Glenn Stewart of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group wrote a note on his reactions to the recent loss of one of the San Francisco fledgelings:

We have suffered a loss and it is hard. No rationalizing will make us feel
better. We watch these youngsters hatch and grow, and so quickly leave the nest.
And some do not make it. In past years, I have wondered out loud if it is right
to put these images of naked nature on line so that folks have the opportunity
to fall in love with these animals before something bad happens. I invite
criticism by remarking that this is not the Disney Channel or that we need to
focus on the population and not on the individual birds (even though both are
true). But just the same, we have suffered a loss and it is very emotional. I
have wept over these birds even though cold reasoning informs me that many
fledglings just don't make it. David kindly pointed out that many others do make
it and pointed to his experience viewing other eyries this year. Indeed, I still
have more baby peregrines to band this season and will do so on Tuesday and
Friday of this week. I am lucky, very lucky, to see and touch many peregrines.
Like David remarked earlier, each one I encounter is a new thrill for me even
though there have been many, and each loss is deeply felt.... It is devastating,
maddening, frustrating, and a feeling of helplessness to recover one of these
creatures as Teague and Ann did last night, so I am mostly sorry for them--sorry
for them and sorry for all who participated in fledge watch and who watched this
saga unfold online. For most, Ayah and her family are the only peregrines that
will be encountered this year and I want for that encounter to be a happy one.
But am I sorry that I put the images on line? Not one bit. Sorry for the
sadness, yes, but not sorry that people have connected with these birds as is
evident by the outpouring today. I am not sorry that people have encountered
wild nature and seen it in both tender and cruel moments. It takes luck and
strength to survive, and what happened last night was just pure bad luck. We are
protected from most of what nature dishes out by the walls that surround us.
Last night as I drove into the City to retrieve Ayah's remains I had a clue as
to what happened--gusting wind moved my speeding car on the freeway. I speculate
that an otherwise routine flight ended in disaster when high wind turned into
wind sheer at the corner of the PG&E building--pure bad luck for a young bird
just learning to fly. It is tough to make it through year one as a raptor. One
thing can go right and so many things can go very wrong. The strong and the
lucky are the ones that end up on an eyrie ledge, face into the wind. And their
annual production of young--their courtship, 33 days of meditative attention to
their eggs, and 60 or more days of care and feeding of their young--is a hedge
against the spring when they are no longer at that eyrie. So they each get this
chance. They push their way out of an eggshell and struggle to hold their head
up in a cold world. They grow and they fly. With strength, determination, and a
measure of luck, they are out there each day, face into the wind. --glenn@scpbrg

Paul

Great shots, Bonnie!  The one of Rocky overhead is outstanding.

Paul

Thanks!  That is a graceful bird and a cool story.

Paul

Now, that is really good news! Just a month ago, I was walking on windy hills near The Cloisters in far northern Manhattan, looking across the Hudson to the Palisades, and thinking of Linn Pierson.  That brought to mind her falcon namesake, who seemed to have vanished.  I thought of how fleeting life was, forgetting that life had its own thoughts about that.

Paul

When I visited the nest site, I was amazed to see that they had begun hard incubation, because none of the Central Park nature sites had reported this.   

I'd expected crowds of people with cameras and telescopes, but saw no other hawkwatchers at the Model Boat Pond.  Nobody was even looking at the nest building. It felt almost eerie, given all the talk about Pale Male as avian celebrity.  I suppose people had given up hope after six years of failed nestings.

All the while, Pale Male and Lima (who may actually be Ginger), were oblivious to the collective funk and just went on being redtails.  There's a lesson in that.

Paul

I agree with Lord G that its all chromatic aberration and compression artifacts. 

I'm surprised that the two of them got into a fight on Kodak Tower.  Why should two falcons land there and fight on the ledge rather than do some aerial sparring to establish a territorial boundary?  Does someone want to nest there?  Ideas?

Paul

One of the great things about these "best picture" polls is that you get to see outstanding images that you have never seen before.  This year, some of the best cam pictures ever downloaded are in this collection.  I'm glad I took the time to look at them and vote.

Paul

Here are some great pictures from yesterday by Glenn Nevill.  zi particularly like the first one of one of the fledge watchers showing the falcons to a passerby Enjoy!

http://raptor-gallery.com/2011_05_17/index.htm

Paul

Phoenix took off at twilight and wound up sleeping on top of the PG&E building.  As of this morning, Fledge Watch says:

Good morning - we have disposition for all three young, and are currently
viewing the adults wheeling around, probably looking for breakfast.

Ayah - in bay 6 PGE building, still pre-fledge.

Phoenix - flew this morning from his night roost on 201 Mission. He can
currently be located on the topmost window ledge in bay 7 of the PGE building

Hajari - this just in, from Mary Malec - who has a visual on Hajari. He is still
near his last known coordinates on the PGE building north side nesr Main St~Fledge Watch~

Paul

The two males have both fledged, and the fledged "up" as they say in San Francisco.  Hajari (Swahili for flight) did a long, boomerang flight and is on a different level of the PG&E building. Phoenix, the other male, made it across the street to 201 Mission.  Here is a highly-zoomed video showing him far away, being fed.  

Meanwhile, the female, Ayah (Hebrew for falcon) is practicing her flapping. The Canyoneers (fledge watchers) all hope she will be in no hurry.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/nestcamSF.htm

Paul

Is there a spreadsheet or other file for the raw data?

Paul

Has that one egg a pip?

It does look interesting, Annette.  We will know for sure in a day or so.

Paul

My twelve-year-old daughter, Catherine, had a surprise for me when I came home from work on Tuesday.  A beautiful grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  had come to visit and she had managed to both photograph and identify it.  I'm so proud!

Paul

Safe journey, Ei.  I know how hard these are.

Paul

Somewhere on the Northern California coast is a cliff dwelling Peregrine Falcon family.  Photos by Glenn Neville.

http://raptor-gallery.com/2011_05_07/index.htm

Paul