Peregrine Falcon Project Observation Log 10

5/15 The BIG Day! Not only for the eyases, but for us as well. The faces of the students and adults say it all ...

Many thanks need to go to the folks at APK, ODNR, and Walter & Haverfield! Because of their interest in our project and their efforts, we were at the banding ~ virtually. We watched the entire proceedings through a live webcast, using a camera for the video and a phone connection (with a speaker phone) for the audio. We watched the banding, the blood samples being drawn, and of course heard Dave Scott (aka Father Falcon), the head biologist for ODNR, announce the names of OUR babies. We were also able to ask many questions of the experts, and it was fun to be able to put a voice and face with the names of everyone we have been sending emails to ~ Cecilia, Scott, Bill, Tony, and Rich. On our end we had all 8 falcon team members and their parents, 6 other students from the class and their parents, several siblings of students in my room, the principal, myself, and several interested staff members, along with a videographer that was shooting a video for ODNR ~ a full room. With the 3 hour time difference we started about 6:20 AM. The students were glued to the screen, several holding their little stuffed falcons, generously sent to the students by two of the falcon fans on APK's forum, Rita and Juanita, and totally absorbed with it all. Thanks to all the support in Cleveland, this will be an experience we will never forget ~ the students “own" this project now, it will be with them a lifetime.
For the eyases, the day started out cool ~ in the upper 40s / low 50s. A barricade was raised about 2 hours before the banding to insure the babies wouldn't try to head for the ledge when they were being retrieved. SW, we think, knew what was coming as she perched atop it and stayed there for the entire time, except when the window opened to take the babies and put them back.
	Both SW and Buckeye (on speaker mount) have their eye on things.
	When the time came, Dave Scott, ODNR Biologist, opened the window, and with only a hard hat and a plexiglass shield to protect him from Mom and Dad's attack, grabbed the babies and got them inside. "Inside" was a file room at Walter & Haverfield. The babies were put in a box and one at a time, were examined, banded, and blood was drawn. Our view of the process is below ... with the use of a laptop connected to a LCD projector, the monitor screen was projected on to a pull-down screen. The commentary of the process (over the phone) was by Mr. Bill Beagle from ODNR.
Buckeye was anxiously waiting outside the window.	Presenting Hope, the larger female.
Presenting Goldie, the smaller female.	Presenting Kudos, the male.
The group intently watched ...	... and took notes on everything being said.
We are very proud to have had the honor of naming the eyases this year. From the 18 names we submitted the ones chosen are: Hope - for the First Lady of Ohio, and hope for the recovery of the peregrine. (14/E FWS 1807-62104) Goldie - honoring the golden state of California, our home. (15/E FWS 1807-62105) Kudos - for the K in APK, the company which operates the falconcam site as a community service. (06/P FWS 2206-69803) All 3 babies are healthy. Hope is a little larger than Goldie and both females are larger than the male ~ typical in the falcon world. One of our friends in Ohio, Heidi, mentioned she thinks Goldie might be the troublemaker of the group ... the one that frequently had her head up in the baby album pictures.
Both of these pictures (below and right) were taken by Scott Wright, ODNR Nest Monitor and Photographer and used with permission. Here are all 3 babies being held by ODNR Officers after banding (below) ~ Hope on the left, Kudos in the middle, and Goldie on the right. In the picture on the right, the 3 babies are waiting to be put back in the nest ... Goldie is on the top / left with the bright feet, Hope is next to her, and Kudos at the bottom "kicked back".
	These 4 pictures (1 left, 1 above, and 2 below) were taken from the ground, outside of the Terminal Tower, by Falcon Fan Doug Knowles and used with his permission. You can see Dave Scott coming out of the window and the parents' reactions to having someone invading their nest.

Now, safe and sound back in the nest, it was time for their official baby pictures to be taken.
Buckeye returned quickly after the window closed.	Both parents surveyed the nest after the babies had been returned.
SW	Buckeye on his favorite perch
"OK, let me check out those new ID bracelets so I know what to call you."	Finally down for a nap after their ordeal, Buckeye stands at the ready in case that window opens again.
Click here to read the questions we had for the experts and their answers.	Click here to read the students' reactions to the day.
We got little else done the rest of the day. We were so excited to have been part of the banding and to name the baby falcons! Thank You APK, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Walter and Haverfield LLP, Juanita and Rita, Heidi, Margaret, and all the many falcon fans on the Falcon Forum for your interest and support.