High-flying downtown couple’s nest almost ready for prime time
The peregrine falcons hanging out near the top of the Bell Tower these days have swagger in their swoop.
That’s perhaps not surprising — from their 32nd-floor ledge the people on the streets are moving specks and West Edmonton Mall is an insignificant blip on the horizon.
“They’re the territorial pair. They own downtown, at least in their eyes,” said Gordon Court, a biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
Court and a colleague from the Alberta Conservation Association were setting up a webcam to film the nesting birds over several weeks. Bird watchers can have a look starting later this week via a live stream on the association’s website. Another camera is already catching two different peregrines nesting at the University of Alberta.
Downtown office towers are at the top of Edmonton’s nesting hierarchy for the birds. The height provides a great view for hunting prey and offers security from their main predator, the great horned owl.
This year, the female — known as E4 — has chosen to lay her eggs on a 32nd-floor ledge on the building’s west side, near a working warm-air vent. Court said this spring’s cold temperatures must have forced E4 away from her typical east-side nesting spot.
Her nest is a “scrape,” a shallow spot dug into the rocks that line the ledge. She had already laid three russet-coloured eggs when Court poured soft gravel on Friday morning to enhance the nest. He feared the eggs would break under E4’s weight on the big, chunky rocks where the eggs were first laid.
Peregrine falcons were all but lost in Canada by 1975. Thanks to intensive breeding programs, there are about 70 pairs in Alberta today, with about eight pairs in Edmonton, Court said. They are still listed as a threatened species.
On the 32nd floor of the Bell Tower, E4 is clearly comfortable and confident. She flies by her nest in a majestic swoop. When people venture onto the ledge, she lands and stares them down. She squawks when anyone ventures too close to her nest.
“It’s one thing to see them from 32 floors below in the parking lot,” Court said. “But when you have a webcam that will allow you to see the intimate details of their family life, that’s pretty cool.”