Hamilton's baby peregrine falcons fly for the 1st time
Bobby Hristova | CBC News | Posted: June 19, 2022 6:02 PM | Last Updated: June 19, 2022
Auchmar, Balfour, Dundurn and Wynnstay all had successful flights according to Hamilton Falconwatch
Hamilton's four baby peregrine falcons all had successful flights on the weekend according to Hamilton Falconwatch.
The group posted online throughout the week about how Auchmar, Balfour, Dundurn and Wynnstay, all named after historic houses in Hamilton, had been perched on the ledge of the Sheraton Hotel, flapping their wings more each day.
Pat Baker, a senior monitor with the Falconwatch group, told CBC Hamilton the wind this weekend may have been a factor in getting the chicks in the air, but said all four were "certainly capable."
On Friday, Dundurn spread his wings and soared in the air. He was the first of the four to do it.
"Balfour and Auchmar both just took off at the same time," read a Friday afternoon Facebook post by group member Charles Gregory.
"Looked like good, strong leaps, not tumbles/falls. Trying to figure out where they went now."
But there was a bit of suspense.
"Auchmar came to ground after her first flight, and was picked up by our rescue team and whisked off to the Owl Foundation for a quick check-up," Gregory wrote.
"She was found to be in excellent health, and was returned to the Sheraton roof around 8 p.m."
Gregory wrote Auchmar tried another flight later that day and did so without issues.
"Wynnstay, the last to fly, took off at 5:20 this morning, and was eventually found perched on a chimney of a building west of Bay Street along King," Gregory wrote on Sunday.
Baker said all four birds have been spotted today, which is a "tremendous feeling of relief."
She said over the next few weeks Judson and McKeever, the parents of the chicks, will start feeding them in mid-air.
"Then the adults will show them how to hunt," she said.
By the end of August, the chicks will be staking their claim in the area.