Pilsen and the New River Birds
A two-site trip today, one really fun, one sad.
First, the Pilsen site has failed. The adults are fine, but the chicks didn’t make it. We’ve recovered the bodies and will work to find out why that nest failed.
Second, Mary and I visited London Guarantee! When the river birds nested there in 2008, the office had just been vacated, so it was an expansive, dark, unoccupied space.
So, it was almost shocking to emerge from the elevator today into a beautiful and modern white reception area. Honestly, I thought we had the wrong floor. Fortunately, our guide, a building engineer, knew were he was going. We followed him into reception where we were directed through a doorway into the office proper.
We were greeted by a large group of people sitting in low-walled cubicles in the no longer dark and unoccupied, but just as expansive area I’d remembered. At their head, our new friend David – he of the Autum Hope pictures and emails – who greeted us heartily and filled us in on the offices peregrine sightings to date.
As Mary talked to David and other interested parties that had gathered around, the engineer moved a bookshelf and raised the window to the ledge. Mary donned her bike helmet and went out to look first. She came back in, grinning. “At least two eggs and one adult.”
Mary handed me the bike helmet and asked me to go out and get some shots while she chatted with the group. I slung myself over the window ledge and slid out onto the balcony. Sure enough, there stood Autumn Hope, full of righteous indignation at the intrusion. She stood over one egg, screeching and glaring at me. The other egg sat inches from her tail. I snapped a number of photos, mostly catching Autumn hope with her beak agape as she yelled at me. However, I did get some good context shots and verification of the band numbers. Sadly, the male didn’t come in while I was there, so no leg bands for him. But, if he’s the same guy she was with up north, which is the most likely scenario, he’ll be unbanded.
I came back in and we hung around for a bit to chat with the really, really nice folks. A lot of the office workers had stories of fly bys by the adults and everyone was really excited and happy to have them. That’s so nice when that happens – puts a grin on my face for a nice long time when people get excited about the wildlife in our midst.
So, this is a pretty late renest for the Mag Milers/London Guarantee birds. We’ll be going up in about a week to see how they are coming along and talk with the building about some pea gravel. I’ll keep you posted!
Chicago Peregrine Falcon Blog 