Peregrine update

Hello,

One of the two Peregrine brothers, Wilbur, is still hanging around the release site, although he has
removed his transmitter. There is no sign or signal from Orville. He was last heard from (transmitter-wise) yesterday afternoon.  However, he still may be in the area and may have remove his transmitter as well. It is hard to keep a radio transmitter on a Peregrine since its beak is rather parrot-like. We are hoping we will see both brothers together again soon. We'll keep you updated...

Peregrine Falcons released at Rock City

Hello,

The two young male Peregrine Falcons were released at Rock City this morning (7/21/14). They were named Orville and Wilbur via Rock City's Facebook page. Yesterday evening, we put Federal leg bands and radio transmitters on both birds to aid in tracking after release. The release box door was opened before dawn and by 6:20 or so, Wilbur emerged from the box, exercised his wings and took off. He flew to the south of the release site and found a safe tree. Orville hopped out on the door ledge next, flapped his wings, hopped down to the rock cliff below for some more exercise and then took off; much to everyone's delight, flew right out in front of the cliff where everyone was gathered. He landed in a tree near Rock City's pavilion. He was later seen briefly soaring the ridge in front of Rock City and soon caught a small thermal where he was joined by about two dozen Chimney Swifts. He later landed in a nearby tree. Our local NBC station, Channel 3, sent a crew to cover the event. Here is some footage taken by them http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/26068167/peregrine-falcons-released-from-rock-city-live-on-channel-3
We hope the brothers will stick around for a few weeks and maybe one (or both) will return to the area to nest. We'l keep you posted.

John and Dale

Peregrine Falcons arrive for later release

Hello,

Yesterday, we received two young male Peregrine Falcons from Falcon Breeder Andy Kramer of Hastings, Minnesota. The birds were captive-hatched on June 6, 2014. They were placed in our hack box at Rock City in a cooperative effort between Wings to Soar and See Rock City, Inc. These brothers will be the 8th and 9th Peregrines to be released on Lookout Mountain since 2005. It is our hope that one day one of the young birds we release will  return to the vicinity and re-establish the Peregrine Falcon as a breeding bird
in the Chattanooga area. We'll keep you updated on their progress.

By the way, we are still at Rock City Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day. Our shows times are 11:00, 1:00, 3:00 and 4:30 EDT. We are booking programs for the Fall through early Spring. If interested, please e-mail us at s.o.a.r.south@hotmail.com or call 423-605-8908. Thanks!

Dale and John