Richmond's Missing Falcons

Richmond was graced with a bit of the wild four years ago when a pair of peregrine falcons nested on the 20th floor ledge of the BB & T building at 10th & Main. For each of the last four years, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) has set up a webcam where you could watch the progress in the nest from egg laying, hatching, fledging and feeding and each year until the last brought successful broods that were tagged and released into the wild. It always made me feel better about this urban wasteland to know that it had been recaptured in part by nature.

This year Richmond's falcons have been a no show. I haven't heard a "peep"(sorry) about them in the press. This may be due to last year's misfortunes. The first nest that was built under the Lee Bridge was washed out in a thunderstorm. The plucky pair built a second nest and laid four more eggs in the DGIF nest box on Riverfront Towers. We waited for weeks, watching the falcons switch off incubating the eggs, till at last hatching began. I was watching on the webcam as hatching took place. Each time the cam refreshed you could see a bit more of beak and a bit more eggshell scattered around the nest. It was a privilege to watch as one by one these helpless creatures came into the world and it was a crushing disappointment to learn a day later that all the chicks had perished and the nest had been abandoned by the parents. DGIF didn't have an explanation and the cause has remained a mystery.

The thing about nature is that against all odds, it is constantly trying to succeed. It is also a story full of failed attempts so it is sad, but natural to fail. I've been looking forward to nature's redemption this spring, but as I said, so far not a peep. I'm going to start an information search and make some calls. If you've heard anything or have any falcon stories, let me know, either through the comments section or via email (paxham@hotmail.com).

Here's a link to the State of Pennsylvania Falcon Website, which has its own falcon webcam. I hope we get ours back soon, if not this year, then next.

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/falcon/