Lift Bridge Peregrine Update
From Joe Youngman;
Breaking news – old news.
I was finally able to read the band numbers on the adult female Peregrine that raised three young at the Portage Lake Lift Bridge this year (and I assume she’s the same bird that nested there last year). Her left leg band combination is black over red and awhile ago I read a “W” on the red band and finally got a “91” on the black. That makes her “Dorothy” banded by Amy Ries on 30 May in 2012 (hatched on 8 May) at a power plant along the Mississippi river at Cassville in SW Wisconsin.
She grew up on a smokestack so a lift bridge must have seemed suitable for her own youngsters. Amy figures she is 326 miles from her natal site.
One last caveat – I wouldn’t bet my life on my reading of her band number but I’m pretty darn sure. If we get a webcam in place by next spring we should get an absolute confirmation. I contacted Amy and she has had no other “sightings” of good ole 91/W so I feel I can say with enough assurance that “Dorothy” has been summering in Houghton / Hancock since 2013.
As of yesterday there were still three youngsters around the bridge and the two adults.
Youngman