I talked with Laura Jordan of the Medina Raptor Center at 2:45 pm on Friday, 6/11/2010. She reported that Ranger made it through last night at Dr. Riggs' veterinary clinic and, though he is very serious condition, there is some slight indication of improvement. He will be returned to Medina Raptor Center for weekend care and then returned to Dr. Riggs for a neurological assessment on Monday. I will post an update on Monday regarding his condition at that time.

Laura Jordan of the Medina Raptor Center relayed a message to the Museum that a falcon had been recovered on the sidewalk at the base of the Fifth Third Building at 600 Superior Avenue on Thursday at 9:50 AM and was being held in a box by building security. I retrieved the bird at 10:45 am. It was Ranger. He had apparently collided with the building and had collapsed on the sidewalk. No one witnessed the collision so we are unaware of why he hit the building. This is close to the territorial boundary between the Terminal Tower falcons and the Bohn Buildng falcons. So perhaps it was a territorial dispute.

Ranger was very groggy and had blood in his mouth and throat. Though able to stand and responsive to stimuli around him, he definitely was not ready to be released. I brought him back to the Museum and contacted Laura. We agreed that he needed veterinary assessment. He was transported to the Medina Raptor Center and then to Dr. Riggs. At last report (around 5:00 pm Thursday afternoon) Laura expressed deep concern over the head injury and gave a guarded prognosis. His condition had not improved over the course of the afternoon. If anything he was worse.

I will update as we learn more about his condition. We will all be keeping a close eye on SW and the three fledglings. There are numerous examples of a single Peregrine parent successfully caring for its late stage nestlings on its own. SW is clearly very experienced and should be up to the task.

All three eyases were banded today, Friday May 14 at 10:00 am by Damon Greer and his crew from the District 3 Headquarters of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The three chicks were each banded on one leg with a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service band, containing a unique identifying number. On the other leg was placed a color band with a unique alpha-numeric code that can be read at a distance. This year's color bands are black over red.

There were two females and one male. The male is dramatically smaller than the females. Falcon Forum correspondents have remarked over the past two weeks about the small size of the 'runt.' This chick was the last to hatch putting it 2 to 4 growing days behind the size of its siblings. The size difference was accentuated because his older siblings were females, who grow larger than the males. Adult male Peregrine Falcons are one third smaller than the females. By all accounts all three chicks are healthy and well fed. The names were selected from a group of suggestions submitted by students participating in Raptors in the City, an on-line curriculum and resource for students and teachers that uses the Cleveland Falconcam as a portal into the lives of urban Peregrine Falcons, Check out the Student Center in the Falcon forum to find out more about this exciting resource. The theme behind this year's names is sharp pointed objects.

The following photos are from the Falconcam Forum postings of bobbytimewarp and feature the chicks, their names and their alpha-numeric code from their color band.

The female, Arrow 58/H


Her sister, Dart 59/H


And the male, Spike 15/B

By 4:27 am, on Thursday, April 29, 2010, the third chick had completed its hatch and was raising its head along with its siblings for an early morning feeding.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, at 7:33 am during the morning feeding of the first chick, a pip could be seen as a white spot on the upper left surface of one of the remaining eggs.




By 11:30 the hatch had occurred as evidenced by the eggshell lying beside the brooding SW.



Both chicks were in view at a 12:03 pm shift change at the nest.



The same moment but from an overhead angle.