Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Peregrine Falcon Having a Snack at 5 E. 14th Place

Could it be Sloopy?
You'd posted a shot I'd gotten of a peregrine from a distance a while ago (a year or two?); couldn't believe my luck with the picture I got today...from my couch...maybe 30 minutes after reading about the Chicago Peregrine Program in the Field Museum 'in the Field' member magazine. This is from the 5 E. 14th Place building. Feel free to use one if you'd like :)
So here is the post the reader was referencing from 2012.

Anyway it's probably not Sloopy the falcon unfortunately.

If you recall we've had various posts on the topic of Peregrine Falcons here at Sloopin.  Back in 2009, Field Museum employee Stephanie Ware asked our readers to help spot some mysterious Peregrine's that were flying around the neighborhood.

Then in 2010 some of the flacons came back and were nesting on the top of 1130 S. Michigan.  Later we found out that since we helped the Field Museum locate some of the falcons they actually named a baby SLOOPY!  Yes, a Peregrine Falcon named Sloopy!

Ironically, SLOOPY doesn't live in the Sloop.  She actually lives in Indiana now (from the Field Museum website):
“Sloopy” (b/r, 06/E) a female produced in 2009 at the Broadway site in Chicago, Illinois. Sloopy paired with an unbanded male at the Inland Steel lime plant (Mittal Steel, Indiana Harbor East) in East Chicago, Indiana. This was Sloopy’s second year at the site. Raul Dominguez checked the nest box on 3/26 and found a banded adult present in box but no eggs observed. There were four eggs on 4/20 and 4/26. The adult was still incubating on 5/2. Two chicks and one egg were reported on 5/6. At least three chicks (probably 4) were seen on 5/9. Four chicks (3f,1m) were banded on 5/22. They fledged by mid-June.
Since then we've had various other posts.  Here is one from 2011 looking west.  Most recently we received an amazing pic from a Related Real Estate agent of one of the falcons perched on a high-rise on Roosevelt Road with an amazing view in the background:

If this has wet your appetite for more info, here is a Peregrine Falcon facebook page as well as a website about the Field Museum's program.

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