Human problems got you down?
Check out these baby peregrine falcons:
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It’s hatching season for the falcons. Fluffy, white newborn chicks are in nests across the state. And you can check on them any time.
Here are some at the Detroit Zoo.
Here are some in Grand Rapids.
Here are some in Sault Ste. Marie.
Peregrine falcons are great.
“As a kid, I was always interested in nature,” says Michelle Serreyn, of Wayne State University. “And falcons were one of my favorite things just because they’re so sleek and fast and kind of fierce looking.”
Serreyn found out about a nesting pair of falcons at Wayne State shortly after she was hired six years ago. So she helped set up a live cam.
“There’s always something different going on,” Serreyn says. “It’s interesting to watch them talk to one another, see how they react to their environment.”
You can even follow the falcons on Instagram.
Since 2016, Wayne State was home to a bonded pair of falcons who returned every year to their nest. But for some reason, those falcons – named Isabella and Freedom – didn’t return this spring. Instead, a new pair is in the nest. As of Friday, the eggs from that pair hadn’t hatched, which means they were behind schedule compared to some other falcons in the southern part of the state.
But on Saturday, at least one of the eggs hatched. So you don't have to worry.
"We've had all kinds of nesting success across the state," says DNR biologist Nik Kalejs
Overall, falcons in Michigan are doing well. The state still lists them as endangered, but their numbers have been increasing.
“I think our peregrine population is doing great in the state,” says Nik Kalejs, a wildlife biologist in West Michigan with the Department of Natural Resources. “We’ve had all kinds of nesting success across the state, from the U.P. down to the southern part of the state. Southeast, Southwest to north have all done quite well.”
It’s taken a lot of work, from biologists and conservationists. Usually around this time of year, biologists like Kalejs are visiting baby falcons, and putting bands on them to track their survival. For now, that work is on hold.
But the falcons seem to be doing okay.
Elaine Kampmueller has been tracking the peregrines in Grand Rapids on her blog since 2006. This year, there are four chicks in the nest above Grand Valley State University’s Eberhard Center. Kampmueller has been checking up on them on the live cam, and discussing with a friend.
“We were chatting about the littlest one and whether it was getting enough to eat,” she says. “And we’ve both been watching and going, ‘Yeah it’s fine.’”
It’s fine. The falcons are doing fine.
One less thing to worry about.
