FledgeWatch has been Scheduled
Pending no inclement weather, we will be opening the pen on Tuesday, June 10th. In the event of poor weather, we will likely pivot the release date to later in the week.
In conjunction with the pen opening, DWR staff will be stationed downtown on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of our annual FledgeWatch monitoring to observe the birds during their first days in flight. At this stage the chicks will have the strength needed to fly, but it can take them several days to perfect their flight and landing skills. By having staff on site during this critical period, we can intervene and get a chick medical attention more quickly in the event of a building collision, grounding, or failed landing attempt.
Viewers may have noticed that the female chick, “Red”, no longer has the red-colored tape affixed to her band. At this point, we do not plan on replacing the tape prior to fledging but will still refer to her as “Red” throughout our monitoring efforts next week.
What to expect?
On Tuesday morning, the livestream will be temporarily turned off while the pen door is prepped for opening. Following this quick work, we will reconnect the stream and then allow the chicks time to settle before returning to the ledge to open the door. Although we cannot guarantee the exact time when this will happen, it will likely occur at some point between 9:30-10:00am. Once the pen door is open, the chicks will be free to leave the pen at their leisure.
We will be providing a labeled map highlighting activity hotspots from previous years and posting regular updates throughout the day to keep viewers more informed as to the on-the-ground action. On the day of Fledgewatch, check the main Falcon Cam page for that post which we will regularly update as the day progresses!