Peregrine falcons take to the skies over Rapid City
Dakota Digest - 06/22/2011
Four peregrine falcons re-introduced to South Dakota are being housed on the roof of the Assurant building, in Rapid City. Their cages are open and the area is free of human presence. Now it's a matter of letting nature take its course and seeing which bird flies first. Today we return with the continuing series on South Dakota raptors and find the big birds can be hard to track down.
After spending time with wildlife biologist Janie Fink preparing Weaver, Calamity Jane, SoDak and Rush for their first flights, I took a lunch break. It was unlikely that any of Rapid City's new peregrine falcons would fly before late afternoon. I was told. Then I received the call...
Apparently, someone forgot to tell that to SoDak.
"Janie had dropped the doors," explains intern Blake Schioberg, "and had opened the blind and as she was crawling around back...she was most likely out of his way, I wasn't really paying attention to her position...but as soon as SoDak came out, he went out right to the ledge and took off."
Schioberg was manning the camera that surveys the roof where the falcon blind is housed. She says SoDak, who had flown briefly around the maintenance room while being weighed, was gone in an instant. Janie Fink says the bird's first flight was incredible.
"He made a beautiful flight," recalls wildlife biologist Janie Fink. "He flew way over the hills and out of our sight. Never lost altitude. So, we assume he's doing well. We assume he will come back. If not he's got a huge problem, as a bird that can't hunt."
The five-week old peregrine, like his three siblings still on the Assurant roof, hasn't learned to hunt yet - so Janie hopes SoDak will return. Frozen quail are left near the birds' blind to assist them as they teach themselves to hunt and survive in their new environment. The young male should be all right for 2 or 3 days, but after that it's imperative he come home. Watching the remaining falcons' activity from across the street - on the roof of the Radisson Hotel - Janie continues her update.
"In the meantime," says Janie, "Calamity Jane has hopped up on to the ledge...begun wing-flapping a bit and had an altercation with a crow that came and sat next to her.
She puffed all up, got real aggressive and charged him and moved him right on out of his territory."
As we discuss the birds' general behavior, Calamity Jane makes another move....
A volunteer reports she saw Calamity Jane fall off the roof and then disappear. The bird can't be seen anywhere.
After speaking with her intern Blake, who's already on the ground, Janie decides to go down.
Racing through the Radisson, Janie makes her way to street level and meets up with Blake.
"Okay, we're all up there watching, then where would the bird be at this time", asks Janie Fink. "Across the street?"
"She looked like she just dropped," responds Blake. "That's all I can see from the camera. And I looked in those bushes right there....unless she caught wind."
The concern, of course, is that the falcons really don't know how to fly. Their first step off the roof of the Assurant building is the first time they've ever spread their wings at any altitude and relied on themselves to do what birds do. If any fail to make a successful flight and land on the ground - even safely - the results could be fatal, especially on a busy Saturday night near a major intersection in Rapid City.
"I find it hard to believe that the bird just lost all altitude...nine stories." Janie comments.
Janie and Blake search both sides of the block, but there's no sign of the missing peregrine. The wildlife biologist decides her best place to observe is from the Raddison roof, where volunteers have been scanning the skies for Calamity Jane.
Directing Blake to continue investigating the surrounding area, Janie departs joking that her namesake may have flown to Deadwood for a wild Saturday night.
"We just hope and continue monitoring up top and hope that she finds her way back," says Blake."Hope that, you know, when the winds die down a little bit, that she gets some altitude from these lower buildings."
After half-an-hour, Blake returns to the Assurant building's rooftop maintenance room.
"Rush is on top of the roof," she tells Janie, via her cell phone. "I have him in sight on the camera"
While the search was on for Calamity Jane, Rush also soloed. The smallest male's flight was a brief foray above Mt. Rushmore Road before returning to a new perch - one story up from his blind.
As the day ends. only the large female has yet to fly. Janie Fink is confident that Weaver will spread her wings, and well before Rapid City's next group of peregrine falcons arrive to take to the skies.
Calamity Jane has returned to the Assurant rooftop, Weaver has flown, and 15 more peregrine falcons will be released over the next weeks. SoDak is still unaccounted for and little Rush died on his second day of flight.
Anyone who finds a disoriented or injured falcon on the ground should:
- cover the bird's head with a shirt or jacket
- carefully take hold of the bird's legs
- place the falcon in a box or the trunk of a vehicle
- call Janie Fink at 208.582.0797
A live video camera has now been placed on the Assurant rooftop to monitor the birds and is accessible at: www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org
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