loud in the years I’ve been watching) or see any big clouds of feathers drifting out, kicked up by chicks exercising their wings down in the nest and out of sight.
Dan and another EPA worker, Janet, have been emailing me with updates from their end. Neither one of them has seen any activity at the MCC for some time now.
As I’ve said before, Hercules is getting up there in age, so it would not be the least out of the ordinary for her to have an infertile year. That said, I’m still holding out hope that a jail chick will surprise us all by popping up in the next few days.
On Sunday, Sean and I wandered over to the Blues Fest. Generally, I love the Blues Fest, but neither one of us were in the mood for the prodigious crowds this year, so we didn’t stay long. Instead, we decided to go on a nice walk and it just so happened that two more nests were on our route (Sean would insist this was no accident).
We saw two of the Loop-A chicks up on their railing. They were both feathering out nicely, but had enough patches of down that they’d probably be in the nest awhile longer. When we got the the river bird site, we found an outdoor cafe where we could monitor and grab lunch. We were there for maybe an hour and a half, but I didn’t see any movement or adult activity. We’ll have to see!
So, that’s the word for now. I’m still crossing my fingers that the MCC pair have at least one chick. Those two make the most BEAUTIFUL babies – but, I admit, I may be a bit biased as I’m awfully fond of the parents.
Chicago Peregrine Falcon Blog 