At the Creek - PPL Martins Creek

	06/25/2008 Venturing out First, the good news: We got lucky today and were able to see all five peregrines at the Creek. Mom and Dad were a little restless with us nearby but calmed down after a few fly-bys. They always know where the kids are, and are helping them out with meals now and then, along with teaching them how to catch their own food. Cool. Unfortunately, we lost one of the young female falcons last week. We're not sure at this point, but it is possible that it was weakened by the harsh thunderstorm and heavy rain that came through the area that evening. It had just left the nest and was on a metal roof most of that day. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has taken the bird and will try to determine the cause of death.
	06/18/2008 Getting closer This morning we were able to see five falcons from the ground. Mom and Dad were on guard duty and sensitive to any movement even remotely close to the young falcons today. Rightfully so, two of the young were on the beam adjacent to the nest, and one was still on the perch. We've been keeping a look out for the fourth sibling, but have yet to find it. The parents only hang around the nest area and within site from the No. 3 stack as usual, so we're hoping that the four young falcons are all still in the area of the nest and that we just can't see the missing one. We'll check out the area on the ground below the stack, and keep our fingers crossed. The picture isn't the best because we're keeping our distance so we don’t scare the young before they're ready to go off the beam. Keep it high, keep it fast.
	06/16/2008 A small world Last Friday I accompanied the Pennsylvania Game Commission officials to the Luzerne County cliff site for the banding of the nestlings. Unlike the other PPL peregrine nest sites, monitoring at this site is a lot more difficult. Because the nest is located about halfway down the cliff, the best you can do is monitor this site from several hundred yards away using a good spotting scope. As a result, the exact age of these young falcons was not known, making the correct timing of banding a little more challenging. As if having to repel down a cliff wasn’t challenging enough.   The plan was for Art McMorris, PGC Peregrine Falcon Coordinator, to accompany Greg Turner, PGC Endangered Species Biologist and Technical Climber, down to the nest site and band the eyases right there. As they cautiously approached the nest the adult falcons started screaming and flying overhead. The good news was that these parents were not nearly as aggressive or defensive of their nest site as our friends here in Allentown. They kept a safe distance from both Greg and Art. A closer inspection of the nest confirmed that there were three eyases. Unfortunately, as Greg approached the nest one nestling rushed to the far edge of the ledge. Greg immediately backed away.  Based on the actual age of the eyases and the precarious reaction of the one daring eyas, the plan to band them was quickly abandoned. Despite the disappointment, we are still very hopeful that in the upcoming weeks we will see three young peregrines testing out their wings in the skies above the Luzerne County cliffs. And if all this isn't exciting enough, as I was looking through my pictures, I noticed I was able to see some bands on the male peregrine from the cliff site.  Sure enough, the male at the cliff site was a male that fledged at our Martins Creek nest site in 2006. This isn't the first time he's been seen this year. "Blue Boy" (see in the photo at left) was spotted at a nest this spring at a nest site in Wilkes-Barre. That is until "Idaho Green" returned to defend his nest and sent him back down the river. Meanwhile at Martins Creek, the four young falcons were seen lined up on the outside edge of their nest box. They looked as if they were trying to decide who would jump first. It shouldn’t be long before they are seen flying over and around the plant. And we just received word today from Don “Jake” Jacobs from WNEP-Channel 16 that the peregrine falcon edition of Pennsylvania Outdoor Life will air at 6:30 p.m. this Sunday, June 22. Stay tuned!
	06/03/2008 Getting their bling On Tuesday, we banded the chicks at Martins Creek. One male and three females were successfully banded and returned to the nest box. Mom was a little uneasy about what was going on with her little ones. Keep watch for the peregrines in the news. The Express-Times was there and WNEP TV filmed the banding as part of their Pennsylvania Outdoors program.
	05/16/2008 Family portraits I'm so glad we finally got all four eggs hatching this year. What an awesome year for peregrines at PPL. Here are some photos of the Martins Creek peregrine family: Dad at the end of the nest box, Mom after a messy feeding and several shots of the eyas.
	05/12/2008 Four times the celebrating A trip up the stack today proved worthwhile for John Depalma, Scott Hahn, and myself. With the cold, wet weather and a strong wind, the mother only gave us a few seconds to see Martins Creek finally has four young hatchlings. This is the first year at Martins Creek that all of the eggs successfully hatched. Boy or girl? Guess we'll find out at the banding on June 3.
	05/07/2008 The first hatchling is here Martins Creek welcomes its first young peregrine of 2008. The young falcon spent all of Tuesday trying its best to break through its tough shell. We were able to see it moving inside of the egg through the small hole, then it would stop to rest. This went on for hours. It's a lot of work trying to get out of that shell after being stuck in it for more than a month. Finally, Wednesday morning, it was able to break out and check out it's new world. John Depalma and Scott Hahn got to witness it first hand! Three more eggs to go, lets cross our fingers. The mother falcon looked great during the ordeal, but dad looks a little on the rough side. PPL Martins Creek power plant has been fortunate to have peregrine falcon hatchlings four years in a row. All of this has taken place in the same nest on the Unit 4 stack. At this time, plans are to band the young falcons on June 3.
	04/24/2008 Sitting tight We were up at the nest yesterday just to make sure the parents and the four eggs were doing well. Everyone looked great! I suspect the Martins Creek eggs should be hatching around the beginning of May.
	03/31/2008 The first egg is here! PPL's Martins Creek power plant has its first egg for 2008. We visited the nest today and found the female sitting on one egg. There were no bands on her legs, so it's probably "Ja", the same female from the past 3 years. We'll keep you updated as things progress with a final count on eggs.
	02/28/2008 Early preparations for banding This shows the new removable barrier installed at the nest on Martins Creek's No. 4 stack. We had to wait until both falcons left the nest to install the barrier, which will be used to secure the nest when the Pennsylvania Game Commission does bandings.
	02/25/2008 Jo and Ja Employees working on the No. 4 stack today spotted two falcons on the perch and in the nest! Neither of them had bands on, so it looks like Jo and Ja are back at the Creek! One of the Peregrines was moving the stones around and the other flew off of the perch and onto the No. 3 stack. This picture of Jo was taken last summer.
	02/13/2008 The first falcon is spotted We have found over the years that the peregrines, as with many other animals, are fairly predictable with some of their habits. At the plant, we usually see the first peregrine arrive in February, and the last to leave in late fall. A lone falcon was seen at the nest today making itself heard from a good distance. We are not sure if it is the falcon that has been hanging around all winter, or if it is one of the original parents returning from migration.
	02/01/2008 Gearing up for another season It's that time of year again when Mother Nature starts shifting gears and many of us are craving the change from the dormant winter. Once again Martins Creek is looking forward to following the return of the peregrines and the start of another family if all goes well. This picture shows the young falcons at the end of the fledgling season last year.