Peregrine Woburn: Early Spring!!

February 2, 2016 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C6194-001Made a short visit off of Holton Street in Woburn and found the unbanded male using his talons for bill cleaning. In the process of bill cleaning, the peregrine provides a look at it’s legs to observe if it has a leg band!  Another bright sunny morning with very chilly temps…..Groundhog Day 2016…SPRING IS COMING!!!!…America’s most iconic weather forecaster, the Pennsylvania groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, forecasts this after not seeing his shadow at Gobbler’s Knob in the town northeast of Pittsburgh!!

Peregrine: Woburn male

January 18, 2016 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

The unbanded male peregrine was seen ripping prey apart early this afternoon with winds out of the west blowing 15-20 MPH, temps in mid-20’s, and scattered clouds.

Peregrine: Woburn

January 12, 2016 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C1500-001The male peregrine was observed this morning just loafing around in the general quarry area!

Peregrine: Woburn, male

December 28, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C0570-001Beautiful clear skies this morning with temps in the low 30’s, with winds out of the north at 15, and gusts over 20.  The male peregrine was seen in Woburn, initially in flight and then settling in on the side wall of the quarry.  The male has no leg bands.  It was making a few squawking sounds and then calmed down.

Peregrine Woburn: banded female

December 19, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C0256-001An afternoon visit to observe Woburn Peregrines and found the female perched on a favorite utility pole basking in the later afternoon sun.  Note the leg bands (73/BD) on the lower left leg. Today the male was perched on a rocky outcropping nearby, but not much interaction between the two peregrines.

Peregrine Woburn: sunrise!

December 16, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C9709-001As the bright winter morning sun slowly rose, had a very opportunity to watch the female peregrine atop a rock outcropping!

Peregrine Woburn: male

December 11, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C9531-001The male peregrine seen again perched atop a favorite rocky outcropping!

Peregrine: Woburn – flight mode!

December 5, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C9111-001A return visit later Saturday afternoon provided another opportunity to observe and photograph this beautiful Peregrine Falcon. Again, after 30 plus minutes of preening, something caught it’s attention and it lifted off and roared past in hot pursuit!  The bi-color leg band is  just visible on the tucked in left leg!

Peregrine: Woburn – leg bands 73/BD

December 5, 2015 in Peregrine Falcon Woburn

CF2C8901-001Delighted to observe a perched Peregrine Falcon while driving in Woburn this morning.
It was preening itself in the warm morning sun. Watched it for about 20 minutes before it finally launched into flight in my direction and then passed by out of sight. Photos revealed color-coded leg bands, so we will hopefully be able to be updated further on the location of where this falcon was banded!

UPDATE:

With great credit to Tom French and the staff at MassWildlife, they were able to track down background information on the black/green color-coded leg bands on this young Peregrine.

This young, female Peregrine was banded in June 2014 on a bridge in Northampton, MA (Hampshire County). More information on the bi-color, field-readable, alphanumeric leg bands posted below.

From the Center for Conservation Biology website:

Peregrine Falcons are fitted with metal leg bands to provide researchers with valuable data on peregrine survival rates, dispersal distances, and population growth rates.
The standard leg band for Peregrines is a silver metal band issued by the federal Bird Banding Lab. The band is inscribed with a unique 9 digit code that allows birds to be identified during future resights or captures. To report seeing one of these bands, visit the ReportBand.gov website.
A second bi-color band is fitted on the falcon’s opposite leg and includes a field-readable alpha-numeric code. Falcons in the Eastern US are banded with either BLACK over RED (1989-2004) or BLACK over GREEN (2000 – present). There are also several orientations and alphanumeric character arrangements on the bands.

When reading a band, an observer should note the top character and its orientation (vertical or horizontal), the top background color, then note the bottom character code, orientation, and color.