166. Peregrine Falcon

Date         May 1, 2006

Location    Rhodes Tower, Columbus, OH

The Ohio Dept of Natural Resources used to run a hacking program for peregrines at the top of a 40-story office tower in downtown Columbus. When it was started (around 1990 I think), they were still under threatened status in Ohio. Cameras and a web site were set up. I used to follow it all the time.

Eventually in about 2015, some renovation needed to be done on the tower, which would shut down the nest for a couple of years. It was decided to simply end the program since they weren't threatened anymore. Seems like a wise decision to me. Save the dollars for another more needed project.

I had wanted to see the peregrines for a while by this point, but had never made the effort to see them during prime nesting time. That was May, after all, so I was busy elsewhere looking for warblers and such.

On this particular day, I was walking to the bus stop, and I decided to use a stop that passed by the building so I could try to spot them. I saw one fly up to the nest ledge from a pretty good distance -- too far to get field marks, but it was obvious what it was. The eggs had just hatched a few days before.

Fortunately, I was able to see another Peregrine Falcon at the Clark Hill rest area in Idaho. There are a bunch of cliffs there, and it appears that they were nesting there.


Cornell: Peregrine Falcon