July 6, 2011 - Round and Round They Go

Dining outside for a late lunch today, we looked skyward and witnessed another milestone in Peregrine development. One of our free fliers was high above downtown Rapid City, gracefully gliding in the warm summer air in a clockwise circular pattern. Their wings were fully extended, but not flapping. Only their feathers and wing tilt guided our friend higher and higher, lifting him on the air current created from the warming urban landscape. Janie explained this as ringing up. Peregrines learn to use the thermal current to naturally rise further and further into the sky, so high they eventually speck out, or are no longer visible to the naked eye below. Sure enough, after a few minutes of watching this poetry in motion, we lost sight of the bird.

Ringing up is a key development in the young peregrine. It means they are another step closer to their adult skill of diving at 200 miles per hour (stooping) to unexpectedly snatch their prey in midair. It's also a key element in their forthcoming migratory journey, allowing them to rise high above the earth with little effort, and use the wind currents to carry them the long distance to the southern hemisphere in as little as a week. Peregrines are their own energy conservationists!

Our newest arrivals are settled into the hack. They arrived last Sunday from Brad Mitchell, a breeder in Watertown, SD. We consider it a special group, as they are Mr. Mitchell's last clutch before retirement from the falcon breeding program. Two of the girls are our largest babies yet, each weighing over 1 kilogram! On a wing and a prayer, we hope they will thrive after their release this following Sunday, and return to breed and re-establish the species here in western South Dakota. Once a Dakotan, always a Dakotan! Here are three of the newest arrivals in the blind right after we weighed and banded them.

Athena, Rio and Wild Bill. Not pictured is Amelia (she's shy)

Our other free fliers are doing very well. Lucky Linde proudly brought his first kill back to the Assurant rooftop yesterday, a sign he has imprinted to the area and in adulthood more apt to return to breed. His prize was also admired by the others, and a game of tug-of-war and snatch ensued between Linde, Roxanne, and Rex. In addition to being fun to watch on the UStream web cam, it's also an important development. Now our young ones know the taste of fresh, warm food and will wean off the prepared quail that has sustained them as growing babies.

Finally, we received great news that our older birds, released in early June, are dispersing. We have a confirmed sighting in the Omaha Street/Deadwood Avenue area. These older birds are now completely on their own, hunting, perching on high poles, cell towers, and buildings. We encourage everyone to keep their eyes on the sky (but not while driving!) and call Janie at cell # (208) 582-0797 or respond to this blog to report a sighting. Look for the red band on the right leg to tell you it's one of our peregrines.

An example of the red band on the right leg, identifying the bird with this project.
Blog or call with a sighting; unfortunately, these fellas don't send post cards home to let us know of their travels.

We are very pleased with the progress of our project, and invite you to share this blog and the UStream Falcon Cam with your friends. Post questions below, and let us know if there's a particular topic we can address here.