Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Peregrine Falcon

 Peregrine Chick at Banding
 Lately I have been spending some time photographing the peregrines at the Ford Bridge that connects St Paul and south Minneapolis. The bridge is not far from an active eagles nest and a spot where Merlin falcons frequently nest, so it enables me to photograph several different nests from several different species in a very close area.
Peregrine Falcons and Chicks at Nesting Box
 For the past few years the peregrines have decided to nest under the bridge which makes it impossible to get any decent pictures of the nest. Back in 2010, when most of the pictures in this post where taken, the peregrines nested in the nesting box which is on the side of the dam.
Young Peregrine Falcon Fledging
The dam box is very visible from the observation platform at the dam which made it very easy to document the peregrines early life through photographs. When they were very young it was difficult to see them inside the nest box. Fortunately through my connections with The Raptor Center I was able to attend the banding that year. The top photo was taken  at the banding at the beginning of June.
Adult Peregrine Falcon in Flight
A few weeks later the peregrine chicks were almost as big as their parents and already had a majority of their flight feathers, the second photo. They are also very hungry. In another week they are ready to fledge / fly, the third photo. Eventually they will look like their parents, final photo. This year since they are nesting under the dam I can only photograph them when they visit one of their neighboring perches. Hopefully i will get a chance to photograph the chicks before they leave the area.

8 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

What fantastic to see these beautiful birds with their young so close adn get these marvellous images.

Gattina said...

Love the first picture ! Beautiful !

Gattina
ABC Wednesday Team

http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/

Adam Jones said...

Fantastic birds. Love the last flight shot.

FAB said...

How cool to be able to see and photograph this splendid species.

FAB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
fredamans said...

We have them here in my city too. They are beautiful! LOVE your baby shots!

Roger Owen Green said...

There was a famous professor named Heinz Meng at my alma mater, SUNY New Paltz, who was an expert on this bird.


ROG, ABCW

Obsessivemom said...

Those talons are impressive.