On May 19th all four of the eyases (young falcons) were banded for future tracking. There are three females and one male this year. The youngest is female, which was a good thing as it needed that extra size to compete with its siblings for food. Their bands are: BN/60, BN/61, BN/62 and the male is BK/10. You can read more about the banding of these young falcons here.
Now they’re all right around 5 weeks old and loosing their fluffy white down feathers very quickly. They are old enough to want to explore a bit more, as every day they leave their nest and explore the rooftop. This makes it much harder for us to track them with the camera.
Their first flights are not too far away. The male will fledge first. Usually they fledge at around 6-7 weeks and females at around 7-8 weeks. That means the male will be taking his first flight later next week and his oldest siblings the week after. This is a crucial time for them where life gets much more dangerous. As soon as they leave the protection of their nest then they can get into trouble. Navigating our human dominated landscape is not easy. There is a lot of infrastructure for them to navigate around. Buildings with lots of glass or mirror facades can trick their perception of the landscape, especially when they’re starting to pursue prey. But first, they need to practice those essential flight skills of mastering takeoff and landing. Either way, it is a joyous time to watch them grow!