Monday, July 12, 2010

Peregrines arrive at Rock City




Hello,

Today, we received two male Anatum Peregrine Falcons from falcon breeder Andy Kramer of Minnesota. Two years ago, we got the male Peregrine "Rocky" from Andy and now we have the latest two. The birds are 30 days old and will be held in a "hack" box for two full weeks. The birds will be fed without human contact and will continue their growth and development. At 40-45 days of age, the young falcons will be fully grown. After two weeks, the birds will be fitted with Federal leg bands and radio transmitters so we can track their movements after release. On the morning of July 28th, the front door of the box will be opened before dawn and the birds will be able to liberate themselves at their leisure. This year's release is about two weeks earlier than our last two, so we are hopeful that the birds will stay in the area longer. It is our hope that these birds will return to the Lookout Mountain area to nest. So far, we have released three Peregrines: Garnet and Frieda in 2006 and Rocky in 2008. This year's project is fully funded by Rock City and we are most thankful to them for the support! Stay tuned for more news...

Dale and John

1 comment:

Greeneyed_doll said...

This is awesome!! Hopefully they will stay around.