Queenie, what wonderful pictures! We can see how grown up they are now.

Video: Wingersizing at Columbus

beans for great video ~with both chicks
but in mine today, only one ran to adult =Swoop 08/Y {is it the the first hatched~can't find that anywhere, I assumed 1st #?}~
you mentioned in your video they are ready to fledge~has Spirit 09/Y fledged?:question:
since only 1 chick runs to adult in mine:question: {shortly after noon e.t. today}

6/28/10~Visit by Adult to 08/Y Swoop~2.05min< Video Link

Oh, no something happened to Swoop since this video~the very hard part of watching wildlife & Spirit has fledged

Spirit (09/Y) was the juvenile that fledged this morning
About 10 a.m. I received a call from Josh Williams from the Ohio Senate Office. He reported that a co-worker, Jason Phillips, noticed a peregrine just outside on a windowsill. He was able to give me the band number. The bird was not injured so I opted to capture her and place her back on the nest ledge. Thanks to Jason and Josh for taking notice and contacting me.
The capture happened without incident. I got back up to the 41st floor of the Rhodes Tower about 11 a.m. It is a bit tricky to put a falcon back out on the ledge when you know another fledgling is out there because you don't want to accidently cause the other bird to flush from the ledge. I looked out the door and saw Scout on top of the nestbox (squawking at full volume since she knew I was there!). At this point I had another potential danger: there was a chance that Scout would attack the bird as I put it back out. Scout wasn't about to leave so, I had to move slowly. I put Spirit in the doorway so she and Scout could see each other and simply closed the door. After a moment she hopped up on top of the nestbox with Scout. Mission accomplished successfully!

it won't let me put the url of the site blog~says spam detected

Fast forward to just after lunch. In the midst of trying to update the blog I got another call from downtown about a falcon on the sidewalk in front of the Rhodes Tower. Unfortunately this story doesn't end so well. It was Swoop (08/Y) and from reports it sounded like she was exercising on the ledge and then was gone from the ledge. Other accounts indicate she fell down to the ground with little or no flapping. As I have reported many times, flapping is instinctual so the fact that this bird came straight down would indicate there may have been another underlying issue. A necropsy will likely be done.

I wonder if putting the fledgling back did indeed create an unfortunate early departure for the one that died!

Young Rhodes Tower falcon dies as it tries first flight
Monday, June 28, 2010 02:48 PM
By Jeffrey Sheban
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

One of two young peregrine falcons hatched this spring atop the Rhodes Tower died this afternoon in its first flight, witnesses said.

The 5-week-old bird hit the sidewalk in front of the state building after falling off a ledge on the 41st floor around 2 p.m.

"It just fell down. It wasn't even flapping its wings," said Dave Stephens, who works in the building. "That's a shame to see one of them die."

Sidewalk food vendor Lui Boskovski said building maintenance workers put the falcon in a cardboard box before state wildlife officials put it in a pet carrier and took the bird inside the building.
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Wildlife officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The juvenile birds are pretty much full grown and had been expected to attempt to leave their perch any day now.

To learn more about peregrine falcons in Ohio and to view webcams atop the Rhodes Tower, visit www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/dow/falcons.

That is sad news....

Here's a video I recorded around 8:30 PM, Columbus time.





Video: Sad News at Columbus

beans great prey shot going to watch your video now~
it is so sad but looks like Swoop just slipped off~I wasn't sure I had it recorded, as it happened later than I thought at 1:44pm e.t. approx.

6/28/10~Swoop Falls Off Ledge~1.22min.
< Video Link

Swoop got very close to the edge after running from the nestbox {where it had run to awhile earlier calling out to Scout or Trooper on the nestbox}; started to practice flying and slipped off the edge. The adult flew off the nestbox in seconds and back in seconds~

Quote by: soph9

I wonder if putting the fledgling back did indeed create an unfortunate early departure for the one that died!

I hope not, it looked like an accident, but that can happen. We had 5 Eastern Bluebirds fledge the day before on the 27th, and we had been monitoring them like advised with a nestbox {the recommendation is you could check eggs & chicks up to a few days before earliest fledge date for parasite, problems etc.}. When we looked at them a few days before that date, they were so cute & I shut the box and realized we couldn't check them anymore as the fledge date was approaching & all 5 fledged 3 & 4 days later, at about that estimated time. We had 4 last year fledge & still have 5 eggs in one box and a pair starting a nest in another, now.