Chicago Peregrine Falcon Blog

Deborah the Falcon

•April 14, 2011 • Comments Off

Mary got email from the Wisconsin team saying that 2009 Evanston Library chick Deborah (b/r 04/E) is nesting at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. This bird is the namesake of a longtime Evanston falcon monitor, so that makes it all doubly cool. Her mate is named Hondo (b/g) H/56, a 2009 falcon produced at the Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan, WI.

Their time lapse web cam can be found here: https://portal.housing.uwosh.edu/apps/Cameras/FalconLapse/

Refresh your browser every once in awhile to get a new shot. Congrats go out to both Deborahs!

Posted in IL Evanston

South Loop’s Mr. M. is back!

•April 13, 2011 • Comments Off

Those bad South Loop peregrines decided not to use their brand-spanking new and beautiful nest box this year, for reasons that defy understanding. Instead, they’ve returned to the building they nested on in 2009 and have laid three eggs in a planter. It’s a safe enough spot, so that’s good. They are wild animals and control their own destiny, so what are you gonna do?

Mary, Matt and I went over to check things out this afternoon. As we walked up to the building, we saw a nest exchange take place. When we arrived at the actual nest site, a smaller peregrine sat snuggled into a planter. Our movements caused him to pop up off the nest and ‘lo and behold, it was Mr. M.!

Continue reading ‘South Loop’s Mr. M. is back!’

Posted in Chicago MCC, Chicago River, Chicago South Loop, Chicago South Wacker, IL Waukegan

Mary Hennen Report

•April 12, 2011 • Comments Off

Illinois Peregrine Update – 11 April 2011
Chicago Peregrine Program
Mary Hennen, project director

2011 nesting season is underway. We have some pairs on eggs and are still checking on others. If a site is bolded, new information about 2011 is included. Be sure to check out our webcams.

UIC – http://media.uic.edu/community/falcons/
Waukegan – http://www.earthcam.com/usa/illinois/midwestgen/
Evanston – http://www.epl.org/falconcam/

Please continue to send any reports or questions to (mhennen@fieldmuseum.org)

Thanks!

Mary

**BREEDING PAIRS**

Chicago, McKinley Park
Adult Female: unidentified
Adult Male: unidentified

Pair present in 2011. In March, four birds were observed at the site. The nest ledge is inaccessible and no good view into the nest is possible. In 2010, one adult was identifed as unbanded (believed to be the male), while the other adult had a b/g band. In 2010, 3 young fledged from this site without any issues.

Continue reading ‘Mary Hennen Report’

Posted in Mary Hennen Report

St. Mary’s Adult Female

•April 7, 2011 • Comments Off

Made a site visit to St. Mary’s today with Matt and Mary. While M&M checked the nest box — five eggs now! — I got the ID for the adult female. It is b/g R/90, same as last year. The database has since been updated with her info (it wasn’t in there last year). R/90 didn’t get a name, but she was born in 2007 on a bridge in Iowa. I’ve decided to call her “Mary”. Seems right to me!

Posted in Chicago St. Mary's

Eggs, eggs everywhere!

•April 6, 2011 • Comments Off

We are scrambling to keep up.

Egg count: 22-23

Chicago, Lake Shore Drive: ?
Chicago, Lakeview: ?
Chicago, Lawndale: ?
Chicago, MCC (prison): behavior suggests eggs
Chicago, McKinley: ?
Chicago, North Broadway: 4 eggs
Chicago, Pilsen Park: 0 eggs so far
Chicago, River: ?
Chicago, South Loop: 0 eggs so far
Chicago, South Wacker: 3 eggs
Chicago, St. Mary’s: 3 eggs (using the box!)
Chicago, St. Michael’s: ?
Chicago, UIC: 3 eggs
Chicago, Uptown Theater: 1 egg
Alton, IL: ?
Evanston, IL: 4 eggs
Hyde Park, IL: 1 egg (using the box!)
Peoria, IL: ?
Savanna, IL: ?
Waukegan, IL: 3-4 eggs with one pushed off to the side (probably infertile)

Posted in Chicago Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Lakeview, Chicago Lawndale, Chicago MCC, Chicago North Broadway, Chicago Pilsen, Chicago River, Chicago South Loop, Chicago South Wacker, Chicago St. Mary's, Chicago St. Michael's, Chicago UIC, Chicago Uptown Theater, IL Evanston, IL Hyde Park, IL Waukegan

2011 Peregrine Falcon Season Open!

•March 28, 2011 • Comments Off

Hi all!

I realize things have been sparse on my end for some time. There’s a reason, believe it or not.

The Field Museum has a brand spanking new web site. It looks really nice and also provides for much more employee participation.

So, Mary Hennen (director of Chicago Peregrine Program) has decided we’re going to do a peregrine page from the Field Museum. As that will make the information I put here just a duplicate of the information there, I decided to phase this one out and work with her on the shared site.

I can’t give a specific timeline on the launch, but until it does launch, I’ll write really short posts here just to keep everyone happy! When the site does launch, there will be a link here!

For now, I can report that the peregrines are in full courting mode. Waukegan wins this years first egg award, so congrats to Waukegan! As always, if you go to my links page, you’ll see the Waukegan web cam up and running along with Evanston, South Loop, etc.

My pair, the prison birds, have been active and copulating, but thus far don’t appear to be sitting on eggs. I hope we’ll have prison babies finally!

So anyway, good to be back for another season and I’ll keep you guys posted on stuff!

Posted in Uncategorized

2010 Summary Report from Mary Hennen

•July 28, 2010 • Comments Off

2010 Summary Report
Chicago Peregrine Program
Mary Hennen, project director

The Chicago Peregrine Program completed its 25th year. Thanks to everyone for their assistance in monitoring the peregrines, especially personnel at the Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Evanston Peregrine Watch, Willowbrook Wildlife Haven, SOAR, and to the many peregrine watchers/reporters.

The web cams at the UIC, Midwest Generation Plant, South Loop Site and Evanston Public Library were great successes, as always. Any mistakes in the report are clearly mine and corrections could be emailed to me directly at mhennen@fieldmuseum.org. Don’t forget to send me any winter sightings.

Thanks!

Mary

Continue reading ‘2010 Summary Report from Mary Hennen’

Posted in Mary Hennen Report

Lakeview and a New Friend

•June 28, 2010 • Comments Off

The Lakeview site has long been a mystery for Mary. The site has been active since 1997, yet as far as Mary knows, it’s failed every year. The nest is on the 20th (or so) floor of a skyscraper and is completely inaccessible, so the only way to monitor the site is from the ground. Every year, Mary and a number of other volunteers have watched and waited, but nada.

However, adults don’t usually come back year after year to a completely failed site. Something had to have gone right at some point in the past. This is why we were making one of several season visits to stand out on the sidewalk below and watch the building.

Continue reading ‘Lakeview and a New Friend’

Posted in Chicago Lakeview

Calumet, Part 2

•June 25, 2010 • Comments Off

As it is fledging time here in Chicago, it seemed like a good idea to check back on the Calumet nest. Once the fledgling are out and about, they are much easier to see at this site. Chicks tucked into corners or holes in the steel beams are impossible to see from the ground.

Mary and I made our way down the Calumet and stayed out for about 4 hours. That may seem like a long time to watch a bridge for bird activity, but it is absolutely not. In fact, when one is tasked with finding out information about a wild thing, one often has to sit for hour and hours to wait for said wild thing to make an appearance.

Continue reading ‘Calumet, Part 2’

Posted in IL Calumet River

South Loop Kids

•June 21, 2010 • Comments Off

So, the new computer finally got here and I can at last get back to catching up here. I’ve gone through nearly all of the pictures – somewhere around 1500 or so – and man, what a difference the new computer makes in photo processing! I love it. I’ve posted a few on flickr and given a bunch that had important data in them to Mary Hennen. Now, I have to find all of the little scraps of papers and notes I’ve stuffed in my desk at work, in my bag, in my pockets, etc… and catch you poor readers up with what’s been going on. So, check back. I’ll be backposting to get things up to date.

I do want to pause to say that my main man, Sean, had his 40th birthday this past weekend. In fact, we celebrated the event in Door County with his family, so we were away from it all for 5 whole days. Even though the away time was right in the middle of peregrine season, which made me feel really, REALLY guilty, we had a great time.

So, Sean, my handsome man, happy birthday! I can’t wait to spend your next 40 years and beyond with you.

So, lots of catch up to do, but I’ll work on it. I wanted to post really quick to say that I’m still here and working like mad to help peregrine babies do their thang, along with helping insects get studied and a number of other museum duties.

I did want to mention that I was just watching the South Loop webcam. One of the adults was up on the roof feeding the kids. I only saw two, so that could mean that the third has fledged and is on another roof in the area. If anyone reading sees one on the ground, give us a call!

Anyway, after the kids fed, one of them laid down on the ledge for a snooze. It struck me that to people not used to seeing a raptor, or really any bird, do that, the position might be alarming. Don’t be alarmed! This is a really common posture for these guys. A researcher in Iowa took this really wonderful picture of a juvenile peregrine taking a breather. I wanted to put the link in here in case anyone was worried.

Talk to you later!

Posted in Chicago South Loop