Peregrine Falcon 2008

Peregrine #54495 photographed 3 October 2008 in the Cheaspeake Bay area. Note the backpack and antenna visible in the picture.

Craig Koppie, USFWS

 

News of Note:

December 1, 2008
Updated satellite tracking map. 54495 is back transmitting, and remains in the Harpers Ferry, WV area. Looks like 54496 is heading to the Gulf of Mexico to join 41300.

November 17, 2008
Updated satellite tracking map. One falcon (54496) is still in southern WV; one (41300) is down in Mobile, AL; while one (54495) has stopped transmitting. 54495 was the falcon from the Harpers Ferry, WV area, and had backpack/transmitter problems in the past, but with any luck will begin transmitting again.

September 5, 2008
The Falcon Cam is offline for the season. All the birds have "flown the coop." Check back next spring to see if we have another group of falcons to observe.

Updated satellite tracking map.

Uploaded the 2008 Peregrine Falcon Final Report.

August 8, 2008
Updated the satellite tracking map. 41300 is still in the Portsmouth, OH area, 54495 is hanging in Harpers Ferry, while 54496 (the Lexington bird) has moved east through the gorge and last transmitted (yesterday) from Summersville Lake.

July 31, 2008
Feeding has been stopped, with scaled down monitoring continueing at the hack site. The birds are now out on their own... hopefully to return next spring.

Updated satellite tracking map. One bird remains east of Lexington, KY. One is just outside West Portsmouth, OH. An our "Harpers Ferry" bird is back in the Charles Town / Harpers Ferry, WV area.

June 30, 2008
Monitoring and feeding of this year's release continues, with many of the birds spending more time "on their own" and only coming in occasionally to feed.

Updated satellite tracking map.

June 9, 2008
All of the remaining birds were released from the hackboxes. This makes twenty-one falcons "out of the box" and flying the New River Gorge. The birds will continue to be fed and monitored for the next six weeks, with the feeding being gradually decreased to encourage the falcons to hunt on their own.

2008 Peregrine Falcon Reintroduction Program
2008 marks the third year of the peregrine falcon reintroduction program at New River Gorge National River. This program has been very notable in a number of different areas: it has successfully hacked over thirty juvenile peregrine falcons; it has provided valuable information on the behavior of the falcons after hacking; and it has been a very educational (and popular) program for bird enthusiasts and the general public.

Press Release - Peregrine Reintroduction Begins Third Year

Press Release - 2008 Peregrine Monitoring Begins

 

Falcon Tracking and Biographies

Take a look at the information on the falcons being monitored using satellite tracking. We have also added short biographies for each of the birds.

Overview Map (All six falcons)
NERI Falcon Track Map (8 May 2008)

Current Map (Falcons with active transmitters)
Google Earth Map (1 December 2008)

Archived Individual Falcon Track Maps Falcon 8175 Falcon 9908 Falcon 27408 Falcon 41300 Falcon 54495 Falcon 54496

Individual Falcon Biographies Falcon 8175 Falcon 9908 Falcon 27408 Falcon 41300 Falcon 54495 Falcon 54496

- Updated 1 December 2008

 

Peregrine #54495 was spotted near Harpers Ferry, WV on March 22, 2008

 

Peregrine Falcons on a highway bridge near Charleston, WV. One of the falcons was identified as being from last summer's release.