Falcon chick hatched at Sheraton
Discovered 9 a.m. Wednesday
May 06, 2009
Eric McGuinness
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/561220
The Hamilton Sheraton Hotel’s resident pair of adult peregrine falcons produced their first chick of 2009 Wednesday morning.
A TV falcon cam focused on the high-rise nest captured images of the baby bird just after 9 a.m.
FalconWatch member Mike Street said the remaining three eggs are expected to hatch within a week.
Madame X and her mate, Surge, welcomed their first chick on the same date last year, he said.
Falcon followers also learned Wednesday morning that Webster, hatched in the Sheraton nest in 2006, has been identified as the female of a pair nesting on a bridge in Pawtucket, R.I. Her sister, Albion, has nested on a bridge in Pennsylvania the last two years, and another Hamilton fledgling, Stelco, is again incubating four eggs in Lansing, Mich.
At first, the newly hatched chick will be spending most of its time sheltering beneath Madame X, but may be glimpsed from time to time as she shifts position or turns over brooding duties to Surge. Street says Surge spent almost as much time as Madame X incubating the eggs until the last few days, when the female rarely left the nest.
Madame X, a 10-year-old Pennsylvanian peregrine, has laid four eggs each year since 2001. The nest, or scrape, is just a shallow depression in the gravel roof of a top-floor bay window just below the Sheraton sign above King Street West. A TV monitor downstairs in Jackson Square will prove popular when the fledglings become more active and finally try their wings.
FalconWatch volunteers will then be stationed on the street below in case any of the youngsters land in traffic or run into other trouble. Details on how to volunteer or make a donation can be found on the website.
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