Grand Rapids, MI - Eberhard Center
"I apologize for not posting earlier in the week, but I didn’t have enough information to do anything but speculate.
On Tuesday, 6/20, about 2pm in the afternoon, one of the chicks left the nest box. Several attempts were made to locate the juvenile that afternoon and evening, without success. We don’t know what happened, but there is still a chance it is on a rooftop somewhere. After this much time without being seen, chances are slim that it has survived. This chick was the slightly more developed one, but it still had more visible down than most fledglings, so it may not have been strong enough to really fly.
The second chick stayed in the box and used the extra space to do a lot of wing exercises, especially yesterday and this morning. Very little down is still visible on this juvenile. About 3pm today, 6/24, it disappeared. After the camera operator confirmed that it wasn’t in the box, I was able to get downtown to look for it. I didn’t have to look very hard, because it was laying on a roof ledge on the Eberhard Center below and to the south of the nest box. An adult, probably Mom/Majestic, was perched on one of the big blue letters just above it. I saw the juvenile walk along the ledge, but it must be on something that runs along the bottom of the letters and not along the actual edge of the building, because it was out of sight entirely part of the time. I also saw the second adult make a loop around the building, then leave. According to another watcher, an adult tried to deliver food to the nest box a little while later, but took the food away when it realized no one was home. I think this was the second adult, likely Dad. I had left already, so I don’t know if the food was delivered to the juvenile in its new location or not.
The ledge the juvenile was on is just two hops from the nest box, so I’m not sure we can say this bird has truly fledged. It may not have flown out and back, just jumped to a new location. We’ll be checking on him/her as often as we can in case it gets into trouble on its early flights. It could be another day or two before it ventures very far.
If you are interested in seeing the falcons for yourself, one of the best places to observe from is the Blue Bridge over the river, between Pearl and Fulton streets."
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