The Falcon Watch Begins!

This is the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. If you look carefully you will see a small box near the top corner of the building, right next to the corbels (sp?). You don't know what a corbel is? It's that little decorative thingie at the top of the building--duh! Anyway, that little box was the home of our falcons last year (and the year before that, and the year before that, etc.). Jesse was their Mama, and he helped get the box set up when he was the FM of that building. Even better, Jesse helped get the camera set up so that everyone in the world can watch the falcons lay their eggs, hatch, and fly away. If you look closely you will also see that the falcons' home has been condemned and closed off. I do not know why.



This is the west wing of the Church Office Building. This is the falcons' new home. And yes, there is a camera there, too. I will keep you posted when and if a pair of peregrines decide to make it home for their nest.

We're still getting occasional snow, and it's still pretty cold. But it is spring in SLC!

I Am an Empty-Nester

Our falcons have flown away. Big Sister flew away on Monday morning. She made it to the Administration Building, where she perched for a little while. The next time she tried to fly, she crashed into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. She fluttered a little and turned around to try to the Admin Building again. She crashed, there, too. After her crash landing, someone from the Division of Wildlife Services picked her up. They did a little exam and some rehab and then took her in a box to the top of the JSB, where her parents fed her and took care of her.

Little Brother flew away this morning. I would ground both of them because they didn't check out with me first, but birds weren't meant to be grounded.

For the next two to three weeks they will stay in the area, learning to fly and hunt and generally being helped by their parents. They have a 40% chance of survival. They are also being helped along by human volunteers who watch over them while they are here, rescuing them if they fall, and taking them to rehab, then back up to the top of the building to try again. (There's probably a life metaphor in there somewhere!)

After that, our falcons will fly to the foothills to be grown-ups.

Good-bye, Birds! Good luck!

Falcons Are People, Too

Big Sister Falcon is no longer larger than Little Brother Falcon. But she's still bossy.

Big Sister is mostly put-together. Nearly every feather is in place. Little Brother is rumpled. He doesn't primp or preen.

The falcons stand as close to the edge as they possibly can, looking over. They think nothing bad could ever happen to them.

While Big Sister is standing at the edge, Little Brother bumps against her as he goes running by.

The falcon kids think that if they run really fast from one end of the box to the other, they will fly. (They are not wearing capes.)

Mom brings dinner. She drops it off on her way to work (more hunting). The kids look at the food. They look at each other. They walk away from the food. They start whining. Mom shows up and feeds them. (It actually gives me hope to think that this happens in nature, and not just at our house!)

DAD brings dinner. He drops it off in his way to work. The kids look at the food. They look at each other. They walk away from the food. They start whining. MOM shows up and feeds them.

There are two baby falcons, standing at the very edge of the nest, 10 stories above the ground. You can see them from the ground. They have it programmed in their DNA to start wondering what is happening in that big, wide world. They stretch their wings. They run fast. They eat. They whine a little. They flap their wings. And Mom is sitting just above them (on the corner of the building), keeping watch.

Pretty soon our kids are going to leave the nest. We will be a little sad. We will also be really excited.

And Mom and Dad will do it all over again.

See? Falcons are people, too!

My Babies

I have three babies, did you know?

Two of the babies are the falcon chicks that are currently living at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in SLC. I watch them all day at work. They grow amazingly, and we have begun to identify them. Amy and I will have to come up with wonderful names for them. But for now you will be glad to know that we have decided that one is a boy, and the other is his older, bossy sister. Maybe we'll name them Aundrea and Brant. Or Briana and Taylor.

I went away to Youth Conference and came back to find both babies have survived. They have grown a ton. They have gray and black feathers. They are not wobbly. Amy took good care of them in my absence.

My other baby is Baby Thomas, whose arrival is expected some time toward the end of October. He's kinda naughty because he's made his mommy really sick for far too long. But he's also beautiful. I know, because I've seen his picture. And his mother is as beautiful as they come, both inside and out. So how can Tommy be anything BUT beautiful? His mommy says I can be Aunt Aundrea to this precious boy and that I can munch him as much as I want.

But I went away to Youth Conference and came back to learn that Thomas and his parents are probably going to move to Montana. All I can do when I think about it is cry. I will miss Amy terribly. I won't get to munch on Tommy at all (because by the time I see him, he won't let me).

But I know Amy will take good care of him in my absence.