Nest monitors, Mr. and Mrs. Saladin, have confirmed that all four have fledged. They captured this picture of Tiki and Tiger flying together and report that “they are starting to chase each other and doing some aerial mock combat”.
Mrs. S said, “Thriller gave us a thrill in a way that we weren't thrilled about ….. Thriller went out on the scaffolding, and all of a sudden the scaffolding elevator started lowering down from the top! I'll admit I was a bit frantic, so I ran up the stairs one level, whipped open the window and called to the workers in the elevator to alert them that Thriller was below. Mr. S stayed on the nest level to watch and see where he would end up if he tried to fly. The workers stopped the elevator, then called back to us that Thriller would be okay if he stayed on the side and they proceeded slowly down past him. Amazing how incredibly tolerant this Peregrine Falcon family has become (and it's also great how cautious and concerned the construction workers are-- they really look out for them)! Here's "the Thrill"...
Just before they fledged, Mr. and Mrs. Saladin observed “Spirit and Thriller on the ledge when Spirit started flapping and stirring up Thriller when he was resting-- as he got up Spirit just about landed on top of him, and then she grabbed playfully at his tail feathers”.
“SW was flying by as they called at her-- there was no food brought in to these two for quite awhile and they called just about every time that they saw an adult flying. We've read that there's some speculation that as juvies get close to fledging the parents may withhold food. Some researchers suggest that there is an effort to "lure" the juvies to take flight, while others think that they are not fed as much so that they will be lighter on their first fledges”.
Our thanks to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for sponsoring the FalconCams.
Photos are courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Saladin, volunteer peregrine nest monitors.
As this was happening, SW was "on guard" waiting for Thriller and Spirit to fly, and when Mr. and Mrs. S opened the window to call to the construction workers, SW came quickly toward the open window to warn all humans not to harm her youngsters.
Here Tiki is flying and practicing landing.
Tiger’s flying skills are progressing very well and he is flying high over city buildings.
