Peregrine success.

Trent Watts

Well-Known Member
I have posted here before about the Peregrine Falcons nesting on a tall building in Saskatoon. Last year they were unsuccessful in having young. The theory was the male was too young and not ale to breed. M59, the female has been coming back for a few years. This year she found a male of breeding age but we don't know if it is the same one as it has no leg band. I was able to get up to the top of the tower and go out on the roof to see if I could get pictures of the young. It is an amazing experience to step out on the roof and have the falcons dive bombing you to get you away from the young. The male stays quite high and just circles and screams while M59 comes quite close as she screams at you to get away. I climbed up the air conditioning unit to get above the fence and look over the top and see if the babies were on the ledge. At first there was no sign of any young but after a few minutes three babies moved into view and I was able to get an image. I might get up one more time in the next week to get some better pictures of the young. We are careful not to disturb them once the young come close to fledging as we don't want them to be scared off the ledge before they are ready to fly.

Over all view of the Renaissance Tower from the ground.
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Falcon eye view of the city from the air conditioning unit on the roof.
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The ledge where the young are.
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The female M59 trying to get rid of the intruders.
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Male
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AlanLichty

Moderator
All of the shots of the birds have one thing in common - they all feature eyeballs aimed directly at you. Beautiful shots of a beautiful family.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks Trent for documenting this. That's a pretty tall building, and its weird to think of these falcons in the city as opposed to out in the woods.

And great photos Trent, though a bit sad to see those chicks wedged into a corner.
 

Trent Watts

Well-Known Member
Thanks Trent for documenting this. That's a pretty tall building, and its weird to think of these falcons in the city as opposed to out in the woods.

And great photos Trent, though a bit sad to see those chicks wedged into a corner.
Thanks Jim. The falcon project has been pretty successful in establishing urban peregrines. They have lots of pigeons and other birds to eat and the high buildings replicate cliffs nicely.
 
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