Local peregrine on guard

[Paul Hamilton]

As I emerged from the deer trail that wound down through the thick woods to the Potomac, I was greeted by the kakking of the resident female perched beneath the bridge.  She's there for a reason, I thought. When you look for a peregrine, it's the peregrine that finds you.  There were two juveniles on the concrete pylon that has the nest box.  I took out my binoculars and searched for the male.  He was about a half mile (1 km) across the river in Virginia   Not surprisingly, he was looking straight at me.

An hour later, I heard wail calls.  Up on the bridge abutment, not far from me, was a juvenile begging for food.  That's why the female met me there.  According to my fellow falcon watcher Ricardo, nobody had fledged as of Saturday evening.  That means that one and possibly two falcons fledged today. Before long it was noon -- time for me to leave.  I started up the narrow, overgrown trail, watched by falcons, both visible and hidden

I just screened my videoo footage and it looks OK.


Paul

[Donna]

2 great pics Paul..I love the 1st one, with the shadow behind her. Really nice photos. Thanks.

[Paul Hamilton]

While we are all trying to deal with the suspense as the time approaches for the first fledge in Rochester, here is the promised video from last Sunday morning.  One of the juvies had just fledged and the remaining two seemed to be at about the same stage as Jemision and Callidora right now.  This site, like the Rochester one has a lot of opportunities for ledging prior to flight.  As at Rochester, there was a lot of wing flapping and many "hop flights."  This film also shows how the parents always have their offspring in sight.  Maybe by watching it you can anticipate the behavior of Archer, Beauty, Callidora, and Jemison.

This clip shows what it is like in the strange, noisy world beneath the American Legion Bridge near Cabin John, MD.  You can imagine how loud it must be at the nest box, given the sound levels far away where I was filming.  Early tomorrow, I'll make another trek to the Land of the Falcons to see how the fledge is progressing.  The other watcher has been there every day with his swim trunks, ready to make a rescue.

Clicj the word "here" in the first paragraph. This film is in QuickTime.  If you don't like QT, Blip TV also provides a Flash version via the pulldown menu.  If your computer is good with Flash, you can even watch a fullscreen video.

Regards,

Paul

[Annette]

While we are all trying to deal with the suspense as the time approaches for the first fledge in Rochester, here is the promised video from last Sunday morning.  One of the juvies had just fledged and the remaining two seemed to be at about the same stage as Jemision and Callidora right now.  This site, like the Rochester one has a lot of opportunities for ledging prior to flight.  As at Rochester, there was a lot of wing flapping and many "hop flights."  This film also shows how the parents always have their offspring in sight.  Maybe by watching it you can anticipate the behavior of Archer, Beauty, Callidora, and Jemison.

This clip shows what it is like in the strange, noisy world beneath the American Legion Bridge near Cabin John, MD.  You can imagine how loud it must be at the nest box, given the sound levels far away where I was filming.  Early tomorrow, I'll make another trek to the Land of the Falcons to see how the fledge is progressing.  The other watcher has been there every day with his swim trunks, ready to make a rescue.

Clicj the word "here" in the first paragraph. This film is in QuickTime.  If you don't like QT, Blip TV also provides a Flash version via the pulldown menu.  If your computer is good with Flash, you can even watch a fullscreen video.

Regards,
Paul

Lovely video. Thank you for sharing.

[dale]

Great video, Paul!  What a strange and terrific place to falconwatch and film. The cavelike echo of the kakking and the theatrical light, both direct and reflected from the moving water, make for a really different atmosphere...thanks so much for sharing it!   dale

[gayle]

Thanks Paul.  You do such a great job on your videos.  Thanks for schlepping your equipment into the site and for sharing the results with us.

Gayle

[Donna]

In all the excitement today, I missed this Paul. Great place, HUGE nest box...love the rippling water effects on the bridge. Nice. Thank you!

[Paul Hamilton]

All three eyasses at the Cabin John, MD, site have fledged successfully.  We found at least two of them today.  According to my friend's field notes on the facial and tail markings, these were the first to fledge (male) and the second to fledge (female).

Both the male and the female adults continue to guard the nestbox area and use it as a place to feed the juveniles, who are increasingly spending their time at a hunting area to the south.  We have no idea where their hunting area is, but suspect it may be near Chain Bridge, a few miles down the Potomac.

I shot mostly video, but took a few stills. Lots of good flying today, some of which got filmed.

Paul

[Donna]

Beautiful Paul...glad all is well with their first flights. Thank you.

[anneintoronto]

Thanks, Paul, for all the photos and video!  What a unique setting for these lovely falcons!

Best wishes,
Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada)

[Lou]

Beautiful shots Paul. And thanks for the videos. I especially liked the last video. It provides a glimpse at what falcon watching must be like at this location. The rumble of traffic in the background, kakking in the foreground, water reflecting light under the bridge - a peaceful easy feeling. I could get into that for sure!

Lou

[valhalla]

Thanks Paul - I was just thinking about these guys.  Really pretty falcons.  Thanks for the updates 

[MAK]

Thanks Paul - I was just thinking about these guys.  Really pretty falcons.  Thanks for the updates 

  Aren't they all just magnificent!  Thanks for sharing.

[Paul Hamilton]

As promised, here is a video from two weeks ago.  These were taken with a heat index of about 100.  Notice how the falcons respond to the exterme heat by holding their wings away from their bodies.  According to my fellow fledgewatcher, all three eyasses successfully fledged.  Since the three never seem to be all together, he figured this out by looking at the field marks in his notebook.  He is kind of the Chilean equivalent of Brian -- a falcon expert without a computer.  

I remember that day well.  After spending the morning on the banks of the Potomac, I came home to spend the afternoon watching the fledges on rfalconcam.  I'm not addicted or anything.

You can view the film in either Flash or Quick Time.  If you have a fast computer and connection, you can watch the Flash version in full screen.  Please let me know how the two versions play for you.

Enjoy,

Paul

[~Ruth]

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