It's a pleasant day as I travel up
to the top of City Hall in Philadelphia. I meet Dan Brauning, a Wildlife
Biologist of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there as he is preparing
his equipment for today's banding. I figure that the whole process
will be rather run of the mill until everyone starts putting on batting
helmets and protective goggles. That's when I become a little more
tentative. Once everything is set the open the door and begin to move
outside. The skyline is beautiful from this point, but that's not
what we are looking at. To the left among one of City Hall's pillars
stands a nest of the Peregrine Falcon and a very protective parent
standing watchfully by. As Dan Brauning moves towards the nest I soon
realize the importance of the safety gear as the adult falcon begins
swooping at the small congregation of us as defense for it's defenseless
eyas. Dan holds they young eyas carefully and carries it quickly inside
to begin the banding. We all follow in a hurry, ready to escape the
angry parent.
First the bird was weighed and checked for sex and then the bands
are swiftly applied to provide the least amount of stress necessary
to the birds. There are two bands placed on by Dan. One band is a
small metallic ring and the other is a larger colored band that provides
the vital statistics of the bird.
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The whole process is done in a matter of minutes and when the eyas
is replaced in the nest the much angrier falcon that was left outside
shortly calms down and everything resumes to normal. It was a job
well done by Dan and his team and because of them Pennsylvania is
a little bit safer for Peregrine Falcons.
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