12/28/2023 0 Comments Peregrin falcon in paLook for bright yellows in spicebush (shrub) and sweet birch, while black gum (tupelo) and red maples show off their crimson leaves. Autumn’s foliage is beginning to brighten. Nature Happenings: Start checking your feeders, the first juncos and white-throated sparrows should be arriving about Oct. Let’s do our part to keep the populations healthy. Kudos to those who found ways to bolster the peregrine, bald eagle, and osprey numbers. Peregrines around 1900 nested on the cliffs of Lehigh Gap and I can imagine a new pair could again find that area a great place to nest again. It has been reported to the Game Commission and is apparently the only nest in Carbon County. I had a chance to see both the nest and the adults on a mid-June trek there this year. One of my former students and outstanding photographer, Steve Miller, discovered a falcon nest in the Lehigh River Gorge. Now, the falcons have adapted well to the “cement and stone cliffs” of city buildings or on the steel framework of bridges over those same rivers. When peregrine numbers were stable before DDT, almost every nest was on a cliff usually along a river. Now nests have been found in 32 of our state’s counties. Hacking was successful for eagles and ospreys as well.įinally, 2003 brought the first nesting pair again to our state. Captive peregrine’s young were transferred to these structures and careful feeding of them through puppet like surrogate parents enabled them to be released as “wild” falcons. In 1990, the Pennsylvania Game Commission began reintroduction programs done with hacking towers. In Pennsylvania, eventually there were no nesting peregrines after 1959. In 1972, North America banned the use of DDT. Eventually almost no nests were successful and the populations were unable to recover. The accumulation of DDT in the higher order predatory birds caused either infertility or thinning eggshells. 1, they’ve recorded 166 already.) Compare that number to 2002 when only 19 falcons passed the official counters.īald eagles, and osprey numbers also dropped dramatically as the use of DDT and similar pesticides increased. Last year, for example, Cape May hawk counters recorded 220 passing the observation deck there. Peregrine falcons are more commonly observed migrating along the Atlantic Coast. Now, from late September through October, with favorable winds, they can be seen almost daily. In the numerous days perched on the mountain over the next few years, I never recorded a peregrine. I began assisting in the hawk migration counts at Bake Oven Knob in the fall of 1975. Once they’ve mastered their hunting techniques they advance to avian prey. Young, recently fledged falcons, begin to hone their feeding prowess by catching dragonflies or butterflies. It is the world’s fastest bird and has been recorded at speeds of nearly 200 mph.Īdult peregrines hunt on the wing generally snatching flying birds from midair or knocking them from the sky with closed talons.ĭepending on their habitat, they feed on waterfowl, gulls, jays, pigeons, and evening chimney swifts. In particular, the peregrine is the speed champ. They have rather pointed wings and powerful breast muscles. Their names were changed but they’re still falcons, and built for speed. While learning my birds as a youngster, the peregrine falcon was called the duck hawk, the kestrel was called a sparrow hawk and a merlin was called a pigeon hawk. In this case, it is the recovery of the peregrine falcon. “We’re not returning her to an area that has peregrine falcons, but it’s a good location for her to branch out and find her own spot,” Holmgren said.Īfter being listed as endangered in 1972, reintroduction efforts by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and other organizations has resulted in modest population expansion and a designation as “threatened”.It’s nice to take time to write about positive environmental things. today but just because she is being released at Moraine doesn’t mean experts expect her to stay in the area. Now after two years of rehabilitation, Nike is ready to return to the skies at 10 a.m. “A peregrine falcon can fly as fast as 240 miles per hour,” she said. “We treat concussion patients quite a bit, either from window collisions or impact with car vehicles.”Īnd impacts happen at insanely fast speeds according to Holmgren. That was the protocol and that’s what we did,” Homgren said. “Just like humans that have concussions, rest and lack of exertion helps the brain heal as well as the spine. Carol Holmgren is a falconer with the Tamarack Wildlife Center in Saegertown and helped Nike’s rehab. “Nike” is a peregrine falcon that was injured at birth near Canton, Ohio in 2019. A rare bird that is considered threatened in America will be released into the wild later today at Moraine State Park.
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