February 05, 2012
A pair of Peregrine Falcons are once again nesting, or are in the beginning stages of nesting, in the Ayer Mill Clock Tower, the world's largest mill clock tower, along Merrimack Street in Lawrence, MA. Here's the male as he chased a few pigeons around the tower.
The tower, seen below, has hosted a pair of nesting falcons for several years now. I've had the pleasure of photographing a few of the young from this nest in recent years. The male can be seen on the weather vane along with the placement of the nest box.
A close up of the nest box showing the nest cam and perch. The nest box can be seen from the side of the road along Merrimack St and should be fun to watch as the nesting season progresses.
And lastly the male as he came in for a landing on the weather vane.
Great photos Phil! Love the falcon coming in for a landing on the weather vane! That is really neat!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy! Though the nest box is quite distant this is a great spot to watch the pair.
ReplyDeleteHi Phil. Do the pair of Falcons in the box this year have known names and are they returning from last year?
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, the Peregrines have been seen in the area of the clock tower but appear to be setting up their nest in the area of 250 Canal St. More information at the link below from Craig Gibson
Deletehttp://lawrenceperegrines.com/
Hello my name is Brad, I work in Gloucester MA and currently I see both the male and female perched atop the roof of City Hall. Perhaps there are nesting, I have seen them everyday since the end of March now.
ReplyDeleteHi Brad, Thanks for your update on the Gloucester pair of Falcons! That pair or other falcons have used the city hall tower for many winters and have stayed quite late into the spring in years past. It looks like this year will follow the same recent pattern. Before the city restored the lower half of the tower they placed a nest box 1/2 way up the tower with a nest cam. The falcons never stayed and nested and the city took the nest box down this past year when the tower was completed. I had high hopes for the falcons nesting locally but no luck to date.
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