Thanks to Chad Steele, who's keen observations of a male peregrine at the Terminal Tower nest tray caught on cam with a black/red left leg band, and since we were at the nearby Hope Memorial Bridge nest site I decided to check the TT nest site. The resident male, Boomer has black/green bands as does Newton, so we appreciate not only the observation of a nest site where there hasn't been much entertaining activity along with the good catch on the different band color, but also that Chad let us know on our FB page.
Spent just a short time at the window overlooking the nest tray before Newton flew up and walked to the mostly out-of-view corner of the tray and began the "chipping" vocalization. She stared at me in the window, however, so I decided to shut the interior window (so that I wouldn't potentially deter the male from joining her) and soon after I could hear them both vocalizing together. I slowly opened the window and stayed back and the courtship nest display went on for about 1/2 a minute as the pair bowed and postured among the sun-bleached eggs that remain in the tray.
As the courtship display ended, the male walked with his head held low to the front of the tray, revealing his bands... 88/B, black/red. This was a familiar combination to us, so we were able to find it in our log: "Stacker" from the 2010 Eastlake Power Plant nest site. Stacker is the brother of Ranger (one of the former resident males at the TT) as well as Stator (who nested unsuccessfully for one season at the Tower East site). We have also discovered Stacker in the past at a few different sites that we have monitored: (1) He paired with a female at the Northpointe Apartment Building in Euclid on 10-4-11, but was eventually displaced by an un-banded male; (2) He was present at the Avon Lake nest site on 3-7-12 before being displaced by Regal at that site; and (3) We spotted him at the Hilliard Road Bridge site on 4-13-12 before he was quickly driven off by Titan. So, it appears that Stacker has a storied history of seeking a territory and not yet being able to maintain it as his own. As we all know, the word "peregrine" means "wanderer", so this is not unusual... it's just interesting when we've been able to know at least a portion of his course to this point.
Looked around and didn't see any signs of Boomer, including when I checked ledges, rooftops, and the balcony wells that I could see from the TT perspective.
I'm certain most of us know what this could mean for Boomer, as it could be the end of his reign at the TT. However, there are more optimistic scenarios for him, including the possibility that Boomer could be doing some of his own "wandering", particularly since the lack of a successful nest means that he doesn't have to fulfill a "provider" role at this time of the year.
We'll keep a closer eye on the cams to see if Boomer may return and/or if the challenge for this nest site is just beginning. Thanks again to those who are interested and keep track! We would certainly miss a great deal in trying to observe multiple peregrine nests without our many fellow falcon fan friends out there!
Stacker
BY C & C
Show Posts
