Written by Elizabeth Mojica
July 9, 2010
Adult female falcon breeding on Watts Island, VA. Photo by Bart Paxton.
Two falcon chicks, 1-2 days old, and an unhatched egg in the nest in Elkins Marsh, VA. Photo by Bart Paxton.
Three nestlings photographed during banding activities at a nest near Upshur Bay, VA. Photo by Libby Mojica.
Virginia’s Peregrine Falcon Population 1977-2010. Graph by the Center for Conservation Biology.
This adult male Peregrine Falcon established a new breeding territory on the Route 360 bridge in Tappahannock, VA. Photo by Bart Paxton.
This hack site near Grandview in the New River Gorge National Park, WV is managed by Three Rivers Avian Center. Released falcons are provided with quail for several weeks until they can hunt their own prey. Photo by Three Rivers Avian Center.
A brood of osprey in Mobjack Bay showing a well-fed chick (left) and an emaciated chick (right). The chick on the right would die the following week due to starvation. Work in Mobjack Bay over a 40+ year period has shown that both reproductive rates and food delivery rates have declined dramatically. The decline in provisioning has led to an increase in brood reduction or chick loss due to starvation. Photo by Bryan Watts.