Amelia and Billy spreading their wings

Both young Peregrines continue to impress with their flying.

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon and evening, Billy flew several more times, from the Annex to the south side of the main building, back to the Annex, and eventually to the top left ledge on the north side of the main building. Not bad, considering the strong winds. He’s funny little guy to watch, very animated and clearly very curious about the world around him.

Amelia continued to coach her little brother, rarely straying too far unless it was to harass her parents for food. She has quickly become a very confident flyer who clearly feels that Billy has much to learn from her.

Today, Amelia’s fifth day of flying and Billy’s second, both spent a great deal of time in the air. Rick reported that, in the morning, Billy flew several bigs loops from the west side and back. He tried to join Amelia on the south roof at one point but missed his landing and ended up on a ledge. Well, this falcon business does take some practice.

By mid-afternoon, both chicks were on the west roof, with much screeching. Then, Chris saw something pretty amazing (this has been edited after receiving clarification from Chris): Amelia flew towards Rowena at about roof level, and Rowena passed her a headless pigeon, the weight of which caused Amelia to drop in height. She tried gamely to pluck it but obviously is not used to doing such chores.

Billy, meanwhile, had a good, brief flight but landed just short of the roof edge, hung onto the corner for a bit, then dropped, looped around and finally managed to reach the roof.

Rowena brought the chicks a proper dinner around 5 p.m. They tussled over the food and, surprisingly, Billy managed to knock his much larger sister off the roof in the process!

Later, Pauline reported that all the falcons were doing fine and settling in for the night.

3 thoughts on “Amelia and Billy spreading their wings”

Just to clarify. The food “drop” was a headless pigeon and not a part of one. I believe it was the weight of the bird that caused Amelia to drop in height. She tried gamely to pluck it but obviously is not used to doing such chores. The subsequent dinner drop was a good size meal and not just a nasty bit of chewed over wing. Must say though that Amelia is a very fine flyer for only 5 days in.

Congratulations to Amelia and Billy on fledging successfully so far. Wonderful name choices, too!
Good luck to them, and to all the volunteers.

Eve

Pauline on July 5, 2015 at 11:59 pm said:

Hi Eve,

Thanks for keeping in touch. It is nice to hear from you. I miss all your great stories from the downtown falcons. Maybe we’ll see each other at the wrap-up or soon or at the very least, next year’s watch? You can get my email address from Anouk if you would like to keep in touch. That would be nice. Good birding!

Chris Traynor on July 4, 2015 at 11:03 pm said:

Just to clarify. The food “drop” was a headless pigeon and not a part of one. I believe it was the weight of the bird that caused Amelia to drop in height. She tried gamely to pluck it but obviously is not used to doing such chores. The subsequent dinner drop was a good size meal and not just a nasty bit of chewed over wing. Must say though that Amelia is a very fine flyer for only 5 days in.
Eve Ticknor on July 5, 2015 at 6:29 pm said:

Congratulations to Amelia and Billy on fledging successfully so far. Wonderful name choices, too!
Good luck to them, and to all the volunteers.

Eve
- Pauline on July 5, 2015 at 11:59 pm said:
  
  Hi Eve,
  
  Thanks for keeping in touch. It is nice to hear from you. I miss all your great stories from the downtown falcons. Maybe we’ll see each other at the wrap-up or soon or at the very least, next year’s watch? You can get my email address from Anouk if you would like to keep in touch. That would be nice. Good birding!