2010 Peregrine Falcon Program

Gary Hartley

2010 marked the fifth year of the Peregrine Falcon Restoration Project. The juvenile peregrine falcons were supplied by the Center for Conservation Biology in Williamsburg, Virginia in coordination with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and by the New Jersey Department of Natural Resources. Between May 31, 2010 and July 10, 2010, twenty-one peregrines were released from the hack site at Grandview. Because the falcons arrived at different times, there were six staggered releases of the birds. According to the criteria set forth by Varner (2007), eighteen, or 86% of the twenty-one released birds were considered successfully released. The three birds that were considered unsuccessful were not seen after twenty-four hours of being released. This could be attributed to a previously undetected adult male peregrine in the area.

In addition to remote camera surveillance, the 2009 nesting site on Endless Wall was monitored periodically by volunteers during the month of March. Although there were a few peregrine sightings in the area, no birds were observed at the exact nesting location.

For more information check out the Three Rivers Avian Center Peregrine Restoration Project Page: http://www.tracwv.org/restoration.html

You may also want to read the Three Rivers Avian Center 2010 Peregrine Falcon Restoration Project Final Report.