!!! General Brock Update
June 09, 2014 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Marilyn Weller Reports:
Taken from a FB entry today by the
Peregrine Falcons Southeast Michigan
Interesting day of Peregrine Patrol for Chris Becher and Barb Baldinger! After our busy, exciting Friday of banding in both Mt. Clemens and Warren, we decided to take our scopes and stools to just sit at the marina of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club and watch the tower for peregrine falcon activity. After an hour of seeing only pigeons go in and out of the space where the falcons were possibly nesting, we talked to the Harbor Master. He said they have been gone for over a week…. Disappointing!
We moved on to the “Nine Mile Tower” (Shore Club Apartments & Marina) in St. Clair Shores. There was a peregrine falcon sitting on the balcony of one the penthouse apartments. Time to meet the management! From the security guard at the gate of the Shore Club Apartments & Marina to the general manager, everyone was very nice and knew all about the peregrine falcons. We were escorted to a vacant penthouse apartment on the 26th floor and went up the spiral stairs to the bedroom level. There were two peregrine falcons! One flew off right away, but the other just stood on the balcony rail and looked at us. We read her black/red, 20/W band and checked the Midwest Peregrine Society data base. Her name is Theresa, from St. Mary’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She was hatched and banded in 2012. The male returned and we saw from his black, 22/V band that he is General Brock, hatched and banded in 2012 at the Ambassador Bridge. This is the same pair that had been seen at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club earlier this season. There was no sign of nesting on the balcony, so we were guided up the stairs and ladder to the roof. No nesting there either, but WOW, what a view! Since they are both young birds, we hope they stay around and nest at one of the locations next year.