High drama at Jersey City on Sunday, June 16, 2019. See the posts below from NJFish&Wildlife:
Jersey City #FalconCam Update:
Many have reached out about the incident that occurred on Sunday at this nest. At approximately 8:45am, window washers entered the rooftop area (41st floor) where the falcon nestbox is located. The eyases (young falcons) are 5-6 weeks old and very close to fledging, so this is a very dangerous time for them to be disturbed. Pushing (by disturbing them) the birds to fledge early can be disastrous. Since they are unable to fly on their own and without much skill, they often land below or another ledge or end up on the streets below.
As soon as they entered the area, the adult #falcons could be heard calling and dive bombing the workers, to defend their eyrie (nest) and young. From the human disturbance, two eyases left the ledge on the 41st floor and one remained. At one point viewers noticed the remaining eyas was being sprayed with water from above, which we see as an attempt to drive or push that bird off the ledge, which luckily failed. Either way, it clearly shows that the window washers were aware that these state #endangered birds were present and were actively trying to remove them from the area so they could do their job. The workers remained in that area for the majority of the day until we were able to reach engineers for the building to escort them from the area.
Later that day a volunteer nest watcher visited the area and saw one eyas on a lower ledge. Yesterday one was found on the ground and was captured and transported to The Raptor Trust. Currently the one eyas remains near the nestbox and the other has not been located.
This is now a law enforcement issue which is being investigated by NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. We are deeply saddened by this and will keep you all updated on the status of these majestic birds.
Watch live:
www.conservewildlifenj.org/falconcam
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